college essay editing

college essay editing

The Importance of College Essay Editing

1. Why College Essay Editing is Crucial

Although people may claim that editing is not a necessity to writing a good paper, this is not at all the case. The first draft of a paper is usually just a basic outline of what the final product can be. By editing the essay, the writer is given the opportunity to clearly communicate or give reasoning to the reader why this or that is an effective idea. Ideas need to be fleshed out further, transitions need to be clear and smooth, and the thesis needs to be backed up with a significant amount of evidence and clear reasoning. All of this may be existent in the writer’s head, however to get the point across onto paper, comprehensive editing is the only solution.

Editing plays a crucial role in the writing process. It clears up areas of confusion, allows for more organized thoughts, and provides the writer with a clear understanding of what changes are necessary to enhance the overall quality of the paper. Editing is a major part in turning a mediocre essay into a great piece of writing. Unfortunately, it is an extremely underrated process and a lot of people disregard it, something that can ultimately lower the hard work that went into the initial writing process.

2. Common Mistakes to Avoid in College Essays

Lack of Proofreading – Because of the quality and time investment into the essay, many students feel as if it should not or perhaps even cannot be changed. As a result, many essays contain the ideal content, but suffer from poor organization and/or actual incoherence. This issue could be avoided if students would allow anybody who is technically skilled with the English language to read their essay and give constructive feedback. This means an English teacher. This does not mean a mother.

Negative Information – Students often do not realize how important the essay is in showing the reader a peek inside who they really are. As a result, they often inadvertently reveal negative information in an attempt to demonstrate that they can overcome obstacles or that they have a clear understanding of the realities of the world. A good example of this is when students write about an alcohol-related incident. Being willing to take risks but make intelligent decisions comes off as far more impressive than an apology most parents have heard from their teenagers. Students have to always remember that it is easier to defend a potential than it is to defend a history. This type of situation is avoided altogether if students are aware of a negative component of their essay.

Redundancy – All the information offered by candidates is found elsewhere and is often general in nature, so the essay is not an effective vehicle for differentiating oneself. And generally, a pretty good way to make sure you don’t sound repetitive in your essay is if you can replace the name of the school you’re applying to with another college’s name and not change anything else. This is especially applicable to the ‘Why our school?’ essay. Summarily, if they can substitute another college’s name into your essay, you need to start from scratch.

3. Strategies for Effective College Essay Editing

Use the SA rule: Shorten when appropriate and always be concise. Print out a hard copy and revise in the early morning. Revise with the big picture in mind, focusing on improving the following: content and theme, organization, not beating around the bush, personality. Clear writing is the result of clear thinking. Ask yourself: what is the purpose of this sentence? Have you worded it in the clearest possible way? Is it necessary? Use action verbs and avoid using “is/was/has been,” etc. Circle every form of the verb “to be” on your paper. Rewrite these sentences using a more aggressive verb. To reduce reading speed and increase concentration, try reading the essay from the end to the beginning sentence-by-sentence. Read the essay aloud from a paper copy. Get other people to read and comment on your essay.

4. The Role of Peer Review in College Essay Editing

After writing a rough draft, students should be able to assess how well they have met the particular requirements of the assignment by comparing their written draft to the explained interpretation. At this time, each group member can take a “key part” from an essay with which he/she is familiar and by using the explained interpretation and common understanding, the students can help one another peer edit. This particular way of interpreting an assignment is effective for the student and does not require the student to go to office hours and or talk to the professor. This is an excellent method to have students help one another understand and interpret a particular writing assignment.

An effective way to help these students understand the particular requirements of an assignment is to have them work in groups: small groups with members in the same class and same professor preferred. The students can share ideas, information, and resources and through discussion, the students can learn from one another. One particular way that learning can be facilitated in these groups is to have each person explain to their group mates the particular requirements of the assignment. By helping one another understand, the student will be able to interpret the assignment in his/her own way and relay said interpretation to his/her group to be critiqued by the other members.

When students begin college, they’re often puzzled to find that the grading expectations are higher than what their teachers expected from them in the past. Many students are confused as to what the professor wants and the student is assigned an essay with guidelines that are not entirely clear. College students are often at a loss. They have worked on a writing process in high school and when entering college, have no idea how to interpret a certain assignment. These students, for the most part, are confused on the particular requirements of an assignment because they have no prior experience in the specific field of study and/or because they lack a passion for the subject at hand.

5. Hiring Professional College Essay Editors

Many parents don’t realize how valuable their college applicant’s essay is in the admission process. One student’s essay can often make the difference between a rejection and acceptance. At some colleges, the essay is used to determine fit, and at others, it may be used to assure the college that the student can do the work. It is this understanding by college admissions personnel of just how important the essay is that should encourage EP and CP level students to apply to an American tutor to do the final edit. It is well known that students from places other than the US and UK often have a very difficult time with the English language, and that an essay looks and sounds very different after a non-native English speaker writes it. EP and CP level students can greatly improve their essays and their chances of getting into college by having an American do an edit on their essays. The job market for editing college essays is small, but there are people who can do a good job at a reasonable price. If the essay is truly important in the college selection process, it is money well spent. Another option that parents may consider is hiring a private high school college counselor who is well-informed about the college admission process to do an edit on the student’s essay. A high school college counselor who really knows his/her stuff has read many essays in the past and has seen what works and what doesn’t. A good college counselor knows the “do’s” and “don’ts” of essay writing and can be very helpful in suggesting ideas for what the student should write about. A private college counselor can provide more personalized and in-depth editing than the high school college counselors can provide. Most high school college counselors have too many students and not enough time and are only able to spend about 15 minutes reading through an essay. This is not enough time to have a really thorough understanding of the essay and of how it can be improved. Since high school college counselors do not have an abundance of free time, getting them to do an edit may be a task in itself. It can be hard for a counselor to carve out time to fit in a special need of one student when there are so many other students with special needs. A private college counselor can take the time to do a proper edit on the essay, and the odds are that parents would pay the same or a little bit more to a private counselor compared to a school counselor who charges extra for their services.