{"id":894,"date":"2021-04-14T12:00:34","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T17:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/?p=894"},"modified":"2020-09-03T11:26:53","modified_gmt":"2020-09-03T16:26:53","slug":"tips-on-writing-a-college-essay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/2021\/04\/14\/tips-on-writing-a-college-essay\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips on Writing A College Essay"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve mentioned before that I went to a college level high school, so I\u2019ve done my fair share of academic papers. Remember that Anthropology paper I told you about that was worth 25% of my grade? Guess what? I got 100 on it! I\u2019m not joking. Obviously, my high school prepared me well for my college career.<\/p>\n

This got me thinking. I\u2019ve been using the same essay writing process for years. I\u2019ve tweaked it over time, but overall it\u2019s been the same. I decided to share that process with you. I hope it helps.<\/p>\n

1.\/\/Choose A Topic<\/b><\/h2>\n

Sometimes, you\u2019ll be assigned a topic. If so, you can skip this part. If you have to choose a topic out of a list of questions, go with the one you are more interested in. Doing the easy one isn\u2019t as fun and your professor can tell when you are taking the easy way out.<\/p>\n

When you write about a topic you are interested in, you are more motivated to do research and write the actual essay.<\/strong>\u00a0It\u2019s much easier to write about something you are interested in.<\/p>\n

2.\/\/ Research And Take Notes<\/b><\/h2>\n

Spend a few hours at the library just doing research. As a student, you have easy access to thousands of scholarly articles at your fingertips. Usually for free. Make sure to take advantage\u00a0of that.<\/p>\n

First,\u00a0find your sources<\/strong>. Go through a bunch of articles to find what you\u2019re looking for. Choose four or five articles, maybe more depending on how much you have to write, and start reading. Don\u2019t read the whole article before making your choice. You can get the gist of it by just reading the abstract.<\/p>\n

Once you choose,\u00a0make sure you read the article<\/strong>. It\u2019s pretty obvious when a student only uses the abstract to write a paper. It can be tempting to use the abstract because the authors some up the information in a perfect paragraph, but don\u2019t do it.\u00a0If you are short on time, read the introduction, conclusion, and the first and last sentence of the paragraphs in between.<\/strong>\u00a0Good writers keep their important information there,<\/p>\n

Take detailed notes on each article<\/strong>\u00a0and make sure to take note of how you\u2019re going to use it in your paper. If you take thorough notes, you\u2019ll only have to read the article once. This will help a lot with your outline.<\/p>\n

On that note\u2026.<\/p>\n

3.\/\/Create An Outline<\/b><\/h2>\n

I love outlines. I can\u2019t write an essay (or blog post) without one. They calm me down and make me feel like I know what I\u2019m going to do next. Here is how I usually format my outlines.<\/p>\n

I. Introduction<\/strong>\r\n   A. Thesis Statement<\/strong>\r\nII. Idea 1<\/strong>\r\n   A. Subpoint 1<\/strong>\r\n   B. Subpoint 2<\/strong>\r\nIII. Idea 2<\/strong>\r\n   A. Subpoint 1<\/strong>\r\n   B. Sbpoint 2<\/strong>\r\n   C. Subpoint 3<\/strong>\r\n   D. Subpoint 4<\/strong>\r\nIV. Idea 3<\/strong>\r\n   A. Subpoint 1<\/strong>\r\n   B. Subpoint 2<\/strong>\r\n   C. Subpoint 3<\/strong>\r\nV. Idea 4<\/strong>\r\n   A. Subpoint 1<\/strong>\r\n   B. Subpoint 2<\/strong>\r\nVI. Conclusion<\/strong><\/pre>\n
How long it is depends on the essay. Don\u2019t make it too detailed. Just get a broad idea of what you\u2019re going for. That way, it\u2019ll make sense later on.<\/p>\n
4.\/\/Fill Out Outline With Bullet Points Beneath Them<\/b><\/h2>\n
Remember all those notes I made you take. Those will come in handy right now. The initial outline is also based on that, too, but it\u2019s most important when you fill out the outline. Organize your notes into all the categories and subpoints you made. Do more research if necessary. Here\u2019s an example of how I do it.<\/p>\n
I. Introduction<\/strong>\r\n   A. Thesis Statement<\/strong> - blah blah blah\r\n\r\nII. Idea 1\r\n<\/strong>       - Intro sentence idea\r\n   A. Subpoint 1 \r\n<\/strong>       -Information from previous research\r\n       -Information from previous research\r\n   B. Subpoint 2<\/strong>\r\n       -Information from previous research\r\n       -Information from previous research\r\n       -Information from previous research       \r\n\r\nIII. Idea 2\r\n<\/strong>      -Intro sentence idea\r\n   A. Subpoint 1\r\n<\/strong>      -Information from previous research\r\n      -Information from previous research\r\n      -Information from previous research\r\n   B. Sbpoint 2\r\n<\/strong>      -Information from previous research\r\n      -Information from previous research\r\n      -Information from previous research\r\n   C. Subpoint 3\r\n<\/strong>      -Information from previous research\r\n      -Information from previous research\r\n      -Information from previous research\r\n   D. Subpoint 4\r\n<\/strong>      -Information from previous research\r\n      -Information from previous research\r\n      -Information from previous research\r\n\r\nIV. Idea 3\r\n<\/strong>      -Intro sentence Idea\r\n   A. Subpoint 1<\/strong> \r\n      -Information from previous research\r\n      -Information from previous research\r\n      -Information from previous research\r\n   B. Subpoint 2\r\n<\/strong>      -Information from previous research\r\n      -Information from previous research\r\n      -Information from previous research\r\n   C. Subpoint 3\r\n<\/strong>      -Information from previous research\r\n      -Information from previous research\r\n      -Information from previous research\r\n\r\nV. Idea 4<\/strong>\r\n   A. Subpoint 1\r\n<\/strong>      -Information from previous research\r\n      -Information from previous research\r\n      -Information from previous research\r\n   B. Subpoint 2\r\n<\/strong>      -Information from previous research\r\n      -Information from previous research\r\n      -Information from previous research\r\n\r\nVI. Conclusion\r\n    <\/strong>-Point 1\r\n    -Point 2<\/pre>\n
5.\/\/Write The Essay<\/b><\/h2>\n
I like to do this the next day as long as it\u2019s not last minute. It helps me get into the right mindset after a long day of research and outlining. Using the outline, I write the entire essay at once. I personally don\u2019t schedule different parts for different days because I\u2019m less productive if I do that. I\u2019m much faster and more efficient when I write everything at once.<\/p>\n
If dividing things up works for you, that\u2019s fine. I just work better when I write the entire paper in one sitting.<\/p>\n