For the first fifteen years of my life, I was “determined” to continue my education anywhere but Northwestern. I had been declared a Wildcat supporter from the womb: most of my onesies said “Go Cats!”. Having heard so much about NU, I felt I knew it well. But far from rebelling against my mother’s hidden hopes—that she still will not admit—by tentatively rejecting her alma mater I was actually conforming to classic teenage ways and only hurting...

Show the school that you took the time to really research their institution. Show that you know what they have to offer to you as a potential student and what you can offer to them as...