<p>I have to send in a writing sample with teacher's comments that will 'show you at your intellecual best'. How am I supposed to write it. It doesnt sound like MHC wants us to write about something creative or something that describes our personality. What type of writing should it be?</p>
<p>I believe they want a graded essay that you have written for high school.</p>
<p>MHC does want an essay that you wrote that was graded by a HS teacher. Best if the paper has written comments by he teacher. Also include the assignment. Suggest picking a paper dealing with something that is somewhat known, like a paper you wrote about a well known book or play, like Hamlet, Streetcar Named Desire. The admissions person is likely familiar with the book making a review of your paper easier.</p>
<p>yeah, this is a big problem… at least here in germany 
i wanted to send in a copy of my final a-level exam in english, but they refused to give me the comments and the assignment because of some law against the improper use of old papers… <em>scratchhead</em></p>
<p>You can send a draft of a paper and explain that the German system doesn’t allow you to submit a graded paper because they are not returned. Don’t sweat it. Mt. Holyoke is very user friendly; they can’t expect you to submit a paper if you don’t have any.</p>
<p>I would contact the international admissions contact, explain the situation and ask whether they have an alternate requirement.</p>
<p>hey, thank you guys for answering!
actually, i spoke about this to the admissions officer with whom i had my admissions interview and she also told me not to worry about it, if it is impossible to get that paper, i wouln’t have to send it in. the thing is that i really want to send it in, because it is a good paper and i am worried about possible diadvantages in the application process… i’d just feel better if i had done everthing “right” in the application process.
but i plan on applying early decision, so i won’t have much more time to argue with my highschool.
but thanks for your responses anyway ;-)</p>
<p>does anyone have an idea about how long it takes for international students to really adjust to the language? i expect to get familiar with english on college-level fast, but i am really worried about the first few month… anyone any experience in that field?</p>