Hey guys! I hope your holidays have been nice! I wanted to come on here to ask for advice on essays because I want to make mine better(sorry for the other post, I made a new account because I didn’t like my username). I also wanted to find some opinions on my stats to see if I’m a well rounded applicant! I applying only to Loomis this year because I got waitlisted last year and I really think that the school would be a good place for me to do well and a great environment. Currently, I am a 10th grader who will be applying for 10th grade again and will be a day student.
School:
- I take all honors at school, AP Biology, along with AP Seminar
- I have mostly A’s/A-'s, one B+ in English, and a B- in French(I’m going to explain why French is really low, its at a B+ in the second quarter now because I got used to the curiculum and caught up on materials I missed since I was in non-honors last year)
- I am involved in a medical club along with a club to help animals, I am also planning to create a club for jewelry
Extracurriculars:
- I volunteer to help disabled kids play soccer along with meal volunteering
- I have played soccer for 7 years
- I have awards but they were from middle/elementary, our school does not really give out awards in high school
Teacher Rec’s/interview:
- My math teacher likes me and my AP Biology teacher will be giving me an additional recommendation
- For English, I don’t know how my English teacher will be responding to the questions on the recommendation since I do go to him for extra help a lot but I can’t really tell how he feels about me, I am also not the best at English
- My interviewer seems to like me, I think the interview was around 35 minutes but he and I made some jokes and said good things about me to my parents
For the smaller questions on the application:
It is asking me to talk about articles, podcasts, books, and documentaries I have seen or read in the past year that I did not experience at school. I am a huge true crime fan and it love watching the documentaries on Netflix but I’m not sure if I should say that on my short response or not because I don’t want to come off as creepy or anything along those lines. Thanks guys!
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My advice on the essay is to be yourself. If you’re a crime fan, you should write about that. Already just hearing that idea, I already know that you could write an amazing short response out of that. Don’t worry if you’re going to come off as creepy, admissions officers have probably seen enough kids who are into horror movies and books. As long as you can represent yourself through the short response, go for it!
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Definitely write about what you love - they need a wide range of interests and types of people to craft their community.
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Write about what you love and let your enthusiasm be obvious. Trust me, you are not alone in your love of true crime stoties – there’s a reason there’s so much of it out there!
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I have a different opinion than those expressed in the responses above.
Whatever you love is not so important, unless it can be shown that your love of it helps the school. Use your answers to every question you can to highlight how you could benefit the school. Here’s a potential example: Have you ever learned something in an article about soccer that can help you make varsity and become a top defender, wing, whatever? Maybe write about that, as it’s something Loomis would probably care about, whereas I just don’t think it would care so much whether you like crime shows, etc. It’s looking for academically strong kids with “hooks,” i.e., kids who fill rolls in athletic teams, theater productions, the orchestra, debate team, etc. So, write about crime shows if you want, but only if it relates to an activity in which you’d participate at the high school level.
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I agree with the above about tuning your interest to what you offer the school. True crime could show a lot of personal characteristics and interests that make you a strong community member. But it’s certainly an easier leap than ticktock or video games.
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I think writing about your interest in crime could be excellent! But relate it to saying something about you – e.g. you love solving puzzles/mysteries, which is also why you find intellectual puzzles fascinating and why you love solving math problems too. (Not a great example).
The soccer thing mentioned upthread – eh. Sports only makes a difference if you are recruited. Now, if soccer is your passion and you read everything there is about soccer, sure. But otherwise I think it would make a weak essay.
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Of course, you could be correct for the OP on the soccer thing specifically, which I meant only as an example of what she could cover. The main point I want to make is that whatever applicants write about, if it’s more than a very brief answer they should attempt to address the school’s needs in some area. Otherwise, it’s a missed opportunity, IMHO, at least for the highest profile schools.
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What you bring to a school and how you add value isn’t necessarily what you do but also who you are. If you like true crime because you are amazrd by how others think differently ftom you, you like listening to others’ stories, you like the reminder that people aren’t what they akways seem, etc, you are conveying an interest in humanity that could be the social glue in a school community.
I agree that it’s easier to articulate your value when it’s something you do, but the value may be greater in who you are.
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Aww thank you! I will consider doing it because I am also thinking about what I can contribute to the school.
Thank you! I’m still thinking about writing about crime topics but I’m being indecisive so I’ll ask more of my friends who go to Loomis.
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I haven’t thought of it in this way but I agree! I’ll try to find a way to convey my personality into the response along with ways that I can contribute to the school.
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