Washington and Lee University's wording, checked October 26, 2026“There are over 8,200 accredited colleges and universities in the U.S. alone. You have chosen to apply to Washington and Lee University. Please describe how you have familiarized yourself with W&L and what aspects of its community are most exciting to you.”
How to approach it
- 1Name the ways you learned about W&L (visit, session, conversation).
- 2Pick the community aspects that excite you and tie each to you.
A structure that works
One way to shape this answer. It describes moves, not sentences: the words have to be yours.
- 1How you got to know W&L.
- 2The aspect of its community that excites you most, and why.
- 3What you would add to it.
Where the 250 words go
| Part | Words |
|---|---|
| Your first, most specific reason | about 90 |
| A second reason, tied to your experience | about 90 |
| What you would do or add there | about 80 |
Mistakes to avoid
- Rankings and scenery.
- Not answering the "how you familiarized" half.
The checklist our grader uses for this question
When you check your W&L 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 250 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. |
| W&L's ask | Says how the applicant familiarized themselves with W&L and which aspects of its community excite them. |
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Questions
More on W&L and this kind of question
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- 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