The Edition Issue One 2012-2013 - My High School Journalism ...

applying for college
Essay Topics
One of the many struggles students have when
applying for college seems to be fi nding a topic to
write about for an application essay. Many students
frequently think about the best topics to write about.
However, none of them really consider the worst
ones. USA Today recently published an article on the
worst topics that a student could write their essay on.
The worst of these subjects is “The List,” or in other
words, all of a student’s successes. Most colleges have
a designated place to submit their resumes, which
typically includes their activities, honors, and awards.
USA Today suggests that instead of trying to include
all achievements, pick just one and focus on writing
Managing Your Time
Due-dates for high school assignments combined
with due-dates for college applications can evoke
frequent feelings of stress for high school students
in the midst of the college application process. US
News and various other college prep websites have
published helpful tips for students to manage their
time wisely with their large work load. Steps that
re-appear throughout these articles include getting
organized and making a schedule. Reading directions
on the applications and knowing all the due dates
is a key component in this step. Students should
to do list:
October
• Begin completing your college applications
• Gather letters of recommendation
• Edit your college Essay
• Re-Take ACT/SAT if necessary
• Attend college fairs and go on college visits
• Apply for a minimum of 4 Scholarships
• Begin submitting your college applications
Online (Especially for Early Decision/Early Action)
• Maintain your grades – MONITOR YOUR
GRADES AND TRANSCRIPT IN INFINITE CAMPUS
November
• Submit your college applications online
• Apply for a minimum of 4 Scholarships
December
• Maintain your grades – MONITOR YOUR
GRADES
and expanding on that success. The New York Times
recently published an article as well that suggests
once the student has found their topic, they should
make sure that they are telling a story that coerces
and shows that they are considerate human beings.
Asking questions helps students to derive topics that
hold promise; a good strategy is to write down these
precursory questions on a piece of paper, answer
them, and put them aside. Later on students should
come back to them and see which ones they feel
they are most interested in; these are the topics they
should select.
record these dates on a calendar and give themselves
an ample amount of time to complete everything
by the time it is due, or better yet, before the duedate.
An additional reoccurring step was to schedule
time to relax. Studies show that it is good to give the
brain a break because it surprisingly allows for more
productivity. Overall, managing time and planning
ahead are some of the biggest factors in preparing
and applying for college.
• Apply for a minimum of 4 Scholarships
January
• Complete FAFSA
• Apply for a minimum of 4 Scholarships
February
• Finalize FAFSA
• Apply for a minimum of 4 Scholarships
March
• FAFSA Deadline
• Continue Submitting Scholarship Applications
April
• Make your fi nal decisions
• Request your fi nal transcript with your
counselor
• Complete your “Senior Exit Survey” on
Naviance