Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It’s a small school with under 1,800 students and 100% of the student population lives on campus, which is rare. Fun fact: there are no stoplights in Gambier! The acceptance rate is around 34%.
Another fun fact: Kenyon doesn’t have a supplement. But a 34% acceptance rate is still on the low end, and you might be wondering how to make yourself stand out in the pile of applications they’ll be receiving this year. Here’s how:
Let’s say that you want to study Environmental Science in college. Kenyon wants to know why, of all places, that’s where you want to further your education. You’re going to write them an email (we’ll give you directions later) that explains why Kenyon is the only logical place for you to go to college.
You should start by familiarizing yourself with their website and all of the offerings that are related to your intended major. We’re going to stick with Environmental Science as an example for this blog post, but obviously, you should plug in your own major.
You might have noticed that 40% of the food that is served on campus comes from the student-run farm on campus. This sounds pretty alluring to someone who is interested in sustainability and the environment. Once you’ve looked through the main pages of the website, find 1-2 upper level classes that you want to take and a professor who you would like to collaborate with on a research project. Then turn to how you’ll spend your time while you’re not in class, and look through the list of the 150 student groups on campus. Be sure to write about an extracurricular activity that is an extension of what you did in high school. You’re looking for things that align well with what you’ve done in the past, including the extracurricular activity that you plan to include in your email. But you’re not done: you can’t just say that you want to take this, this, and that – and then be done with things. You need to write about how your past learning experiences make you a good fit for taking the classes you choose and for working with the professor. Think about what you’ve done: books you’ve read, classes you’ve taken, jobs and internships, articles you peruse, etc. Think about what connects you to the classes and write about what you’ll be bringing to the table. For example, if you volunteered at a rooftop garden in New York City, that would be an ideal thing to mention when explaining why you want to work at the farm on campus.
A lot of people write supplements that highlight the offerings of the school without explaining how you’re going to contribute. Remember, you’re writing Kenyon an email about yourself: they’re not interested in having their curriculum repeated back to them. They know what the school has to offer, they want to know what you’re going to take advantage of should you get in and how you’re going to enrich the community just by being there. In other words, focus on what you and Kenyon have in common and write about how perfect of a fit the school is for you.
Here’s exactly what your email should include:
An introduction
A brief story about your academic interests
One sentence stating what you plan to major in
1-2 classes you want to take (These should be upper-level courses because they are more specific to Kenyon)
A professor who you’d like to do research with
An extracurricular activity you plan to join
A closing sentence that thanks the reader for their time
When working with TKG clients, we usually cap these emails around 400 words at the absolute most. This isn’t something that Kenyon asked for, so you should be especially mindful of their time. Be polite! We recommend sending your email to their admissions office and then calling to follow up and confirm receipt. Best of luck!
If you want to work with someone one-on-one, contact us here.