Can someone please explain the difference between these two and the role they play in overall admission process. Thanks in advance!
An application essay is an essay that you write in direct response to a prompt in the application. It is tailored to that specific application, and should be fairly polished. Everyone has the same application directions.
A writing sample is from the applicant’s written work elsewhere. Usually they request a graded writing sample. What they want to see is something representative of the applicant’s current coursework. This can yield insight into where the student is coming from, which can help put their application in context.
For example, for “graded essay”, the only option me kid had was self graded. As in, the teacher NEVER graded a single paper. He had the 8th graders(!) grade their own essays based on a grading matrix that he provided. (Fit into our narrative for why we were applying. Didn’t have to make up reasons.)
The schools want to see if you would fit in, and are academically capable of succeeding at their school. They also want to see if there are any red flags. (An application essay that seems obviously written by an adult is a red flag, BTW.)
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Adding on to say that our student had to write a random essay and have their English teacher grade it in 8th grade because the school didn’t have the students do any persuasive or non-fiction essays until the spring of 8th grade. So they were able to just pick a topic, write a persuasive essay on it, have their teacher write comments and give it a grade, and turn it in for applications. It never went into the actual grade book, though.
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My son gets very different assignment in each class. But not one traditional “paper.”
So he submitted an in-class, handwritten test that asked about the work of our country’s most beloved indigenous poet. He got a B on the essay. This demonstrated that his school does not offer US style grade inflation. It was a strong essay. He also has lovely handwriting. (Not the point, but his area of special interest is art and architeture. It’s nice to have style!)
He also submitted a screengrab of a website he created that analyses global travel trends for the Econ unit in his Geography class .
So no “paper.” But I think they just want to see what sort of school you are coming from.
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