THE City Smarts ADmissions Essay workshop (2025)
This fall, we’ll gather a small group of 8th graders looking to hone their narrative and personal essay skills for upcoming admissions tasks. Whether they will be writing the Bard Assessment, a portfolio essay for Beacon, or an independent school (ISAAGNY) admissions essay for private schools, this workshop focuses on developing ideas and drafts for great essays. We’ll read past application essays, discuss approaches, analyze a variety of prompts, and craft responses to them.
Senesh Admissions Essay Workshop
Dates: Mondays in October: 10/20 and 10/27
Time: 4:00 to 5:20PM
Price: $175
80 Minutes of Instruction
We believe that 80 minutes is the ideal amount of effective instructional time for 8th grade learners: just the right length to keep your child engaged but not exhausted.
flexible approach
We’re discussing personal narratives, not traditional 5-paragraph essays. Students will receive encouragement to write about themselves - their backgrounds and experiences - and will benefit from having partners in the process: classmates who are confronting this process too.
Diagnostics
Students will have the opportunity to work from previous official admissions essay prompts and Bard Writing Assessments to help them hone their drafting process.
