The Perfect "Why Us" Essay Checklist - NYU, USC, Columbia, Cornell, U of Mich, Northwestern, & more!

[@sophiakasim683]

As someone struggling to write this essay right now I WANT TO SAY THANK YOU

[@DyllenNellis]

AH YAY!!

[@meiji1815]

Me too

[@nikitadp1994]

Did you get in?

[@Aa-st6ml]

when you have submitted like 6 why us essays for early action and just now realized that they are the perfect standard bad example essay...

[@DyllenNellis]

Nooo I’m sorry I couldn’t make this vid sooner!!

[@Aa-st6ml]

@@DyllenNellis ahhhh nono dwai :) your videos have been saving me throughout this process

[@mujtab8siddiqu1]

@@Aa-st6ml update?

[@adrianscosmos]

same…

[@sifamayabi2080]

I did the same for my early decisions...

[@denzelsalas7348]

This is probably the best "Why Us" video guide I've ever watched. Thank you so much Dyllen for all your hard work and support for us students that are currently in the process of applying to our dream schools. I've been watching your videos for a while and this one truly helped me a lot. So far, I've been accepted to a couple of schools I applied to! This will help me with my Yale and Stanford essays! You're the best!

[@DyllenNellis]

Aw thank you so much!! I really appreciate your kind words. And congratulations! I'd love to hear where you end up choosing :)

[@pemagreenberg7875]

Checklist for Great "Why Us" Essay -hook- intro values, interest and careers interests (couple sentences) -how the school values align with your own - Opportunities you want to get involved with - programs, classes, professors, research, internship, extracurriculars, organizations - do your research and *BE SPECIFIC* - tie in personal connection - went on a tour, talked to students/professors, did a summer program, etc... - how this made you made more excited about the school connect all opportunities the school offers back to you - what skills would you learn - how does it relate to career interests - how does it help you reach your goals - how does it align with values how have you prepared - classes, clubs, extracurriculars, programs, etc... that have helped to develop a certain skill set in which you will then apply to uni - "using 8 years of experiencing in.... I will...." show that you a more qualified candidate offer your own ideas - projects, research or fundraising ideas would you bring to the college show that you have a clear vision of what you would do there, specific goals you would want to reach there, what can you offer the school? Structure 1st para- hook 2nd para- program/acedmics 3rd para- extracurriculars would want to join, etc... conclusion

[@crocodileparty1969]

As someone currently working on transfer essays, this is by far the best "Why Us" video I've seen. Thank you so much!!

[@DyllenNellis]

Thank YOU so much! Good luck :)

[@nomhle386]

This is an amazing video. I’m happy that I found this essay before the application deadline because I’m going to edit my essays. Thank you so.

[@DyllenNellis]

Glad it helped!

[@Blessing_Okafor]

In 10 minutes, she has given me more advice than any other video

[@DyllenNellis]

Appreciate it!!

[@DyllenNellis]

Hey everyone! There has been some concern about the use of "would" versus "will" and honestly, I think you can totally use either one, as long as you stay CONSISTENT! Once you commit to one of those words, stick with it rather than switching between "would" and "will". 🙂 ✅ Learn how to craft a phenomenal college essay in 3 steps with my FREE MASTERCLASS! collegeessayadvice.com/masterclass/

[@cainrudy8316]

i know im randomly asking but does any of you know of a tool to log back into an instagram account..? I was dumb lost my password. I would appreciate any assistance you can offer me.

[@bowiefrancisco6113]

@Cain Rudy Instablaster =)

[@cainrudy8316]

@Bowie Francisco i really appreciate your reply. I got to the site on google and im waiting for the hacking stuff now. I see it takes a while so I will get back to you later with my results.

[@cainrudy8316]

@Bowie Francisco it worked and I finally got access to my account again. I'm so happy:D Thank you so much you saved my account :D

[@bowiefrancisco6113]

@Cain Rudy Glad I could help xD

[@patrick.d840]

I'm applying to Columbia University soon, this video was really helpful tysm!!

[@DyllenNellis]

Good luck!!

[@thexbeast2615]

I haven't wrote any essays yet but am thinking to write about 1.About college 2.fact 3.building relations with lecturers of specific college 4.Advices that gave me Are all these correct please give me more topic I love your videos they are awesome

[@fluffysheep8431]

Hi! I'm trying to transfer into USC as a transfer student and they had two questions that are the "why us" essay: 1.Please provide a statement that addresses your reasons for transferring and the objectives you hope to achieve. You can type directly into the box, or you can paste text from another source. 2. Describe how you plan to pursue your academic interests and why you want to explore them at USC specifically. Please feel free to address your first- and second-choice major selections. I was wondering how you would approach these questions since my answers seem to overlap a lot 😅

[@meetjesse8380]

OMG thanks for all your videos!!! I wouldn’t have been able to apply yesterday without. Soo descriptive and helpful, I followed them to the letter !

[@DyllenNellis]

So glad it helped!! :)

[@Lana-x7l9w]

Thank you so much for this video! I am applying ED to NYU next year and I’ve been brainstorming through my essays,your insights really helped me to highlight my strengths🫶🏻

[@ines868]

this video is A LIFE SAVER ! watching this has made me feel more confident now that i have a clearer framework for my essay :> THANK YOU SO MUCH !

[@lemonsummers1821]

this is really helpful for me while finishing up my applications right now! thank you :-)

[@DyllenNellis]

glad it's helping !!

[@alaluke7159]

Really like this since you go into specific examples on how to do the research on the school with a deeper dive.and how we need to connect ourselves and making a student as asset the school.

[@DyllenNellis]

Thank you!

[@treezit0399]

thank you for the advice!!! kinda unrelated but your eyeshadow is sooo cool

[@malihaantara1089]

This vid is soooo underrated what-???!!! I LUV UR VIDS!!

[@DyllenNellis]

Thank you! 🙌

[@user-co5uu5fd8g]

Oh myyy!! I love youuu! You made me literally so amazed by you during this video!!! Thank you so so much for all the tips and generally all videos on your channel! Information is soo helpful useful and literally priceless ❤❤❤🎉❤❤ please keep on posting and sharing! I really appreciate that 🤩🤩🤩

[@cleo.butterflysflyinthesky1637]

Checklist for a perfect “Why Us Essay” 5:47

[@bonksu2141]

My college application journey is basically over at this point--no clue why I'm just stressing myself out over the essays I can't change anymore lmfao

[@nicosama5981]

Same but this video made me realize how fucked up I am

[@AK47_414]

@@nicosama5981 Where did y’all end up

[@tglink06]

I watched tons of videos but none of them were helpful and simple like yours. All of them kept talking about the same usual stuff and it never helped. Your tips were very helpful and you got straight to the point. Thanks to you I finished my essay pretty quick without any problems.

[@DyllenNellis]

Love to hear that! Thanks so much :)

[@snehasatish791]

This really helped me with prompts, thank you Dyllen!

[@shhshshsh4512]

My previous essays have been a weird combination of a good example essay and a bad example essay. I genuinely don’t know how screwed I am

[@moglin397]

I am very interested in a particular program and have had many experiences and accomplishments in my high school life so far, but what if those experiences and accomplishments are not directly related to the content of the program? For example, I want to study film in college, but all I have done in high school so far is participate in student council and develop apps.

[@heyo8674]

Idk why I'm watching this when I completely finished applying yesterday lol

[@titan8200]

lol same

[@dylanlandau2143]

i'm like half way done right now and the entire time I was scared as hell she was going to say a mistake that I made on my own essays

[@DyllenNellis]

Need your essay edited? More info here 😊 CollegeEssayAdvice.com/

[@eslem8052]

Last year i didn't get scholarship and now I'm applying again and they have this 'why us ' question so i found your video it really helped me thank you💜

[@DyllenNellis]

so glad it helped! wishing you luck!

[@oe-r66]

Great video and very good advice ! Thank you very much ! Very useful ! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@moonbootz5499]

noooo the “bad essay” is basically what i submitted for my application to vassar :’)

[@minty._.penguin9413]

Omg this video came out at the perfect time T_T thank you!!

[@DyllenNellis]

Yay! Happy to help :)

[@draterdiputs]

thank you, this was very concise and helpful

[@aryannsarkari1350]

genuinely the best video for break down of the why essays. thank you!

[@DyllenNellis]

thank you I appreciate it!

[@cadeyoung6617]

Why it is better to use would instead of will? I have seen a lot of other stuff saying that will is more confident and should be used because the readers already know you are not actually part of the college. Now I do not really know what to put lol.

[@DyllenNellis]

Honestly I think either is fine, just as long as you stay consistent!!

[@cadeyoung6617]

@@DyllenNellis ok cool thx so much

[@sparshgandhi5528]

Reeally great video. Thank You

[@kalijohnston561]

what if you don't have career interests, goals, or any idea of what you want to major in ?? im seriously struggling

[@josuemorales1064]

Why would and not will? Does “will”sound aggressive?

[@DyllenNellis]

I added a comment/update about this! I no longer think one is better over the other, just make sure to be consistent!

[@tiffany3255]

can we get an example for the good version :(

[@DyllenNellis]

I have a full college essay course that walks you through the writing process for Why Us essays and includes many excellent examples! More info here: collegeessayadvice.com/course

[@victoriaonthemove]

I cannot find the "why us" essay for Cornell!!!! I can only find the business one under the "writing supplement" portion of CommonApp.

[@niloyjdeb]

Very helpful!

[@ilikebalsa]

Is it ok that I mention about collaborating with people of different backgrounds in my personal statement (will it still sound generic in that case) and that for my supplementals, I use these tips?

[@nirelleksenasitchoa7652]

🤣My draft had every single line you put in the bad example lol. And my Application is due in 2 days

[@meowzillabang3780]

I'm planning to apply for Cornell at the end of this year. I wrote their last year's essays as practice, and this video really helps. Can I write about my high school's graduates who went to Cornell? They told me how good the place was, and I'm not sure whether I should include their accounts.

[@mangalad4565]

Hi! This is just my two cents, but if they said specific things that resonated with you, I say that’d be great to add! I personally used reviews I found online that described the specific learning environment at the school I applied to. If it’s not specific to you and was just general, I’d omit that.

[@ValeriaLopez-dt8de]

Thank you so much for the tips!! I’ll have to come back to this comment in April to see if I was accepted to USC🤞🏽 All in God’s hands

[@DyllenNellis]

How’d it go?

[@rajwardhandeshmukh8480]

Just when we needed it! Thanks!

[@DyllenNellis]

Glad to help!!

[@ZiniaGreene]

So I’m editing my NYU essay but it’s soooo hard to be specific in 400 words. I have to figure how to turn 483 words into 400 words🤦🏾‍♀️

[@Hannah-Abebe]

this is my same struggle!!!

[@tes-quick]

Columbia is only 200 words and im dying

[@tglink06]

@@tes-quick mine is 150 and I'm already dead

[@Hannah-Abebe]

@@tes-quick i did columbia too and holy crap, i never wanna go through that again.

[@manuelaaa3139]

@@tes-quick same. I somehow managed to get less than 200. I'm editing tho. But I think mine is really good. I haven't really heard people talk about what I'm writing on so I think I'm doing real well

[@iq12509]

Am I watching this more than a week after I submitted all of my RD apps? Yes😃

[@vedikaiyer9844]

Just watched for class of 2027! Thank you so much for the insight!

[@Larissa_Al_Ashkar]

Same here! Best of luck to you!!💪🏼💕

[@cranjusmcballer]

About the note regarding separate paragraphs, the Why Yale essay has a very strict word limit of 125. Should I still bother with trying to divide it, because it already only flows as one paragraph

[@DyllenNellis]

Since it is so short, it should be fine however you choose to do it!

[@bad_betchh7346]

Where do we send u to review our college essays

[@DyllenNellis]

collegeessayadvice.com/editing/

[@neelpriyadarshi]

Amazing video. wonderful presentation. !!!

[@idc4163]

When talking about the size and location, would it still be bad even if I had personal reasons for wanting a certain size and location? I think I might just avoid it all together, but they were definitely two of the biggest factors when deciding where to apply to.

[@DyllenNellis]

In my opinion I think that’s fine. It’s great if you can get super personal and specific. It’s just that most ppl who mention those things are super general and say the cliche things about them.

[@AetherCS2]

Smh watching this a month after submitting my USC transfer application lol. There's always next year

[@alankritverma1839]

I don't know about u , but i took notes from this video. Nice video

[@alankritverma1839]

TIP : Open trancript < then coppy < then tick the todo.

[@laurakirsten]

Woot woot Go Dyllen!! I loved the feedback you gave to me on my Why Us essay! I am excited to implement more of your tips into my other ones🤓

[@DyllenNellis]

Ah that makes me so happy!! ❤️❤️

[@johnliu977]

Awesome video thanks for posting dyllen! Question, I thought “will” is more likely to happen while “would” is typically used when the probability is more hypothetical. So do you think it’s better for me to say: As I study Economics at [college] classes like [example] will/would enable me to explore topics like moral dimension of sweatshops...

[@DyllenNellis]

Yeah my thinking is that would is taking into consideration that you may or may not get in. Will is like saying you definitely are

[@johnliu977]

@@DyllenNellis gotcha! So you recommend “will” over “would?” 😅

[@DyllenNellis]

@@johnliu977 No I recommend would lol but honestly it's up to you

[@alyssatherese5422]

DYLLEN idk if you'll see this girl but I love your content keep it up and thank you so much for helping me thru this process!!

[@DyllenNellis]

Aw thank you! I'm so glad my vids are helping :))

[@stevenwang5721]

Thank you very much for this helpful video as I am working on my RD essays! This year’s Ed pools for competitive colleges have expanded 20-30% and some even 50+% in applicants, which significantly lowered the chances for a lot of people. Do you (or anyone else) know why that’s is? Or if there is any way to go about applying RD for competitive schools?

[@DyllenNellis]

You're welcome! And oh wow that's a huge increase. I don't currently know why that is. All of my college apps two yrs ago were RD!

[@marinakamezawa5905]

Thank you!! So glad i saw this before writing my why us essay!

[@DyllenNellis]

Yay!! Ur welcome :)

[@brazenbunnies]

RGB eyeliner. Cool.

[@prathamvankar2401]

i compared the potential college experiences at each school to a bowl of oatmeal and why it’s my preferred bowl of oatmeal lol

[@cinnamonzs]

This broke my heart but that's ok, I still have a couple days to change my essays haha

[@charicliakaravanas7636]

me watching this after already getting into my ED 1 school: 😮

[@nsikankouassi]

Using this for Boston University, thank you so much!

[@DyllenNellis]

Awesome!!

[@georgevincentblanco2345]

Did you get in?!

[@nsikankouassi]

@@georgevincentblanco2345 Yes, On a full Scholarship!

[@georgevincentblanco2345]

@@nsikankouassi Dang congrats! Im finishing up my general ed to transfer & I’ll be applying to USC this fall!

[@nsikankouassi]

@@georgevincentblanco2345 Thanks, Good luck

[@alielkoumy9911]

Hey can I send my why NYU essay , and like analyze it for me

[@DyllenNellis]

Yes! My rates can be found here: DyllenNellis.com/CollegeApps/

[@marcosnunez9758]

YOU ARE A LIFESAVER THANK YOUUUU

[@DyllenNellis]

❤️❤️❤️

[@wendpitroipa321]

This is soo helpful!!!! Thank you!!!!!

[@DyllenNellis]

You’re welcome!

[@hosnas9539]

Thank you again!♡

[@DyllenNellis]

💓💓

[@math_the_why_behind]

Thanks for this video! :)

[@DyllenNellis]

Of course!

[@kamilakavallini6305]

Now I understand why I got rejected from Northwestern

[@DyllenNellis]

:,(

[@JonathanGarcia-pw6xy]

8:32

[@malakabbas1134]

Though all of this is helpful, it doesn’t cover the fact that there is a pretty tight word limit. Columbia, for example, has a 200 word limit for their “why us” essay this year. and all of that just can’t fit in. any tips and suggestions?

[@mariliagabriele2926]

Great video!!

[@DyllenNellis]

thank you!

[@sakshamraina5124]

Can you edit my college essay, i need your help🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏😭😭😭😭🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@DyllenNellis]

Yes! Visit collegeessayadvice.com

[@ayantubedaso3041]

Do you edit essays I woul love if you could edit mine ?

[@DyllenNellis]

Yes! All the info is here: collegeessayadvice.com/editing :)

[@janefola002]

This was so helpful wow

[@DyllenNellis]

Yay! ✨

[@ala64632]

Thank you a lot!!! Is there a document with all the information that was mentioned in the video? It would definitely help

[@mamae1624]

Can't thank enough this girl 🥺

[@DyllenNellis]

💗💗

[@maximilienrobespierre7595]

Tangible

[@meetjesse8380]

Who’s here on ED day ? 😭

[@Delano_Peterson]

Shut up 😭😭😭

[@allisonhartley5551]

Thanks for this Dyllen!

[@DyllenNellis]

❤️❤️❤️

[@alexciss]

EPIC tips!!

[@DyllenNellis]

THANKS!

[@cortannaorient7797]

How is your makeup always on point!

[@DyllenNellis]

Thank you!! 🥰

[@skylarwinter2596]

Is your necklace Newt's necklace from Maze Runner? Either way thank you for this video!! Currently editing last minute haha XD

[@DyllenNellis]

Ahaha no my mom got it for me 😄 and good luck!

[@dipankaryettapu2543]

Thank you!

[@DyllenNellis]

💓

[@jcjaywang]

Yay thanks a lot

[@DyllenNellis]

😊

[@mohammedahmedjalloh531]

Girl youre good

[@Iwtvprintern]

it's time to rewrite again lol

[@deepakmjohn3259]

Can you give us an example plz

[@ErnestoConfused]

holy cheese! you're really pretty :)

[@oyinayo1951]

If there's a scholarship program i hope to be considered for at their school,can i mention it

[@mckenzies.6364]

Miss you broke my heart, but thank you 🥺

[@graciebryner4102]

i literally turned in my columbia essay 2 days ago and now i see this haha

[@frankchen4229]

it's quite simple for someone with just a little rudimentary knowledge of business and economics

[@braydenguy907]

shit I said expand my horizons I'm getting rejected

[@lucaspenha4046]

It was a punch in my face, but it was a good one

[@anonymous_0227]

Will you please check my essay

[@DyllenNellis]

Visit collegeessayadvice.com/editing!

[@anonymous_0227]

@@DyllenNellis thankyou

[@davidyune779]

u look like miranda cosgrove im sorry

[@johntrejo2923]

Hey do you have a boyfriend ❤ Do you want one?

[@dasiysarthub]

Can I get your email, if you want, so you can help me review my essay?

[@DyllenNellis]

You can visit collegeessayadvice.com for my essay editing services!

[@dasiysarthub]

@@DyllenNellis thank you!

[@dasiysarthub]

,@@DyllenNellis I am sorry, but I don't have any money to pay for the editing. Thanks for the help though, I'm very grateful.