I was surrounded by big, bad seniors. These were not your average bullies -- none extorted lunch money, most wore glasses, and all could name more E.M. Forster novels than members of the football team. No, these were quizbowl bullies. The A team. And for two hours after school, they laid waste to all in their path. The coach began practice. “Tossup one,” she announced. “This man successfully opposed the Radowitz Plan – BEEP.” Before I could begin to make...

Pick a significant moment or personal experience related to the school rather than just talking about the school's attributes in the abstract. For example, I...

I had a disastrous experience where one of my planned recommendation-writing teachers decided, while repeatedly lying to me, to never write the recommendation. While this could have been awful, I was fortunate to find another fantastic teacher willing to write a...