{"id":8664,"date":"2017-01-19t16:08:49","date_gmt":"2017-01-20t00:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/?p=8664"},"modified":"2017-01-19t16:11:49","modified_gmt":"2017-01-20t00:11:49","slug":"5-simple-tips-help-high-school-juniors-prep-college-essay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/5-simple-tips-help-high-school-juniors-prep-college-essay\/","title":{"rendered":"5 simple tips to help high school juniors prep for the college essay"},"content":{"rendered":"

at its core, the college application essay is all about reflection. it\u2019s as much a thinking task as a writing task.
\n 
\nat wow, we have many tools to help any college-bound student reflect to get ready for the essay. this time of year, we suggest that high school juniors (sophomores and freshmen can do this, too!) keep an informal journal.
\n 
\nhere are our top 5 tips for keeping this journal:
\n 
\n1) <\/strong>ask yourself, \u201cwhat do colleges know about me?\u201d after that, ask, \u201cwhat else do i want them to know? why?\u201d think traits and characteristics, rather than experiences. (are you serious? industrious? resourceful? creative? shy? funny? hardworking? analytical?) write the answers down in the first page of your journal.
\n 
\n2)<\/strong> once you know what you want readers to learn about you, start thinking about stories or experiences that illustrate those characteristics. you\u2019ll write about them in this journal as often as you want, with as many details as you need to remember the experiences you choose to include in your journal.
\n 
\n3)<\/strong> think of your journal entries as though they were quick snapshots from your cell phone \u2013 something you might post on facebook or a photo-sharing website. their purpose is to jog your memory and remind you of an experience, not to capture it in spectacular detail.
\n 
\n4)<\/strong> if you try to record everything that happens on your trip to the grand canyon or every life-changing insight from your summer job as a swim teacher, you\u2019ll give up after a day or two. on the other hand, if you jot down, \u201csunset with brian and sarah. the sky looked like it was painted in watercolor,\u201d you will remember that evening forever.
\n 
\n5)<\/strong> if you scribble, \u201cava finally put her head in the water! i threw the red plastic ring to the bottom of the pool, and she went straight down for it,\u201d you\u2019ll also remember the way the sun hit the diving board and the lady in the lounge chair who sat by the pool all summer with iced tea and a trashy novel.
\n 
\nas professional writers, this is the type of journaling we do, too. sure, we sometimes write pages and pages, but we also collect scraps of experiences and moments. there\u2019s no doubt that journaling will help you find insight from your life experiences. ready to give it a try?
\n 
\nour students journal, and they get into to their top 3 schools, year after year. you should too!
\n 
\nkim lifton is president of wow writing workshop<\/a>, a strategic communications and writing services company that is a leading expert on the college application essay. kim, a former journalist, has made it her mission to know everything about college admissions, and the essay\u2019s role within it. she speaks with senior admissions officers from the nation\u2019s most selective colleges almost every day. wow works directly with students, and trains school counselors, english teachers and independent educational consultants who want to improve their essay-coaching skills. wow also offers professional communication and writing services to businesses and nonprofits. get free resources<\/a> on their site!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

at its core, the college application essay is all about reflection. it\u2019s as much a thinking task as a writing task.   at wow, we have many tools to help any college-bound student reflect to get ready for the essay. this time of year, we suggest that high school juniors (sophomores and freshmen can do […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[92],"ppma_author":[24928],"class_list":["post-8664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-college-admissions","tag-guest-post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n5 simple tips to help high school juniors prep for the college essay - magoosh blog | high school<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/5-simple-tips-help-high-school-juniors-prep-college-essay\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 simple tips to help high school juniors prep for the college essay\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"at its core, the college application essay is all about reflection. it\u2019s as much a thinking task as a writing task.   at wow, we have many tools to help any college-bound student reflect to get ready for the essay. this time of year, we suggest that high school juniors (sophomores and freshmen can do […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/5-simple-tips-help-high-school-juniors-prep-college-essay\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"magoosh blog | high school\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/magooshsat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-20t00:08:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-01-20t00:11:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"kim lifton\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@magooshsat_act\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@magooshsat_act\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"kim lifton\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"article\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/5-simple-tips-help-high-school-juniors-prep-college-essay\/#article\",\"ispartof\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/5-simple-tips-help-high-school-juniors-prep-college-essay\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"kim lifton\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#\/schema\/person\/d0c91fe632c068c798b0d615e6f943a0\"},\"headline\":\"5 simple tips to help high school juniors prep for the college essay\",\"datepublished\":\"2017-01-20t00:08:49+00:00\",\"datemodified\":\"2017-01-20t00:11:49+00:00\",\"mainentityofpage\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/5-simple-tips-help-high-school-juniors-prep-college-essay\/\"},\"wordcount\":533,\"commentcount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"guest post\"],\"articlesection\":[\"college admissions\"],\"inlanguage\":\"en-us\",\"potentialaction\":[{\"@type\":\"commentaction\",\"name\":\"comment\",\"target\":[\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/5-simple-tips-help-high-school-juniors-prep-college-essay\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"webpage\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/5-simple-tips-help-high-school-juniors-prep-college-essay\/\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/5-simple-tips-help-high-school-juniors-prep-college-essay\/\",\"name\":\"5 simple tips to help high school juniors prep for the college essay - 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