Pre Read for Williams

[TonyGrace]

@Gno10225

My kid is doing a Williams pre-read and says she has to submit a “writing sample” done within the last year. Does this sound right? Can it be something she writes now? Or does it have to be something she submitted for school? She goes to a crappy public school where they do almost all writing in class on paper and then upload the work online for grading. She always gets perfect grades but none of these pieces are typed out and they are all done within 35 minutes or 55 minutes and not exactly the sort of thing you want to submit to a top college, you know?

This is something that is part of the Williams application. My take is they are more interested in quality of writing than thought or content. I wouldn’t overthink it. This is what they say:

“Williams does not require a writing supplement. However, some students feel they do their best writing in an academic context rather than through narrative pieces like admission applications. If you are interested in submitting an example of your academic writing, you may share a 3-5 page paper written in the last year. The paper may be creative or analytical, can cover any topic, and need not be graded. Please include a description of the assignment or prompt. Please do not submit lab reports.”

Our school does mostly in-class writing in 11th grade as they are preparing for APs. These tend to be shorter. My son submitted an essay that was about 2 pages typed. With the prompt description, he included a note that it was an in class piece, per the curriculum.