I’ve looked at a lot of the essay prompts boarding school applications and have begun to write them. But every time I start to write it, I look back and it doesn’t seem right. Or it seems to clique.
It seems like I can never finish the essays and short answers for several schools. Frankly, this has turned out to be far more stressful then I have imagined, yes, I have tried to prepare myself for this load.
Does anyone have tips when writing the essays in order to appeal myself because I know it is a crucial part of the application process. Furthermore, any tips on relieving the stress, yes it is a bit difficult juggling this and school grades.
Put aside the prompts for the time being. Instead, take out a fresh piece of paper and make a list of the things that make you unique. What do you love? What do you hate? What are you particularly good at? Not good at? What are some unique (or at least unusual) experiences you’ve had in your life? Just write it all down, without any judgment about whether these are the “right” things to put on the list or whether you’d die of mortification if anyone other than you ever saw this.
Now, put that list aside for a little bit. Maybe a few days. If something additional just pops into your head that you want to add, go ahead and do that but otherwise don’t think about the list or the essays in the mean time.
Ok, now that you’ve had some time to let it settle, look at the list with a fresh eye. What are the things that jump out at you as being essential to what makes you unique? In other words, what can you take from this list and turn into a few main points that you’d want to convey about yourself and why a boarding school would want you. Don’t worry about whether they sound exotic or amazing, the most important thing is that they are genuine to you. Just to give you an example, my son decided that what he really wanted most to highlight about himself was his love of history and travel, and how those two things connected in his mind. Secondarily, he wanted to emphasize his love of baseball, as something that was a real passion for him even if he’s not a star player. But your list could be anything, and could just as easily focus on personality attributes, like resilience or creativity. For every theme or concept you come up with, you should then have a couple of specific examples that show why this is true.
At this point, it would be helpful for you to run your thinking past some trusted adult in your life, just for a reality check. Hey dad, I’m thinking that what I really want to convey about myself to the schools that I’m applying to is x, y, and z, do you agree that those are things that a school might be interested in and that really sound like me? Once you have that solidified, NOW you can turn to looking at the prompts.
The best essays will come about if you can find a legitimate way to use on of the prompts to convey these ideas. I guarantee that if you approach the essays by already having a firm idea of what you’d like to be able to convey about yourself, your essays will be much, much better than if you just read the prompts and write whatever thing pops into your head in response.
I agree, converse with adults who know you well, for some direction. It may feel very weird to self promote yourself at your age. An adult can help you to recognize your potential in a way you hadn’t yet considered. Keep some loose themes percolating, try them out, maybe change your mind, no worries… let the writing evolve after.
