Introduction to University: Writing Tips

One of the biggest concerns shared by students when approaching University is that regarding the academic leap from Sixth Form to Undergraduate studies; prior to graduating high school, much of our studies was placed directly in the hands of our respective teachers, however, at University, this degree of caretaking is effectively replaced by requirements of independent studying. Accordingly, the methods of essay writing are also distinctly modified. In light of this, this blog will be constructed with the focus of outlining tips regarding essay writing which will hopefully be informative and useful to freshers during this time. I will attempt to keep the tips generally broad and thus applicable to all departments. Albeit, it should be noted that structurally the requirements for these essays may vary in accordance with the department, essay type, and nature of the essay. 

1. Research, research: I am aware that certain students may prefer to issue their research in the midst of essay writing, thus regularly alternating between the written document and reading files – and while there is nothing wrong with endorsing this method, I can only emphasize that the ease of writing will be greatly improved if you complete extensive research before writing your essay. The first draft should not aim for perfection, but rather quantity: get as much on the paper as you can and then amend it appropriately. Having your research completed next to you will greatly enable you to write the essay with ease. Personally, I find dividing your research paper into different types of citations, ie. articles, books, and other publications, will provide you with a range of depth for your writing which may help you gain top marks. 
2. Utilize the advice and feedback hours of your seminar and personal tutors: Once you have planned your essay, I highly recommend that you then proceed to contact your seminar tutor for a private 30 minutes where you can go through the plan and make amends in light of their feedback. This is incredibly helpful as they may aid you in the structuring and layout of your essay, increasing your chances of writing with clarity and precision. Additionally, this is also a time for you to ask your mentors for help concerning things you don’t understand about the essay; as well as useful sources that you may wish to include in its content. Honestly, I have completed some essays where I did not take advantage of these advice and feedback hours and I can assure you that the quality of those essays was not as impressive as the ones where I did make use of this time – thus, I really encourage you to do so as well.
3. Pick an essay topic that you are passionate about: I cannot stress this enough, passion is so vividly communicated in the way you write and the author’s voice of an essay. Thus, if you are not passionate about an essay topic, please do not choose to write a 1000-2500 word essay on the matter because not only will be unwilling to complete the essay during its process of formulation, but the marker will also note the lack of passion you share in the essay. So, try to briefly read through all the essay questions and make a short note of the things you could potentially write about and then compare them to see which you are most interested in.

I sincerely hope that these tips can be applied to your essays to a certain degree – I have kept them broad as I know this way they can be applied to more of you. As always, if you have any questions regarding the content, please don’t hesitate to contact me and I will try to help!