High School vs College Essay – How Do These Essays Differ?
When it comes to writing high school vs college essay papers, you will probably find that a lot of students have no difficulty writing high school essays. Consequently, they have no difficulty transitioning from high school level to college level writing. So, it is to be hoped you found writing essays at high school easy. However, what can you do if you are one of those students who did not feel comfortable writing essays in high school? It probably means that you dread getting college essay assignments to complete.
Mastering the Art of Writing College Essays
When you think about college vs high school essay writing, it seems a great pity that such a high number of college students spend so many of these precious years trying to master the art of writing. While you might have been a great essay writer when you were at high school and got top grades, you now find your college professor is not happy with the papers you submit i.e. that they are not of sufficiently good quality. This, of course, is life at college. Suddenly, every task is more of a challenge and the teaching staff is more discerning. Maybe they keep telling your work is lacking something such as a good thesis or that your analysis of a topic is not sufficiently detailed. It seems they believe all this is something you should have mastered already.
However, these tricks will not work until you understand what is really required at college. Most college professors are not looking for you to write in a better or fancier way. What they want is something that is unique and different. In part, you have to do with the higher educational standards that apply in colleges. It is not possible to write successful college essays purely by having more skill or by taking a smarter approach. Rather, the trick is to find ways of applying your undoubted intelligence when dealing with new tasks. The ability to think out-of-the-box can also help if you want to succeed.
Transitioning Between High School and College
The transition from high school to college essay writing will almost certainly require you to submit essays for numerous different classes. The wide range of writing projects is most likely to come as a big surprise to new students. Sometimes they will be asked to read a text and then summarize it to demonstrate how well they have understood the subject matter. In these cases, essay writing can seem relatively easy. On occasion, a tutor might ask you to give your reaction to something you have read. It means you will need to give your own opinion or arrive at a conclusion after reading a short summary of a given text. Another task that is a favorite with professors is getting students to read a text and then analyzing it. You should expect to work on these types of assignments every couple of weeks.
Tasks like these require considerable concentration as well as good analytical abilities. Moreover, your analysis will have to be fitted into a limited space i.e. into a few pages. You will need to develop a thesis statement for your college essays and then support these statements with reasonable evidence and assertions. The supporting information you use needs to come from reliable sources such as peer-reviewed articles and academic journals. Sometimes, of course, you will get some of the information you require in your assignment's instructions or in the form of handouts. However, you will need to be ready to find the remainder yourself. Remember, that professors at college level will treat you in a grown-up manner, someone who is willing to put time aside to find new data and discover things by yourself. Nonetheless, you should not hesitate to consult your professor when you feel it is necessary. Most tutors are keen to help students with their writing projects and to learn these skills. A lot of them will even give you an abundance of helpful tips.
In the event you find that some of the writing techniques you learned at high school are useful to you in college, you may want to send a letter of thanks to your old teachers. This is not a lot to ask since their superb efforts will undoubtedly have made life at college easier for you. When all is said and done, writing a college essay is not necessarily as difficult as it might at first seem.