The thing is, colleges are getting more and more similar: liberal arts curriculum, quality professors, small class sizes, discussion-based classrooms. The colleges on my list are very much similar because they attract the same kind of students. So, how to say each one of them is special and I am so passionate about joining them?
Never mention these similarities. We never want to be complimented on things everyone has. We crave to be special. We need someone to point out to us the things that are lurking, hidden, hard to find, to make us unique above all. If you just give me generic comments that can be applied to anyone, I know you don’t get me and what you say will have no value to me because you don’t see me. So, never recycle essays. It’s the same as using the same pickup lines for every girl. They will know it’s not genuine and they are just like anyone else. Who likes to be with someone who treats you the same as anyone else?
Also don’t talk about basic differences, like locations or size. These are things that cannot be changed. Yes, complimenting me on my hair length can be nice, but that should not be the reason you like me. The girl next to me also has short hair, does that mean you like her too and I’m not the one and only?
What to do instead is focus on the edge they have. Maybe it’s the vibe - Vassar is known to be very artsy, for example, and you want to be immersed in this kind of environment. Maybe it’s the approach of a major of your interest - how it incorporates history and philosophy into the study and practice of media - and even further, how this method will help you answer a question that matters to you. Here I highlight specificity - not just whether the school has a department or not, but the pedagogy of that major and how you are gonna harness their resources.
Final thing, talk about these traits together, because each trait can be repeated, but the combination of them would be unique. Oberlin, for example has a film program that allows you to be exchanged to NYU Tisch or Prague Film School plus a phenomenal writing program for your screenwriting skills. It is the interaction among these factors that got you genuinely interested and you should show that.