Polish your high school admissions essay to make a strong impression.
Most private high schools require an application process prior to admission. This process often includes a meeting between the prospective student (and his parents) and the school's admissions faculty, a tour of the campus and a formal essay. This essay, though usually left open-ended, should reveal the strong aspects of a student's character. It should also explain why the student feels he should be accepted for admission by the school.
Begin Early
Find out the deadline for your admissions essay and gauge your time wisely. An essay that is rushed together the night before it's due tends to be an eyesore, riddled with flaws in form, content, grammar and punctuation. Begin mentally mapping your essay several weeks in advance. This will give your ideas plenty of time to develop before you commit them to paper.
Choose a Topic
Most admissions essays are written without a formal prompt -- the student must choose the topic. Many students experience this creative freedom as a lack of direction and have trouble beginning their work. Select a topic that demonstrates outstanding aspects of your personality, such as a struggle you or your family successfully overcame. You may also write about an inspirational figure or a personal role model, explaining what traits of hers you admire and what she has motivated you to do in your life.
Tie It Together
Bring your essay together by explaining why you would be a good addition to the school's student body. For logical flow and clarity, use details from the topic of the essay to support your reasoning. For example, if you wrote about the time you helped soothe the traumatized victims of a car accident, you might say that your compassion for others and outstanding social skills would be an asset to any classroom. Also describe which aspects of the school (curriculum, conduct, teaching philosophy, extracurricular activities) most appeal to you and why.
Work in Drafts
Instead of trying to complete the essay in a day, begin your first draft about a week before the deadline. The first draft should contain all of your big ideas, such as your main topic of discussion and your reasons for wanting to attend the school. Have a family member or friend read the draft, looking for areas needing major reworking and spelling or grammatical errors. Create a second draft that addresses the criticism and correction of the first. After the second draft, the third and final iteration of your essay -- error-free and easy to read -- should be completed.
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