<p>Actually, I would write about something else, making sure you proudly display the skills that got you an A+ in your English class. I’m not trying to beat on you here, but private, “college prep” schools are theoretically supposed to offer a better high school education than public ones (I’m not saying that this is always the case). Thus, ivy leagues and other private colleges may see success at a prep school as an indicator that the student is able to handle the workload in college, and inability to cope a preclude to academic struggle.</p>
<p>On apps, you have to list all high schools attended, and unless you want to flat-out lie, which I strongly advise against, you will have to forward your prep school transcript. For the common app essay, I just think you should pick something else to write about. At college, there will be many egomaniacs and prep school kids-its inevitable, but their effect is diluted with a larger student body than high school and the presence of other types of people. </p>
<p>To talk about struggle at a prep school as “a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you” or “some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you” just seems rather frivolous and a “first world problem,” no matter how much it stressed you out at that point in your life. Basically, to counter your one semester’s worth of bad grades, you should write about something that highlights your strengths, and touch on this time in the additional comments or in a supplement essay if you still so wish.</p>
<p>I wish you best of luck! If you can do well in all the AP’s you’re taking right now to prove that yes, you can hack school, this should go a long way towards offsetting your lower grades.</p>