A question about "why this school?" questions

[Doc187]

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Hello SDN,

When I'm applying for school this application cycle, I know the inevitable "Why do you want to attend X school?" will pop up, either in secondaries or during an interview.

Anyways, I plan to apply to 4 schools in California (UC-Davis, SD, LA; USC) because my spouse is going to UC-Davis for law school. How should I mention this as a reason for "strong ties" to the state? Should this be a secondary reason to being interested in a program the school has to offer, or how should I work this in, if at all?

Thanks.

 

[OhioDoc]

Hello SDN,

When I'm applying for school this application cycle, I know the inevitable "Why do you want to attend X school?" will pop up, either in secondaries or during an interview.

Anyways, I plan to apply to 4 schools in California (UC-Davis, SD, LA; USC) because my spouse is going to UC-Davis for law school. How should I mention this as a reason for "strong ties" to the state? Should this be a secondary reason to being interested in a program the school has to offer, or how should I work this in, if at all?

Thanks.

I think this is a legitimate reason to be interested in a school's program. That being said, I don't think it should be your primary reason - there should be some features of each of these programs that you can say you would like.

 

[foofish]

I think this is a legitimate reason to be interested in a school's program. That being said, I don't think it should be your primary reason - there should be some features of each of these programs that you can say you would like.

Exactly. You should have reasons for wanting to go to the school on it's own right and those should be first and foremost, but it is worth mentioning the geographic tie. Remember, schools care (a lot) about their acceptance/matriculation ratio...i.e. they want to make offers to students they think have a strong likelihood of attending.

 

[Doc187]

Remember, schools care (a lot) about their acceptance/matriculation ratio...i.e. they want to make offers to students they think have a strong likelihood of attending.

In that case, I have another question. When selecting schools, should I not pick safety schools that are too far off the mark from my numbers? I've read other threads where posters claimed that they got rejected from all of their safety schools and when they called to ask why, the dean said that they suspected the applicant would only garner the acceptances without going.

 

[foofish]

In that case, I have another question. When selecting schools, should I not pick safety schools that are too far off the mark from my numbers? I've read other threads where posters claimed that they got rejected from all of their safety schools and when they called to ask why, the dean said that they suspected the applicant would only garner the acceptances without going.

That's a tricky question. I do think this happens to a certain extent, although I've never been told that by an adcom or anything (but I had a similar experience, when I applied I didn't even get an interview from my definite safety school, whereas I got interviews/acceptances at top schools). That said, I think the med school process is notoriously unpredictable....at least to the applicant. I think it's hard to know where you really stand in the process until you're midway through, and so it's risky to not apply to schools because you assume they are too much of a safety. I'm sure there are people who did that and ended up not applying broadly enough and thus didn't get in anywhere.

Personally, I'd still apply to a few of those safety schools. What I did, and what I think was a good strategy, was I applied to a variety of schools and initially accepted all my interviews. I tried to schedule the schools that were safety-ish for a little later on. Once I had my first acceptance in October, I withdrew from interviews at schools I know I wouldn't want to attend over the school I had been accepted to....thus opening up spots for other people and saving $$$ since interviews are the biggest expense of the process. I also think that since geography is more important to you than to other applicants, it's worth applying to schools you think are definite safeties if they are within your geographic region and emphasizing in your secondary your geographic tie.

 

[RunningDiva]

If I remember correctly, the secondaries for at least a couple of UCs specifically ask about your ties to the state. This could be that you're a state resident, have family working/going to school in the area, etc.

 

[Poliscidoc]

Why this school?

= Because you might freaking accept me damn it, now let me the hell in your school.

 

[Doc187]

If I remember correctly, the secondaries for at least a couple of UCs specifically ask about your ties to the state. This could be that you're a state resident, have family working/going to school in the area, etc.

Is that all they're looking for? It seems like an essay question like that could be answered in 3-4 sentences.

 

[Doc187]

Why this school?

= Because you might freaking accept me damn it, now let me the hell in your school.

I wish..

Anyway, does anyone have any insight on what adcoms are expecting with questions asking about ties to the state? Seems like it would be a very short essay.

 

[bobsmith]

I wish..

Anyway, does anyone have any insight on what adcoms are expecting with questions asking about ties to the state? Seems like it would be a very short essay.

Yeah, I think it can be a short and sweet little answer (some schools also don't give you very much space to write a long answer anyway)