Expert tips from an old teaching assistant and part-time professor on writing an paper that is‘A

In your year that is first of or college, you may start to feel that “A” papers are a bit like unicorns. Do they even exist? I remember feeling so angry and frustrated during first year; I had been an student that is“A through high school but suddenly, I couldn’t score more than a B+ on some of my written work. What had changed? How could I crack the code?

Now, after a PhD in English and several years of experience grading undergraduate and college papers, I’m here to tell you all the things I wish I knew once I was starting out.

First, you need to know that A’s are attainable—just rare. Some departments have recommended (and on occasion even set-in-stone) grade averages: this means that the mark that is average a certain course has to be, for example, a 70. Even without those institutional guidelines or restrictions, A-level grades are meant to be reserved for a small minority of papers that go far above with regards to of content and execution. In a class of 50, the professor that is average teaching assistant will probably award 5 A-range grades, with the majority of those being A minuses and very few (or perhaps zero) As or A-pluses.

So, that if you follow these steps, your marks will materially improve while I can’t promise that these tips will guarantee an A grade, I can assure you.

Stick to the instructions

This sounds dumb, but you could be surprised at how many students do poorly (and sometimes even fail) simply because they simply do not follow directions. This can be even more crucial during the college level, where professors often grade assignments according to strict rubrics. If the paper should be cited in a specific style, use that style; if it takes that you analyze two texts, don’t analyze only one. Read more →