The Quest for High School Mathletic Glory

Chapter 11: Essay Hell

Only a little more was needed for the four students that people considered as being the brightest in the class to take what seems to be a common core: AP Statistics, English and Physics, and thus have three advanced placement courses in common out of their allowance of four. The syllabus was freshly handed out for the AP English course and the discussion revolves around the results of these AP Exams taken last May.

"Hey Gen, if we ignore calculus BC, what did you get on the other three AP Exams?" Randy asks her.

"But why ignore it? I might have taken it for form, this score will stay with me for the entire process" Gen points out to Randy.

"Because I am certain that you got a five on it. As for me, I didn't take any advanced placement course and the school didn't allow me to take an AP exam because I didn't take a course first" Zack answers in lieu of his teammate.

"I got a five on the other three exams"

"Bravo, champion! Now I must admit I am a little... envious. Me? A three on the French exam, another three on the government one. With such scores you shouldn't be stressing out about college!" Randy adds.

I don't even to hear about the ACT or the SAT; there were two summer makeup dates for the former, but only one for the latter, she thinks while knowing Marcia spent practically all summer teaching semi-private courses for the ACT while assuming that what was good for the ACT was also good on the SAT. Especially since the regular teachers were reluctant to teach semi-private courses... but she realizes that the majority of the people in the class took at least one test last May, and most people in that subgroup had a 3 or better on at least one test. A few students scored an 1 or 2, but it was a minority. It's almost as if we were at the Bâton-Rouge Magnet High School, or at Walt Whitman (a magnet school in Maryland) judging by the atmosphere where, for some reason, assembling this many honor roll students makes it so that they are more inclined to talk about college admission test among themselves. Yet here most people withing to retake the ACT or the SAT had, for instance, a 22 or a 26 (their equivalents on the SAT, for TOPS purposes, are 1130 and 1260), in which case the extra point is worth $400 per year, so long as they have a GPA of 3.25 or 3.50 respectively.

"Today, I know it's going to be a stressful topic for a lot of you. We'll start with the essay on the Common Application, which normally should be accepted by nearly every major in-state college. We're also going to cover how to write essays for college applications. I will never stress it enough: proofread and stick to the prompt! Show of hands: who's planning on going to college?" the AP English teacher asks the students after reviewing the syllabus.

Almost everyone raise their hands; after all we are dealing with people that are very easily in the top third of the class for the most part, or even the best quartile, at least unofficially. The following question is about who wants to attend a four-year college rather than a community college. A few hands lower but most hands that were raised the first time stay raised.

"If you just want to apply to LSU, UL-Lafayette, or a local community college, today's material will still be on the test, but will have no relevance to you otherwise"

Ouch. It would be a gigantic waste of three years of academic effort if I was to attend these schools! I know I will be socially unhappy there even if I was to get a full ride! She thinks while she notes down the ten commandments of essay writing on college applications, to follow by those who dream of other schools, according to the teacher, in the material of the day:

1. Make a good introduction

2. Answer the question

3. Stick to one's style (i.e., avoid using too complex words)