<p>My English teacher will not assign any essays until we are done with our grammar unit (that ends around January).
My Mom, on the other hand, wants EVERYTHING submitted by Xmas.
How am I supposed to complete my application, then?!
Would it be acceptable if I submit a graded writing piece from last year?</p>
<p>This happens. It's also not a great reflection on the school that you don't have a writing sample to show half way into the school year. So I wouldn't flaunt that by dredging up a paper from last year.</p>
<p>First...I don't think the requirement is limited to papers written for English class. History or science papers would count, too. (But check first, of course.) One of those papers could be what you send in.</p>
<p>Second...you may have a short piece that you've written that was not graded as a paper. Surely you were asked to write a 1-2 page paper regarding your summer reading. Find a paper along those lines -- or see if your teachers have saved such a paper of yours in their files.</p>
<p>Hopefully one of those two sources will produce a satisfactory writing sample. Once you've done that -- and assuming that it's not already marked up and graded -- ask your English teacher to mark it up and assign it a numeric or letter grade...with red ink and all...and with the understanding that it's for the purpose of completing your applications, not an assignment that will count as part of your grade.</p>
<p>Take the graded paper and make COLOR COPIES of it -- one for each school you apply to -- and turn that in. I would strongly consider attaching a cover sheet that describes the assignment or essay prompt so that the application reader has some context.</p>
<p>My english teacher is the same way. I asked her to give me an essay prompt and i wrote about it. She graded it and now it's good to go.</p>
<p>Is a 2-3 page paper (double spaced) long enough? Are they looking for something longer?</p>
<p>Wow! I can't believe that students in 8th or 9th grade would not have a choice of several papers to turn in at this point of the year. No papers on what you have been reading? No history papers? No diary or writing notebook that gets evaluated? How do you get graded in English and history? If this is the case for you, I can understand that you would want to change schools. On the other hand, if this is the case for you, a top bs will probably be a major change in academic expectations for you. Maybe you could send in an essay-format test that you have taken. Check with the school.</p>
<p>I think an ideal paper length to send in would be 2-5 pages.</p>
<ol>
<li>Its not like I'm going to school at a dump. We're mostly focused on interpreting writing at this point.</li>
<li>What are you implying about BS being a big change "for me"? Isn't it for everyone?</li>
<li>5 pages? Thats insane. You'd be lucky if an admissions rep. browsed it over lunch.</li>
</ol>
<p>cricket - when I said "probably be a major change in academic expectations," I meant that there will be a lot more writing than you are used to, that's all. If you have interpreted writing in writing, that's good to send in. When I wrote 2-5 pages, I first thought "2-3" pages, but then remembered that in some "more is better" middle schools the teachers routinely assign 5 pages.</p>
<p>here is a funny story. my english teacher is new to our school. i gave her a new essay to grade. when i got it back i nearly cried. it was basically an F. i was crushed.</p>
<p>anyway, i just got an email from her apologizing. she improperly used the grading sheet used by my middle school on writing skill. my teacher did every thing backwards. whew. i feel much better.</p>
<p>footballer- Oh dear. I would have possibly passed out.
No. Defiantly passed out.</p>
<p>i asked my teacher to give me some promts since she wasn't assinging th kinds of essay they want for a while, so that's what she did and i'm writing one right. My mom also wantes everything done before christmas. :) (whish seems somewhat impossible, but whatever, i'll do my best:)</p>
<p>What should the writing sample be able to accomplish?</p>
<p>i am basically done. the hard part was writing the parts they required by hand. just need to tweak my deerfield handwritten then done.</p>
<p>I must admit this "made up assignment" for use soley for the application seems wrong to me.</p>
<p>it's the best i could do. There was nothing else i could give to admissions. It's not like i'm cheating, this a is a graded example of my writing. she gave me some prompts (pretty bad ones actuall) and ig going to grad that paper like everyone else. It was either that or a research report and the schools i'm applying to specifically ask for no research reports. what else could i do? Believe me of you you have an idea i would love to hear it.</p>