College Essay Writing Help

Common mistakes to avoid when writing a term paper

Nov 2, 2006

What's the first step towards better grades on your college term papers? Avoid these common mistakes that students often make.

Writing a college paper? I've read more than my share of college term papers, so I can give you some tips on how to write a great college essay. I can also help you avoid some common writing mistakes. Here's a list of the most typical writing errors that I come across when grading student papers. These kinds of mistakes are professor pet peeves, so it's best to avoid them.

Failure to follow instructions. Read the assignment sheet carefully. If you don't understand, ask questions. Don't guess.
Incorrect capitalization of proper nouns. Proper nouns should be capitalized, and common nouns should not be capitalized. A proper noun refers to a thing that is specific (Catholicism, Canada, Seinfeld, George W. Bush), while a common noun refers to a thing that is general (religion, country, television show, president).
Incorrect use of IT'S and ITS. "It's" is a conjunction for "it is." An example: "I know that it's late to be calling." In contrast, "its" is a possessive word for something of nonspecific gender, and is used like the words "his" or "her." An example: "The long winter wore out its welcome."
Poor use of paragraph breaks. Each paragraph should contain one succinct idea. When the idea changes, start a new paragraph. Students often hand in papers with very few paragraph breaks. As a general rule, every page of a double-spaced paper should include at least one paragraph break.
Failure to meet the page limit. If the page minimum is six pages, do not turn in a paper that is five pages plus one paragraph long. Also, messing around with font sizes to get more pages is not a good idea; professors know how to do this better than you do.
Really, random and, screwed up use, of, commas. Commas serve a number of functions. Primarily, they denote pauses. While you are proofreading, read the sentence out loud. If it doesn't sound right, the first place you should look is the commas.
Run-on sentences. Run-on sentences are two complete clauses stuck into one sentence these are confusing because they are not separated with punctuation.
Comma splices. Comma splices are two complete clauses that should be separate sentences, they are grammatically incorrect because they are separated by a comma.
Poorly attached papers. Professors have an awful lot of papers to grade, so poorly attached papers can result in missing pages. Attach your paper with a binder clip or (preferably) a staple; paper clips come loose too easily. Never hand in a paper with the corners crinkled up. Also, put your name and the page number on each page in case your pages get separated.

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