SCDS freshmen recently wrote the UC admission essay in which students must describe the world they come from.
According to freshman English teacher Jane Bauman, the essay is very open-ended, as students have 750 words in which they can talk about any significant part of their environment.
“This is not their real college essay, obviously; it’s just their first attempt, and gets them thinking about college ahead of time,” Bauman said.
Bauman also said that this essay can help her send information to students about colleges and opportunities that may interest them.
“They can tell me what they wish for me to know,” she said. “For example, a student said that she’s interested in environmental engineering. Well, now [I will send her] anything that involves environmental engineering that crosses my desk. I get so much information by email, it’s very helpful if I know where I should direct it to.”
Bauman said that the essay also teaches students how to present themselves on a college application come senior year.
And she uses the essay as an opportunity to add to students’ college counseling folders, printing the essays and filing them so students can look back when they’re seniors to see how they’ve changed throughout high school.
“This is just their first attempt, and they’ll probably be astonished by how much they’ve grown,” she said.
Freshmen Jayce McCain and Nina Dym said they are appreciative of Bauman’s intention to send them information about colleges.
“I think it’s awesome that someone is helping us get into college; it’s the next level, you know,” McCain said.
And Dym said that Bauman sending her information about colleges that may interest her will help her narrow down her choices.
“There are so many (colleges), it’s nice to be able to focus on several,” she said.
