My son applied some schools for 9th grade last year and got waitlisted. He is going to reapply for the same schools for 10th grade this year.
However the topics for the personal essays and parent statements are same as last year. Should we rewrite with different stories or just update the old responses last year? Any advices will be appreciated.
Start fresh.
Whatever you did last time wasn’t quite good enough… at MULTIPLE schools. So he has to up his game. Show some personal growth. Or rethink his list of schools, and where he’d really fit.
As for the parent statement… I’d start out fresh on those too. Really look at what these schools have done in the past year - show that you are paying attention, and are on board with the schools’ values.
Agreed with the above point. Since last year, I’m sure that he has had new experiences and growth so I would refocus on the most compelling parts of him.
So I would either improve or write completely new essays to make him more competitive!
Thanks for the suggestions! they are very helpful.
Honestly unless something fairly new and different can be clearly conveyed, I’d add additional schools.
Are parent statements very important in application? My parents are immigrants. Their English is not very polished.
It depends on the school… And in some cases, how important the parent statement is depends on the applicant.
The school wants the parents of their students to support the schools mission.
The school is also sometimes interested in information parent(s) provide that’s not in the parent application.
I would like to think it would only negatively affect the application would be if a parent came across as meddlesome, or not really supportive of their child attending prep school.
I see, thank you. So being supportive is most important as opposed to being eloquent.
@cfleaf, another vote for starting fresh. But DO go back and re-read what you wrote last year. If something has changed, you candecide whether to reference it rather than appearing to change your application to be more appealing. (Last year, I was interested in x. Because of covid, I couldn’t pursue that but did discover y…)
Reapplying can be helpful in showing sustained interest but showing growth is equally important. You need to show why you’re a better applicant this year.
Thanks all for the advices!