Why Us essay 不能寫 generic「The university has great academics」——必須提3 件該校 specific 的東西:
類別
範例
課程 / Program
Yale Directed Studies、Brown Open Curriculum、Caltech IST major
教授
Prof X 的 Y 研究、Z 課程
傳統 / 文化
Yale Bulldog Days、Stanford Big Game、Princeton House System
校園 / 地理
MIT Cambridge 與 Boston 跨城市資源、Stanford 矽谷距離
社團 / 學生組織
Yale Whiffenpoofs、MIT Hacks
4.2 範例
Bad Why Us:
Yale's strong CS program and beautiful campus makes it my dream school.
Good Why Us(含 3 具體事物):
Three things draw me to Yale. First, Professor Sara Bates' "Computing the Mind" course—I read her 2023 paper on Bayesian models for human curiosity, and I want to discuss her chapter on metacognition with her in office hours. Second, the Whiffenpoofs—not because I'll join (I'm a tone-deaf coder), but because their willingness to take an a cappella interlude through finance internships symbolizes Yale's "you can be a CS major AND a singer." Third, Yale's connection to New Haven schools—I want to volunteer at the Yale Pathways to Science program teaching coding to local kids, the same way I taught coding to Pingtung kids.
為什麼這 paragraph 強:
Professor 名字 + 具體 paper title——研究過該校
社團名 + reflection——不是 generic admiration
本地連結——Yale 與 New Haven 的關係 + 自己的 spike
五、Why Major 客製化的「3 層深度」
5.1 第 1 層:你為什麼這個 field
unknown node
→ 這層 100% 重用 across all schools
5.2 第 2 層:你想做這個 field 的什麼
unknown node
→ 這層 90% 重用
5.3 第 3 層:為什麼這所學校的這個 major
unknown node
→ 這層 100% 客製化 per school
5.4 範例對照
Why CS at MIT vs Why CS at Yale:
MIT
Yale
Course 6 (EECS) 課程深度
"Designing for Justice" 課程
Lincoln Lab 的 DARPA 研究
Yale Repertory Theatre + CS 跨領域
Course 6.S081 (Operating Systems)
CS 系小、與 professor 親密度高
MIT Hacks 文化
Whiffenpoofs + Tang Hall 跨領域
80% 不同——這才是真正客製化。
六、研究學校的具體做法
6.1 必查 5 件事
來源
找什麼
該校官網 → 該系 page
Program 結構、required courses、faculty list
Faculty Page
Professor name + research interests + recent papers