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How to write the best college assignments.

By Lois Weldon

When it comes to writing assignments, it is difficult to find a conceptualized guide with clear and simple tips that are easy to follow. That’s exactly what this guide will provide: few simple tips on how to write great assignments, right when you need them. Some of these points will probably be familiar to you, but there is no harm in being reminded of the most important things before you start writing the assignments, which are usually determining on your credits.

The most important aspects: Outline and Introduction

Preparation is the key to success, especially when it comes to academic assignments. It is recommended to always write an outline before you start writing the actual assignment. The outline should include the main points of discussion, which will keep you focused throughout the work and will make your key points clearly defined. Outlining the assignment will save you a lot of time because it will organize your thoughts and make your literature searches much easier. The outline will also help you to create different sections and divide up the word count between them, which will make the assignment more organized.

The introduction is the next important part you should focus on. This is the part that defines the quality of your assignment in the eyes of the reader. The introduction must include a brief background on the main points of discussion, the purpose of developing such work and clear indications on how the assignment is being organized. Keep this part brief, within one or two paragraphs.

This is an example of including the above mentioned points into the introduction of an assignment that elaborates the topic of obesity reaching proportions:

Background : The twenty first century is characterized by many public health challenges, among which obesity takes a major part. The increasing prevalence of obesity is creating an alarming situation in both developed and developing regions of the world.

Structure and aim : This assignment will elaborate and discuss the specific pattern of obesity epidemic development, as well as its epidemiology. Debt, trade and globalization will also be analyzed as factors that led to escalation of the problem. Moreover, the assignment will discuss the governmental interventions that make efforts to address this issue.

Practical tips on assignment writing

Here are some practical tips that will keep your work focused and effective:

–         Critical thinking – Academic writing has to be characterized by critical thinking, not only to provide the work with the needed level, but also because it takes part in the final mark.

–         Continuity of ideas – When you get to the middle of assignment, things can get confusing. You have to make sure that the ideas are flowing continuously within and between paragraphs, so the reader will be enabled to follow the argument easily. Dividing the work in different paragraphs is very important for this purpose.

–         Usage of ‘you’ and ‘I’ – According to the academic writing standards, the assignments should be written in an impersonal language, which means that the usage of ‘you’ and ‘I’ should be avoided. The only acceptable way of building your arguments is by using opinions and evidence from authoritative sources.

–         Referencing – this part of the assignment is extremely important and it takes a big part in the final mark. Make sure to use either Vancouver or Harvard referencing systems, and use the same system in the bibliography and while citing work of other sources within the text.  

–         Usage of examples – A clear understanding on your assignment’s topic should be provided by comparing different sources and identifying their strengths and weaknesses in an objective manner. This is the part where you should show how the knowledge can be applied into practice.

–         Numbering and bullets – Instead of using numbering and bullets, the academic writing style prefers the usage of paragraphs.

–         Including figures and tables – The figures and tables are an effective way of conveying information to the reader in a clear manner, without disturbing the word count. Each figure and table should have clear headings and you should make sure to mention their sources in the bibliography.

–         Word count – the word count of your assignment mustn’t be far above or far below the required word count. The outline will provide you with help in this aspect, so make sure to plan the work in order to keep it within the boundaries.

The importance of an effective conclusion

The conclusion of your assignment is your ultimate chance to provide powerful arguments that will impress the reader. The conclusion in academic writing is usually expressed through three main parts:

–         Stating the context and aim of the assignment

–         Summarizing the main points briefly

–         Providing final comments with consideration of the future (discussing clear examples of things that can be done in order to improve the situation concerning your topic of discussion).

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Lois Weldon is writer at  Uk.bestdissertation.com . Lives happily at London with her husband and lovely daughter. Adores writing tips for students. Passionate about Star Wars and yoga.

7 comments on “How To Write The Best College Assignments”

Extremely useful tip for students wanting to score well on their assignments. I concur with the writer that writing an outline before ACTUALLY starting to write assignments is extremely important. I have observed students who start off quite well but they tend to lose focus in between which causes them to lose marks. So an outline helps them to maintain the theme focused.

Hello Great information…. write assignments

Well elabrated

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This article is certainly going to help student . Well written.

Really good, thanks

Practical tips on assignment writing, the’re fantastic. Thank you!

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Understanding Assignments

What this handout is about.

The first step in any successful college writing venture is reading the assignment. While this sounds like a simple task, it can be a tough one. This handout will help you unravel your assignment and begin to craft an effective response. Much of the following advice will involve translating typical assignment terms and practices into meaningful clues to the type of writing your instructor expects. See our short video for more tips.

Basic beginnings

Regardless of the assignment, department, or instructor, adopting these two habits will serve you well :

• Read the assignment carefully as soon as you receive it. Do not put this task off—reading the assignment at the beginning will save you time, stress, and problems later. An assignment can look pretty straightforward at first, particularly if the instructor has provided lots of information. That does not mean it will not take time and effort to complete; you may even have to learn a new skill to complete the assignment.
• Ask the instructor about anything you do not understand. Do not hesitate to approach your instructor. Instructors would prefer to set you straight before you hand the paper in. That’s also when you will find their feedback most useful.

Assignment formats

Many assignments follow a basic format. Assignments often begin with an overview of the topic, include a central verb or verbs that describe the task, and offer some additional suggestions, questions, or prompts to get you started.

An Overview of Some Kind

The instructor might set the stage with some general discussion of the subject of the assignment, introduce the topic, or remind you of something pertinent that you have discussed in class. For example:

“Throughout history, gerbils have played a key role in politics,” or “In the last few weeks of class, we have focused on the evening wear of the housefly …”

The Task of the Assignment

Pay attention; this part tells you what to do when you write the paper. Look for the key verb or verbs in the sentence. Words like analyze, summarize, or compare direct you to think about your topic in a certain way. Also pay attention to words such as how, what, when, where, and why; these words guide your attention toward specific information. (See the section in this handout titled “Key Terms” for more information.)

“Analyze the effect that gerbils had on the Russian Revolution”, or “Suggest an interpretation of housefly undergarments that differs from Darwin’s.”

Additional Material to Think about

Here you will find some questions to use as springboards as you begin to think about the topic. Instructors usually include these questions as suggestions rather than requirements. Do not feel compelled to answer every question unless the instructor asks you to do so. Pay attention to the order of the questions. Sometimes they suggest the thinking process your instructor imagines you will need to follow to begin thinking about the topic.

“You may wish to consider the differing views held by Communist gerbils vs. Monarchist gerbils, or Can there be such a thing as ‘the housefly garment industry’ or is it just a home-based craft?”

These are the instructor’s comments about writing expectations:

“Be concise”, “Write effectively”, or “Argue furiously.”

Technical Details

These instructions usually indicate format rules or guidelines.

“Your paper must be typed in Palatino font on gray paper and must not exceed 600 pages. It is due on the anniversary of Mao Tse-tung’s death.”

The assignment’s parts may not appear in exactly this order, and each part may be very long or really short. Nonetheless, being aware of this standard pattern can help you understand what your instructor wants you to do.

Interpreting the assignment

Ask yourself a few basic questions as you read and jot down the answers on the assignment sheet:

Why did your instructor ask you to do this particular task?

Who is your audience.

• What kind of evidence do you need to support your ideas?

What kind of writing style is acceptable?

• What are the absolute rules of the paper?

Try to look at the question from the point of view of the instructor. Recognize that your instructor has a reason for giving you this assignment and for giving it to you at a particular point in the semester. In every assignment, the instructor has a challenge for you. This challenge could be anything from demonstrating an ability to think clearly to demonstrating an ability to use the library. See the assignment not as a vague suggestion of what to do but as an opportunity to show that you can handle the course material as directed. Paper assignments give you more than a topic to discuss—they ask you to do something with the topic. Keep reminding yourself of that. Be careful to avoid the other extreme as well: do not read more into the assignment than what is there.

Of course, your instructor has given you an assignment so that they will be able to assess your understanding of the course material and give you an appropriate grade. But there is more to it than that. Your instructor has tried to design a learning experience of some kind. Your instructor wants you to think about something in a particular way for a particular reason. If you read the course description at the beginning of your syllabus, review the assigned readings, and consider the assignment itself, you may begin to see the plan, purpose, or approach to the subject matter that your instructor has created for you. If you still aren’t sure of the assignment’s goals, try asking the instructor. For help with this, see our handout on getting feedback .

Given your instructor’s efforts, it helps to answer the question: What is my purpose in completing this assignment? Is it to gather research from a variety of outside sources and present a coherent picture? Is it to take material I have been learning in class and apply it to a new situation? Is it to prove a point one way or another? Key words from the assignment can help you figure this out. Look for key terms in the form of active verbs that tell you what to do.

Key Terms: Finding Those Active Verbs

Here are some common key words and definitions to help you think about assignment terms:

Information words Ask you to demonstrate what you know about the subject, such as who, what, when, where, how, and why.

• define —give the subject’s meaning (according to someone or something). Sometimes you have to give more than one view on the subject’s meaning
• describe —provide details about the subject by answering question words (such as who, what, when, where, how, and why); you might also give details related to the five senses (what you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell)
• explain —give reasons why or examples of how something happened
• illustrate —give descriptive examples of the subject and show how each is connected with the subject
• summarize —briefly list the important ideas you learned about the subject
• trace —outline how something has changed or developed from an earlier time to its current form
• research —gather material from outside sources about the subject, often with the implication or requirement that you will analyze what you have found

Relation words Ask you to demonstrate how things are connected.

• compare —show how two or more things are similar (and, sometimes, different)
• contrast —show how two or more things are dissimilar
• apply—use details that you’ve been given to demonstrate how an idea, theory, or concept works in a particular situation
• cause —show how one event or series of events made something else happen
• relate —show or describe the connections between things

Interpretation words Ask you to defend ideas of your own about the subject. Do not see these words as requesting opinion alone (unless the assignment specifically says so), but as requiring opinion that is supported by concrete evidence. Remember examples, principles, definitions, or concepts from class or research and use them in your interpretation.

• assess —summarize your opinion of the subject and measure it against something
• prove, justify —give reasons or examples to demonstrate how or why something is the truth
• evaluate, respond —state your opinion of the subject as good, bad, or some combination of the two, with examples and reasons
• support —give reasons or evidence for something you believe (be sure to state clearly what it is that you believe)
• synthesize —put two or more things together that have not been put together in class or in your readings before; do not just summarize one and then the other and say that they are similar or different—you must provide a reason for putting them together that runs all the way through the paper
• analyze —determine how individual parts create or relate to the whole, figure out how something works, what it might mean, or why it is important
• argue —take a side and defend it with evidence against the other side

More Clues to Your Purpose As you read the assignment, think about what the teacher does in class:

• What kinds of textbooks or coursepack did your instructor choose for the course—ones that provide background information, explain theories or perspectives, or argue a point of view?
• In lecture, does your instructor ask your opinion, try to prove their point of view, or use keywords that show up again in the assignment?
• What kinds of assignments are typical in this discipline? Social science classes often expect more research. Humanities classes thrive on interpretation and analysis.
• How do the assignments, readings, and lectures work together in the course? Instructors spend time designing courses, sometimes even arguing with their peers about the most effective course materials. Figuring out the overall design to the course will help you understand what each assignment is meant to achieve.

Now, what about your reader? Most undergraduates think of their audience as the instructor. True, your instructor is a good person to keep in mind as you write. But for the purposes of a good paper, think of your audience as someone like your roommate: smart enough to understand a clear, logical argument, but not someone who already knows exactly what is going on in your particular paper. Remember, even if the instructor knows everything there is to know about your paper topic, they still have to read your paper and assess your understanding. In other words, teach the material to your reader.

Aiming a paper at your audience happens in two ways: you make decisions about the tone and the level of information you want to convey.

• Tone means the “voice” of your paper. Should you be chatty, formal, or objective? Usually you will find some happy medium—you do not want to alienate your reader by sounding condescending or superior, but you do not want to, um, like, totally wig on the man, you know? Eschew ostentatious erudition: some students think the way to sound academic is to use big words. Be careful—you can sound ridiculous, especially if you use the wrong big words.
• The level of information you use depends on who you think your audience is. If you imagine your audience as your instructor and they already know everything you have to say, you may find yourself leaving out key information that can cause your argument to be unconvincing and illogical. But you do not have to explain every single word or issue. If you are telling your roommate what happened on your favorite science fiction TV show last night, you do not say, “First a dark-haired white man of average height, wearing a suit and carrying a flashlight, walked into the room. Then a purple alien with fifteen arms and at least three eyes turned around. Then the man smiled slightly. In the background, you could hear a clock ticking. The room was fairly dark and had at least two windows that I saw.” You also do not say, “This guy found some aliens. The end.” Find some balance of useful details that support your main point.

You’ll find a much more detailed discussion of these concepts in our handout on audience .

The Grim Truth

With a few exceptions (including some lab and ethnography reports), you are probably being asked to make an argument. You must convince your audience. It is easy to forget this aim when you are researching and writing; as you become involved in your subject matter, you may become enmeshed in the details and focus on learning or simply telling the information you have found. You need to do more than just repeat what you have read. Your writing should have a point, and you should be able to say it in a sentence. Sometimes instructors call this sentence a “thesis” or a “claim.”

So, if your instructor tells you to write about some aspect of oral hygiene, you do not want to just list: “First, you brush your teeth with a soft brush and some peanut butter. Then, you floss with unwaxed, bologna-flavored string. Finally, gargle with bourbon.” Instead, you could say, “Of all the oral cleaning methods, sandblasting removes the most plaque. Therefore it should be recommended by the American Dental Association.” Or, “From an aesthetic perspective, moldy teeth can be quite charming. However, their joys are short-lived.”

Convincing the reader of your argument is the goal of academic writing. It doesn’t have to say “argument” anywhere in the assignment for you to need one. Look at the assignment and think about what kind of argument you could make about it instead of just seeing it as a checklist of information you have to present. For help with understanding the role of argument in academic writing, see our handout on argument .

What kind of evidence do you need?

There are many kinds of evidence, and what type of evidence will work for your assignment can depend on several factors–the discipline, the parameters of the assignment, and your instructor’s preference. Should you use statistics? Historical examples? Do you need to conduct your own experiment? Can you rely on personal experience? See our handout on evidence for suggestions on how to use evidence appropriately.

Make sure you are clear about this part of the assignment, because your use of evidence will be crucial in writing a successful paper. You are not just learning how to argue; you are learning how to argue with specific types of materials and ideas. Ask your instructor what counts as acceptable evidence. You can also ask a librarian for help. No matter what kind of evidence you use, be sure to cite it correctly—see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial .

You cannot always tell from the assignment just what sort of writing style your instructor expects. The instructor may be really laid back in class but still expect you to sound formal in writing. Or the instructor may be fairly formal in class and ask you to write a reflection paper where you need to use “I” and speak from your own experience.

Try to avoid false associations of a particular field with a style (“art historians like wacky creativity,” or “political scientists are boring and just give facts”) and look instead to the types of readings you have been given in class. No one expects you to write like Plato—just use the readings as a guide for what is standard or preferable to your instructor. When in doubt, ask your instructor about the level of formality they expect.

No matter what field you are writing for or what facts you are including, if you do not write so that your reader can understand your main idea, you have wasted your time. So make clarity your main goal. For specific help with style, see our handout on style .

Technical details about the assignment

The technical information you are given in an assignment always seems like the easy part. This section can actually give you lots of little hints about approaching the task. Find out if elements such as page length and citation format (see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial ) are negotiable. Some professors do not have strong preferences as long as you are consistent and fully answer the assignment. Some professors are very specific and will deduct big points for deviations.

Usually, the page length tells you something important: The instructor thinks the size of the paper is appropriate to the assignment’s parameters. In plain English, your instructor is telling you how many pages it should take for you to answer the question as fully as you are expected to. So if an assignment is two pages long, you cannot pad your paper with examples or reword your main idea several times. Hit your one point early, defend it with the clearest example, and finish quickly. If an assignment is ten pages long, you can be more complex in your main points and examples—and if you can only produce five pages for that assignment, you need to see someone for help—as soon as possible.

Tricks that don’t work

Your instructors are not fooled when you:

• spend more time on the cover page than the essay —graphics, cool binders, and cute titles are no replacement for a well-written paper.
• use huge fonts, wide margins, or extra spacing to pad the page length —these tricks are immediately obvious to the eye. Most instructors use the same word processor you do. They know what’s possible. Such tactics are especially damning when the instructor has a stack of 60 papers to grade and yours is the only one that low-flying airplane pilots could read.
• use a paper from another class that covered “sort of similar” material . Again, the instructor has a particular task for you to fulfill in the assignment that usually relates to course material and lectures. Your other paper may not cover this material, and turning in the same paper for more than one course may constitute an Honor Code violation . Ask the instructor—it can’t hurt.
• get all wacky and “creative” before you answer the question . Showing that you are able to think beyond the boundaries of a simple assignment can be good, but you must do what the assignment calls for first. Again, check with your instructor. A humorous tone can be refreshing for someone grading a stack of papers, but it will not get you a good grade if you have not fulfilled the task.

Critical reading of assignments leads to skills in other types of reading and writing. If you get good at figuring out what the real goals of assignments are, you are going to be better at understanding the goals of all of your classes and fields of study.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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5 tips on writing better university assignments

Lecturer in Student Learning and Communication Development, University of Sydney

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Alexandra Garcia does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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University life comes with its share of challenges. One of these is writing longer assignments that require higher information, communication and critical thinking skills than what you might have been used to in high school. Here are five tips to help you get ahead.

1. Use all available sources of information

Beyond instructions and deadlines, lecturers make available an increasing number of resources. But students often overlook these.

For example, to understand how your assignment will be graded, you can examine the rubric . This is a chart indicating what you need to do to obtain a high distinction, a credit or a pass, as well as the course objectives – also known as “learning outcomes”.

Other resources include lecture recordings, reading lists, sample assignments and discussion boards. All this information is usually put together in an online platform called a learning management system (LMS). Examples include Blackboard , Moodle , Canvas and iLearn . Research shows students who use their LMS more frequently tend to obtain higher final grades.

If after scrolling through your LMS you still have questions about your assignment, you can check your lecturer’s consultation hours.

2. Take referencing seriously

Plagiarism – using somebody else’s words or ideas without attribution – is a serious offence at university. It is a form of cheating.

In many cases, though, students are unaware they have cheated. They are simply not familiar with referencing styles – such as APA , Harvard , Vancouver , Chicago , etc – or lack the skills to put the information from their sources into their own words.

To avoid making this mistake, you may approach your university’s library, which is likely to offer face-to-face workshops or online resources on referencing. Academic support units may also help with paraphrasing.

You can also use referencing management software, such as EndNote or Mendeley . You can then store your sources, retrieve citations and create reference lists with only a few clicks. For undergraduate students, Zotero has been recommended as it seems to be more user-friendly.

Using this kind of software will certainly save you time searching for and formatting references. However, you still need to become familiar with the citation style in your discipline and revise the formatting accordingly.

3. Plan before you write

If you were to build a house, you wouldn’t start by laying bricks at random. You’d start with a blueprint. Likewise, writing an academic paper requires careful planning: you need to decide the number of sections, their organisation, and the information and sources you will include in each.

Research shows students who prepare detailed outlines produce higher-quality texts. Planning will not only help you get better grades, but will also reduce the time you spend staring blankly at the screen thinking about what to write next.

During the planning stage, using programs like OneNote from Microsoft Office or Outline for Mac can make the task easier as they allow you to organise information in tabs. These bits of information can be easily rearranged for later drafting. Navigating through the tabs is also easier than scrolling through a long Word file.

4. Choose the right words

Which of these sentences is more appropriate for an assignment?

a. “This paper talks about why the planet is getting hotter”, or b. “This paper examines the causes of climate change”.

The written language used at university is more formal and technical than the language you normally use in social media or while chatting with your friends. Academic words tend to be longer and their meaning is also more precise. “Climate change” implies more than just the planet “getting hotter”.

To find the right words, you can use SkELL , which shows you the words that appear more frequently, with your search entry categorised grammatically. For example, if you enter “paper”, it will tell you it is often the subject of verbs such as “present”, “describe”, “examine” and “discuss”.

Another option is the Writefull app, which does a similar job without having to use an online browser.

5. Edit and proofread

If you’re typing the last paragraph of the assignment ten minutes before the deadline, you will be missing a very important step in the writing process: editing and proofreading your text. A 2018 study found a group of university students did significantly better in a test after incorporating the process of planning, drafting and editing in their writing.

You probably already know to check the spelling of a word if it appears underlined in red. You may even use a grammar checker such as Grammarly . However, no software to date can detect every error and it is not uncommon to be given inaccurate suggestions.

So, in addition to your choice of proofreader, you need to improve and expand your grammar knowledge. Check with the academic support services at your university if they offer any relevant courses.

Written communication is a skill that requires effort and dedication. That’s why universities are investing in support services – face-to-face workshops, individual consultations, and online courses – to help students in this process. You can also take advantage of a wide range of web-based resources such as spell checkers, vocabulary tools and referencing software – many of them free.

Improving your written communication will help you succeed at university and beyond.

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1.1 Reading and Writing in College

Learning objectives.

• Understand the expectations for reading and writing assignments in college courses.
• Understand and apply general strategies to complete college-level reading assignments efficiently and effectively.
• Recognize specific types of writing assignments frequently included in college courses.
• Understand and apply general strategies for managing college-level writing assignments.
• Determine specific reading and writing strategies that work best for you individually.

As you begin this chapter, you may be wondering why you need an introduction. After all, you have been writing and reading since elementary school. You completed numerous assessments of your reading and writing skills in high school and as part of your application process for college. You may write on the job, too. Why is a college writing course even necessary?

When you are eager to get started on the coursework in your major that will prepare you for your career, getting excited about an introductory college writing course can be difficult. However, regardless of your field of study, honing your writing skills—and your reading and critical-thinking skills—gives you a more solid academic foundation.

In college, academic expectations change from what you may have experienced in high school. The quantity of work you are expected to do is increased. When instructors expect you to read pages upon pages or study hours and hours for one particular course, managing your work load can be challenging. This chapter includes strategies for studying efficiently and managing your time.

The quality of the work you do also changes. It is not enough to understand course material and summarize it on an exam. You will also be expected to seriously engage with new ideas by reflecting on them, analyzing them, critiquing them, making connections, drawing conclusions, or finding new ways of thinking about a given subject. Educationally, you are moving into deeper waters. A good introductory writing course will help you swim.

Table 1.1 “High School versus College Assignments” summarizes some of the other major differences between high school and college assignments.

Table 1.1 High School versus College Assignments

This chapter covers the types of reading and writing assignments you will encounter as a college student. You will also learn a variety of strategies for mastering these new challenges—and becoming a more confident student and writer.

Throughout this chapter, you will follow a first-year student named Crystal. After several years of working as a saleswoman in a department store, Crystal has decided to pursue a degree in elementary education and become a teacher. She is continuing to work part-time, and occasionally she finds it challenging to balance the demands of work, school, and caring for her four-year-old son. As you read about Crystal, think about how you can use her experience to get the most out of your own college experience.

Review Table 1.1 “High School versus College Assignments” and think about how you have found your college experience to be different from high school so far. Respond to the following questions:

• In what ways do you think college will be more rewarding for you as a learner?
• What aspects of college do you expect to find most challenging?
• What changes do you think you might have to make in your life to ensure your success in college?

Reading Strategies

Your college courses will sharpen both your reading and your writing skills. Most of your writing assignments—from brief response papers to in-depth research projects—will depend on your understanding of course reading assignments or related readings you do on your own. And it is difficult, if not impossible, to write effectively about a text that you have not understood. Even when you do understand the reading, it can be hard to write about it if you do not feel personally engaged with the ideas discussed.

This section discusses strategies you can use to get the most out of your college reading assignments. These strategies fall into three broad categories:

• Planning strategies. To help you manage your reading assignments.
• Comprehension strategies. To help you understand the material.
• Active reading strategies. To take your understanding to a higher and deeper level.

Planning Your Reading

Have you ever stayed up all night cramming just before an exam? Or found yourself skimming a detailed memo from your boss five minutes before a crucial meeting? The first step in handling college reading successfully is planning. This involves both managing your time and setting a clear purpose for your reading.

Managing Your Reading Time

You will learn more detailed strategies for time management in Section 1.2 “Developing Study Skills” , but for now, focus on setting aside enough time for reading and breaking your assignments into manageable chunks. If you are assigned a seventy-page chapter to read for next week’s class, try not to wait until the night before to get started. Give yourself at least a few days and tackle one section at a time.

Your method for breaking up the assignment will depend on the type of reading. If the text is very dense and packed with unfamiliar terms and concepts, you may need to read no more than five or ten pages in one sitting so that you can truly understand and process the information. With more user-friendly texts, you will be able to handle longer sections—twenty to forty pages, for instance. And if you have a highly engaging reading assignment, such as a novel you cannot put down, you may be able to read lengthy passages in one sitting.

As the semester progresses, you will develop a better sense of how much time you need to allow for the reading assignments in different subjects. It also makes sense to preview each assignment well in advance to assess its difficulty level and to determine how much reading time to set aside.

College instructors often set aside reserve readings for a particular course. These consist of articles, book chapters, or other texts that are not part of the primary course textbook. Copies of reserve readings are available through the university library; in print; or, more often, online. When you are assigned a reserve reading, download it ahead of time (and let your instructor know if you have trouble accessing it). Skim through it to get a rough idea of how much time you will need to read the assignment in full.

Setting a Purpose

The other key component of planning is setting a purpose. Knowing what you want to get out of a reading assignment helps you determine how to approach it and how much time to spend on it. It also helps you stay focused during those occasional moments when it is late, you are tired, and relaxing in front of the television sounds far more appealing than curling up with a stack of journal articles.

Sometimes your purpose is simple. You might just need to understand the reading material well enough to discuss it intelligently in class the next day. However, your purpose will often go beyond that. For instance, you might also read to compare two texts, to formulate a personal response to a text, or to gather ideas for future research. Here are some questions to ask to help determine your purpose:

How did my instructor frame the assignment? Often your instructors will tell you what they expect you to get out of the reading:

• Read Chapter 2 and come to class prepared to discuss current teaching practices in elementary math.
• Read these two articles and compare Smith’s and Jones’s perspectives on the 2010 health care reform bill.
• Read Chapter 5 and think about how you could apply these guidelines to running your own business.
• How deeply do I need to understand the reading? If you are majoring in computer science and you are assigned to read Chapter 1, “Introduction to Computer Science,” it is safe to assume the chapter presents fundamental concepts that you will be expected to master. However, for some reading assignments, you may be expected to form a general understanding but not necessarily master the content. Again, pay attention to how your instructor presents the assignment.
• How does this assignment relate to other course readings or to concepts discussed in class? Your instructor may make some of these connections explicitly, but if not, try to draw connections on your own. (Needless to say, it helps to take detailed notes both when in class and when you read.)
• How might I use this text again in the future? If you are assigned to read about a topic that has always interested you, your reading assignment might help you develop ideas for a future research paper. Some reading assignments provide valuable tips or summaries worth bookmarking for future reference. Think about what you can take from the reading that will stay with you.

Improving Your Comprehension

You have blocked out time for your reading assignments and set a purpose for reading. Now comes the challenge: making sure you actually understand all the information you are expected to process. Some of your reading assignments will be fairly straightforward. Others, however, will be longer or more complex, so you will need a plan for how to handle them.

For any expository writing —that is, nonfiction, informational writing—your first comprehension goal is to identify the main points and relate any details to those main points. Because college-level texts can be challenging, you will also need to monitor your reading comprehension. That is, you will need to stop periodically and assess how well you understand what you are reading. Finally, you can improve comprehension by taking time to determine which strategies work best for you and putting those strategies into practice.

Identifying the Main Points

In college, you will read a wide variety of materials, including the following:

• Textbooks. These usually include summaries, glossaries, comprehension questions, and other study aids.
• Nonfiction trade books. These are less likely to include the study features found in textbooks.
• Popular magazine, newspaper, or web articles. These are usually written for a general audience.
• Scholarly books and journal articles. These are written for an audience of specialists in a given field.

Regardless of what type of expository text you are assigned to read, your primary comprehension goal is to identify the main point : the most important idea that the writer wants to communicate and often states early on. Finding the main point gives you a framework to organize the details presented in the reading and relate the reading to concepts you learned in class or through other reading assignments. After identifying the main point, you will find the supporting points , the details, facts, and explanations that develop and clarify the main point.

Some texts make that task relatively easy. Textbooks, for instance, include the aforementioned features as well as headings and subheadings intended to make it easier for students to identify core concepts. Graphic features, such as sidebars, diagrams, and charts, help students understand complex information and distinguish between essential and inessential points. When you are assigned to read from a textbook, be sure to use available comprehension aids to help you identify the main points.

Trade books and popular articles may not be written specifically for an educational purpose; nevertheless, they also include features that can help you identify the main ideas. These features include the following:

• Trade books. Many trade books include an introduction that presents the writer’s main ideas and purpose for writing. Reading chapter titles (and any subtitles within the chapter) will help you get a broad sense of what is covered. It also helps to read the beginning and ending paragraphs of a chapter closely. These paragraphs often sum up the main ideas presented.
• Popular articles. Reading the headings and introductory paragraphs carefully is crucial. In magazine articles, these features (along with the closing paragraphs) present the main concepts. Hard news articles in newspapers present the gist of the news story in the lead paragraph, while subsequent paragraphs present increasingly general details.

At the far end of the reading difficulty scale are scholarly books and journal articles. Because these texts are written for a specialized, highly educated audience, the authors presume their readers are already familiar with the topic. The language and writing style is sophisticated and sometimes dense.

When you read scholarly books and journal articles, try to apply the same strategies discussed earlier. The introduction usually presents the writer’s thesis , the idea or hypothesis the writer is trying to prove. Headings and subheadings can help you understand how the writer has organized support for his or her thesis. Additionally, academic journal articles often include a summary at the beginning, called an abstract, and electronic databases include summaries of articles, too.

For more information about reading different types of texts, see Chapter 12 “Writing a Research Paper” .

Monitoring Your Comprehension

Finding the main idea and paying attention to text features as you read helps you figure out what you should know. Just as important, however, is being able to figure out what you do not know and developing a strategy to deal with it.

Textbooks often include comprehension questions in the margins or at the end of a section or chapter. As you read, stop occasionally to answer these questions on paper or in your head. Use them to identify sections you may need to reread, read more carefully, or ask your instructor about later.

Even when a text does not have built-in comprehension features, you can actively monitor your own comprehension. Try these strategies, adapting them as needed to suit different kinds of texts:

• Summarize. At the end of each section, pause to summarize the main points in a few sentences. If you have trouble doing so, revisit that section.
• Ask and answer questions. When you begin reading a section, try to identify two to three questions you should be able to answer after you finish it. Write down your questions and use them to test yourself on the reading. If you cannot answer a question, try to determine why. Is the answer buried in that section of reading but just not coming across to you? Or do you expect to find the answer in another part of the reading?
• Do not read in a vacuum. Look for opportunities to discuss the reading with your classmates. Many instructors set up online discussion forums or blogs specifically for that purpose. Participating in these discussions can help you determine whether your understanding of the main points is the same as your peers’.

These discussions can also serve as a reality check. If everyone in the class struggled with the reading, it may be exceptionally challenging. If it was a breeze for everyone but you, you may need to see your instructor for help.

As a working mother, Crystal found that the best time to get her reading done was in the evening, after she had put her four-year-old to bed. However, she occasionally had trouble concentrating at the end of a long day. She found that by actively working to summarize the reading and asking and answering questions, she focused better and retained more of what she read. She also found that evenings were a good time to check the class discussion forums that a few of her instructors had created.

Choose any text that that you have been assigned to read for one of your college courses. In your notes, complete the following tasks:

• Summarize the main points of the text in two to three sentences.
• Write down two to three questions about the text that you can bring up during class discussion.

Students are often reluctant to seek help. They feel like doing so marks them as slow, weak, or demanding. The truth is, every learner occasionally struggles. If you are sincerely trying to keep up with the course reading but feel like you are in over your head, seek out help. Speak up in class, schedule a meeting with your instructor, or visit your university learning center for assistance.

Deal with the problem as early in the semester as you can. Instructors respect students who are proactive about their own learning. Most instructors will work hard to help students who make the effort to help themselves.

Taking It to the Next Level: Active Reading

Now that you have acquainted (or reacquainted) yourself with useful planning and comprehension strategies, college reading assignments may feel more manageable. You know what you need to do to get your reading done and make sure you grasp the main points. However, the most successful students in college are not only competent readers but active, engaged readers.

Using the SQ3R Strategy

One strategy you can use to become a more active, engaged reader is the SQ3R strategy , a step-by-step process to follow before, during, and after reading. You may already use some variation of it. In essence, the process works like this:

• Survey the text in advance.
• Form questions before you start reading.
• Read the text.
• Recite and/or record important points during and after reading.
• Review and reflect on the text after you read.

Before you read, you survey, or preview, the text. As noted earlier, reading introductory paragraphs and headings can help you begin to figure out the author’s main point and identify what important topics will be covered. However, surveying does not stop there. Look over sidebars, photographs, and any other text or graphic features that catch your eye. Skim a few paragraphs. Preview any boldfaced or italicized vocabulary terms. This will help you form a first impression of the material.

Next, start brainstorming questions about the text. What do you expect to learn from the reading? You may find that some questions come to mind immediately based on your initial survey or based on previous readings and class discussions. If not, try using headings and subheadings in the text to formulate questions. For instance, if one heading in your textbook reads “Medicare and Medicaid,” you might ask yourself these questions:

• When was Medicare and Medicaid legislation enacted? Why?
• What are the major differences between these two programs?

Although some of your questions may be simple factual questions, try to come up with a few that are more open-ended. Asking in-depth questions will help you stay more engaged as you read.

The next step is simple: read. As you read, notice whether your first impressions of the text were correct. Are the author’s main points and overall approach about the same as what you predicted—or does the text contain a few surprises? Also, look for answers to your earlier questions and begin forming new questions. Continue to revise your impressions and questions as you read.

While you are reading, pause occasionally to recite or record important points. It is best to do this at the end of each section or when there is an obvious shift in the writer’s train of thought. Put the book aside for a moment and recite aloud the main points of the section or any important answers you found there. You might also record ideas by jotting down a few brief notes in addition to, or instead of, reciting aloud. Either way, the physical act of articulating information makes you more likely to remember it.

After you have completed the reading, take some time to review the material more thoroughly. If the textbook includes review questions or your instructor has provided a study guide, use these tools to guide your review. You will want to record information in a more detailed format than you used during reading, such as in an outline or a list.

As you review the material, reflect on what you learned. Did anything surprise you, upset you, or make you think? Did you find yourself strongly agreeing or disagreeing with any points in the text? What topics would you like to explore further? Jot down your reflections in your notes. (Instructors sometimes require students to write brief response papers or maintain a reading journal. Use these assignments to help you reflect on what you read.)

Choose another text that that you have been assigned to read for a class. Use the SQ3R process to complete the reading. (Keep in mind that you may need to spread the reading over more than one session, especially if the text is long.)

Be sure to complete all the steps involved. Then, reflect on how helpful you found this process. On a scale of one to ten, how useful did you find it? How does it compare with other study techniques you have used?

Using Other Active Reading Strategies

The SQ3R process encompasses a number of valuable active reading strategies: previewing a text, making predictions, asking and answering questions, and summarizing. You can use the following additional strategies to further deepen your understanding of what you read.

• Connect what you read to what you already know. Look for ways the reading supports, extends, or challenges concepts you have learned elsewhere.
• Relate the reading to your own life. What statements, people, or situations relate to your personal experiences?
• Visualize. For both fiction and nonfiction texts, try to picture what is described. Visualizing is especially helpful when you are reading a narrative text, such as a novel or a historical account, or when you read expository text that describes a process, such as how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
• Pay attention to graphics as well as text. Photographs, diagrams, flow charts, tables, and other graphics can help make abstract ideas more concrete and understandable.
• Understand the text in context. Understanding context means thinking about who wrote the text, when and where it was written, the author’s purpose for writing it, and what assumptions or agendas influenced the author’s ideas. For instance, two writers might both address the subject of health care reform, but if one article is an opinion piece and one is a news story, the context is different.
• Plan to talk or write about what you read. Jot down a few questions or comments in your notebook so you can bring them up in class. (This also gives you a source of topic ideas for papers and presentations later in the semester.) Discuss the reading on a class discussion board or blog about it.

As Crystal began her first semester of elementary education courses, she occasionally felt lost in a sea of new terms and theories about teaching and child development. She found that it helped to relate the reading to her personal observations of her son and other kids she knew.

Writing at Work

Many college courses require students to participate in interactive online components, such as a discussion forum, a page on a social networking site, or a class blog. These tools are a great way to reinforce learning. Do not be afraid to be the student who starts the discussion.

Remember that when you interact with other students and teachers online, you need to project a mature, professional image. You may be able to use an informal, conversational tone, but complaining about the work load, using off-color language, or “flaming” other participants is inappropriate.

Active reading can benefit you in ways that go beyond just earning good grades. By practicing these strategies, you will find yourself more interested in your courses and better able to relate your academic work to the rest of your life. Being an interested, engaged student also helps you form lasting connections with your instructors and with other students that can be personally and professionally valuable. In short, it helps you get the most out of your education.

Common Writing Assignments

College writing assignments serve a different purpose than the typical writing assignments you completed in high school. In high school, teachers generally focus on teaching you to write in a variety of modes and formats, including personal writing, expository writing, research papers, creative writing, and writing short answers and essays for exams. Over time, these assignments help you build a foundation of writing skills.

In college, many instructors will expect you to already have that foundation.

Your college composition courses will focus on writing for its own sake, helping you make the transition to college-level writing assignments. However, in most other college courses, writing assignments serve a different purpose. In those courses, you may use writing as one tool among many for learning how to think about a particular academic discipline.

Additionally, certain assignments teach you how to meet the expectations for professional writing in a given field. Depending on the class, you might be asked to write a lab report, a case study, a literary analysis, a business plan, or an account of a personal interview. You will need to learn and follow the standard conventions for those types of written products.

Finally, personal and creative writing assignments are less common in college than in high school. College courses emphasize expository writing, writing that explains or informs. Often expository writing assignments will incorporate outside research, too. Some classes will also require persuasive writing assignments in which you state and support your position on an issue. College instructors will hold you to a higher standard when it comes to supporting your ideas with reasons and evidence.

Table 1.2 “Common Types of College Writing Assignments” lists some of the most common types of college writing assignments. It includes minor, less formal assignments as well as major ones. Which specific assignments you encounter will depend on the courses you take and the learning objectives developed by your instructors.

Table 1.2 Common Types of College Writing Assignments

Part of managing your education is communicating well with others at your university. For instance, you might need to e-mail your instructor to request an office appointment or explain why you will need to miss a class. You might need to contact administrators with questions about your tuition or financial aid. Later, you might ask instructors to write recommendations on your behalf.

Treat these documents as professional communications. Address the recipient politely; state your question, problem, or request clearly; and use a formal, respectful tone. Doing so helps you make a positive impression and get a quicker response.

Key Takeaways

• College-level reading and writing assignments differ from high school assignments not only in quantity but also in quality.
• Managing college reading assignments successfully requires you to plan and manage your time, set a purpose for reading, practice effective comprehension strategies, and use active reading strategies to deepen your understanding of the text.
• College writing assignments place greater emphasis on learning to think critically about a particular discipline and less emphasis on personal and creative writing.

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

The Bookshelf

Exploring edtech and cognitive psychology.

• NSF Funds Work on Flagging Bad Online Behavior
• Testing AI Fairness in Predicting College Dropout Rate
• Pandemic Lockdowns Boost, Democratize Online Education
• Study Reveals Key Course Features that Draw Diverse Students
• Study: No Single Solution Helps All Students Complete MOOCs

How to Ace Your College Assignments

College can be tough. You’re juggling classes, homework, a social life, and maybe a job on the side. It’s no wonder that sometimes your college assignments don’t get the attention they deserve. But did you know that there are tricks to acing your college assignments? Here are some tips and strategies that will help you get better grades in school!

For many students, college is a big learning curve. It’s a time in your life that involves a lot of change and getting used to many new things. When it comes to college assignments, many students find that things work differently from when they were in high school. The format and types of assessments are different, the criteria for passing can feel unfamiliar, and of course, the level of learning is a step up from high school too.

But getting good grades has a direct impact on your success at college, so it’s important to do as well as you can. So what can you do to get to grips with college assignments so you ace them? Here are some tips.

Read The Instructions

Start by reading the assignment instructions carefully. This may seem obvious, but it’s important to make sure you understand what the task is and what your lecturer or professor is looking for. If you’re unsure about anything, ask for clarification from your instructor. They are there to help you, so you should never feel unsure about going to ask for clarification, or for a little extra direction. You could even ask them what they’re looking for in order to give good grades. For example, is it more about research, or a good writing style? Any tips you can glean from the people marking your assignments will help.

Use Past Papers And Study Materials

When you have a better understanding of what’s required, it can be helpful to use past papers and college study materials to give yourself an idea of the sort of thing that might be expected. Study materials can also give you an idea of the level of detail required and the standard expected by your college. If you’re not sure where to find these things, ask your instructor or librarian for help. Getting hold of some of these past materials will help to give you a framework for your learning, understand the types of assignments your college sets, and what success looks like to them.

Create A Plan And Work Schedule

Once you have a good understanding of the task at hand and what’s expected of you, it’s time to create a plan. This should be a detailed document that outlines everything you need to do in order to complete the assignment to a high standard. Your plan should include a timeline and deadlines for each task, as well as what resources you’ll need and any other information that will help you to complete the assignment.

Work In Short Bursts

One of the best pieces of advice for college students is to work in short bursts . This means setting a timer for a certain amount of time and working on the task at hand for that amount of time, before taking a break. This method is often recommended for students because it’s a more effective way of working than trying to power through for hours on end. It’s also a lot easier to stay focused when you’re working in short bursts. When you take a break, make sure you get up and move around, have a snack, or do something to take your mind off of your work so you can come back refreshed and ready to focus again.

Take Regular Breaks

It’s important to take regular breaks when you’re working on an assignment. This will help to keep you from getting too bogged down in the task and will allow you to come back to it with fresh eyes. When you’re taking a break, make sure you get up and move around, have a snack, or do something to take your mind off of your work so you can come back refreshed and ready to focus again.

Set A Deadline For Yourself

As well as any deadlines set by your instructor, it can be helpful to set a deadline for yourself. This should be a date or time by which you will have completed the assignment. Having a personal deadline will help to keep you on track and motivated to get the work done.

Don’t Leave It To The Last Minute

One of the worst things you can do is leave your college assignment to the last minute. This will only lead to stress and will likely result in a rushed and poorly done piece of work. If you start the assignment early, you’ll have more time to do it properly and you’ll be less likely to make mistakes. It will also give you time to deal with any unexpected circumstances, such as some additional research you decide you need to do, or dealing with a cold that leaves you feeling under the weather for a few days.

Start With The Easy Stuff

When you’re starting an assignment, it can be helpful to start with the easy stuff. This will help to get you into the flow of working on the task and will give you a sense of accomplishment. Once you’ve completed the easy stuff, you can move on to the more challenging tasks. This will help you to stay focused and motivated, and will make the whole process less daunting.

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NCI LIBRARY

Academic writing skills guide: structuring your assignment.

• Key Features of Academic Writing
• The Writing Process
• Understanding Assignments
• Brainstorming Techniques
• Planning Your Assignments
• Thesis Statements
• Writing Drafts
• Structuring Your Assignment
• How to Deal With Writer's Block
• Using Paragraphs
• Conclusions
• Introductions
• Revising & Editing
• Proofreading
• Grammar & Punctuation
• Reporting Verbs
• Signposting, Transitions & Linking Words/Phrases
• Using Lecturers' Feedback

Keep referring back to the question and assignment brief and make sure that your structure matches what you have been asked to do and check to see if you have appropriate and sufficient evidence to support all of your points. Plans can be structured/restructured at any time during the writing process.

Once you have decided on your key point(s), draw a line through any points that no longer seem to fit. This will mean you are eliminating some ideas and potentially letting go of one or two points that you wanted to make. However, this process is all about improving the relevance and coherence of your writing. Writing involves making choices, including the tough choice to sideline ideas that, however promising, do not fit into your main discussion.

Eventually, you will have a structure that is detailed enough for you to start writing. You will know which ideas go into each section and, ideally, each paragraph and in what order. You will also know which evidence for those ideas from your notes you will be using for each section and paragraph.

Once you have a map/framework of the proposed structure, this forms the skeleton of your assignment and if you have invested enough time and effort into researching and brainstorming your ideas beforehand, it should make it easier to flesh it out. Ultimately, you are aiming for a final draft where you can sum up each paragraph in a couple of words as each paragraph focuses on one main point or idea.

Communications from the Library:  Please note all communications from the library, concerning renewal of books, overdue books and reservations will be sent to your NCI student email account.

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11 Types of Assignments You’ll Write In College This Year

by  Antony W

February 2, 2024

This is the complete list of the types of assignments that you will come across in high school, college, and university this year and beyond.

Types of Assignments: The Complete List for High School and College Students

The following is the complete list of the types of assignments that you will do in school. Whether you’re in high school, college, or university, this list is worth checking.

1. Essay Assignments

Essay assignments give students a chance to express and back up their thought with explanations, statements, facts, and analysis.

Although an essay can have as many paragraphs to express various ideas, the basic format is the 5-paragraph structure, which already includes the introduction, body, and conclusion. 

Other than the structure, it’s also important to know about the types of essays . These include argumentative, persuasive, analytic, and expository essays.

An analytic essay will disintegrate issues into solutions. An expository essay provides explanations to things. Then an argumentative essay attests topics to give proof.

2. Memo Assignments

Memos are assignments that require students to provide short reports such as a monthly sales report. Memorandum assignments are good because they help cultivate conciseness in students.

That’s so because a memo should be short and precise providing only what is important to the reader.

In addition, memos can either request or share important information, and is therefore important to keep it clear.

3. Presentation Skills Assignments

Your instructor may ask you, as an individual or in a group, to go in front of the class and present certain ideas. They do this to see how well students can be at representing ideas to a crowd.

Adequate preparation is the key when it comes to creating presentations. At the end of the day, the last thing you ever want to do is to get nervous in front of other students.

More importantly, presenting ideas as a group is good because it helps you to cultivate collaborative skills.

4. Flowchart Assignments

Flowcharts represent processes or workflow of events using boxes connected together with arrow. Students will use flowcharts to show step-by-step procedures to solve given tasks.

For example, they can use flowcharts to represent service or administrative processes, manufacturing processes, or project plans.

5. Project Report Assignments

Project report assignments are to be written in future tense if the goals intended are yet to be met and in past tense where the intended goal has been achieved.

This assignment provides stakeholders with a brief preview of the projects at hand and clues whether a given project will be a success or will need improvement to meet the set goal. Students should also draft their reports with factual details.

A report should have the following arrangement:

• Acknowledgements
• Table of content
• Introduction

The body should not feature any subtitles. The conclusion, on the other hand, should feature recommendations, references, and appendices.

The aim of having project reports is to ensure students are capable of organizing both their works and goals.

6. Reflective Journal Assignments

A reflective journal is one of the types of assignments that require students to write what they understand according to what they think.

Most students who find reflective assignments hard to do can always request academic writing help from the experts in their areas of study.

7. Research Paper Assignments

With research paper assignments, students are supposed to choose topics they can explore as they come up with explanations to support their investigation.

In this assignment, students are to survey their research to understand the study that they carry out. A good research paper will feature findings that check and marge with the hypothesis .

A good example of a research paper assignment that your teacher may ask you to write is a theology paper .

8. Case study Assignments

The goal of the case study assignment is to find out whether or not students can investigate situations.

The assignment will suggest scenarios to students for a given study and provide secondary or subordinate questions. It is the work of the student to treat the scenario as real. That way, they can get the right answers for the given case study within the shortest time possible.

A case study response should be authentic, reasonable, and based on facts. In a case study assignment, students are at liberty of having politicians, the public, and professionals as their audiences.

When it comes to writing, you have to avoid the use of a massive block of words instead but make the findings should be precise and direct to the point.

8. Wiki Assignments

Wiki assignments involve putting together information modified to about any imaginary audience. Wikis let students share their ideas and provide supportive pieces of evidence to illustrate amalgamation of understanding.

Wiki is another way of telling students the importance of collaborating with fellow students, as it allows them to come up with their own posts on given studies.

Students are at liberty of creating a list, writing research questions, or starting discussions. They are also able to comment and edit any document shared. Or they can collaborate and come up with a single well-researched and detailed post.

This is one of the simplest assignments you will ever come across in school. You can get wiki free and inexpensive wikis on websites like Wikispaces, PBwiki and Wetpaint.

Lastly, a wiki is among the tools used in colleges to help students get to an immense diversification of instructional targets.

9. Literature Review Assignments

A literature review assignment is an important pedagogical tool for students in college. Depending on the given scenario or topic, students have to validate answers by studying given literatures.

Students are supposed to use the official language and maintain high levels of literature as they prepare literature reviews.

While writing this assignment, you are encouraged to have an introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction grabs the attention of the reader, the body explains the main idea and the conclusion tells the reader the overall summary of your study. 

Apart from providing similarities and differences after evaluating more than one source, you are still supposed to give their conclusive judgments.

10. Personal Narrative Assignments

Most lecturers allocate 5% to 10% of their overall grade to personal narrative assignments.

Personal narrative essays are two pages long, which means students should always provide brief answers to the topic.

Most lecturers use this assignment to get to know their students as the semester kicks off.

11. Annotated Bibliography Assignments

Annotated Bibliography is a type of college assignment that requires students to gather related findings relevant to the topic under investigation arranged alphabetically.

Annotated bibliography assignment also requires students to use the official language and be as objective as possible.

A good annotated bibliography should have a summary of the assignment in the first section. The assignment checks whether students are collect and recognize literature relating to given topics.

About the author 

Antony W is a professional writer and coach at Help for Assessment. He spends countless hours every day researching and writing great content filled with expert advice on how to write engaging essays, research papers, and assignments.

Writing an Academic Blog

View in pdf format, differences between blog posts and formal academic papers.

Blogs are a more informal platform to present an argument that builds on your own perspective. Compared to a formal academic analysis, blog posts give you more freedom to discuss personal experience and emotional reactions to course material before delving into analysis. Just as in a formal academic paper, you need to include citations and analysis of evidence in a blog, but by no means do you need to use a very rigid structure. This is a place to let your thoughts meander a bit. A blog post does not necessarily need to cohere as a uniform piece of analysis, but it still should make sense. With this looser framework, you can be creative with structure. You can emphasize important points in a range of ways: short paragraphs, bullet points, bold text, italics, underlining, and headings. Because blogs are an electronic platform, images, videos, and links are helpful to demonstrate your thinking. See student examples of blending of analysis and personal observation, page two.

Common Traits of Strong Blog Posts

• Funny, interesting title
• An initial paradox, controversy, anecdote
• Common, typical experience as evidence, with some insightful, unusual twist
• Credible evidence supporting your claims, with links to journal articles and other sources
• Relevant photos/video clips/visual images of data
• Evidence provided tactfully and without suffocating your own argument
• Your VOICE: a unique argument building upon your perspective
• A clear position and perspective
• Organized logic (between paragraphs and within paragraphs)
• Active voice, concise sentences
• Clear, well-edited writing

Types of Blog Posts

Blog post assignments and expectations are diverse and vary across disciplines and professors. Blog posts will typically fall under one of the following four categories: textual analysis, personal experience, current events, or response to specific questions. See the table below for tips on each of these categories. These categories, however, are not cut and dried. Many blog posts will incorporate aspects of several categories, so use these types of evidence as you see fit. Even within disciplines, individual professors may have different expectations, so ask your professor for specific advice.

“What Kind of Blog Are You Writing?”

Examples from student blogs.

“This article prompted me to think once again about the larger implications capitalism and social class have on LBTQ segment of the queer community. My mind immediately goes to the rapid failure of lesbian bars throughout the country.”  Anonymous

“Code-switching refers to the practice of shifting the languages you use or the way you express yourself in your conversations (Deggans 2013). It occurs daily and, for me, is most noticeable in greetings. Back home in Brooklyn, I’d greet a black friend by saying, “What’s good?” Using this language sends a message to my friends that I know the jargon of the “hood” and it reaffirms my blackness. On the contrary, at my current school, Hamilton College, I tend to greet my white friends with, “Hey. How are you?” in a very lively tone to convey that I am friendly and welcoming like every other student.”   Kureem Nugent '18

“While the hype around Yuna, the Malaysian pop star, is exceptionally positive, this publicity can also be conceived as quite objectifying.  In all of the articles I have read, Yuna is not being highlighted for her music but for her clothes.” Sara Nolan ’16

The authors, Emily Rubinstein ’16, Sarah Ostrow ’18, John Rufo ’16, and Sharon Williams, thank Professors Cara Jones and Jaime Kucinskas for their help on this handout and the three Hamilton students for permission to quote from their blogs.

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10 Things Your College Professors Won't Tell You

Use these pointers to build better relationships with professors and possibly improve your grades.

Things Your Professors Won't Tell You

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Professors typically encourage students to communicate with them when they need help. Students who do so may not only get the benefit of receiving help, though. They might also earn their professor's respect.

College professors are people. And like most people, they have their secrets.

Many professors are transparent with their students on matters like attendance policies, grading systems and course goals. But they may be less willing to divulge other information, such as ways to get on their good side.

No two college instructors are the same, but here are 10 things true for at least some of them, according to experts.

They Give Extensions

John T. Harvey, a professor of economics at Texas Christian University , grants extensions to students if they are attending class daily and turning in all of their assignments. Experts say many professors take similar stances.

"You can't overdo it, but I think in general, these are people and they know that life happens," says Colleen Paparella, an educational consultant and founder of DC College Counseling.

They Get Skeptical of Excuses

Untimely illnesses and family tragedies are not preventable, but when students repeatedly claim they face such occurrences, many professors cannot help but get suspicious, experts say.

"Professors allow for extenuating circumstances," says Jennifer Sullivan, founder of Fast Forward College Coaching. "Extenuating circumstances are usually an anomaly. When extenuating circumstances happen all the time, it's not an anomaly anymore."

How to Build Rapport With Professors

Cole Claybourn Nov. 28, 2022

Students whose circumstances are legitimate can take measures to prove the validity of their claims. For example, students who miss classes or assignments for a relative's passing should consider sending their professor an obituary link, Paparella says.

They Know if You're Paying Attention

Students use computers as a learning device in many college courses. But when students are web browsing or playing games, professors often can tell, experts say.

Where students choose to sit can help them demonstrate an interest in class, Paparella says.

"If you sit within eyesight, that is going to give a perception that you're engaged, even if you're not," she says.

They Don't Appreciate a Teacher's Pet

Some college students might roll their eyes when one student in class makes an exaggerated effort to get on the professor's good side. Those students may not be the only ones irritated.

"That student in class that you find extremely annoying because it's obvious they're just trying to impress the professor? The professor finds them annoying, too," Harvey wrote in an email.

They Recycle Test Questions

Many professors, like Harvey, will never give the same exam twice. But students who look at past assessments their professors gave may be pleasantly surprised on test day, experts say.

"Looking at sample exams and old exams is a great idea," Paparella says. "I think that's oftentimes where (professors) get the questions from."

They Are Insulted by Academic Dishonesty

Students caught cheating may figure that professors discipline them simply because doing so is part of their job. But the typical professor is genuinely offended by academic dishonesty .

"Professors take cheating very personally," Harvey says. "If you wanted help or guidance, we would have been happy to provide it. I don't disrespect you, why are you disrespecting me?"

They Might Not Have Proof You Cheated

Speculating that a student committed academic dishonesty is one thing. Actually finding indisputable proof of it is more challenging for professors. A professor who has a hunch that a student cheated may test reactions in hopes of getting a confession.

"If I question you about your academic honesty on a particular exam or project, I may actually have very little evidence and be depending on you to suddenly break down and confess – which students do about 95% of the time!" Harvey says.

They Don't Have Much Time to Read Papers

Professors tend to be busy and may not be able to spend an abundance of time looking at every assignment their students submit. Many have mastered the art of evaluating work quickly, experts say.

"Some professors have a large number of students in their courses, and I think skilled professors are really able to look at an assignment and see if a student met all the criteria," Sullivan says.

They Know When You're Trying to Fill Page Space

When completing writing assignments , some fatigued college students increase font sizes and line spacings or adjust paper margins to meet page requirements more easily, hoping that professors will not notice subtle changes. But those who try this are not fooling anyone, Sullivan says.

"Professors are very attuned to creative spacing," she says. "They know that it's an intentional choice to disguise a lack of content."

They Want to See That You Care

"Brownie points really do exist," Sullivan says. "Actions like visiting a professor during their office hours or asking questions via email go a really long way to show a professor you care about your grade and you care about their class."

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The Portfolio – Culminating Activity (Your Final)

Portfolio assignment.

EN 111 Final Portfolio

The portfolio is a selection of work that demonstrates your writing abilities and knowledge about writing and critical thinking at the close of EN 111. For the purposes of this class, this assignment will be considered the final.

What goes in the Portfolio?

• Title page (title + optional picture and/or quote)
• Reflective Essay (~2 pages)
• A final (2nd) draft copy of all essays completed during the semester (Experience, Compare/Contrast, Issues) and the prior drafts for all essays.
• Selected Artifacts (2-3)

You should title the portfolio in a way that captures your sense of yourself as a writer and critical thinker at this point in your educational journey. You can include a picture and/or quote on the title page as well. A quote can come from anywhere (any text, movie, lyrics, etc.) but should illustrate your perspective about writing and/or critical thinking. You will discuss the significance of your title (picture and quote too if you included them) in your Reflective Essay.

Reflective Essay for Portfolio

The Reflective Essay is a self-assessment that examines the entire body of your work (all of your writing up to this point) rather than a single subject and/or inquiry thread. Your task is to examine, or reflect on , your own writing and situate your observations and interpretations within the context of our discussions about writing and critical thinking skills. The portfolio, in essence, is a presentation—a somewhat persuasive demonstration illustrating how you approached writing and critical thinking before EN 111, and how you see yourself, as a writer and thinker, now, in relation to these same abilities/skills at the close of the course.

What goes in the Reflective Essay?

This essay should be a fairly polished and focused piece of writing that supports its claims and reflections with specific evidence (i.e. cite yourself). It will run ~2 pages in length. All reflective essays should take into account the following, but not necessarily in the order presented here:

• The significance of your title (and picture and quote, if included).
• What you now understand about effective writing and how it is achieved and what the portfolio reveals about your writing and your abilities to think on paper. (Refer to your included essays and selected artifacts).
• What you now understand about writing and critical inquiry that this portfolio might not reveal. (You may understand more than your portfolio reveals).
• What the portfolio reveals about you as a writer and critical thinker at this point in your educational journey (Refer to your included essays and selected artifacts).
• What challenges you continue to face as writer and critical thinker. (What is hard for you? In what areas have you gotten stronger and more confident? What immediate goals have you set for yourself as you continue to develop as a writer and critical thinker?)
• (Optional) Discuss, document, and evaluate the extent to which you were actively engaged in this class (i.e. determine how much time/effort you put into this course and whether your writing reflects that same time/effort).

You are to include final (2nd) draft copies (at minimum) of all the essays you have written in this course. In including your essays, you will be expected to discuss why you have included them in your Reflective Essay, and explain specifically what they illustrate about you as a writer and critical thinker. As such, I recommend that you discuss how the essays reveal your analytical skills at work—your abilities to develop, examine, and communicate an informed perspective.

Selected Artifacts

I am asking you to include 2-3 artifacts from the course (or outside of EN 111) that are significant to, and reflective of, you in terms of yourself as a writer and critical thinker. You may select anything from your Informal Writing Collection (freewrites, peer exchanges, etc.), your formal writing (part of your essay(s), or parts of them as a sequence from the first draft to the final draft stage) or other texts (a particular paper or assignment from another class you found pertinent to your overall growth).

How Do I Submit It?

You should submit the portfolio, in the dropbox on the preceding page,  as a Word document or a PDF so that I may open it in Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat Reader.

• Portfolio Assignment. Authored by : Jason Brown. Provided by : Herkimer College. Project : AtD OER Course. License : CC BY: Attribution

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"homework" in college.

Since coming to Harvard, I don’t recall even once hearing the word “homework”—which is a pretty strange thing considering the role it played for the first 12 years of my education (spoiler alert: this doesn’t mean that we don’t have assignments and work to do).

However, the type of work that’s assigned in college is different from what I was used to in high school, so I’m here to break it down for you.

Problem Sets

Problem sets, or “psets”, are typically packets of questions that are assigned and due on a regular basis. Most of my pset classes have been math and science courses, although they don’t necessarily have to be. I think the biggest difference between psets in college compared to similar assignments in high school is that they can be really challenging, and many courses expect and encourage students to work together on them—I made some of my best friends while struggling through organic chemistry psets lasts year!

Sometimes you even get stickers.

Rather than lots of shorter assignments, many classes opt for a few essays spaced throughout the semester. Humanities classes (English, history, etc.) are typically essay classes, although many science classes also have you practice scientific writing through grant proposal or review-style papers. If you’re not super comfortable writing academic papers coming into college, not to worry! All freshmen take a writing course (Expos) during the first year to make sure that everyone is on the same foot. There’s a ton of individual feedback, so it can be really beneficial no matter what your level of writing is coming in.

Discussion Posts

Particularly if it’s an essay class, you might be assigned additional questions to respond to on an online forum for the course. It’s a nice way to keep people on track with the reading, and the responses are often used to start discussion in section.

*Most larger courses have weekly “sections” with 12-15 students and a teaching fellow leading discussion—it’s an opportunity to review the material and go more in-depth with the readings.

Reading (sometimes a lot of reading)

One of the bigger adjustments for some students is learning how to get through hundreds of pages of reading per week. Granted, this depends on what type of classes you’re taking—it is possible to tailor your schedule to an amount of reading that’s appropriate for you. I’ve found that my humanities classes have a much higher volume of reading, but that my science courses have denser reading—sometimes a seven page primary lit paper from a science journal takes me the same amount of time to read as forty pages in a novel. If you are struggling to get through all of your assigned reading, or just want to use your time more efficiently, the Bureau of Study Counsel offers “speed reading” courses during the year which are said to be really helpful!

I was found very diligently reading my book.

I have to say, I’ve had some pretty cool project assignments in college. In my multivariable calc class, our final project was to use Mathematica (a math tool) to come up with equations that would form a 3D object, so I made and printed a 3D minion. In a genetics class, we spent the semester analyzing our own DNA in lab, looking for markers that might indicate lactose intolerance, ancestral history, etc. (I wasn’t lactose intolerant, thankfully.) One of my friends is in a Folklore and Mythology class on quilt making, and her final project is to make a quilt. Pretty cool, huh?

My minion!!

Ah yes, not one to forget. On the plus side, there tend to be fewer exams in college than in high school—for classes that do have exams, you would likely only have 1-2 midterms and a final. Studying is often more effective in a group, so it’s another chance to meet people in your class!

Whew! While this is not a complete list, hopefully it gives a sense of the type of work you might be asked to do here. You can choose a schedule of classes that’s a good fit for you—while some people really like taking four essay classes or four pset classes at once, for example, I always try to strike a balance halfway in between. Particularly if you’re taking classes that you’re really interested in, the work doesn’t even seem so bad. :)

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Common Assignments: Writing a Successful Discussion Post

Writing a successful discussion post, 1. read the discussion prompt carefully..

Pay special attention to:

• Purpose: What question or required reading are you being asked to respond to?
• Particulars: What is the word limit? When is the due date and time? What sources are you expected to draw on?
• Response type: Are you being asked to reflect on personal experience, determine a solution to a problem, compare two ideas, or make an argument?
• Formatting: What formatting has your instructor requested? If no specific formatting is indicated, follow general APA guidelines .
• Expectations: How will your discussion post be assessed? Consult your course materials or instructor.

2. Prepare adequately.

• Before beginning your post, make sure you have read all of the required readings with a critical eye .
• Access your instructor's feedback on previous assignments. Based on that feedback, how do you want to improve in this next post?
• After reading, spend some time jotting down your reactions, ideas, and responses to the reading.
• Determine one-two of your strongest ideas, which you will structure your response around, by assessing the amount of evidence you have to support a particular assertion, response, or claim.
• Logically piece together a rough outline of your evidence to make your claim both clear and persuasive.

3. Construct a draft.

• Discussion post assignments often have multiple questions. Instead of answering each one in order, use a topic sentence  to bring all points together into one central argument, claim, or purpose. 
• Use your evidence to build your response and persuade your readers by supporting your claim with course readings or outside sources (if permitted or required).
• Make sure that each piece of evidence keeps your post focused, relevant, clear, and scholarly in tone .
• Type in sentence case; in an online environment, ALL CAPS feels like yelling.
• Make sure you have adequately cited all information or ideas from outside sources in your post and have added a full reference at the end.

4. Review and revise.

After writing your post, review your ideas by asking yourself:

• Is my main idea clear and relevant to the topic of discussion?
• Does my response demonstrate evidence that I have read and thought critically about required readings?
• Have I proposed a unique perspective that can be challenged by my classmates?
• Do I support my claim with required readings or other credible outside sources?
• Have I used a scholarly tone, avoiding jargon or language that is overly conversational?
• Have I proofread my response for grammar, style, and structure?
• Copy and paste the final version of your draft into the discussion forum.
• Do a quick check to make sure no formatting mishaps occurred while uploading.
• Wait patiently for responses from your classmates.

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Didn't find what you need? Email us at [email protected] .

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Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, what is college like an honest guide to college life.

College Info

Many prospective college students want to know what to expect from the college experience before they hit campus. Does college actually match up with the idealized experience you see in movies? 

The truth about college is that it can be a lot of different things at once--exciting, nerve-wracking, adventuresome, stressful, and so much fun. 

A lot of what college will be like is ultimately up to some of the choices you make, but there are also some basically universal truths about what college is like that it’s worth learning about before you get to campus. In this article, we’ll demystify the core components of a college education for you, including academics, extracurriculars, college social life, time management, working while in school, and living arrangements . We’ll also give you five tips for getting the most out of your college experience. 

So, what is collegereally  like? Keep reading to find out!

While you might identify with this furry guy right now, our article will get you prepared for your college experience. 

An Introduction to College Life 

Going to college is basically like a trial run at #adulting. You’re mostly responsible for your own life, but you’re still learning a lot about what you want your future to look like and how to get there (and it’s still okay for you to wear pajamas in public). Plus, you’ll be figuring all of this out with a lot of help from your friends, classmates, professors, and university mentors.

While you will have access to tons of support while you’re in college, your unique experience will depend a lot on how you respond to some of the things about college life that are new and exciting...like living on your own, managing your commitments, and deciding how you spend your time. 

In the context of your newfound freedom, it's important to aim for balance . What “balance” looks like will be your choice, but thinking about how you want to approach the different demands on your time will help you thrive during your college years. 

To help you envision your future as a college student, we’ll answer the question, “What is college like?” in regard to six major aspects of the college experience: academics, extracurriculars, social life, time management, working while in school, and living arrangements.

Depending on the size of your college, you may find that some of your classes are held in large lecture halls.

What Is College Like in Terms of Academics?

The main point of going to college is getting a degree, right? Of course!

Since academics are the major reason you're in college, it stands to reason that your schoolwork will make up a big part of your college experience. We've decided to focus on two major aspects of your academic life: your major and your courseload. 

Your Academic Major 

At some point during your academic career, you'll have to declare a major . When you do this will depend on your university. Some schools ask you to declare a major when you apply, while others allow you to spend your freshman and sophomore years as "undeclared" (which just means you haven't chosen a major yet).

Because students can, and often do, change their majors during their college careers, your college courses are split into categories: your general education courses, your major courses, and your electives. 

One quick caveat: not all schools split their classes into the three categories above. For example, an art school may not require general education classes at all!

General Education Courses

It’s typical for students to complete what are usually called “general education” (gen ed) courses during their freshman and sophomore years of college. These are the core classes that all students have to take in order to graduate, regardless of their major. Gen ed courses are usually a mix of math, science, and humanities classes that are designed to ensure you're getting a well-rounded education.

Some students feel that gen ed courses are a waste of time, while others enjoy the opportunity to take classes in different subject areas and increase their general knowledge before moving into more specialized courses during their last two years of college. That's pretty normal, especially since gen ed courses are designed to broaden your knowledge base across a wide range of disciplines.

Major Courses

The other types of courses you'll take in college are your major courses. These are the classes you need to complete in order to earn a specific major!

Major classes differ from your gen ed courses in a few ways. First, they're much more specific than your gen ed classes. While you may take introductory courses to satisfy gen ed credits, your major classes are designed to take a deep dive into the topic you're studying.

For example, if you're majoring in biology, you'll have to take advanced classes like cell biology and biochemistry. Y ou may even have to declare an emphasis, or specialty, within your major ! For instance, some biology departments offer more specialized major programs in fields like neuroscience or microbiology . 

Sometimes, students will feel more pressure to do well once they get into these specialized courses, since it may feel like their performance in these courses reflects on their potential to do well in their future career. It’s also common for students to feel much more excited about and interested in attending their major’s courses since these courses fall into the subject area that you picked out yourself. 

One thing that’s important to know is that it’s totally normal to change your major or second-guess your choice of major . Choosing a career path is a big decision, and many students don’t feel ready to make that choice right when they start college. When you do settle on a major, though, you may also find that you have the chance to build relationships with faculty in your department. These relationships can be valuable when you need advice or a letter of recommendation . 

Electives 

Your high school may have allowed you to take elective courses , and most colleges do, too. Elective courses are classes that aren't specifically required by the university, your college, or your  department. Basically, elective courses are classes you get to choose to take because you're interested in them. 

Electives give you the freedom to explore topics outside of your major so that you can learn more about the world, develop new skills, or even earn a minor in a different subject . Elective courses give students a chance to shape their education into a unique experience that's a perfect fit for your future plans and goals. 

Many universities require that students take a certain number of elective classes before they graduate. Depending on your goals, you can use your electives to explore your interests, or you can leverage these slots in your degree plan to earn additional distinctions , like graduating with honors . If you plan ahead, you can even use electives to help you on your way to earning a double major ! 

You'll sign up for your courses at the beginning of each term. Universities usually have two or more terms per academic year. 

Your Class Schedule 

Future college students are often curious how difficult college classes will be. The truth is: it's hard to know! 

The difficulty of your classes will depend on your own abilities, your major, and the amount of effort and time you put into their courses. It’s generally true, though, that upper-level classes in a student’s major will be more demanding in terms of the workload and expectations than general education or prerequisite courses. 

Another thing that can make a student’s academic experience more challenging is their schedule of classes for the semester. Most universities list classes in terms of hours. A typical class is three hours, whereas a class with a lab component is usually four hours. In order to graduate, you'll have to earn a certain number of hours toward your degree, with a specific percentage of those being within your major field. 

The typical courseload for a full-time student is generally considered to be 15 hours. But you can take more (or less) depending on your needs! Regardless of how many hours you decide to take, working with your academic advisor to put together a schedule that is manageable for you in terms of workload and difficulty is very important. 

Keep in mind that taking more hours isn't always better...or even more efficient! If your 18 hour courseload is burning you out (and lowering your GPA), it probably makes more sense to reduce your courseload so you can be more successful. Additionally, a smaller courseload doesn't always mean it's going to be easier! Taking 15 hours of gen ed courses will probably be easier than taking 11 hours of upper-level major courses. Consequently, be sure you're thinking about the difficulty of each class as you build your schedule each semester. 

The great thing about college is that you also have a lot of flexibility around how you take your classes . Some students like to take all morning classes so that they can be done with class for the day around noon. Others like to take only afternoon classes so they can sleep in or study in the mornings. Some students try to put together a Tuesday/Thursday class schedule so they can have three days a week off from class, while other students schedule their courses around their work schedules! You can even take a mix of in-person and online courses if your campus offers the choice! Going to your advising appointments with an idea of what classes you need/want to take and the kind of schedule you’re hoping for in mind will help you work with your advisor to get the schedule you want. 

Building your class schedule each semester is fun, but be sure to have a back-up plan just in case. Classes can fill up quickly during registration, so having a back-up plan for your semester schedule is a good idea too. Working with your advisor to create two or three potential course plans can ensure that you're able to enroll in classes that help you meet your graduation requirements. 

College extracurriculars include everything from debate to sports. You'll definitely be able to find an extracurricular activity that suits you! 

What Is College Like in Terms of Extracurriculars?

The great thing about college extracurriculars is that students get to choose which ones they’re involved in. Just like high school, college extracurriculars are clubs, organizations, and activities you can participate in outside of the classroom. 

It’s common for college students to choose extracurriculars based on their hobbies, values, beliefs, or desire to be a part of a community. The main point of these activities, clubs, and organizations is to help students connect with others who have common interests or goals and support each other through the college experience.

Keep in mind that some collegiate extracurricular activities are more high-intensity than others. We’re talking about extracurricular activities that demand a lot of your time outside of class, host a lot of compulsory involvement activities, and strongly encourage participants to mold their college identity around their involvement in these extracurriculars. Three examples of high-intensity extracurriculars are fraternities and sororities, ROTC , and student government. If you want to be involved in organizations like these, you'll need to be extra diligent about building your course schedule and keeping up with your studies. 

But “high-intensity” doesn’t mean bad! Many students find that they thrive in extracurriculars that are built on consistency, accountability, and high expectations. Most of the time, too, these extracurriculars make students feel like they’re really a part of something and provide a close knit support system of peers to rely on during college and beyond. 

Some college students are more interested in being involved in extracurriculars that provide more flexibility in a relaxed, low-stress environment that still provides the opportunity to connect with others around a common interest. These lower intensity extracurriculars could include intramural sports, service-learning programs, campus festivals, concerts, lectures, or discussions to promote multicultural awareness. 

Involvement in extracurriculars might seem like an afterthought to the academic side of college life, but studies have actually shown that students who are involved in extracurricular activities gain essential life skills and are more likely to view their college years as a positive experience. Many students find that involvement in extracurriculars is an irreplaceable part of their college education and invest a lot of their non-academic time in this form of involvement.

The key to a successful college experience? Balancing your social life with your academics and other responsibilities!

What Is College Like in Terms of Social Life?

At most colleges, there are what will seem like endless opportunities for social engagements. Since a college is like its own little community, there are many social events that happen on-campus that are either free or very inexpensive for students to attend . These events can range from athletic competitions, to theatre productions, to fundraising or community service events, to events in the dorms, like movie nights or pancake suppers. 

It’s typical for there to be on-campus social events of some kind nearly every night of the week. One of the best things about on-campus social events is that they’re often free or heavily discounted for students. They’re also an opportunity to see or meet people who you don’t see everyday during class or in the dorm. 

For many students, getting to know the wider community in which their college is located is really important in addition to attending on campus social events. Many students get involved with local nonprofits or charities, churches or other religious groups, or attend events hosted by local businesses. Some on-campus organizations or clubs will even partner with groups in the community to host events. 

But you don't have to take our word for it. Lilly, a junior in college, gives this advice to incoming freshmen who are worried about having a social life during college:  

“If you’re bored and can’t find anything to do in college, you’re not looking hard enough. There are tons of events happening all around you. Take it upon yourself to learn where to find information about campus and community lectures, concerts and the like. Your school’s website is the best place to start.” 

At the end of the day, there are constant opportunities to enjoy college social life, if you put yourself out there. Some of the most fun and memorable moments during college are impromptu, like a dance party in the dorm hallways at midnight or a Mario Kart tournament in the dorm lobby. The key to having a positive social experience during college is to be open-minded and willing to put yourself out there. 

Many students work and attend school at the same time. Working can be a great way to help alleviate the cost of college! 

Can You Work While Going to College? 

Many college students work while they’re in school. There are two types of jobs that students often get while in college: on-campus jobs and off-campus jobs. 

On-Campus Jobs

Most universities offer many part-time job opportunities for students. These jobs can be found in almost every department on a university’s campus, from the health and wellness clinic, to the dorms, to the groundskeeping crew. Because they don’t require leaving campus, on-campus jobs are typically pretty competitive, especially the kind that put their student workers out there as the “face” of the university, like campus tour guide jobs for prospective students and parents.

While some of these jobs will be open to all students, others will be reserved for students who qualify for work study . In order to do so, you have to meet specific financial need requirements. You can learn more about work study--and how to qualify for it--in this artice !

Whether you have work study or not, if you want to work on campus, you'll need to keep your grades up. Some work-study jobs have minimum GPA requirements, and you don't want your work to interfere with your ability to apply for internships, grants, and awards that take your GPA into consideration.

Off-Campus Jobs

Unfortunately, on-campus jobs aren’t available to every college student, so many students get a part-time job off-campus. It’s common for businesses in college towns to hire college students, both during the school year and over the summer/holiday breaks. 

If you're considering working off-campus as a full-time student, you'll need to think about how to balance your classes and extracurriculars with your work responsibilities. Many off-campus jobs, particularly in food services or customer service industry, require you to work an evening schedule and/or weekend schedule. Keeping that in mind can help you be proactive about managing your academics and your work responsibilities. 

Working during college doesn't mean you won’t have any time to study or engage in college social life. It just means you have to manage your time and communicate clearly with your supervisor about your unavailability. In fact, many students enjoy working while attending school because it gives them professional experience and more financial freedom. 

Many students live on-campus in dormitories for at least a portion of their college careers. But there are off-campus housing options, too. 

Where Will You Live During College?

One of the most exciting things about going to college for many students is living on your own. There are two main types of living arrangement options at most colleges: on-campus housing, and off-campus housing. We’ll break down these two types of college living arrangements next. 

On-Campus Housing

On-campus housing refers to dormitories (sometimes called “residence halls”) and apartment-style living that is located on a university’s campus. 

Many students love this housing option because it usually gives students the option to walk to class, the library, and on-campus dining. Living on-campus also makes many students feel that they’re more involved in campus social life since the university is right outside their front door... literally. 

Each university determines who can or can't live on campus, but it’s pretty common for there to be dorms dedicated to first-year students and optional on-campus housing opportunities for upperclassmen or non-traditional students. In many cases, the dorm situation is a bit like its stereotype: there are roommates, community bathrooms, study groups in the hallways, and Resident Assistants or Advisors (RAs) who will check in to make sure you’re doing well. 

But there are a lot of variations to dorm-style housing that students can often choose from. Some dorms offer single rooms (without a roommate!) and private bathrooms. Others offer suite or pod-style housing, where students share a centralized common room with, say, four other individual dorm rooms. Some suites even have a private kitchenette! At some schools, dorms are separated based on gender, while others offer co-ed housing options. 

Probably the most exciting thing about living on-campus is the opportunity to spend more time with your friends and classmates. In a dorm situation, there’s almost always someone studying in the hallway, having a movie night in their room, or hanging in the lobby playing games. There are usually quite a few shenanigans, too! On the other hand, though, you can always close your door and take some time to yourself. Living on campus gives you the opportunity to be as social and involved as you feel comfortable with. 

Off-Campus Housing

There’s also the option of off-campus housing. Many juniors and seniors will choose this housing option, but some schools also allow freshmen and sophomores to opt for off-campus housing as well . The types of off-campus housing that are available and affordable usually depends on the town or city your college is located in. It’s common for off-campus college students to rent apartments, townhouses, or regular houses and live with roommates to keep the costs affordable. 

Finding off-campus housing is a bit different from signing up to live on-campus in the dorms. With off-campus housing, it’s going to be your responsibility to find an apartment, put in an application, and have conversations with friends about splitting rent and bills. That means you'll have to be proactive about finding off-campus housing! 

It’s also important to think about who you’re willing to live with for a year (or longer) . Unlike in the dorms, there won’t be an RA to help mediate disagreements about the living space, and it’ll be much more difficult to get out of a rental agreement in a house or apartment. Choose your roommates wisely! Just because you're BFFs with a person doesn't mean you'll be able to cohabitate well.  

Besides finding roommates for off-campus housing, many students wonder if they’ll become disconnected from campus life if they move off-campus. You might have to make more of an effort to get to campus and spend time attending events there. On the flip side, if you live off-campus your junior and senior year, you might have a core group of friends established already, and enjoy the opportunity to hang out in your own spaces away from campus. So really, you'll be able to dictate how involved you are (or aren't!) once you move into off-campus housing. 

No matter what your major is, you'll need to develop time management skills to stay on top of your academics. (Managing your time will also help you fit fun things into your schedule, too!) 

How Do College Students Manage Their Time? 

The last aspect of college life that we’ll address is time management, because it plays a big role in shaping what a college student’s experience will be like in all of the other areas described here. Developing a time management plan will allow you to dedicate your time to several different things during college without becoming burnt out along the way. 

Everyone is unique, which means you'll have to experiment to find the time management tactics that work best for you. Digital reminders are a good motivator for some students, while others like to keep a paper calendar on the wall of their dorm room. Whatever your approach to time management, it’s important that you figure out your time management techniques early in your college career. That way you stay on top of your work, keep your GPA up, and can still have a great time! 

Additionally, college students will tell you that it’s important to prioritize the academic side of college life in your time management strategy. Brooke, a student in New York , says this: 

“ Put your classes first . I know this sounds crazy, especially if you’re a freshman, you might be thinking, ‘Of course I’ll go to class!’. But in college, not everyone goes to class. Especially if it’s in a mass lecture hall and [the professors] aren’t taking attendance, it’s really easy to skip and be like, ‘I’m just not gonna go’. But I don’t agree with that. I think that the first step to success in school is going to class.” 

Brooke’s advice on how to make sure you make it to class every time? Use your planner. You can check out our favorite digital and physical planners that will set you up for academic success in this article . Even if you didn't use a planner in high school, you'll need to get into the habit in college if you want to keep all of your assignments, due dates, and extracurricular activities straight. 

In general, most college students will tell you that the only bad time management strategy is not having one at all! They’d also probably tell you that no one is perfect, and that’s okay. There will probably be at least a handful of times when you forget about a quiz or have to study at the last minute. If you’re doing your best, just cut yourself some slack when you have an off-day. It happens to every college student sometimes! You just want to avoid making it a habit. 

While college can be tough, following our advice can make sure you don't feel like Grizzled Leonardo DiCaprio by the time you graduate.

4 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your College Experience

Since much of what college is like will be up to you, here are four tips for getting everything you can out of these four years of your life!

Tip 1: Get a Planner

We already mentioned this, but it's worth saying again: if you want to make the most of the time you have in college, get and use a planner . Planning how to spend your time on a daily and weekly basis is key to your overall success. 

Budgeting your time well allows you to really enjoy your leisure time too. When you're on top of your schedule, you don't have to stress out about when you'll do your homework or if you'll have a few hours to relax. You'll already have those things mapped out! Keeping up with a planner takes consistency and commitment, but the time and stress it will save you is worth it in the grand scheme of your college experience. 

Tip 2: Get Involved

One of the best things about college life is the chance to be a part of a community of peers in a place that is totally dedicated to facilitating a positive experience for you. The more you put yourself out there and get involved in that community, the more likely it is that you’ll feel like your college is a place where you belong. 

Pursuing extracurricular activities and attending social events on campus is the best way to meet new people, make friends, and find people to make memories with during college. Feeling connected to the people around you can make college feel like a home away from home--and that’s never a bad thing. 

Tip 3: Be Present

There’s nothing wrong with snagging some quality pics for your Insta story or keeping in touch with family/friends back home, but one of the best ways to feel like you’re having meaningful experiences in your college social life is by just being present. When you get to know your dorm neighbors, chat with the person sitting next to you in class, or strike up a convo with the person in line behind you at a coffee shop, you open yourself up to new knowledge, new relationships, and powerful memories from your college years. 

It may be tempting to go home to visit old friends every weekend or hide out in your room, especially at the beginning of college, but taking the plunge and allowing yourself to dive into the newness of college will help you feel more invested in making it a positive experience.

Tip 4: Work Hard

Since it sometimes feels like there’s endless free time in college, it can be easy to put off the difficult parts of the experience, like studying for tests, getting homework done, and writing essays. Most students want to do well in their classes and make good grades, but it can be hard to feel motivated if it seems like everyone around you is somehow always out having fun instead of hitting the books.

Though it might be a drag at the time, working hard on a consistent basis --especially early in the semester--will make the academic side of your college experience less painful in the long run. When you pay attention in class, show up consistently, and study hard, you save yourself from having to retake courses, pull all-nighters during finals week, or beg your professors for extra credit at the end of the semester. 

What's Next? 

You've probably realized that college can be pretty dang awesome. We agree! Now it's time to focus on getting in. This article will give you a general overview of the college application process. You can learn even more about specific aspects of your application, like your admissions essays and entrance interviews , on our blog ! We have tons of amazing resources for college hopefuls, so be sure to check it out.

One of the keys to having a great college experience is picking a school that's right for you . The good news is that there are tons of colleges out there! The bad news is that it can be hard to narrow the field down. Learn more about how to choose your potential schools here .

For some students, academics are the most important part of choosing their dream school . If that's the case for you, be sure to check out our guide to the top academic colleges in the United States .

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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EA Sports College Football 25’s unique features make it look like way more than a Madden reskin

Madden won’t let you run a triple option offense, but CFB 25 sure will

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Share All sharing options for: EA Sports College Football 25’s unique features make it look like way more than a Madden reskin

Summer is only just starting, but college football fans are already itching to head back to campus in EA Sports College Football 25 . The upcoming game marks the franchise’s return after over 10 years of absence , and will be the first game in the series to feature officially licensed player likenesses, thanks to NIL money and a large-scale campaign to pay players to appear in the game . On Friday, EA released a massive deep-dive into the game’s ridiculous number of new features, and the ways it aims to create the most realistic college football experience ever, both on and off the field.

With real players in the game for the first time, many of College Football 25 ’s new features put an emphasis on making it clear what separates the best players in the sport from everyone else. The game includes a variety of players traits that will augment gameplay, like responding better to high pressure situations and being able to identify on-coming blitzers. There will be more than 80 of these traits in the game at launch, as well as different tiers for each one.

The game will also feature an extensive new injury system called Wear and Tear, which shows the specific injury effects of each play, and how much it increases a player’s risk of injury. While this is important during games, it’s even more important in modes like Dynasty, where you run an entire college football program and have to look after your players from game to game.

One of the ways the game appears to be a major departure from the Madden franchise is also true of college football versus the NFL: There’s way more variety in playbooks. College Football 25 already seems pretty dedicated to preserving the individuality and quirks of the 134 schools in the game. There’s a detailed option system in the game, including a Flexbone formation with Air Force’s signature triple option. There’s a new feature which lets players pull the ball back and run with it in the middle of a called reverse, and EA even highlights a wide formation, a staple for Oklahoma.

EA also takes time to note how important real-life tradition is to the presentation of games in College Football 25 . Every stadium and fan base in college football has their own unique rituals, and EA has tried to capture as many of those as they can for the game, licensing certain songs for team walkout music ( though not every song could be secured ), and including fan traditions like Tennessee’s checkered stadium and Penn State’s “White Out”. All of this is in service of not just recreating the authentic highs of a college home game, but also to enhance the game’s new emphasis on home field advantage, with the ridiculously loud stadiums making it harder for the away team to concentrate on things like calling hot routes.

These are just a few of the new features EA Sports announced for the game on Friday. To get a look at more of the features, EA has put together a short gameplay video narrated by sportscaster Kirk Herbstreit, as well as a very in-depth blog post that outlines each of the game’s new systems in great detail.

EA Sports College Football 25 is set for release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X on July 19.

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How Trump's conviction could change the dynamics of the 2024 race

By Olivia Rinaldi , Jacob Rosen , Katrina Kaufman

Updated on: May 31, 2024 / 11:57 AM EDT / CBS News

Former President Donald Trump has been found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his Manhattan criminal trial, adding another layer of uncertainty to an already unprecedented campaign.

As a c onvicted felon , Trump is not prevented from continuing to campaign for president , since the Constitution does not prohibit candidates from running for president even if they are convicted of a crime. In fact, there is precedent for a candidate running from behind bars: In 1920, Socialist Party candidate Eugene V. Debs ran for president from a federal penitentiary in Atlanta.

Trump is the first former U.S. president to be found guilty of felonies, and the first major party candidate to run for office after being found guilty of a crime. Here's how his conviction could change the 2024 campaign:

How Trump can campaign after his conviction

Now that he's convicted, Trump is all but certain to appeal the decision handed down by the jury, and he is likely to be able to return to the campaign trail as the process plays out. 

The next development in the case will come at sentencing, currently scheduled for July 11. Justice Juan Merchan has wide discretion over when sentencing occurs and what the punishment looks like. Trump faces a maximum of up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine for each of the 34 felony charges of falsification of business records. The sentencing options available to Merchan include prison, probation, conditional discharge, fines or house arrest.

The judge could put limitations on his travel, such as restricting Trump from leaving the state and taking his passport, but Merchan has said he doesn't want to interfere with his ability to campaign.

"I would think that the judge wouldn't dare interfere with his right to speak to the American public because it's the right of the voters to be informed as well," said John Coffee, a professor at Columbia Law School and an expert on corporate governance and white collar crime.

In a recent survey of dozens of cases brought by Manhattan District Attorney's Office in which falsifying business records was the most serious charge at arraignment, attorney and author Norm Eisen found that roughly one in 10 of those cases resulted in a sentence of incarceration.

"I think that is fascinating," said Caroline Polisi, a criminal defense attorney and professor at Columbia Law School. "A lot of commentators say the reason he won't be incarcerated is because the logistics of it with respect to the Secret Service would be too much. On the other hand, if you're saying he should be treated like any other defendant, we have a lot of data saying that 90% of other defendants would not get jail time in this situation."

The impact of the conviction on Trump's ability to campaign could largely hinge on what sentence Merchan ultimately hands down, and when Trump would serve it.

"In the context in which he is found guilty and then sentenced to no jail time, I don't think it's going to cause a bit of difference," added Polisi. "There might be some minor issues. He might not be able to vote for himself. But other than that, I don't think it's going to cause any problems."

When determining Trump's sentence, the judge could take into account his numerous gag order violations — which led Merchan to threaten him with jail time if the violations continued — and his lack of demonstrated remorse or respect for the legal system. Throughout the trial, Trump referred to Merchan as "conflicted" and "corrupt" and to the case itself as a "sham." 

"In New York, a 78-year-old defendant, who's a first time offender, committed a non-violent offense, and has an otherwise, well, distinguished record — in some regards being an ex-president is distinguished. In that kind of world, there'd be no chance of an incarceration sentence," said Coffee. Trump turns 78 on June 14. "They can use probation, they can use fines. But there may be a view of many judges that you have to show that no one's above the law, and even the future president should have a taste of prison."

Even if Merchan does order Trump to serve time behind bars, the sentence could be deferred until his appeal has run its course.

"In other cases, when you don't have someone running for the White House, it would be more or acceptable to put him immediately into incarceration," said Coffee. "You certainly could put special conditions on what he could do or put him under house arrest, but I think until we get to the actual election, we're going to have to let Donald Trump run around and campaign."

The conviction's possible impact on Trump's poll numbers and support

Trump has predicted that a conviction in this trial could boost his poll numbers. 

"Even if convicted, I think that it has absolutely no impact. It may drive the numbers up, but we don't want that. We want to have a fair verdict," Trump told CBS Pittsburgh in an interview earlier this month.

Trump's support among his Republican base has been remarkably resilient in the face of his various criminal cases. In the months following his four indictments last year, Trump maintained his commanding lead in the Republican primary, capturing the nomination despite the dozens of criminal charges he faced.

Many Trump supporters who CBS News has interviewed since the trial began have said a guilty conviction will not change how they vote in November, adopting the former president's grievances as their own.

"Stormy Daniels has already been reviewed and stuff. It's kind of coincidental," Michigan resident Lori Beyer said at a recent rally in Freeland, Michigan, adding she would vote for Trump regardless of the conviction. "I don't think it's going to impact it, as far as I'm concerned."

Whether a conviction changes the minds of voters who are not committed to the former president remains to be seen. A recent CBS News poll found that the majority of Americans believed Trump is "definitely or probably" guilty of the charges he faced in New York. The overwhelming majority of Democrats — 93% — believed Trump was guilty, while 78% Republicans said he was not. Independents were split, with 53% believing he was guilty and 47% saying he wasn't. 

Opinions about whether Trump was guilty or not were already highly partisan, according to Kabir Khanna, deputy director of elections and data analytics for CBS News. Most people who believed Trump was guilty also thought the jury would convict him, and vice versa. 

Additionally, Khanna said people who followed the trial closely were the most polarized in their views.

"Together, these factors could blunt the impact of the verdict on the views of an already divided public," Khanna said. "Some voters may be swayed by the news, but I wouldn't expect a sea change." 

Other polling supports that notion. A NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist survey released Thursday found that 67% of registered voters nationwide said a Trump conviction would not make a difference in how they vote. Among independents, just 11% said a guilty verdict would make them less likely to vote for Trump.

The conviction also gives the Biden campaign a potentially potent new weapon in their arsenal: the ability to label Trump a convicted felon. Mr. Biden remained largely silent about the Trump trial while it was ongoing, but NBC News reported last week that he planned to become more aggressive about Trump's legal woes after the trial concluded, while acknowledging that Trump would be on the ballot regardless of how his legal cases played out.

Trump has used the trial to help boost his fundraising, and will likely look to capitalize on the conviction. The Trump campaign and Republican National Committee saw an influx of donations after jury selection began, with the two entities raising $76 million in April. His campaign had about $50 million cash on hand at the beginning of May as he prepared to get back out on the campaign trail after the trial.

The former president repeatedly used the developments in the trial to raise money, including when he was held in contempt for violating the gag order against him.

"I'd get arrested ONE MILLION TIMES before I'd let those filthy dogs get their hands on you," one typical fundraising appeal read. 

Trump's other criminal cases

The New York case might be the only one of Trump's four criminal prosecutions to reach a conclusion before voters cast their ballots in the fall, giving the guilty verdict added weight.

The two federal cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith remain in limbo. 

In Washington, D.C., Trump faces charges related to his actions to remain in power after the 2016 election. Trump has argued that he is immune from prosecution, and the Supreme Court is currently weighing his claim.

The high court heard arguments in the immunity dispute on April 26 and is expected to issue a decision on the matter before the end of the court's term, likely in June. If the case is allowed to move forward, there is a slim possibility that the district court could schedule the trial before November. If the justices side with Trump and find him immune from prosecution, the charges would be dropped.

In Florida, Trump faces federal charges stemming from his retention of classified documents after he left the White House. Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, has indefinitely postponed the trial. She ruled in early May that picking a trial date would be "imprudent and inconsistent with the court's duty to fully and fairly consider" numerous unresolved pre-trial motions. Those motions include Trump's efforts to dismiss the case altogether, as well as issues related to what classified information can be revealed at trial.

In the third case that remains outstanding, Trump faces state charges related to the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia. The trial in that matter is also on hold as Trump seeks to have District Attorney Fani Willis removed from the case. Georgia's Court of Appeals recently granted Trump's appeal of a decision that had allowed her to remain, bringing the trial to a temporary halt.

Trump's two federal cases could largely be in voters' hands if they are not resolved by November, a fact that raises his personal stake in the outcome. If he wins and returns to the White House in January 2025, Trump could order the Justice Department to seek to drop the charges altogether.

Trump has pleaded not guilty in all of the criminal cases against him.

• Donald Trump

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What’s in Dynasty mode of College Football 25? Recruiting, the transfer portal and more

ORLANDO, Fla. — When EA Sports announced the return of its college football video game, the thoughts of many went to one place: Dynasty mode.

Instead of picking a pro team not too different from every other team, the NCAA Football video game franchise let players start a multi-year campaign with a national champion or lower-level team, collecting trophies or gradually working their way up the sport’s hierarchy.

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Last week, I was part of a select group of reporters and YouTube creators invited to EA Sports’ studios to test and learn about College Football 25. We were only allowed to play the game mode and could not test Dynasty or other modes. But we did take in almost three hours of presentations about the game, including Dynasty mode. Here’s what I learned.

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Players can coach up to 30 seasons, and dynasties can have up to 32 users either online or offline. Online Dynasty Mode does not have crossplay capability between PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Custom conferences are back: Gamers can move schools around and put up to 20 teams in a conference. They can’t create new conferences from scratch, but they can build the Pac-12 back up if they’d like. They can choose the number of league games that conferences play and change the location of the conference championship games. All future nonconference games scheduled out in real life show up in this game, even the distant home-and-homes into the 2030s. Players can create new nonconference games but can’t put them at neutral sites. Week 0 is a new addition to the game, but the quasi-regular game played in Ireland is not an option. Generic FCS directional programs are in the game, but no real FCS schools are (many FCS schools have publicly complained about their absence).

As in the old game, you begin as a head coach, offensive coordinator or defensive coordinator. Real coaches are not in the game, though Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin has said he’d give away his likeness to be in the game for free. Considering every single coach would love to be in the game for recruiting purposes, perhaps we’ll see real coaches in the future. But that will require another licensing fee from EA.

As a Dynasty coach, you give yourself a backstory as a “motivator,” “recruiter” or “tactician,” utilizing 11 skill trees for coaching abilities. You can grow the skills, but you can’t be great at everything. You also manage your coordinators and have the opportunity to fire them after the season and poach new ones from other schools.

Did you know the NCAA Football series had a playoff option for a few years back at the turn of the century? (I bought an old PlayStation version of NCAA Football 2001 last year and tested it out.) College Football 25 will be the first game to incorporate the actual College Football Playoff, and it’ll offer fans their first experience of a 12-team field, even before the inaugural season for the format begins. ESPN’s Chris Fowler explained in Orlando that recording broadcast audio for a playoff format he’s never called before was a unique situation.

The four-game redshirt rule also exists, so the “Games Played” stat will be worth keeping in mind when managing your roster and. (There will be no sixth- or seventh-year seniors in this game.)

I played two hours of College Football 25. Here's what I learned

The recruiting process is deeper than ever. Each class includes 4,000 prospects, including Athletes, who are back in the game, but you cannot create a prospect. Coaches have a certain number of hours to commit each week to scouting and recruiting, and a team can sign up to 35 players. They can encourage players to transfer to bring the roster under 85 scholarships, which essentially works like cutting them because they can’t decline it.

Some pipelines have narrowed to include cities, like Atlanta. Some recruits have “Dealbreakers,” meaning there are simply certain things that five-star recruits want that smaller schools can’t meet. You once again will have the option to “Send the house” in recruiting and throw a lot of hours at a kid. It’s a stage-based process, where you try to keep your school above the recruit’s cut line.

NIL does not exist in Dynasty mode. “Brand Exposure” has replaced TV exposure and serves as the NIL stand-in during recruiting pitches. The explanation from EA folks was that the NIL landscape changes seemingly each month, and they didn’t want to commit to something only for it to change. Plus, you know, pay-for-play is still against NCAA rules.

Recruiting visits can be fashioned specific to what a player wants. If playing time is one of his biggest motivations, he can sit in a position meeting room. Inviting multiple quarterbacks to visit on the same weekend could hurt you. There is risk and reward to certain weekends: A win against a bad opponent won’t help you as much, and a loss could hurt your standing. A win against a good team will help.

How EA Sports tackled its big NIL problem in College Football 25

Transfer portal

Instead of working like free agency, the transfer portal is woven into the normal recruiting process after the season. When this part of the calendar arrives, you’ll have to split your hours between high school recruits and transfers (the latter of whom are not available during the season — no tampering). Prospective transfers have star ratings, and their recruiting process works much like its high school counterpart. A few years into your dynasty, new computer players in the portal may remember whether you recruited them out of high school.

Service academies can take transfers the same as everyone else, even though it doesn’t exactly work like that in real life.

At the end of each season, coaches will be faced with more players than ever who want to go to the NFL or transfer for reasons such as playing style or pro potential and given the chance to persuade them to stay.

Exporting draft classes?

To answer a question I received quite a bit, you cannot export College Football 25 Dynasty draft classes into Madden. EA only has players’ license for their college likeness, not their NFL likeness. Although players join the NFLPA and the associated license early the next spring, they’re not added to Madden until the late summer in the new game.

This will still be the case years into your dynasty after all the real players have filtered out. You won’t be able to export computer-generated classes, either. You can, however, export your Road to Glory player to Superstar mode in Madden.

Team Builder

Team Builder is in the game, but we didn’t get any information on it other than what’s been announced. You can design your own uniforms, helmets and field and upload a logo. More details are still to come.

Dynasty mode was the part of the game I wanted to test out most, but it wasn’t made available as part of last week’s event with the game still under construction. This is not a review of the game, because our gameplay was limited. But when I get this game, one of the first things I’m going to do is find some Group of 5 program and start to build my way up. College football has changed so much since it last had a video game, and that’s evident in how Dynasty mode has changed with the portal and more.

EA Sports officials said Dynasty and Road to Glory were two foundational pillars of this game. We have not yet seen it in action, but the early glimpses look promising.

(Screenshot courtesy of EA Sports)

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Chris Vannini covers national college football issues and the coaching carousel for The Athletic. A co-winner of the FWAA's Beat Writer of the Year Award in 2018, he previously was managing editor of CoachingSearch.com. Follow Chris on Twitter @ ChrisVannini