How to Rock Your Boarding School Essay | Avon Old Farms Blog
To be honest, I was terrified going into middle school. Different classes, new school, unfamiliar faces, I had no idea what I was getting into. Some advice that a new coming middle school student should know is how to make friends, get to know the school, and how to pass their classes. Sure, you never want to forget your elementary school friends, but there will be better friends, closer friends.…
A messy bedroom, Arctic Monkeys as background music, and an adolescent begrudgingly writing an essay for their twelfth grade English class is the current scene. This is the perspective of a senior; an absolutely glamorous time in life. It's an alarming thought that my high school career has brought me to this point as I search my mind for the correct words to advise you and my fingers tap away at my small keyboard. I'm supposed to give advice and guidance to the future graduates of our beloved Quincy High School, but there's little I can give that can be completely relatable to all. For example, I was raised by a single father, am a part-time cashier, and can barely figure out how the Pythagorean theorem will actually affect my adult life.…
So I’m applying to four schools: Phillips Academy Andover, Phillips Exeter Academy, St. Paul’s School, and Choate Rosemary Hall.
I’m not a good writer at all, and I already submitted my essays for all four schools. For SPS, I think I did fine (I mainly talked about how my father influenced me to become hardworking and ambitious), but I’m mainly concerned about my essays for Choate, Exeter, and Andover.
Boarding School Essays: Example Admission Questions
In chapter 5, the topic of privilege is brought out in how these boarding school students get into Ivy League colleges. The book talks about the relationships the colleges build with St. Paul’s and how they accept students because they know they will not interfere with their school ranking. When we talked about this in class, many classmates talked
However, after I submitted my essays, I read other people’s essays, and I began to realize how emotionless my essay was. My essay was devoid of any colorful description, and I literally described my feelings like this: “I felt really disappointed and began to doubt myself,” or something along the lines of that. I’ve been panicking about this ever since! I can’t stop worrying about it because I know schools look for emotion, and personality. AHHHHHHHH!!
Some essay samples below are by students who chose to write about a challenge, while other examples may be helpful if you’re looking to write about yourself more generally. And yes, a few of these essays did help these students get accepted into the Ivy League, (I’m not telling you which!) though these are all great essays regardless of where (or if) students were admitted to their top choice school.
In the next two entries, I will be exploring two aspects of the application process. First, I will take a look at the Gateway to Prep School forms and try to give some recommendations as you fill that out. In the next segment, I will explore the personal essays (specific to each school) as well as the interview process.
Essays For Boarding Schools (help)
“Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people that are prepared for today.” These heartfelt words were spoken by the civil rights activist Malcolm X who believed that people should never stop learning. I’m very much like him in that way. I believe that everybody should have the right to a fair education. I certainly enjoy learning at my current school, Julia R. Masterman. Masterman has taught me many things that I never thought I would learn. In this essay I will discuss how my education, so far, has impacted my life through improving social skills, rigorous academics and has increased my sense of independence.
Sample Student Essay for Private High School Admissions
Gateway to Prep Schools is new, and while I saw it while working in an Admissions office, I did not use it when I applied. Some brief advice on the writing supplement and recommendations before moving into the candidate profile aspect of the applications: do not get caught up in grades, but focus rather on ideas. If you are applying to Prep School with mostly A's and one or two B+'s or A-'s, it doesn't really matter to the Prep School if the teacher writing your recommendation was in a class you received an A. It doesn't really matter if you received an A on the graded writing supplement. For reference, when I applied to high-school, I had a teacher write me a recommendation whose class I was doing the worst in. I did this for two reasons. First, I had a great relationship with him, and knew he would speak well of my abilities, and second, I wanted to address that grade head on. Rather than hide my 'B-' among the A's, I had the teacher write a recommendation so he could talk about how hard I was working in the class, and how drastically I was improving. For my college application, despite the fact that I had dozens of A or A+ essays that I could have chosen from, I picked an A- essay that I felt had the most engaging comments written on it. Most Admissions officers are not English teachers. They would rather see comments that engage what it is you've written, give positive feedback as well as helpful criticism. That way, it demonstrates that you are a student seeking to improve, rather than one who becomes content receiving A's on everything you turn in. Keep in mind, you will probably not show up at Prep School and find it as easy as you did middle school. Admissions officers know this. Therefore, they are looking for students who have the potential to receive positive feedback and improve. Show this in your essay and your recommendations. That said, don't submit an essay you received a C+ on... be strategic.
How To Write A Private High School Application Essay Worth Reading
Okay... the Candidate Profile. Much of this information is rather straight-forward and informational. I would anticipate three questions from what I see: Which extra-curricular activities should I list, which personal achievements, and should I mention siblings/alumni? Let's take these one at a time. Extracurricular activities: Don't feel that you need to fill out the 9 available slots; you do not. You should begin with those activities in which you are the most invested, i.e. time consuming or most passionate. These are the activities that you are going to talk about in your personal essays, or the activities for which you have received awards. These are the activities that you are going to talk about in interview. Think of these as your calling card; this activity (or two activities) is going to be what Admissions officers take from your application, what they bring up in committee, what they remember you by, and most importantly, what they think you will bring to their community if they admit you. From there, move down to less vital but equally representative characteristics of your character. I was a soccer referee in middle school. Towards the bottom of this list, I would have included that. Some sort of volunteerism is appropriate.