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Is it bad to submit "Why XXX School" essays because it could damage your chances of getting scholarship money? They might think they don't have to work to get you, since you've already expressed your desire to go there...

Just wanted to get some feedback. Feel free to direct me to another thread if this has been addressed before.

lsacqueen wrote:Is it bad to submit "Why XXX School" essays because it could damage your chances of getting scholarship money? They might think they don't have to work to get you, since you've already expressed your desire to go there...

Just wanted to get some feedback. Feel free to direct me to another thread if this has been addressed before.

I can't go into details, but yes, that is a real risk

dingbat wrote:

lsacqueen wrote:Is it bad to submit "Why XXX School" essays because it could damage your chances of getting scholarship money? They might think they don't have to work to get you, since you've already expressed your desire to go there...

Just wanted to get some feedback. Feel free to direct me to another thread if this has been addressed before.

I can't go into details, but yes, that is a real risk

I don't know for sure, but I imagine that it's generally a good idea to do a Why X. Think of the other side of the coin. A school has hundreds of applicants writing essays about how much they love the school, love the area, etc. I don't think schools are dying to overlook these applicants to throw $ at a kid who, by not doing a Why X, could theoretically have submitted their application for $16 and 10 minutes of their time.

Since it's generally accepted that a good Why X essay is important for getting into the top schools, it reasonably follows that it is also important for getting a scholarship at top schools.

Why shouldn't you do a Why X? If you have some generic template and are just replacing the school's name and talking about how prestigious the school is and how nice the buildings are, etc. Don't waste the adcomms time with a copy and paste job, that would likely hurt you.

dingbat wrote:

lsacqueen wrote:Is it bad to submit "Why XXX School" essays because it could damage your chances of getting scholarship money? They might think they don't have to work to get you, since you've already expressed your desire to go there...

Just wanted to get some feedback. Feel free to direct me to another thread if this has been addressed before.

I can't go into details, but yes, that is a real risk

I forgot to say, while it is a risk, it is not a problem.
Schollyd are negotiable, after all

When you are almost certainly going to get admitted and you value the 30 minutes to 4 hours you would have spent on that Why X.

Hmmm no offense, but these responses are pretty generic. What makes you think submitting the Why X isn't a bigger disadvantage than an advantage? I get that it may be strategic in certain instances to submit one. For example, if you're above the 75th percentile for both LSAT/GPA and you're afraid the school might YP you. But if you're within the reasonable range at the school or if you're really interested in going, why risk writing the Why X when you have a shot of getting in with possible scholly $?

You make it sound like scholarship money is only awarded initially and the matter is then closed. If you look at LSN and see people around your numbers getting money where you didn't when you wrote a Why X then sure that might be a factor. However, there is nothing stopping you from sending them a concise email saying "Hay I want to go to your school but I'm not paying sticker". If you are in fact numerically overqualified they will probably give you the scholarship.

It seems like you are advocating or asking about weighing a Why X specifically for schools where you are in danger of being YP'd. I personally would rather write the thing and worry about scholarship negotiations later knowing that I had been accepted than get YPed because I had some scholarship maximization theory that didn't pan out.

2014 wrote:You make it sound like scholarship money is only awarded initially and the matter is then closed. If you look at LSN and see people around your numbers getting money where you didn't when you wrote a Why X then sure that might be a factor. However, there is nothing stopping you from sending them a concise email saying "Hay I want to go to your school but I'm not paying sticker". If you are in fact numerically overqualified they will probably give you the scholarship.

It seems like you are advocating or asking about weighing a Why X specifically for schools where you are in danger of being YP'd. I personally would rather write the thing and worry about scholarship negotiations later knowing that I had been accepted than get YPed because I had some scholarship maximization theory that didn't pan out.

Exactly