Wake Forest University's wording, checked October 26, 2026“Why Wake?”
How to approach it
- 1Lead with your strongest specific reason.
- 2Tie it to something you have done.
- 3Stop at 100 words; do not list.
A structure that works
One way to shape this answer. It describes moves, not sentences: the words have to be yours.
- 1Your strongest reason, specific to Wake Forest.
- 2The experience that makes it matter to you.
- 3A one-sentence picture of you there.
Mistakes to avoid
- Size, campus and weather as the reasons.
The checklist our grader uses for this question
When you check your Wake Forest answers, this answer is read against these 5 areas. Each comes back Met, Partly or Missing with a quote from your draft as evidence, and together with the 100 words limit they set its readiness verdict.
| Area | What a reader looks for |
|---|---|
| Answers the question | The opening sentences answer what was asked, plainly, before background or a hook; every part of a multi-part question is answered. |
| Specific to this college | It names at least two concrete things that exist at this college (a program, course, research group, tradition, place, way of teaching) and could not survive a swap of the college's name. |
| Connected to you | Each thing named is tied to something the applicant has done, asked or wants, so the reader sees why it matters to THIS student, not why the college is good. |
| What you would do there | It shows how the applicant would use those things and what they would add (join, start, research, contribute), not only what they would receive. |
| Wake Forest's ask | In 100 words, names what about Wake Forest specifically draws the applicant. |
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Questions
More on Wake Forest and this kind of question
- Harvard: How you will use your Harvard education · 150 words
- Columbia: Why Columbia · 150 words
- Brown: Your approach to the Open Curriculum · 150-250 words
- Dartmouth: Why Dartmouth · 100 words
- Cornell: CALS: what draws you to CALS · 350 words
- Cornell: Engineering: why Duffield · 200 words