Sample College Essays

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WORKS CITED

 

Flanagan, Ruth. “Engineering a Cooler Planet.” Earth Oct 1996: Vol. 5 Issue 5, p34, 6p, 6c.

 

Monastersky, R. “Can Science Whip up a Salve for Global Wounds?” Science News 30 Sept. 1995: Vol. 148, Issue 14, p222, 4/9p

 

National Academy of Sciences, Policy Implications of Greenhouse Warming: Mitigation, Adaptation, and the Science Base. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1992.

The more experienced you get with writing academic essays (hopefully, not dreadfully boring), you can mix things up a bit, but not too much because these rules are there for a reason, to create clarity and because they work!

Even if most nontraditional students can live with writing an essay, most students would rather write another essay before editing one. Editing is a part of writing. It’s like throwing your laundry into the washer, removing and folding them into the chest drawer while still wet. You wouldn’t think of doing that (would you?). Looking over your college essays at least once is a sure fire way to boost your grade.

At minimum, let your essay sit for at least one hour. In the best scenario, let it “cure” for twenty-four hours. No one can see his or her mistakes easily before that. Then, read it out loud, slowly. If someone else is in the room and you don’t want to feel like an idiot, warn them first.

Stuff You Shouldn’t Do, But Worth Mentioning: Plagiarism in College

Plagiarism is dumb. Surely if caught, one could face class failure, or worse, expulsion from school. But what if you “recycle” your blood-sweat-and-tears college research paper for another class?–with a little tweaking of course. Is it plagiarism or working smarter, not harder? I’ve never had the guts to ask a professor this, for fear they’d be on the lookout for my masterpieces.

Yet, many college students do this, but no one would admit to doing it–unless, of course, you’re willing to buy them a beer and sneak a Cuban cigar through the border. Logically speaking, throwing it out would be a good waste of research, not to mention shaving a truckload of time out of your already strained days as a nontraditional student.

Even if you decide not to re-use your college papers, you can always use the ideas for future research or brainstorming sessions, so you don’t have to go sifting through the school’s library, again. Tip: save all of your files.

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