By: Waller Jamison
If you are a school leaver about to start higher education, you may find the jump to independent study a challenging one. Effective essay writing requires skill and the level expected will be much
If you are a school leaver about to start higher education, you may find the jump to independent study a challenging one. Effective essay writing requires skill and the level expected will be much higher than that of your high school essays. And of course, the opportunity to go out partying and leave assignments to the last minute is tempting, but if you plan your time efficiently, you can enjoy the social side of university life and get your work in on time.
Many mature students going back to college or university after a long break will not only be struggling to fit their new studies around their existing routine, but also getting to grips with study skills. If you haven’t hit the books for a long time, that can be a very daunting prospect.
The first stage of planning your study schedule is to check out when your assignments are due and put the deadlines in a diary or on a wall calendar. Be sure you know the college rules for late submissions, just in case you become ill and are unable to complete an assignment on time.
As soon as you are given an assignment, you need to make sure you understand exactly what is involved and calculate approximately how much time you’ll need to do it. College assignments vary enormously and much will depend on the subject you are studying. You may be expected to produce an academic essay, which requires references to theory and therefore a lot of reading. Alternatively, you might be asked to design a spreadsheet, database or website or you might be required to carry out research which involves interviewing a group of people. Your assignment could include making video or audio recordings. Your college should provide written instructions for assignments, fore example n assignment brief or basic essay writing guide.
It’s important to work out how you will go about more complex tasks, for example, if you need to use college equipment, it must be booked in advance and it can also go wrong, resulting in your having to book a further session.
Interviews may need to be rescheduled and even borrowing library books won’t always run according to plan. Most libraries have only a few copies of books on the reading lists and so you might have to wait a couple of weeks before being able to borrow the ones you want, or plan to do you work in the library using a reference copy – if that’s not being used by another student!
If you are new to essay writing and feel you will need extra help, make sure you check out available support sooner rather than later. If you get stuck with the first assignment, that’s the time to get help – don’t wait until you’ve failed 3 or 4 pieces of work and have to redo and resubmit them all.
Allow yourself extra time for the first assignment, in fact, allowing extra time for every assignment is a good idea, as this will mean you won’t be thrown by any emergencies which crop up – and you’ll be able to take time out for partying.
© Waller Jamison 2006
Waller Jamison teaches academic writing at the University of London. For more information on effective essay writing, go to Basic Essay Writing Guide
