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The Trevor Day School is an independent, coeducational day school founded in 1930 and located in New York, New York. Recently published data boasts a total enrollment stat of 747 students. Administrators ask Upper School applicants to pen two short answer responses and four fill-in-the-blank sentences. Since only 15-20 students enter in Grade 9, you’ll want to make sure your application stands out.
The Student Questionnaire is separated into two seconds. Let’s start with the first!
The overall goal of this essay is to give admissions a deeper understanding of what piques your curiosity. Don’t overthink your response; instead, be authentic and as detailed as possible. Have you always loved Spanish class? Maybe you’re hoping to learn other languages in high school, too. Are you a total lit nerd with a book in hand at all times? Are you one of those unicorns who thrives studying both STEM and poetry? Various interests aren’t a negative thing! They show that you’re intellectually curious and can see yourself excelling in a couple of fields. One key part to this essay is connecting the dots between the areas that interest you (does a haiku remind you of algebra?) and what you could gain from them.
With this prompt, Trevor Day School is looking for more than just a summary of your favorite book. Admissions wants to know why a certain book or novel is meaningful to you and how it connects to your interests, identity, history, or values. Did the fantasy kingdom of a YA novel help you unwind during a stressful time in your life? Did you read a book that changed the way you thought about the interconnectedness of humankind? Be careful to avoid self-aggrandizing or pandering choices and, instead, write about a book that truly stuck with you. If you’re able to reveal something new about yourself in your response to this prompt, you’re on the right track.
For Part II of the Trevor Day School Upper School Questionnaire, you only have 200 characters per prompt, which is thirty to fifty words at most. Brevity is going to be incredibly important here. We recommend that you take a little time to explore Trevor’s website if nothing comes to mind immediately for the first prompt. For the others, reflect on not only what rings true for you, but what will help admissions better understand who you are and what makes you tick. These short answers, like all written responses, are simply an opportunity for the people reviewing your application to get to know the unique human behind the data.
