What is the most challenging part of applying to a private high school?
Answer: it’s the writing, and you can help yourself by starting this summer!
I don’t need to tell you that many families feel stressed anticipating what the high school admission process will entail. So here’s the breakdown: School events and visits take time, often at inconvenient times, during the school day and on weekends. Decision-making can be emotionally grueling. Students are still 8th graders and their school work and commitments are paramount. The piece that can be hardest for students is application essay writing because it adds one more demand on their time, it forces introspection, and most of all because writing is hard for most people–especially for 8th graders who have less experience with it.
Your child will procrastinate. During a busy 8th grade year, who wants to take their precious downtime in the evening or on a weekend to write? It often feels high stakes and a little scary. Most 8th graders would like to bang out their essays in a single sitting and be done with it. They ignore everything they’ve learned at school about the writing process and the structure of an essay. I don’t blame them; we all do this. We dread writing, postpone it, and it piles up, and finally, when we face it, we feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start.
It’s May, so why am I talking about high school essay writing right now? This is to encourage you to use the summer to get an early start on essay writing. Use some time this summer to brainstorm ideas when you don’t feel pressured by deadlines and get started early. Start small. Carve out a little time, and just start with one question at a time. Here are three prompts for students and parents:
Writing prompts for students:
What do I like doing, in school or out of school? What am I good at? What do I enjoy talking about? What might I do with a free Saturday?What are some experiences that have shaped who I am as a person?What am I looking for in a school? What do I like best in school? What would I like more of?
Writing prompts for parents:
Who is my child? What are their strengths or weaknesses as a student and a person?What are the moments in their life that have defined them and have brought out their gifts?What do I want in a school for them? What kind of environment will allow them to thrive?
Begin by brainstorming, and then add details. Vivid details bring a story to life. While you don’t have essay questions yet, you can begin by creating a basic outline and drafts built around these questions–understanding that you will need to tailor essays to specific questions down the line.
If you do this now, I promise that you will thank yourself in the fall because editing is always easier than writing. While there will be more specific essays to come, if you can get started with these prompts, you can avoid the emotional block of getting started this fall.
If you still feel angst about writing high school application essays and recognize the value of starting this summer, I will be offering a virtual High School Application Essay Writing Bootcamp, August 5-9, for a small number of students. This will help them get started writing essays so they can head into the fall with two drafted essays. If you’re interested, you can register here.
This fall, I’ll share more about getting started writing, dealing with procrastination, and helping student writers.
Tara Boland is a former high school and middle school English teacher. She began working with student writers in college as a writing tutor at Bowdoin College, when she was taught how to be a “Writing Assistant” to her peers. Ever since, she’s been helping friends, students, and clients brainstorm, write, revise, and edit admission essays for every level of school (preschool through medical, business, and law school, and everything in between).
