The swap test
Replace the university's name in your essay with another university's. If the essay still works, it isn't a "Why us" yet: nothing in it is specific to that university, or to you.
We ran two demo answers to Columbia's question through Edlume's essay diagnostic. The generic one scored 2/10, with this verdict: "swap 'Columbia' for 'NYU' or 'Penn' and nothing breaks." The one built on a personal scene and Columbia's Core Curriculum scored 7/10.
What the reader is looking for
- Specifics that only exist at this university: a program, a course, a research opportunity, a way of teaching.
- What you would do with them, tied to something you've already done or wondered about.
- No praise. The university knows its reputation. Every sentence spent on it is a sentence not spent on you.
Real prompts and limits for 2026–27
| University | Prompt | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Columbia University | Why are you interested in attending Columbia University? We encourage you to consider the aspect(s) that you find unique and compelling about Columbia. | 150 words or fewer |
| University of Pennsylvania | How will you explore community at Penn? Consider how Penn will help shape your perspective, and how your experiences and perspective will help shape Penn. | 50-200 words |
A structure that works
- Start from you: one concrete scene or interest, in two or three sentences.
- Bridge to two specifics at the university, and say what you'd do with each.
- End on what you'd bring or build there, not on a summary.
The mistakes that cost the most
- Another university's name left in the essay after reusing it. The most fatal mistake, and the most common.
- Reputation, rankings, the city and a beautiful campus. True of many universities, so they say nothing.
- Course names copied from the website without saying why they matter to you.
Questions
How long is a "Why us" essay?
It depends on the university: 150 words or fewer for Columbia's question, 50 to 200 words for Penn's community question in 2026–27. Each university's page on Edlume shows its prompts where we've verified them.
Can I reuse a "Why us" essay for several universities?
Only the parts about you. The part about the university has to be rewritten for each one: that's exactly what the swap test catches.
What is the most common "Why us" mistake?
Leaving another university's name in a reused essay, followed by writing about reputation and campus instead of what you'd actually do there.