Lafayette College is a liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania which is a small town outside of Allentown. While it is a liberal arts college, they also have a great engineering program. They also host a wide range of research opportunities for their about 2,500 undergrads. They have an acceptance rate of about 41% during regular decision and 53% for early decision. Their supplement only has one question and it's a fairly standard one.
Students identify Lafayette as an excellent fit for countless reasons. In your response, be deliberate and specific about your motivation for applying to Lafayette.
Why Lafayette? (20-200 words)*
This is probably the essay we see the most, the “why do you want to go here?” essay. They hint at how you should approach this essay in the prompt, “specific.” This is what we have been saying for years. You need to do a little research for this type of question and get specific.
A lot of students just say something like, “cause it's a good school.” This doesn’t cut it.
Also, we know what you are thinking. You are thinking, “wait but they give you an option of doing twenty words… I am going to do something creative like just say, ‘Layafette is my number 1 choice.’” We usually are all for being creative, but doing something like that is a huge risk. Doing a micro essay here is hard to pull off and if you do it, you still need specifics (come on, it’s in the prompt.) Instead, we recommend a certain way to answer this. We have come up with a bit of a formula to use for how to approach this type of question.
The first thing you should do is tell a short personal story about when you fell in love with the subject you plan to major in at Lafayette. For example, if you plan to study chemistry, you could tell a story about an experiment you did in middle school that sparked your passion. You then should segway that into stating your intended major at Lafayette.
Now it’s time to back up your assertion with some specifics. Find two higher-level classes. Mention them and why you want to take them. Higher-level classes are usually marked with 300 or 400s. Skip anything that is a 101. Intro courses are usually the same everywhere so they won’t say much about Lafayette specifically. You should also mention a professor you would like to do research with and why. Lafayette is big on research and they have opportunities listed on their website for their specific programs so you can also take that route. But mention a specific opportunity. During your research, if you see any other academic opportunities that get you excited, you can speak to those as well.
Once you have talked about academics, mention something outside of the class. Talk about a club or extracurricular you want to do during your time at Lafayette. The best choices for this are ones that are connected to something you are already doing. Because then you have a chance to talk about yourself. For example, if you do dance, maybe mention Lafayette’s Salsa Club.
This is a pretty short essay so this is probably all you are going to have time to talk about. You don’t need a formal conclusion, but try to wrap it up and leave the reader thinking that you are a great candidate and Lafayette is the perfect school for you.
Lafayette’s supplement is straightforward and short. Don’t make this harder than it has to be. All you have to do is take a little time to research the school and what you hope to do during your time there. If you do that, you should be golden.
Need help? We got you. Contact us here.