Private schools and institutions of higher education use school applications as a way to get to know potential students as they consider them admissions. Taken together with interviews, grade reports, test results and recommendations, school programs help round out the school’s image of the applicant with the applicant’s own words. These admissions programs are most often separated from scholarship programs and financial aid applications.
The first thing to consider when completing school programs is that admissions officers who receive them receive a very large number of them. And there are some things they can see without even starting to read. You can make this “first glance” count by doing the following:
The other important thing to consider with school programs is the need for honesty. Just like any form with which you register your name, request an application for your true input. Posting officers will more easily contextualize and forgive past mistakes than they will dishonesty.
The essay is another important part of many school programs. Some schools allow students to choose a part of the writing process that represents their best efforts or choose what topic they want to focus on, in which case a student may prefer to use a piece that has been worked on in a class and had the benefit of it process.
Other schools include prompts that are so special that the student has to write a new piece. In this case, write the piece and leave some time before finishing it is likely to give new perspective. If a school provides a quick, you can use the same style that is asked to judge what kind of response is invited. Some messages are designed to show a student’s creativity, while others can focus more on achievement. Given a choice, consider which topics will show you the best benefit.
Students with a disability who raise some difficulty in meeting the requirements of the school’s application should contact a admissions officer for explicit instructions. Describe the special circumstances and allow the admissions officer to guide you to an appropriate solution.
One special thing to note: admissions officials have learned that Googling student names and reading some open material online gives them a more complete picture of applicants. If you have public posts online, you may want to review them before submitting your application.
