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The Beginner's Guide to Writing an Essay | Steps & Examples

An academic essay is a focused piece of writing that develops an idea or argument using evidence, analysis, and interpretation.

There are many types of essays you might write as a student. The content and length of an essay depends on your level, subject of study, and course requirements. However, most essays at university level are argumentative — they aim to persuade the reader of a particular position or perspective on a topic.

The essay writing process consists of three main stages:

• Preparation: Decide on your topic, do your research, and create an essay outline.
• Writing : Set out your argument in the introduction, develop it with evidence in the main body, and wrap it up with a conclusion.
• Revision:  Check your essay on the content, organization, grammar, spelling, and formatting of your essay.

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Table of contents

Essay writing process, preparation for writing an essay, writing the introduction, writing the main body, writing the conclusion, essay checklist, lecture slides, frequently asked questions about writing an essay.

The writing process of preparation, writing, and revisions applies to every essay or paper, but the time and effort spent on each stage depends on the type of essay .

For example, if you’ve been assigned a five-paragraph expository essay for a high school class, you’ll probably spend the most time on the writing stage; for a college-level argumentative essay , on the other hand, you’ll need to spend more time researching your topic and developing an original argument before you start writing.

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Before you start writing, you should make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to say and how you’re going to say it. There are a few key steps you can follow to make sure you’re prepared:

• Understand your assignment: What is the goal of this essay? What is the length and deadline of the assignment? Is there anything you need to clarify with your teacher or professor?
• Define a topic: If you’re allowed to choose your own topic , try to pick something that you already know a bit about and that will hold your interest.
• Do your research: Read  primary and secondary sources and take notes to help you work out your position and angle on the topic. You’ll use these as evidence for your points.
• Come up with a thesis:  The thesis is the central point or argument that you want to make. A clear thesis is essential for a focused essay—you should keep referring back to it as you write.
• Create an outline: Map out the rough structure of your essay in an outline . This makes it easier to start writing and keeps you on track as you go.

Once you’ve got a clear idea of what you want to discuss, in what order, and what evidence you’ll use, you’re ready to start writing.

The introduction sets the tone for your essay. It should grab the reader’s interest and inform them of what to expect. The introduction generally comprises 10–20% of the text.

1. Hook your reader

The first sentence of the introduction should pique your reader’s interest and curiosity. This sentence is sometimes called the hook. It might be an intriguing question, a surprising fact, or a bold statement emphasizing the relevance of the topic.

Let’s say we’re writing an essay about the development of Braille (the raised-dot reading and writing system used by visually impaired people). Our hook can make a strong statement about the topic:

The invention of Braille was a major turning point in the history of disability.

2. Provide background on your topic

Next, it’s important to give context that will help your reader understand your argument. This might involve providing background information, giving an overview of important academic work or debates on the topic, and explaining difficult terms. Don’t provide too much detail in the introduction—you can elaborate in the body of your essay.

3. Present the thesis statement

Next, you should formulate your thesis statement— the central argument you’re going to make. The thesis statement provides focus and signals your position on the topic. It is usually one or two sentences long. The thesis statement for our essay on Braille could look like this:

As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness.

4. Map the structure

In longer essays, you can end the introduction by briefly describing what will be covered in each part of the essay. This guides the reader through your structure and gives a preview of how your argument will develop.

The invention of Braille marked a major turning point in the history of disability. The writing system of raised dots used by blind and visually impaired people was developed by Louis Braille in nineteenth-century France. In a society that did not value disabled people in general, blindness was particularly stigmatized, and lack of access to reading and writing was a significant barrier to social participation. The idea of tactile reading was not entirely new, but existing methods based on sighted systems were difficult to learn and use. As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness. This essay begins by discussing the situation of blind people in nineteenth-century Europe. It then describes the invention of Braille and the gradual process of its acceptance within blind education. Subsequently, it explores the wide-ranging effects of this invention on blind people’s social and cultural lives.

Write your essay introduction

The body of your essay is where you make arguments supporting your thesis, provide evidence, and develop your ideas. Its purpose is to present, interpret, and analyze the information and sources you have gathered to support your argument.

Length of the body text

The length of the body depends on the type of essay. On average, the body comprises 60–80% of your essay. For a high school essay, this could be just three paragraphs, but for a graduate school essay of 6,000 words, the body could take up 8–10 pages.

Paragraph structure

To give your essay a clear structure , it is important to organize it into paragraphs . Each paragraph should be centered around one main point or idea.

That idea is introduced in a  topic sentence . The topic sentence should generally lead on from the previous paragraph and introduce the point to be made in this paragraph. Transition words can be used to create clear connections between sentences.

After the topic sentence, present evidence such as data, examples, or quotes from relevant sources. Be sure to interpret and explain the evidence, and show how it helps develop your overall argument.

Lack of access to reading and writing put blind people at a serious disadvantage in nineteenth-century society. Text was one of the primary methods through which people engaged with culture, communicated with others, and accessed information; without a well-developed reading system that did not rely on sight, blind people were excluded from social participation (Weygand, 2009). While disabled people in general suffered from discrimination, blindness was widely viewed as the worst disability, and it was commonly believed that blind people were incapable of pursuing a profession or improving themselves through culture (Weygand, 2009). This demonstrates the importance of reading and writing to social status at the time: without access to text, it was considered impossible to fully participate in society. Blind people were excluded from the sighted world, but also entirely dependent on sighted people for information and education.

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The conclusion is the final paragraph of an essay. It should generally take up no more than 10–15% of the text . A strong essay conclusion :

• Returns to your thesis
• Ties together your main points
• Shows why your argument matters

A great conclusion should finish with a memorable or impactful sentence that leaves the reader with a strong final impression.

What not to include in a conclusion

To make your essay’s conclusion as strong as possible, there are a few things you should avoid. The most common mistakes are:

• Including new arguments or evidence
• Undermining your arguments (e.g. “This is just one approach of many”)
• Using concluding phrases like “To sum up…” or “In conclusion…”

Braille paved the way for dramatic cultural changes in the way blind people were treated and the opportunities available to them. Louis Braille’s innovation was to reimagine existing reading systems from a blind perspective, and the success of this invention required sighted teachers to adapt to their students’ reality instead of the other way around. In this sense, Braille helped drive broader social changes in the status of blindness. New accessibility tools provide practical advantages to those who need them, but they can also change the perspectives and attitudes of those who do not.

Write your essay conclusion

Checklist: Essay

My essay follows the requirements of the assignment (topic and length ).

My introduction sparks the reader’s interest and provides any necessary background information on the topic.

My introduction contains a thesis statement that states the focus and position of the essay.

I use paragraphs to structure the essay.

I use topic sentences to introduce each paragraph.

Each paragraph has a single focus and a clear connection to the thesis statement.

I make clear transitions between paragraphs and ideas.

My conclusion doesn’t just repeat my points, but draws connections between arguments.

I don’t introduce new arguments or evidence in the conclusion.

I have given an in-text citation for every quote or piece of information I got from another source.

I have included a reference page at the end of my essay, listing full details of all my sources.

My citations and references are correctly formatted according to the required citation style .

My essay has an interesting and informative title.

I have followed all formatting guidelines (e.g. font, page numbers, line spacing).

Your essay meets all the most important requirements. Our editors can give it a final check to help you submit with confidence.

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An essay is a focused piece of writing that explains, argues, describes, or narrates.

In high school, you may have to write many different types of essays to develop your writing skills.

Academic essays at college level are usually argumentative : you develop a clear thesis about your topic and make a case for your position using evidence, analysis and interpretation.

The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

Your essay introduction should include three main things, in this order:

• An opening hook to catch the reader’s attention.
• Relevant background information that the reader needs to know.
• A thesis statement that presents your main point or argument.

The length of each part depends on the length and complexity of your essay .

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

• It gives your writing direction and focus.
• It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

A topic sentence is a sentence that expresses the main point of a paragraph . Everything else in the paragraph should relate to the topic sentence.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

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How to write a First-Class Essay that Scores an A

A first-class essay has an 80 percent or higher score, although some institutions categorize papers graded at 70-75% as first-class. In most cases, not so many students attain the benchmark. Nevertheless, writing high-grade essays in all your classes guaranteed you a first-class degree in your final combination transcript.

An A essay uses an appropriate attention-getting opening, makes a good transition, is well organized, has in-text citations and a bibliographic page, has a thesis statement supported by the body paragraphs , and has a befitting conclusion. Such an essay only attains distinction. Attaining a distinction in your essay takes practice, perfection, and dedication. If you write high-score essays, they will always be used as examples in class. You can also get the privilege of being published on the school's writing center's website.

Maybe you are a law, political science, criminology, music, anthropology, science, or business student, wondering how to write a distinction essay. Your questions end here because we have put together a guide that will help you write a good essay that scores good and excellent grades.

Wondering if you can write a first-class essay? Yes, you can, and here are some tips, tricks, and steps to help you ace your essays.

Top 8 tried and tested Steps to Write a High-Score Essay

Everybody dreams and wishes they get the best grades in their high school, college, and university essays. Even when writing MBA and graduate-level essays, scoring higher grades can be challenging if you are unaware of the steps.

Our confident essay writers have developed these steps to help you achieve much, even with little time.

If you are wondering how an A essay looks, how it is written, and the steps it takes, we clarify all that here.

1.  Read the prompt to understand the marking criteria

A good essay begins with reading the prompt, instructions, and rubric. Although this is a straightforward step, it carries too much weight in your writing process and determines the score you will get. Most students who skip this step end up derailing or getting confused with the ideas they present in their essays.

Reading the instructions helps you determine what the instructor, marker, or professor will look for when marking the essay to grade it among the top-scoring, average, or below-average essays. Knowing these benchmarks allows you to write an essay that meets the points.

All our writers will not begin writing an essay until you provide the prompt or instructions. Sometimes, when necessary, a writer will ask you to present them with the rubric to help them structure the essay and write it by following what the professors will be targeting.

2. Choose a topic or question

Given the understanding of the prompt, rubric, and instructions, you must choose a question or topic.

 You should put effort when choosing your essay question or topic because it determines the scope or direction of the essay. However, do not rush to pick a question because you think it sounds exciting or easy. Although doing so might sound convenient, the fact that you rushed into it will make you lose focus.

Instead, choose a topic or question with the information you can use to support the ideas that are interesting and neither too broad nor too narrow.

A first-class essay is engaging, flowing, and reinforced using academic/scholarly sources. Therefore, choose a topic where you can find high-standard sources and the correct number of sources.

Therefore, cross-check the sources available online through preliminary research to choose an outstanding topic. A focused question or topic guarantees a first-class score. If you are to select the topic, conduct research, weigh the available ideas, and determine if it is an essay, you can write within the number of words given. Choosing a good question demonstrates methodological rigor, a plus when marking your essay.

3. Understand the question/topic

After you have chosen the topic and are well-informed of the marking criteria, you need to understand your topic or essay question. Doing so brings you closer to your essay's high scores.

Someone would say it is a cliche and a fundamental step, but you must do it to avoid failing your essay. Check for the directive words such as elaborate, assess, outline, explore, elaborate, critique, critically analyze, explain, compare, contrast, classify, prove, or discuss.

These signal words help determine the scope of your essay. Besides, understanding the question or topic enables you to develop a creative title for your essay .

After you understand the topic or question, you can write an outline for your essay. This is sometimes called the essay plan. The process is often called brainstorming, which entails evaluating your options, thoughts, and ideas and then coming up with the best.

4. Research and Write an Essay Plan

As you settle down on the topic or question, you must begin researching to understand the topic further and plan your points for the essay. The question or the topic will determine the scope of your research stage for essay writing.

Focus on getting information from non-scholarly sources to familiarize yourself with the topic and develop a perspective. Then, skim through the scholarly resources to earn points and evidence for your essay .

Such evidence includes books, peer-reviewed articles, journal articles, periodicals, news from magazines and international news websites, books, government, educational, and NGO websites, and other relevant materials.

This research's results should help you develop an essay plan. When researching, use the thesaurus to understand technical terms and jargon so that you can simplify and use them in your essay. A high-quality essay does not have to use complex words. The simpler it is, the better.

Writing an essay plan helps you organize your ideas, which you can modify as you research, read, think, or discuss. An essay plan is a basic outline that lets you list the points you want to discuss in your essay.

It entails the essay topic or question, possible thesis statements, introduction statements, paragraph highlights (topic sentence (argument), evidence/elaboration/supporting materials, and the conclusion sentences), and conclusion. You can complete your essay plan as you research the topic.

The essay plan can help you write a good outline for your essay. Besides, you can know where the weight lies and what evidence to use. You can also draw mind maps to help plan your essay.

5. Organize material and Create an Outline

Using your essay plan, create an outline for your essay. Some students prefer to jump straight to the outline and leave out the essay plan, which is still okay. Either complements the other.

Therefore, you can write an outline summarizing the introduction sentence starters, essay hook, thesis statement, signpost, topic sentences, supporting sentences, and concluding sentences. In addition, your outline should have an organized list of materials you will use in your essay. You can organize these materials using online citation management tools.

Because you have not formed ideas in your outline, you need to refine the ideas in your essay plan or outline in the subsequent stages. Using the citations and references from the sources helps you structure your arguments. Categorize the sources based on the strength they have in supporting your arguments.

For example, if you are writing a three-page essay, ensure that the body of your essay has at least three main arguments that relate to the thesis, each well-supported by facts, evidence, and elaboration. The themes of the body paragraphs should relate to the essay title and the thesis statement. Front your strongest arguments first and go in order of decreasing strength.

The outline should have the structure of your essay. Let it be what you envision the top-grade essay to look like when complete. You can use the numbered approach when writing your outline to ensure that each point is presented. Also, your outline should determine the organization format: either spatial order or a chronological organization approach.

6. Write the first draft of the Essay

By now, you have everything you need to write an excellent essay that scores you an A. The remaining bit is to piece the information into a first draft. As a rule of thumb, when writing the first draft, focus on writing first and editing later. Following this will make essay writing less stressful and straightforward. Therefore, fill your outline by fulfilling the word count for every essay section.

Write the introduction

Begin writing your introduction with an opening statement. An excellent way to start your essay is by using facts, contradicting information, statistics, or statements that draw your readers' attention. These attention grabbers signal your readers to read your essay to get the main argument.

These statements should be catchy, concise, and straightforward. Ensure that they are not broad claims or statements without correct facts. After the hook statement or the attention grabber, have a few lines or sentences detailing the topic's background.

Introduce the context of the topic and let the readers know why they should read your essay. Help the reader context the topic you are handling in the essay. You can summarize theories or define concepts and terms.

By now, you have a preliminary or working thesis and need to refine it as you proceed or maintain it. Therefore, follow your background statement with your refined thesis statement.

The thesis statement should condense the gist of your entire essay in a sentence or two.

Each topic sentence is a mini-thesis statement, meaning it draws strength from it. For more extended essays, you can signpost the ideas as they appear in the paragraphs so that your readers know what to anticipate and in what order.

Write the body paragraphs.

After clearing your introduction, you need to develop the body paragraphs. A body paragraph should be between 130 words and 150 words. This means you should balance the sentences: using a mix of short and long sentences to achieve a reasonable word count.

Begin every paragraph with a distinct, relevant, and valid topic sentence. The topic sentences must connect to the thesis because each body paragraph elaborates on the thesis.

Have supporting details such as evidence, examples, illustrations, and explanations expounding on how the topic sentence and the evidence relate to the thesis and the topic.

Finally, you need a conclusion sentence that transitions your paragraph to the next one.

Write the conclusion

After writing the body paragraphs, complete your essay with a firm conclusion. 90% of the time, your professor, marker, or teacher will read the title, introduction, and conclusion and be able to tell the grade you get by skimming through the body paragraph.

A conclusion is worth 10% of the entire word count for your essay. Therefore, you have no time to introduce any new ideas. Instead, begin with the right conclusion statement and draw your readers' attention to the fact that the essay is coming to a close.

Next, write a summary wrapping up the main points in the body. Finally, your last sentence should be a call-to-action or final sentence that announces your stance on the topic.

• The minimum and maximum number of paragraphs in an essay
• How to write the last paragraph (conclusion) of an essay.
• Comparison essay writing guide.

7.  Proofread and Polish your Essay

Although there is no bulletproof way to write an essay, editing, and proofreading thoroughly can turn a below-average essay into a first-class essay. We have received average essays and edited/proofread them to the extent of scoring As and distinctions for our clients.

After completing your essay, you should edit for grammar, punctuation, spelling, and organization. Check whether your points are flowing or whether you need to reorganize the paper and revise your thesis statement.

Likewise, check and correct mistakes to make your paper readable, gradable, and destined for high scores. This is technically the last step in the essay writing process.

Before this step, you can take a break to refresh your brain, break the writing monotony, and develop an objective mind. When editing and proofreading, read aloud to determine if the sentences fit into the context of a paragraph.

When you are done editing, check whether you have met the word count, dotted all your Is and crossed all your Ts, achieved the proper in-text citations depending on the formatting style, and set up your paper to 1-inch margins and font Times New Roman or Arial size 12.

Sometimes, take advantage of our online proofreading and editing services, for they have saved and turned around grades!

8. Submit on Time

After you have ascertained that everything has fallen to its respective place, input your details, countercheck the submission guidelines, and submit the essay.

Submitting a well-written essay early increases the chance that your professor will read and mark it early when they still have a taste for marking.

You can bet that your essay will be marked and appropriate feedback is given. When submitting, ensure that your essay is in a Word document or any format your markers prefer.

Top 9 Hacks and Tips for the First-Class Essay on Any Subject

Now that you know the steps, here are some essay cheats, hacks, and tips to help you write a high-score essay without breaking a sweat. So, whether you want a first-class essay in your law, political science, geography, English and Literature, or government class, here are the tips to help you. These tips can help you write an essay even if you lack the motivation to write one.

1. Begin preparing and writing early

Once you are assigned to write an essay and want to score an A, you should plan, research, and write it early. 95% of the successful students always do and submit their assignments in three-quarters of the allotted time.

It allows them to write the essay when they still have the morale and burn. So, instead of waiting until the last minute, plan and begin writing your essay early.

Beginning early helps you reach out to your teacher for help with any questions regarding the essay prompt, topic, or essay questions. Sometimes, it also enables you to internalize everything and gather as many resources as required to write the essay.

2.  Avoid informal words

Never use words you are unsure of, slang, and other informal words in your essay. Instead of complicating things, make them plain and simple. Professors know many things; they also have a lot of other things to do.

Using words that will prompt them to use dictionaries as they mark your paper makes them hate marking it. When you keep it simple, you are an inch closer to scoring an A in your essay.

3. Demonstrate depth of knowledge

When writing your essay, you must demonstrate that you have researched well beyond the course reading materials. Lecturers prefer and like novel materials and ideas. It makes them think of your essay as one that has in-depth information. And such is fodder for a distinction essay. Therefore, when writing your essay, research widely and in-depth.

First-class essays do not clumsily have unsupported points. All the claims, arguments, and points have to be substantiated. And as you support them, ensure that you critically elaborate on the evidence and weave in your opinions to explain them further.

4. Have coherent arguments

 A good way of demonstrating knowledge depth is through coherently framing the arguments. Then, in most cases, form an opinion based on the research. And you can only do this if you have the essay question, topic, title, and thesis statement in mind.

You can then build insights and thought processes that can be established through reading the essay. When your essay has a high level of logical reasoning and critical thinking, it is undoubtedly a first-class essay.

Let the reader know where your essay stands, given the conceptual and theoretical framework available in the literature. Of course, every claim statement in your essay has to be supported using relevant evidence.

5. Have an essay outline or essay plan

We pride ourselves as a first-class essay service , given our insistence that writers develop essay plans and outlines. We have a post outlining the benefits of structuring your essay during pre-writing.

If you have a well-thought-out structure for your essay, you can present your arguments, support them, and give the right flow. First, map out your intro, body, and concluding paragraphs. A focused essay structure helps you visualize what falls where and in what order. That way, you can take your markers through the essay step-by-step.

6. Maintain Clarity and Style

With the basic structure of your essay, you can easily score a distinction on it, even if you write it at the last minute. The secret lies in ensuring your writing is clear, concise, coherent, comprehensive, compelling, and correct.

Your writing style should engage your readers right from the first sentence to the last dot for you to score an A. Only use the appropriate terms that demonstrate knowledge and not jargon or vocabulary that make reading your essay challenging.

Besides, stick to the citation and formatting styles to allow your readers to determine the scope and direction of your essay. Your arguments, too, must be solid and coherent. Let them demonstrate some technical knowledge to relate well with and engage your instructor or marker. Finally, a good essay sticks to the style requirements of the university or college.

And if there are opposing views, present them in your writing but show why your viewpoint is superior. This demonstrates maturity in your writing and that you have done in-depth research.

7. Use Quality sources and references

A distinction essay effectively uses core readings, further reading, and personal research (scholarly articles and sources outside of what is provided in class).

When incorporating the sources into your essay, use appropriate words such as posits, contends, illustrates, demonstrates, reports, assets, etc., to draw your readers' attention to the evidence.

 You should then provide appropriate citations and elaborate or expound on the evidence given in your thesis. Again, use recent sources (those published in the last five years) unless you have to cite seminal work or primary sources published in the past.

Strive to get scholarly sources from academic databases such as EBSCOhost, ProQuest, Jstor, PubMed, etc., which can be accessed via the university library. If unsure, you can also ask the librarian for good sources. And when you borrow ideas, cite every piece of information to avoid plagiarism in your essay .

8. Maintain originality

Plagiarism is the first of the things you can do to mess up a first-class essay. A top-grade essay demonstrates reasoning, creativity, critical thinking, and mature writing and presentation skills. As you weave in what others have said, bring in your personal perspective to demonstrate independence and mature reasoning.

You can do this in the body paragraphs. Present logical arguments that are concise, clear, complete, correct, and coherent. Demonstrate confidence in your writing by expressing your perspective when explaining the evidence. Stay formal and original all through to make a first-class essay.

Avoid using too many quotes from other sources unless stated otherwise. Likewise, do not paraphrase too much. Instead, let your personal opinion be seen and demonstrated through your writing.

9. Seek a second opinion before submitting

You can be stuck in your world of wrongness throughout the pre-writing, writing, and post-writing phases. However, when you have a second and third eye on your work, chances are that things will be okay. Therefore, check with someone outside your class, such as a professional proofreader, grading, marking services, or your professor, if your essay meets the standards set in the rubric.

Let them read and critique your essay's presentation, content, and organization. Our advice is that you take their critique seriously and revise the essay.

And as you revise, check the marking criteria to ascertain that your changes improve your grading. Remember, your target is beyond 75 marks to attain a first-class in your essay. Getting 80 points and above makes it a distinction essay.

Checklist for an A-grade Essay

A typical university- or college-level essay is assessed based on several characteristics that make it score an A or a lower grade. You can produce a first-class essay consistently if your paper meets the criteria below. After writing your essay, ensure to countercheck if it checks all the checkboxes in this first-class essay checklist.

Introduction

• Appropriate and relevant use of a hook statement to grab the attention of the readers
• Use of transitions to introduce the topic and the essay question
• An outstanding thesis statement that is debatable, informative, and concise
• Signposts the ideas in the essay
• Is 10% of the entire essay
• Uses clear topic sentences with a variety of placements
• The topic sentences relate to the topic and thesis
• Uses strong transitions into support sentences
• Incorporates sufficient evidence (quotations, paraphrases, and summaries) from scholarly sources
• Good organization of ideas and points
• Clarity of the writing and choice of language
• Demonstrates solid research without over-relying on a few sources to support claims and arguments
• Provides abundant and supported examples and elaborations
• Has outstanding concluding sentences with transitions to the following paragraphs
• Meets the word count allotted for the body paragraphs (80% of the word count)
• Has in-text citations as necessary
• Has original thought and demonstrates imagination
• Uses strong clincher sentences
• Begins with appropriate conclusion starters
• Links to the introduction to the body
• Summarizes the main points
• Creates closure or final insight that comes in the form of a lesson or call to action
• It does not introduce any new ideas

We often get questions regarding how to write good essays. We have provided answers below to some of the commonly asked questions.

What is the score for a first-class essay?

The score for a first-class or distinction essay varies depending on the university. Some universities cap 65-75 as the best score, whereas others are 70-80 percent. To be safe, strive to write essays scoring at least 80% to attain first-class grading.

Can someone write a first-class essay fast?

Yes, you can write a perfect essay that scores the top grade in your rubric. To do so, research, read, plan, and write well. Ensure that your essay's argument is supported and weaved in your voice. Your essay should be mechanically sound and devoid of any errors and mistakes. A first-class essay is good; it is written up to the standards of essay writing and has a thesis statement, a hook, and a reasonable conclusion.

How do you begin writing an essay?

Start writing your essay using an attention-grabber or a hook. Let it be a statement, an idea, a fact, a statistic, or some statement that can attract the attention of any reader. Let the readers know the value of your essay off the bat.

Can I score an A in an essay if I write it overnight?

Yes, why not? If you get your peace and pieces of ideas, thoughts, and arguments together and follow the eight steps we illustrated and the tips we gave, you can write an essay overnight and score an A. But, of course, the secret lies in how deep your research is. Writing an A-grade essay is as easy as snapping your finger if you have researched well. Oh! And remember to organize your research; this is where your essay plan and outline comes in handy.

How can I write a first-class law essay?

To write a distinction law essay, start in advance. Deconstruct the question early enough, research widely, write an essay plan, write your essay, include the relevant citations, meet the length requirements, and have a reasonable conclusion.

How do I write a political science essay that scores an A?

When writing a political science essay, choose a good topic. Ensure that you can convince your readers using the few words at hand. Plan your essay early enough, brainstorm ideas, write an outline, write the paper beginning with the intro and finishing with a conclusion, polish your thesis, and proofread the essay.

How many sources should I use in my essay for the best scores?

Referencing is a mainstay in academic essay writing. References help the markers understand your thought process and tell the reader you have researched. Writing an essay with evidence helps shine a light on your readers and advances a scholarly discussion. It is proof that you organized your ideas, researched what scholars are saying, integrated the evidence into your essay then explained using your own words.

The number of sources you can use depends on the length of your essay, the data you are using, and the university essay instructions. A one-page essay should have at least two references. A two-page essay can have 4-5 references. The three-page essay will have at least 6-8 references, and the trend continues.

If you are writing a 1200 to1500-word essay, use 10-13 sources. And if you are writing a 2000 words essay, have up to 15 or 17 references. A 10-page essay can have up to 20 sources. Do not depend on just two to three references when writing an essay beyond two pages. In most cases, you will be told the number of sources to use. Do not overcite as you need to present your opinion as well.

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The writer of the academic essay aims to persuade readers of an idea based on evidence. The beginning of the essay is a crucial first step in this process. In order to engage readers and establish your authority, the beginning of your essay has to accomplish certain business. Your beginning should introduce the essay, focus it, and orient readers.

Introduce the Essay.  The beginning lets your readers know what the essay is about, the  topic . The essay's topic does not exist in a vacuum, however; part of letting readers know what your essay is about means establishing the essay's  context , the frame within which you will approach your topic. For instance, in an essay about the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech, the context may be a particular legal theory about the speech right; it may be historical information concerning the writing of the amendment; it may be a contemporary dispute over flag burning; or it may be a question raised by the text itself. The point here is that, in establishing the essay's context, you are also limiting your topic. That is, you are framing an approach to your topic that necessarily eliminates other approaches. Thus, when you determine your context, you simultaneously narrow your topic and take a big step toward focusing your essay. Here's an example.

The paragraph goes on. But as you can see, Chopin's novel (the topic) is introduced in the context of the critical and moral controversy its publication engendered.

Focus the Essay.  Beyond introducing your topic, your beginning must also let readers know what the central issue is. What question or problem will you be thinking about? You can pose a question that will lead to your idea (in which case, your idea will be the answer to your question), or you can make a thesis statement. Or you can do both: you can ask a question and immediately suggest the answer that your essay will argue. Here's an example from an essay about Memorial Hall.

The fullness of your idea will not emerge until your conclusion, but your beginning must clearly indicate the direction your idea will take, must set your essay on that road. And whether you focus your essay by posing a question, stating a thesis, or combining these approaches, by the end of your beginning, readers should know what you're writing about, and  why —and why they might want to read on.

Orient Readers.  Orienting readers, locating them in your discussion, means providing information and explanations wherever necessary for your readers' understanding. Orienting is important throughout your essay, but it is crucial in the beginning. Readers who don't have the information they need to follow your discussion will get lost and quit reading. (Your teachers, of course, will trudge on.) Supplying the necessary information to orient your readers may be as simple as answering the journalist's questions of who, what, where, when, how, and why. It may mean providing a brief overview of events or a summary of the text you'll be analyzing. If the source text is brief, such as the First Amendment, you might just quote it. If the text is well known, your summary, for most audiences, won't need to be more than an identifying phrase or two:

Often, however, you will want to summarize your source more fully so that readers can follow your analysis of it.

Questions of Length and Order.  How long should the beginning be? The length should be proportionate to the length and complexity of the whole essay. For instance, if you're writing a five-page essay analyzing a single text, your beginning should be brief, no more than one or two paragraphs. On the other hand, it may take a couple of pages to set up a ten-page essay.

Does the business of the beginning have to be addressed in a particular order? No, but the order should be logical. Usually, for instance, the question or statement that focuses the essay comes at the end of the beginning, where it serves as the jumping-off point for the middle, or main body, of the essay. Topic and context are often intertwined, but the context may be established before the particular topic is introduced. In other words, the order in which you accomplish the business of the beginning is flexible and should be determined by your purpose.

Opening Strategies.  There is still the further question of how to start. What makes a good opening? You can start with specific facts and information, a keynote quotation, a question, an anecdote, or an image. But whatever sort of opening you choose, it should be directly related to your focus. A snappy quotation that doesn't help establish the context for your essay or that later plays no part in your thinking will only mislead readers and blur your focus. Be as direct and specific as you can be. This means you should avoid two types of openings:

• The history-of-the-world (or long-distance) opening, which aims to establish a context for the essay by getting a long running start: "Ever since the dawn of civilized life, societies have struggled to reconcile the need for change with the need for order." What are we talking about here, political revolution or a new brand of soft drink? Get to it.
• The funnel opening (a variation on the same theme), which starts with something broad and general and "funnels" its way down to a specific topic. If your essay is an argument about state-mandated prayer in public schools, don't start by generalizing about religion; start with the specific topic at hand.

Remember.  After working your way through the whole draft, testing your thinking against the evidence, perhaps changing direction or modifying the idea you started with, go back to your beginning and make sure it still provides a clear focus for the essay. Then clarify and sharpen your focus as needed. Clear, direct beginnings rarely present themselves ready-made; they must be written, and rewritten, into the sort of sharp-eyed clarity that engages readers and establishes your authority.

Copyright 1999, Patricia Kain, for the Writing Center at Harvard University

Ultimate Guide to Writing Your College Essay

Tips for writing an effective college essay.

College admissions essays are an important part of your college application and gives you the chance to show colleges and universities your character and experiences. This guide will give you tips to write an effective college essay.

Want free help with your college essay?

UPchieve connects you with knowledgeable and friendly college advisors—online, 24/7, and completely free. Get 1:1 help brainstorming topics, outlining your essay, revising a draft, or editing grammar.

Writing a strong college admissions essay

Learn about the elements of a solid admissions essay.

Avoiding common admissions essay mistakes

Learn some of the most common mistakes made on college essays

Brainstorming tips for your college essay

Stuck on what to write your college essay about? Here are some exercises to help you get started.

How formal should the tone of your college essay be?

Learn how formal your college essay should be and get tips on how to bring out your natural voice.

Taking your college essay to the next level

Hear an admissions expert discuss the appropriate level of depth necessary in your college essay.

Student Stories

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Student Story: Admissions essay about community impact

Student story: admissions essay about a past mistake, how to write a college application essay, tips for writing an effective application essay, sample college essay 1 with feedback, sample college essay 2 with feedback.

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12 Strategies to Writing the Perfect College Essay

College admission committees sift through thousands of college essays each year. Here’s how to make yours stand out.

Pamela Reynolds

When it comes to deciding who they will admit into their programs, colleges consider many criteria, including high school grades, extracurricular activities, and ACT and SAT scores. But in recent years, more colleges are no longer considering test scores.

Instead, many (including Harvard through 2026) are opting for “test-blind” admission policies that give more weight to other elements in a college application. This policy change is seen as fairer to students who don’t have the means or access to testing, or who suffer from test anxiety.

So, what does this mean for you?

Simply that your college essay, traditionally a requirement of any college application, is more important than ever.

A college essay is your unique opportunity to introduce yourself to admissions committees who must comb through thousands of applications each year. It is your chance to stand out as someone worthy of a seat in that classroom.

A well-written and thoughtful essay—reflecting who you are and what you believe—can go a long way to separating your application from the slew of forgettable ones that admissions officers read. Indeed, officers may rely on them even more now that many colleges are not considering test scores.

Below we’ll discuss a few strategies you can use to help your essay stand out from the pack. We’ll touch on how to start your essay, what you should write for your college essay, and elements that make for a great college essay.

Be Authentic

More than any other consideration, you should choose a topic or point of view that is consistent with who you truly are.

Readers can sense when writers are inauthentic.

Inauthenticity could mean the use of overly flowery language that no one would ever use in conversation, or it could mean choosing an inconsequential topic that reveals very little about who you are.

Use your own voice, sense of humor, and a natural way of speaking.

Whatever subject you choose, make sure it’s something that’s genuinely important to you and not a subject you’ve chosen just to impress. You can write about a specific experience, hobby, or personality quirk that illustrates your strengths, but also feel free to write about your weaknesses.

Honesty about traits, situations, or a childhood background that you are working to improve may resonate with the reader more strongly than a glib victory speech.

Grab the Reader From the Start

You’ll be competing with so many other applicants for an admission officer’s attention.

Therefore, start your essay with an opening sentence or paragraph that immediately seizes the imagination. This might be a bold statement, a thoughtful quote, a question you pose, or a descriptive scene.

Starting your essay in a powerful way with a clear thesis statement can often help you along in the writing process. If your task is to tell a good story, a bold beginning can be a natural prelude to getting there, serving as a roadmap, engaging the reader from the start, and presenting the purpose of your writing.

Focus on Deeper Themes

Some essay writers think they will impress committees by loading an essay with facts, figures, and descriptions of activities, like wins in sports or descriptions of volunteer work. But that’s not the point.

College admissions officers are interested in learning more about who you are as a person and what makes you tick.

They want to know what has brought you to this stage in life. They want to read about realizations you may have come to through adversity as well as your successes, not just about how many games you won while on the soccer team or how many people you served at a soup kitchen.

Let the reader know how winning the soccer game helped you develop as a person, friend, family member, or leader. Make a connection with your soup kitchen volunteerism and how it may have inspired your educational journey and future aspirations. What did you discover about yourself?

Show Don’t Tell

As you expand on whatever theme you’ve decided to explore in your essay, remember to show, don’t tell.

The most engaging writing “shows” by setting scenes and providing anecdotes, rather than just providing a list of accomplishments and activities.

Reciting a list of activities is also boring. An admissions officer will want to know about the arc of your emotional journey too.

Try Doing Something Different

If you want your essay to stand out, think about approaching your subject from an entirely new perspective. While many students might choose to write about their wins, for instance, what if you wrote an essay about what you learned from all your losses?

If you are an especially talented writer, you might play with the element of surprise by crafting an essay that leaves the response to a question to the very last sentence.

You may want to stay away from well-worn themes entirely, like a sports-related obstacle or success, volunteer stories, immigration stories, moving, a summary of personal achievements or overcoming obstacles.

However, such themes are popular for a reason. They represent the totality of most people’s lives coming out of high school. Therefore, it may be less important to stay away from these topics than to take a fresh approach.

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Write With the Reader in Mind

Writing for the reader means building a clear and logical argument in which one thought flows naturally from another.

Use transitions between paragraphs.

Think about any information you may have left out that the reader may need to know. Are there ideas you have included that do not help illustrate your theme?

Be sure you can answer questions such as: Does what you have written make sense? Is the essay organized? Does the opening grab the reader? Is there a strong ending? Have you given enough background information? Is it wordy?

Write Several Drafts

Set your essay aside for a few days and come back to it after you’ve had some time to forget what you’ve written. Often, you’ll discover you have a whole new perspective that enhances your ability to make revisions.

Start writing months before your essay is due to give yourself enough time to write multiple drafts. A good time to start could be as early as the summer before your senior year when homework and extracurricular activities take up less time.

Read It Aloud

Writer’s tip : Reading your essay aloud can instantly uncover passages that sound clumsy, long-winded, or false.

Don’t Repeat

If you’ve mentioned an activity, story, or anecdote in some other part of your application, don’t repeat it again in your essay.

Your essay should tell college admissions officers something new. Whatever you write in your essay should be in philosophical alignment with the rest of your application.

Also, be sure you’ve answered whatever question or prompt may have been posed to you at the outset.

Ask Others to Read Your Essay

Be sure the people you ask to read your essay represent different demographic groups—a teacher, a parent, even a younger sister or brother.

Ask each reader what they took from the essay and listen closely to what they have to say. If anyone expresses confusion, revise until the confusion is cleared up.

Pay Attention to Form

Although there are often no strict word limits for college essays, most essays are shorter rather than longer. Common App, which students can use to submit to multiple colleges, suggests that essays stay at about 650 words.

“While we won’t as a rule stop reading after 650 words, we cannot promise that an overly wordy essay will hold our attention for as long as you’d hoped it would,” the Common App website states.

In reviewing other technical aspects of your essay, be sure that the font is readable, that the margins are properly spaced, that any dialogue is set off properly, and that there is enough spacing at the top. Your essay should look clean and inviting to readers.

End Your Essay With a “Kicker”

In journalism, a kicker is the last punchy line, paragraph, or section that brings everything together.

It provides a lasting impression that leaves the reader satisfied and impressed by the points you have artfully woven throughout your piece.

So, here’s our kicker: Be concise and coherent, engage in honest self-reflection, and include vivid details and anecdotes that deftly illustrate your point.

While writing a fantastic essay may not guarantee you get selected, it can tip the balance in your favor if admissions officers are considering a candidate with a similar GPA and background.

Write, revise, revise again, and good luck!

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About the Author

Pamela Reynolds is a Boston-area feature writer and editor whose work appears in numerous publications. She is the author of “Revamp: A Memoir of Travel and Obsessive Renovation.”

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Tips for writing a first-class essay

• Tuesday, April 13, 2021
• Undergraduate

Chloe Softly

• United Kingdom
• minute read

As a final year student, I have noticed huge developments in my academic writing and ultimately would like to share a few wise words on what I think has helped me to achieve first-class essay marks.

Firstly, how will we ever get a first without being aware of what is expected? We need to get to know the mark scheme. A great way of guaranteeing we are achieving all the key elements of the mark scheme, is to align our initial plan with each point of the criteria and keep checking throughout our essay writing to assure all areas are being covered.

Another BIG thing is always to make sure you understand the question. Now I hope this doesn’t sound patronising, but it is so important to read, read and read the question again to fully understand. A main part of understanding fully includes evaluating the action phrase in the question, so make sure you know what is required when you see phrases such as ‘Describe’ and ‘Critically Analyse’.

Along with understanding the question, we need to be able to answer it effectively, and the best way to do this is through the structure. Within academic writing it is vital to frame your argument coherently so the essay flows from paragraph to paragraph. A massive factor in enabling this stems from our essay structure outlined in the introduction. A thing I like to do after finishing my essay is putting a tick next to each paragraph if it matches with this initial outlined structure to guarantee that the essay flows.

The final tip I have is to make sure your references reflect the depth of your knowledge. I always include references from the core and further reading lists, but also carry out additional reading to provide my markers with new perceptions. They want to learn from us! In order to find new sources, I make sure to use the University of Manchester Library, to certify these sources are credible (Peer-Reviewed). With some essays you may end up having a multitude of sources that can be difficult to organise, so one way that I handle this is by creating a table that consists of three columns: one for the main argument, one for the supporting evidence, and one for the source citation. This presents me with a simple method of creating a bibliography, without adding extra pressure to myself.

Although these tips may be useful, we cannot ignore the abundance of resources that are available to assist us. One great resource is the ‘Academic Phrasebank’, a document put together by Dr. John Morley at the University of Manchester, that provides insights into how to succeed within your academic writing. From providing notes on essay structure, grammar, and most essential key phrases, this document has become an indispensable guide to me. All in all, from mark schemes to structure to sources, these are just a few tips that will hopefully help. It’s time to go get that first!

I am Chloe Softly, follow my blogs for an insight into life as an Undergraduate student at Alliance MBS.

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How to write an essay

Staring at a blank page two days before a deadline is probably not an unfamiliar feeling to the majority of students. It can be pretty disheartening to say the least. So how do you go about filling that page with stuff that actually makes sense? The Mix breaks down how to write an essay.

How do you understand an essay question?

Before you start writing , pause . Read the essay question and then read it again. Underline the key points that need to be addressed to keep them in mind when you’re writing. You also need to make sure that you understand the style of question. For instance, there are different types of essays so you’ll need to figure out whether you’ll be writing an expository essay or an argumentative essay. If after a couple of tries you really don’t understand it, go and see your tutor or teacher – it’s what they’re there for.

Once you’ve clarified the essay question and determined the style of essay you’ll be writing, it’s important to equip yourself with the necessary tools and resources to excel in your writing endeavors. A valuable resource that can aid in honing your writing skills is scaleblogging.com . Packed with a wealth of useful writing advice and tips, Scale Blogging is a platform designed to help writers improve their craft, regardless of where they write. Whether you’re a student tackling academic essays or a budding writer exploring creative endeavors, Scale Blogging provides insights and guidance to enhance your writing abilities and elevate your work to new heights.

How do you research an essay?

If you’re trying to write an academic essay, you’ll need to make a reading list and read lots . Ok, so you don’t have to read the entire library. But, at the very least, you should be reading the core texts your teacher or lecturer suggests. And if you have time, pick up some stuff that hasn’t been covered in class (to do with the essay topic, of course) . 

Remember, your lecturer is familiar with all the info that THEY’VE given you so if you just use that in an essay they won’t find it interesting. On the other hand, if you show them something they haven’t seen before, you’re likely to score some extra marks and maybe even get one classification higher on the marking scheme. Journal articles are great, too, as they tend to get to the point more quickly – although books are better for detailed information.

For every piece of writing you read, whether it’s a journal article or a book, make sure you note down the title, the author, publisher and page number of useful passages. This avoids you having to look for them again when you write your bibliography.

How do you plan an essay?

Planning is an essential part of the writing process but honestly, there is no one right way to plan. Everyone is unique, meaning they study in different ways and they plan in different ways. So whether you like sprawling spider diagrams or simple lists, as long as you’re planning before writing you’re going in the right direction . 

We’d probably recommend starting by scribbling down everything you think is important and /or relevant to the question then formulating this into a plan. From there, you can work out your main points, the best people to quote, and how you’re going to answer the question. Our tips for how to revise might also help with this.

How do you structure an essay?

By this point you should know that you’ll pretty much always have an introduction and conclusion, hopefully with some sort of a coherent argument in between , but how do you construct each individual section of an essay?

How to write an essay introduction: Your first paragraph should directly answer the question (this isn’t a whodunnit, you don’t need to leave them guessing) through a thesis statement. This is a sentence that basically sums up your answer to the question and your reasoning for it. On top of this, you’ll have to set out a framework for the rest of your essay .

How to write the main body of an essay: In the main body of the essay you need to develop your argument/thesis statement by laying out two-three key points in a clear and logical order. You’ll have to condense each of your points into topic sentences which you can back up with research and quotes. And make sure to pay attention to the question throughout the entire essay to keep you on track.

How to write the conclusion to an essay: This is essentially a summary of your entire essay. You’ll have to restate your thesis statement and show how you got there. It’s important to note that you should NEVER add any new points/evidence into your conclusion since you won’t have time to develop them.

How do you present an essay?

• Remember to save the document regularly, in at least two places, for example your hard drive and online. It may seem like overkill now but you’ll be thanking us when your laptop decides to break down in the middle of writing your dissertation.
• Make sure you type the title of the essay and your name at the top of the document in bold (unless your department has special rules about presentation, t hen just follow those ).
• Use a standard font . Personally, we’d recommend Times New Roman or Arial, size 12.
• Don’t use colours . Just keep it classy and stick to black.
• Always double space your lines to allow room for the marker’s comments.
• Number your pages and include a word count if required.

Make a first draft checklist for your essay

Don’t just hand in the first 2,000 words you write. Learning how to write a first class essa y means you’re gonna have to draft, check, improve and repeat quite a few times . So once you’ve done your first draft, print it out and run through this checklist:

• Check for plagiarism. Make sure you haven’t, even accidentally, regurgitated lectures or copied whole chunks from books. If you need help with that, you can see our article on plagiarism here.
• After you write a topic sentence , back up your point of view with a quote or fact.
• Ensure the essay makes sense and has a good structure. After you’ve done a first draft, grab the red pen and move whole paragraphs around if you have to. If you’re still worried, get a friend to read it too.
• Correct any spelling or grammatical mistakes. Don’t rely on spellcheck to catch them all.
• Check your facts and quotes. Mistakes could lose you marks and quoting anyone inaccurately can get you in serious trouble (refer back to our plagiarism article) .

How to write a bibliography

Usually pieces of academic writing have what’s known as a bibliography at the end of them. It’s essentially a long list of all the books and research papers that you’ve referred to in your essay. Again, your department probably has guidelines on style, but it’s usually alphabetical and looks similar to this:

Smith, J, The Mix is my life (Make believe books, London, 2003)

Do you have any tips for how to write an essay? We would love to hear from you, share your ideas with the community on our discussion boards .

• Chat about this subject on our Discussion Boards .

By Nishika Melwani

Updated on 19-Apr-2022

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Essay and dissertation writing skills

Planning your essay

Writing your introduction

Structuring your essay

• Writing essays in science subjects
• Brief video guides to support essay planning and writing
• Writing extended essays and dissertations
• Planning your dissertation writing time

Structuring your dissertation

• Top tips for writing longer pieces of work

Advice on planning and writing essays and dissertations

University essays differ from school essays in that they are less concerned with what you know and more concerned with how you construct an argument to answer the question. This means that the starting point for writing a strong essay is to first unpick the question and to then use this to plan your essay before you start putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard).

A really good starting point for you are these short, downloadable Tips for Successful Essay Writing and Answering the Question resources. Both resources will help you to plan your essay, as well as giving you guidance on how to distinguish between different sorts of essay questions. 

You may find it helpful to watch this seven-minute video on six tips for essay writing which outlines how to interpret essay questions, as well as giving advice on planning and structuring your writing:

Different disciplines will have different expectations for essay structure and you should always refer to your Faculty or Department student handbook or course Canvas site for more specific guidance.

However, broadly speaking, all essays share the following features:

Essays need an introduction to establish and focus the parameters of the discussion that will follow. You may find it helpful to divide the introduction into areas to demonstrate your breadth and engagement with the essay question. You might define specific terms in the introduction to show your engagement with the essay question; for example, ‘This is a large topic which has been variously discussed by many scientists and commentators. The principal tension is between the views of X and Y who define the main issues as…’ Breadth might be demonstrated by showing the range of viewpoints from which the essay question could be considered; for example, ‘A variety of factors including economic, social and political, influence A and B. This essay will focus on the social and economic aspects, with particular emphasis on…..’

Watch this two-minute video to learn more about how to plan and structure an introduction:

The main body of the essay should elaborate on the issues raised in the introduction and develop an argument(s) that answers the question. It should consist of a number of self-contained paragraphs each of which makes a specific point and provides some form of evidence to support the argument being made. Remember that a clear argument requires that each paragraph explicitly relates back to the essay question or the developing argument.

• Conclusion: An essay should end with a conclusion that reiterates the argument in light of the evidence you have provided; you shouldn’t use the conclusion to introduce new information.
• References: You need to include references to the materials you’ve used to write your essay. These might be in the form of footnotes, in-text citations, or a bibliography at the end. Different systems exist for citing references and different disciplines will use various approaches to citation. Ask your tutor which method(s) you should be using for your essay and also consult your Department or Faculty webpages for specific guidance in your discipline. 

Essay writing in science subjects

If you are writing an essay for a science subject you may need to consider additional areas, such as how to present data or diagrams. This five-minute video gives you some advice on how to approach your reading list, planning which information to include in your answer and how to write for your scientific audience – the video is available here:

A PDF providing further guidance on writing science essays for tutorials is available to download.

Short videos to support your essay writing skills

There are many other resources at Oxford that can help support your essay writing skills and if you are short on time, the Oxford Study Skills Centre has produced a number of short (2-minute) videos covering different aspects of essay writing, including:

• Approaching different types of essay questions  
• Structuring your essay  
• Writing an introduction  
• Making use of evidence in your essay writing  
• Writing your conclusion

Extended essays and dissertations

Longer pieces of writing like extended essays and dissertations may seem like quite a challenge from your regular essay writing. The important point is to start with a plan and to focus on what the question is asking. A PDF providing further guidance on planning Humanities and Social Science dissertations is available to download.

Planning your time effectively

Try not to leave the writing until close to your deadline, instead start as soon as you have some ideas to put down onto paper. Your early drafts may never end up in the final work, but the work of committing your ideas to paper helps to formulate not only your ideas, but the method of structuring your writing to read well and conclude firmly.

Although many students and tutors will say that the introduction is often written last, it is a good idea to begin to think about what will go into it early on. For example, the first draft of your introduction should set out your argument, the information you have, and your methods, and it should give a structure to the chapters and sections you will write. Your introduction will probably change as time goes on but it will stand as a guide to your entire extended essay or dissertation and it will help you to keep focused.

The structure of  extended essays or dissertations will vary depending on the question and discipline, but may include some or all of the following:

• The background information to - and context for - your research. This often takes the form of a literature review.
• Explanation of the focus of your work.
• Explanation of the value of this work to scholarship on the topic.
• List of the aims and objectives of the work and also the issues which will not be covered because they are outside its scope.

The main body of your extended essay or dissertation will probably include your methodology, the results of research, and your argument(s) based on your findings.

The conclusion is to summarise the value your research has added to the topic, and any further lines of research you would undertake given more time or resources. 

Tips on writing longer pieces of work

Approaching each chapter of a dissertation as a shorter essay can make the task of writing a dissertation seem less overwhelming. Each chapter will have an introduction, a main body where the argument is developed and substantiated with evidence, and a conclusion to tie things together. Unlike in a regular essay, chapter conclusions may also introduce the chapter that will follow, indicating how the chapters are connected to one another and how the argument will develop through your dissertation.

For further guidance, watch this two-minute video on writing longer pieces of work . 

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• Correction 16 March 2018

How to write a first-class paper

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Manuscripts may have a rigidly defined structure, but there’s still room to tell a compelling story — one that clearly communicates the science and is a pleasure to read. Scientist-authors and editors debate the importance and meaning of creativity and offer tips on how to write a top paper.

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Essay Writing: How to Go From a 2:1 to a First Class Degree

3-minute read

• 17th March 2016

No matter how hard we work, some of us find ourselves falling short of the marks we need to go from a third to a second, or an upper-second to a first class degree .

If this sounds familiar, it doesn’t mean you’ve got anything wrong; it may simply be a matter of polishing your essay-writing technique or doing a little extra to demonstrate your abilities.

Luckily, there are some simple things you can do to win those vital extra marks .

1. Check the Marking Criteria

To make sure you’re genuinely doing enough to earn a first, the simplest option could be checking the marking criteria . Universities use these to ensure essays are graded fairly, but they also give students a chance to see exactly what the grade boundaries are.

Likewise, if you know someone who has received a first-class mark for their essay, ask if you can see how they structure and present their arguments.

2. Extra Research

If all you do is attend the same classes and read the same books as everyone else, it’ll be difficult to make your work stand out.

Going beyond the reading list, on the other hand, will demonstrate your ability to conduct independent research and engage critically with the subject matter. This touch of originality is often what makes the difference between a 2:1 and a first.

Find this useful?

Subscribe to our newsletter and get writing tips from our editors straight to your inbox.

To find inspiration, you can try checking the bibliographies of set texts for other publications on the same subject, but it might be simpler just to e-mail your lecturer to ask about extra reading!

3. Be Clear & Concise

Making your writing clear and concise will help you communicate effectively. Never pad out an essay just to meet a word limit; your marker will see through this and you’ll only make what you have written harder to understand!

4. Do the Boring Things Well

You might have the most brilliant mind humanity has ever produced, but if you don’t know how to reference your sources correctly you’ll always lose valuable marks on your written work.

5. Finish Ahead of the Deadline

Leaving your essay until the night before the deadline will not improve the quality of the finished piece of work. A far better approach is to aim to finish writing at least two days before the deadline, as this allows you to re-read your essay and make last-minute edits before handing it in.

And once you’ve submitted your work, safe in the knowledge that you’ve done extra research, checked all your references and argued your position clearly, you’re free to sit the pub feeling a bit smug; it’s fine, you’ve earned it.

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First Class Essays

First class essays are the holy grail of the student experience: the pinnacle of academic achievement. Most students hope to achieve one or two in the course of their degree, but to write one requires extensive skill and academic knowledge. A recent boom has recently been reported in students looking outside university for essay writing support.

The Daily Telegraph reported that more and more students are turning to essay writing companies like Oxbridge Essays, who provide first class essays written by students and graduates of the UK’s top universities. Students are then able to use these essays as inspiration for their own work, learning sophisticated new techniques for structuring and formatting their writing. Such fantastic examples can also be invaluable for students who are trying to grasp complex and alien concepts such as referencing for the first time. Others arrive at university with little idea of what is expected from a written assignment at degree level and turn to Oxbridge Essays to find fantastic examples of the sort of standard they should be aiming for.

Much of the problem seems to stem from the fact that few UK universities offer formal training or advice in the art of essay writing, allowing those all-important techniques to remain an elusive mystery to many frustrated and struggling students. From writing an efficient and exhaustive introduction to proper paragraphing, and from tone and content to a concise conclusion, simple essay skills remain out of reach of thousands of university students. Using sample essays allows students to learn by example and be inspired by excellent work before attempting to employ similar methods to good effect in their own writing. One of the largest demographics looking outside university for essay writing support is foreign students, eagerly accepted by UK universities for the elevated fee levels they are prepared to pay, but not always given the support they need to learn how to express their academic thoughts in essay form.

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College Essays

If you've been sitting in front of a blank screen, unsure of exactly how to start a personal statement for college, then believe me—I feel your pain. A great college essay introduction is key to making your essay stand out, so there's a lot of pressure to get it right.

Luckily, being able to craft the perfect beginning for your admissions essay is just like many other writing skills— something you can get better at with practice and by learning from examples.

In this article, I'll walk you through exactly how to start a college essay. We'll cover what makes a great personal statement introduction and how the first part of your essay should be structured. We'll also look at several great examples of essay beginnings and explain why they work, how they work, and what you can learn from them.

What Is the College Essay Introduction For?

Before we talk about how to start a college essay, let's discuss the role of the introduction. Just as your college essay is your chance to introduce yourself to the admissions office of your target college, your essay's beginning is your chance to introduce your writing.

Wait, Back Up—Why Do Colleges Want Personal Statements?

In general, college essays make it easier to get to know the parts of you not in your transcript —these include your personality, outlook on life, passions, and experiences.

You're not writing for yourself but for a very specific kind of reader. Picture it: your audience is an admissions officer who has read thousands and thousands of essays. This person is disposed to be friendly and curious, but if she hasn't already seen it all she's probably seen a good portion of it.

Your essay's job is to entertain and impress this person, and to make you memorable so you don't merely blend into the sea of other personal statements. Like all attempts at charm, you must be slightly bold and out of the ordinary—but you must also stay away from crossing the line into offensiveness or bad taste.

What Role Does the Introduction Play in a College Essay?

The personal statement introduction is basically the wriggly worm that baits the hook to catch your reader. It's vital to grab attention from the get-go—the more awake and eager your audience is, the more likely it is that what you say will really land.

How do you go about crafting an introduction that successfully hooks your reader? Let's talk about how to structure the beginning of your college essay.

How to Structure a Personal Statement Introduction

To see how the introduction fits into an essay, let's look at the big structural picture first and then zoom in.

College Essay Structure Overview

Even though they're called essays, personal statements are really more like a mix of a short story and a philosophy or psychology class that's all about you.

Usually, how this translates is that you start with a really good (and very short) story about something arresting, unusual, or important that happened to you. This is not to say that the story has to be about something important or unusual in the grand scheme of things—it just has to be a moment that stands out to you as defining in some way, or an explanation of why you are the way you are . You then pivot to an explanation of why this story is an accurate illustration of one of your core qualities, values, or beliefs.

The story typically comes in the first half of the essay, and the insightful explanation comes second —but, of course, all rules were made to be broken, and some great essays flip this more traditional order.

College Essay Introduction Components

Now, let's zero in on the first part of the college essay. What are the ingredients of a great personal statement introduction? I'll list them here and then dissect them one by one in the next section:

• A killer first sentence: This hook grabs your readers' attention and whets their appetite for your story.
• A vivid, detailed story that illustrates your eventual insight: To make up for how short your story will be, you must insert effective sensory information to immerse the reader.
• An insightful pivot toward the greater point you're making in your essay: This vital piece of the essay connects the short story part to the part where you explain what the experience has taught you about yourself, how you've matured, and how it has ultimately shaped you as a person.

How to Write a College Essay Introduction

Here's a weird secret that's true for most written work: just because it'll end up at the beginning doesn't mean you have to write it first. For example, in this case, you can't know what your killer first sentence will be until you've figured out the following details:

• The story you want to tell
• The point you want that story to make
• The trait/maturity level/background about you that your essay will reveal

So my suggestion is to work in reverse order! Writing your essay will be much easier if you can figure out the entirety of it first and then go back and work out exactly how it should start.

This means that before you can craft your ideal first sentence, the way the short story experience of your life will play out on the page, and the perfect pivoting moment that transitions from your story to your insight, you must work out a general idea about which life event you will share and what you expect that life event to demonstrate to the reader about you and the kind of person you are.

If you're having trouble coming up with a topic, check out our guide on brainstorming college essay ideas . It might also be helpful to read our guides to specific application essays, such as picking your best Common App prompt and writing a perfect University of California personal statement .

In the next sections of this article, I'll talk about how to work backwards on the introduction, moving from bigger to smaller elements: starting with the first section of the essay in general and then honing your pivot sentence and your first sentence.

How to Write the First Section of Your College Essay

In a 500-word essay, this section will take up about the first half of the essay and will mostly consist of a brief story that illuminates a key experience, an important character trait, a moment of transition or transformation, or a step toward maturity.

Once you've figured out your topic and zeroed in on the experience you want to highlight in the beginning of your essay, here are 2 great approaches to making it into a story:

• Talking it out, storyteller style (while recording yourself): Imagine that you're sitting with a group of people at a campfire, or that you're stuck on a long flight sitting next to someone you want to befriend. Now tell that story. What does someone who doesn't know you need to know in order for the story to make sense? What details do you need to provide to put them in the story with you? What background information do they need in order to understand the stakes or importance of the story?
• Record yourself telling your story to friends and then chatting about it: What do they need clarified? What questions do they have? Which parts of your story didn't make sense or follow logically for them? Do they want to know more, or less? Is part of your story interesting to them but not interesting to you? Is a piece of your story secretly boring, even though you think it's interesting?

Later, as you listen to the recorded story to try to get a sense of how to write it, you can also get a sense of the tone with which you want to tell your story. Are you being funny as you talk? Sad? Trying to shock, surprise, or astound your audience? The way you most naturally tell your story is the way you should write it.

After you've done this storyteller exercise, write down the salient points of what you learned. What is the story your essay will tell? What is the point about your life, point of view, or personality it will make? What tone will you tell it with? Sketch out a detailed outline so that you can start filling in the pieces as we work through how to write the introductory sections.

How to Write the First Sentence of Your College Essay

In general, your essay's first sentence should be either a mini-cliffhanger that sets up a situation the reader would like to see resolved, or really lush scene-setting that situates your audience in a place and time they can readily visualize. The former builds expectations and evokes curiosity, and the latter stimulates the imagination and creates a connection with the author. In both cases, you hit your goal of greater reader engagement.

Now, I'm going to show you how these principles work for all types of first sentences, whether in college essays or in famous works of fiction.

First Sentence Idea 1: Line of Quoted Direct Speech

"Mum, I'm gay." ( Ahmad Ashraf '17 for Connecticut College )

The experience of coming out is raw and emotional, and the issue of LGBTQ rights is an important facet of modern life. This three-word sentence immediately sums up an enormous background of the personal and political.

"You can handle it, Matt," said Mr. Wolf, my fourth-grade band teacher, as he lifted the heavy tuba and put it into my arms. ( Matt Coppo '07 for Hamilton College )

This sentence conjures up a funny image—we can immediately picture the larger adult standing next to a little kid holding a giant tuba. It also does a little play on words: "handle it" can refer to both the literal tuba Matt is being asked to hold and the figurative stress of playing the instrument.

First Sentence Idea 2: Punchy Short Sentence With One Grabby Detail

I live alone—I always have since elementary school. ( Kevin Zevallos '16 for Connecticut College )

This opener definitely makes us want to know more. Why was he alone? Where were the protective grown-ups who surround most kids? How on earth could a little kid of 8-10 years old survive on his own?

I have old hands. ( First line from a student in Stanford's class of 2012 )

There's nothing but questions here. What are "old" hands? Are they old-looking? Arthritic? How has having these hands affected the author?

There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. (Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre )

There's immediately a feeling of disappointment and the stifled desire for action here. Who wanted to go for a walk? And why was this person being prevented from going?

First Sentence Idea 3: Lyrical, Adjective-Rich Description of a Setting

We met for lunch at El Burrito Mexicano, a tiny Mexican lunch counter under the Red Line "El" tracks. ( Ted Mullin '06 for Carleton College )

Look at how much specificity this sentence packs in less than 20 words. Each noun and adjective is chosen for its ability to convey yet another detail. "Tiny" instead of "small" gives readers a sense of being uncomfortably close to other people and sitting at tables that don't quite have enough room for the plates. "Counter" instead of "restaurant" lets us immediately picture this work surface, the server standing behind it, and the general atmosphere. "Under the tracks" is a location deeply associated with being run down, borderline seedy, and maybe even dangerous.

Maybe it's because I live in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, where Brett Favre draws more of a crowd on Sunday than any religious service, cheese is a staple food, it's sub-zero during global warming, current "fashions" come three years after they've hit it big with the rest of the world, and where all children by the age of ten can use a 12-gauge like it's their job. ( Riley Smith '12 for Hamilton College )

This sentence manages to hit every stereotype about Wisconsin held by outsiders—football, cheese, polar winters, backwardness, and guns—and this piling on gives us a good sense of place while also creating enough hyperbole to be funny. At the same time, the sentence raises the tantalizing question: maybe what is because of Wisconsin?

High, high above the North Pole, on the first day of 1969, two professors of English Literature approached each other at a combined velocity of 1200 miles per hour. (David Lodge, Changing Places )

This sentence is structured in the highly specific style of a math problem, which makes it funny. However, at the heart of this sentence lies a mystery that grabs the reader's interest: why on earth would these two people be doing this?

First Sentence Idea 4: Counterintuitive Statement

To avoid falling into generalities with this one, make sure you're really creating an argument or debate with your counterintuitive sentence. If no one would argue with what you've said, then you aren't making an argument. ("The world is a wonderful place" and "Life is worth living" don't make the cut.)

If string theory is really true, then the entire world is made up of strings, and I cannot tie a single one. ( Joanna '18 for Johns Hopkins University )

There's a great switch here from the sub-microscopic strings that make up string theory to the actual physical strings you can tie in real life. This sentence hints that the rest of the essay will continue playing with linked, albeit not typically connected, concepts.

All children, except one, grow up. (J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan )

In just six words, this sentence upends everything we think we know about what happens to human beings.

First Sentence Idea 5: The End—Making the Rest of the Essay a Flashback

I've recently come to the realization that community service just isn't for me. ( Kyla '19 for Johns Hopkins University )

This seems pretty bold—aren't we supposed to be super into community service? Is this person about to declare herself to be totally selfish and uncaring about the less fortunate? We want to know the story that would lead someone to this kind of conclusion.

Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. (Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude )

So many amazing details here. Why is the Colonel being executed? What does "discovering" ice entail? How does he go from ice-discoverer to military commander of some sort to someone condemned to capital punishment?

First Sentence Idea 6: Direct Question to the Reader

To work well, your question should be especially specific, come out of left field, or pose a surprising hypothetical.

How does an agnostic Jew living in the Diaspora connect to Israel? ( Essay #3 from Carleton College's sample essays )

This is a thorny opening, raising questions about the difference between being an ethnic Jew and practicing the religion of Judaism, and the obligations of Jews who live outside of Israel to those who live in Israel and vice versa. There's a lot of meat to this question, setting up a philosophically interesting, politically important, and personally meaningful essay.

While traveling through the daily path of life, have you ever stumbled upon a hidden pocket of the universe? ( First line from a student in Stanford's class of 2012 )

There's a dreamy and sci-fi element to this first sentence, as it tries to find the sublime ("the universe") inside the prosaic ("daily path of life").

First Sentence Idea 7: Lesson You Learned From the Story You're Telling

One way to think about how to do this kind of opening sentence well is to model it on the morals that ended each Aesop's fable . The lesson you learned should be slightly surprising (not necessarily intuitive) and something that someone else might disagree with.

Perhaps it wasn't wise to chew and swallow a handful of sand the day I was given my first sandbox, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. ( Meagan Spooner '07 for Hamilton College )

The best part of this hilarious sentence is that even in retrospect, eating a handful of sand is only possibly an unwise idea—a qualifier achieved through that great "perhaps." So does that mean it was wise in at least some way to eat the sand? The reader wants to know more.

All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. (Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina )

This immediately sets readers to mentally flip through every unhappy family they've ever known to double-check the narrator's assertion. Did he draw the right conclusion here? How did he come to this realization? The implication that he will tell us all about some dysfunctional drama also has a rubbernecking draw.

How to Write a Pivot Sentence in Your College Essay

This is the place in your essay where you go from small to big—from the life experience you describe in detail to the bigger point this experience illustrates about your world and yourself.

Typically, the pivot sentence will come at the end of your introductory section, about halfway through the essay. I say sentence, but this section could be more than one sentence (though ideally no longer than two or three).

So how do you make the turn? Usually you indicate in your pivot sentence itself that you are moving from one part of the essay to another. This is called signposting, and it's a great way to keep readers updated on where they are in the flow of the essay and your argument.

Here are three ways to do this, with real-life examples from college essays published by colleges.

Pivot Idea 1: Expand the Time Frame

In this pivot, you gesture out from the specific experience you describe to the overarching realization you had during it. Think of helper phrases such as "that was the moment I realized" and "never again would I."

Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation. ( Stephen '19 for Johns Hopkins University )

This is a pretty great pivot, neatly connecting the story Stephen's been telling (about having to break into a car on a volunteering trip) and his general reliance on his own resourcefulness and ability to roll with whatever life throws at him. It's a double bonus that he accomplishes the pivot with a play on the word "click," which here means both the literal clicking of the car door latch and the figurative clicking his brain does. Note also how the pivot crystallizes the moment of epiphany through the word "suddenly," which implies instant insight.

But in that moment I realized that the self-deprecating jokes were there for a reason. When attempting to climb the mountain of comedic success, I didn't just fall and then continue on my journey, but I fell so many times that I befriended the ground and realized that the middle of the metaphorical mountain made for a better campsite. Not because I had let my failures get the best of me, but because I had learned to make the best of my failures. (Rachel Schwartzbaum '19 for Connecticut College)

This pivot similarly focuses on a "that moment" of illuminated clarity. In this case, it broadens Rachel's experience of stage fright before her standup comedy sets to the way she has more generally not allowed failures to stop her progress—and has instead been able to use them as learning experiences. Not only does she describe her humor as "self-deprecating," but she also demonstrates what she means with that great "befriended the ground" line.

It was on this first educational assignment that I realized how much could be accomplished through an animal education program—more, in some cases, than the aggregate efforts of all of the rehabilitators. I found that I had been naive in my assumption that most people knew as much about wildlife as I did, and that they shared my respect for animals. ( J.P. Maloney '07 for Hamilton College )

This is another classically constructed pivot, as J.P. segues from his negative expectations about using a rehabilitated wild owl as an educational animal to his understanding of how much this kind of education could contribute to forming future environmentalists and nature lovers. The widening of scope happens at once as we go from a highly specific "first educational assignment" to the more general realization that "much" could be accomplished through these kinds of programs.

Pivot Idea 2: Link the Described Experience With Others

In this pivot, you draw a parallel between the life event that you've been describing in your very short story and other events that were similar in some significant way. Helpful phrases include "now I see how x is really just one of the many x 's I have faced," "in a way, x is a good example of the x -like situations I see daily," and "and from then on every time I ..."

This state of discovery is something I strive for on a daily basis. My goal is to make all the ideas in my mind fit together like the gears of a Swiss watch. Whether it's learning a new concept in linear algebra, talking to someone about a programming problem, or simply zoning out while I read, there is always some part of my day that pushes me towards this place of cohesion: an idea that binds together some set of the unsolved mysteries in my mind. ( Aubrey Anderson '19 for Tufts University )

After cataloging and detailing the many interesting thoughts that flow through her brain in a specific hour, Aubrey uses the pivot to explain that this is what every waking hour is like for her "on a daily basis." She loves learning different things and finds a variety of fields fascinating. And her pivot lets us know that her example is a demonstration of how her mind works generally.

This was the first time I've been to New Mexico since he died. Our return brought so much back for me. I remembered all the times we'd visited when I was younger, certain events highlighted by the things we did: Dad haggling with the jewelry sellers, his minute examination of pots at a trading post, the affection he had for chilies. I was scared that my love for the place would be tainted by his death, diminished without him there as my guide. That fear was part of what kept my mother and me away for so long. Once there, though, I was relieved to realize that Albuquerque still brings me closer to my father. ( Essay #1 from Carleton College's sample essays )

In this pivot, one very painful experience of visiting a place filled with sorrowful memories is used as a way to think about "all the other times" the author had been to New Mexico. The previously described trip after the father's death pivots into a sense of the continuity of memory. Even though he is no longer there to "guide," the author's love for the place itself remains.

Pivot Idea 3: Extract and Underline a Trait or Value

In this type of pivot, you use the experience you've described to demonstrate its importance in developing or zooming in on one key attribute. Here are some ways to think about making this transition: "I could not have done it without characteristic y , which has helped me through many other difficult moments," or "this is how I came to appreciate the importance of value z, both in myself and in those around me."

My true reward of having Stanley is that he opened the door to the world of botany. I would never have invested so much time learning about the molecular structure or chemical balance of plants if not for taking care of him. ( Michaela '19 for Johns Hopkins University )

In this tongue-in-cheek essay in which Michaela writes about Stanley, a beloved cactus, as if "he" has human qualities and is her child, the pivot explains what makes this plant so meaningful to its owner. Without having to "take care of him," Michaela "would never have invested so much time learning" about plant biology. She has a deep affinity for the natural sciences and attributes her interest at least partly to her cactus.

By leaving me free to make mistakes and chase wild dreams, my father was always able to help ground me back in reality. Personal responsibilities, priorities and commitments are all values that are etched into my mind, just as they are within my father's. ( Olivia Rabbitt '16 for Connecticut College )

In Olivia's essay about her father's role in her life, the pivot discusses his importance by explaining his deep impact on her values. Olivia has spent the story part of her essay describing her father's background and their relationship. Now, she is free to show how without his influence, she would not be so strongly committed to "personal responsibilities, priorities and commitments."

College Essay Introduction Examples

We've collected many examples of college essays published by colleges and offered a breakdown of how several of them are put together . Now, let's check out a couple of examples of actual college essay beginnings to show you how and why they work.

Sample Intro 1

A blue seventh place athletic ribbon hangs from my mantel. Every day, as I walk into my living room, the award mockingly congratulates me as I smile. Ironically, the blue seventh place ribbon resembles the first place ribbon in color; so, if I just cover up the tip of the seven, I may convince myself that I championed the fourth heat. But, I never dare to wipe away the memory of my seventh place swim; I need that daily reminder of my imperfection. I need that seventh place.

Two years ago, I joined the no-cut swim team. That winter, my coach unexpectedly assigned me to swim the 500 freestyle. After stressing for hours about swimming 20 laps in a competition, I mounted the blocks, took my mark, and swam. Around lap 14, I looked around at the other lanes and did not see anyone. "I must be winning!" I thought to myself. However, as I finally completed my race and lifted my arms up in victory to the eager applause of the fans, I looked up at the score board. I had finished my race in last place. In fact, I left the pool two minutes after the second-to-last competitor, who now stood with her friends, wearing all her clothes.

(From "The Unathletic Department" by Meghan '17 for Johns Hopkins University )

Why Intro Sample 1 Works

Here are some of the main reasons that this essay's introduction is super effective.

#1: It's Got a Great First Sentence

The sentence is short but still does some scene setting with the descriptive "blue" and the location "from my mantel." It introduces a funny element with "seventh place"—why would that bad of a showing even get a ribbon? It dangles information just out of reach, making the reader want to know more: what was this an award for? Why does this definitively non-winning ribbon hang in such a prominent place of pride?

#2: It Has Lots of Detail

In the intro, we get physical actions: "cover up the tip," "mounted the blocks," "looked around at the other lanes," "lifted my arms up," and "stood with her friends, wearing all her clothes." We also get words conveying emotion: "mockingly congratulates me as I smile," "unexpectedly assigned," and "stressing for hours." Finally, we get descriptive specificity in the precise word choice: "from my mantel" and "my living room" instead of simply "in my house," and "lap 14" instead of "toward the end of the race."

#3: It Explains the Stakes

Even though everyone can imagine the lap pool, not everyone knows exactly what the "500 freestyle" race is. Meghan elegantly explains the difficulty by describing herself freaking out over "swimming 20 laps in a competition," which helps us to picture the swimmer going back and forth many times.

#4: It Has Great Storytelling

We basically get a sports commentary play-by-play here. Even though we already know the conclusion—Meghan came in 7th—she still builds suspense by narrating the race from her point of view as she was swimming it. She's nervous for a while, and then she starts the race.

Close to the end, she starts to think everything is going well ("I looked around at the other lanes and did not see anyone. 'I must be winning!' I thought to myself."). Everything builds to an expected moment of great triumph ("I finally completed my race and lifted my arms up in victory to the eager applause of the fans") but ends in total defeat ("I had finished my race in last place").

Not only that, but the mildly clichéd sports hype is hilariously undercut by reality ("I left the pool two minutes after the second-to-last competitor, who now stood with her friends, wearing all her clothes").

#5: It Uses a Pivot Sentence

This essay uses the time expansion method of pivoting: "But, I never dare to wipe away the memory of my seventh place swim; I need that daily reminder of my imperfection. I need that seventh place." Coming last in the race was something that happened once, but the award is now an everyday experience of humility.

The rest of the essay explores what it means for Meghan to constantly see this reminder of failure and to transform it into a sense of acceptance of her imperfections. Notice also that in this essay, the pivot comes before the main story, helping us "hear" the narrative in the way she wants us to.

Sample Intro 2

"Biogeochemical. It's a word, I promise!" There are shrieks and shouts in protest and support. Unacceptable insults are thrown, degrees and qualifications are questioned, I think even a piece of my grandmother's famously flakey parantha whizzes past my ear. Everyone is too lazy to take out a dictionary (or even their phones) to look it up, so we just hash it out. And then, I am crowned the victor, a true success in the Merchant household. But it is fleeting, as the small, glossy, plastic tiles, perfectly connected to form my winning word, are snatched out from under me and thrown in a pile with all the disgraced, "unwinning" tiles as we mix for our next game of Bananagrams. It's a similar donnybrook, this time ending with my father arguing that it is okay to use "Rambo" as a word (it totally is not).

Words and communicating have always been of tremendous importance in my life: from silly games like Bananagrams and our road-trip favorite "word game," to stunted communication between opposing grandparents, each speaking a different Indian language; from trying to understand the cheesemonger behind the counter with a deep southern drawl (I just want some Camembert!), to shaping a script to make people laugh.

Words are moving and changing; they have influence and substance.

From an Essay by Shaan Merchant ‘19 for Tufts University

Why Intro Sample 2 Works

Let's take a look at what qualities make this essay's introduction particularly memorable.

With the first sentence, we are immediately thrust into the middle of the action —into an exciting part of an argument about whether "biogeochemical" is really a word. We're also immediately challenged. Is this a word? Have I ever heard it before? Does a scientific neologism count as a word?

#2: It Shows Rather Than Tells

Since the whole essay is going to be about words, it makes sense for Shaan to demonstrate his comfort with all different kinds of language:

• Complex, elevated vocabulary, such as "biogeochemical" and "donnybrook"
• Foreign words, such as "parantha" and "Camembert"
• Colorful descriptive words, such as "shrieks and shouts," "famously flakey, "whizzes past," and "hash it out"
• "Fake" words, such as "unwinning" and "Rambo"

What's great is that Shaan is able to seamlessly mix the different tones and registers these words imply, going from cerebral to funny and back again.

#3: It Uses a Pivot Sentence

This essay uses the value-extraction style of pivot: "Words and communicating have always been of tremendous importance in my life." After we see an experience linking Shaan's clear love of his family with an interest in word games, he clarifies that this is exactly what the essay will be about—using a very straightforward pivoting sentence.

#4: It Piles On Examples to Avoid Vagueness

The danger of this kind of pivot sentence is slipping into vague, uninformative statements, such as "I love words." To avoid making a generalization the tells us nothing, the essay builds a list of examples of times when Shaan saw the way that words connect people: games ("Bananagrams and our road-trip favorite ‘word game,'"), his mixed-language family ("grandparents, each speaking a different Indian language"), encounters with strangers ("from trying to understand the cheesemonger"), and finally the more active experience of performing ("shaping a script to make people laugh").

But the essay stops short of giving so many examples that the reader drowns. I'd say three to five examples is a good range—as long as they're all different kinds of the same thing.

The Bottom Line: How to Start a College Essay

The college essay introduction should hook your reader and make her want to know more and read more.

Good personal statement introductions will contain the following features:

• A killer first line
• A detailed description of an experience from your life
• A pivot to the bigger picture, in which you explain why and how this experience has shaped you, your point of view, and/or your values.

You don't have to write the introduction first, and you certainly don't have to write your first sentence first . Instead, start by developing your story by telling it out loud to a friend. You can then work on your first sentence and your pivot.

The first sentence should either be short, punchy, and carry some ambiguity or questions, or be a detailed and beautiful description setting an easily pictured scene. The pivot, on the other hand, should answer the question, "How does the story you've told connect to a larger truth or insight about you?"

What's Next?

Wondering what to make of the Common Application essay prompts? We have the complete list of this year's Common App prompts with explanations of what each is asking as well as a guide to picking the Common App prompt that's perfect for you .

Thinking of applying to the University of California system? Check out our detailed guide on how to approach their essay prompts and craft your ideal UC essay .

If you're in the middle of the essay-writing process, you'll want to see our suggestions on what essay pitfalls to avoid .

Working on the rest of your college application? Read what admissions officers wish applicants knew before applying .

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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Improving Your Marks in Academic Writing

• Understanding the Question
• The Criteria for a First-Class Assignment
• Proofreading
• Mindsets for Academic Writing
• Video Playlist
• Audio Playlist
• Downloadable Resources
• Further Reading
• Relevant Workshops This link opens in a new window
• Criteria for a First-Class Assignment
• Knowledge and Understanding
• Critical Thinking
• Use and Integration of Sources and Referencing
• Grammar, Expression and Layout
• Answers the Question

It may seem obvious, but to achieve a first you must attempt to satisfy the marking criteria for a first-class essay. If you do not believe you can get a first and thus do not attempt to hit the criteria, you will not get a first. However, at university prior attainment is irrelevant and the key to getting a first is trying to hit the criteria (and potentially failing), reflecting on your efforts, and taking actions to refine how you complete your assignments to improve. Many students have come to the University of Derby with poor A-Levels and come out with a first-class degree. Listen to the podcast titled from A-Level failure to University Success to hear about recent graduate Joel Boulter’s experience in getting a first.

The main criteria for a first can be broken down into the following headings: (taken from Roberts, J. (2017) Essentials of essay writing. What markers look for. UK: PALGRAVE. PALGRAVE Study Skills.)

• Knowledge and understanding
• Critical thinking
• Use and integration of sources and referencing
• Grammar, expression, and layout
• Answering the question

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of key works, relevant facts, problems, debates, theories and concepts.

Awareness of complexity of the issues. This includes using cautious language   to highlight the certainty of your writing.

Reading goes beyond what is required. Often this means reading more than the text given to you by your lecturer. Note that wider reading is done alongside reading and understanding the key works on the area.

Used reliable sources. See our evaluating your sources   guide for information on how to check the reliability of a source. Some factors for checking reliability of a source include asking:

• Is the source peer reviewed?
• Is the information up to date?
• Is the source from a respected publisher or author?

Accurate presentation of others’ views.

A first-class essay requires:

• Strong reasoning and evidence used to support arguments.
• Clarity of ‘voice’
• Independent bold analysis is undertaken
• Obvious objections/counter arguments are anticipated
• Assumptions of others are identified and tested

For more information about critical thinking and evaluating sources see our critical reading guide .

Referencing is accurate. Students have access to Cite Them Right. Cite Them Right explains how to reference over 150 types of source and includes a referencing tutorial. See the referencing guide for further information . If you are interested in attending one of the library’s referencing workshops, use this link to see our upcoming workshops .

Strong illustrations are used

Use includes:

• Comparison/Contrast

Synthesis in academic writing is where you combine two different sources together to make one argument. You can use synthesis where there is clear overlap or similarity between two points. If two points clearly agree it would be a waste of words to write the same thing twice. Instead paraphrase the idea that they agree upon and cite both sources afterwards. If the sources agree on the idea but given different reasons these can be explained afterwards. Using synthesis is seen positively by markers as it highlights understanding, clarity in writing and efficiency. It also allows you to save words that can be spent elsewhere in your essay.

Style is fluent and engaging. See the  Structure and Flow guide for further information .

Grammar and spelling are flawless. See our Grammar guide for further information.

Presentation guidelines are followed.

Writing is:

• In 3rd person
• Understandable by the audience

Question is clearly and coherently answered.

Response is focused on the question throughout.

Arguments and evidence are relevant. 

Methods of ensuring that the question is answered can be found in the Understanding the Question and Proofreading tabs of this page.

Structure provides a sound basis for addressing the question.

Parts of structure required by essay type are used (e.g. recommendations in reports).

Argument is logical.

Purpose of each part is indicated.

Relationship between parts is clear.

Conclusion is justified by the evidence.

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How to Structure an Essay

Essay writing is a fundamental skill, a basic task, that is expected of those who choose to pursue their undergraduate and master’s degrees. It constitutes a key requirement for students to complete a given course credit. However, many students and early career researchers find themselves struggling with the challenge of organizing their thoughts into a coherent, engaging structure. This article is especially for those who see essay writing as a daunting task and face problems in presenting their work in an impactful way.  

Table of Contents

• Writing an essay: basic elements and some key principles  
• Essay structure template 
• Chronological structure 
• Problem-methods-solutions structure 
• Compare and contrast structures 
• Frequently asked questions on essay structure 

Read on as we delve into the basic elements of essay writing, outline key principles for organizing information, and cover some foundational features of writing essays.  

Writing an essay: basic elements and some key principles

Essays are written in a flowing and continuous pattern but with a structure of its own. An introduction, body and conclusion are integral to it. The key is to balance the amount and kind of information to be presented in each part. Various disciplines may have their own conventions or guidelines on the information to be provided in the introduction.  

A clear articulation of the context and background of the study is important, as is the definition of key terms and an outline of specific models or theories used. Readers also need to know the significance of the study and its implications for further research. Most importantly, the thesis or the main proposition should be clearly presented.  

The body of the essay is therefore organized into paragraphs that hold the main ideas and arguments and is presented and analyzed in a logical manner. Ideally, each paragraph of the body focuses on one main point or a distinct topic and must be supported by evidence and analysis. The concluding paragraph should bring back to the reader the key arguments, its significance and food for thought. It is best not to re-state all the points of the essay or introduce a new concept here. 

In other words, certain general guidelines help structure the information in the essay. The information must flow logically with the context or the background information presented in the introductory part of the essay. The arguments are built organically where each paragraph in the body of the essay deals with a different point, yet closely linked to the para preceding and following it. Importantly, when writing essays, early career researchers must be careful in ensuring that each piece of information relates to the main thesis and is a building block to the arguments. 

Essay structure template

• Introduction 
• Provide the context and share significance of the study 
• Clearly articulate the thesis statement 
• Body  
• Paragraph 1 consisting of the first main point, followed by supporting evidence and an analysis of the findings. Transitional words and phrases can be used to move to the next main point. 
• There can be as many paragraphs with the above-mentioned elements as there are points and arguments to support your thesis. 
• Conclusion  
• Bring in key ideas and discuss their significance and relevance 
• Call for action 
• References 

Essay structures

The structure of an essay can be determined by the kind of essay that is required.  

Chronological structure

Also known as the cause-and-effect approach, this is a straightforward way to structure an essay. In such essays, events are discussed sequentially, as they occurred from the earliest to the latest. A chronological structure is useful for discussing a series of events or processes such as historical analyses or narratives of events. The introduction should have the topic sentence. The body of the essay should follow a chorological progression with each para discussing a major aspect of that event with supporting evidence. It ends with a summarizing of the results of the events.  

Problem-methods-solutions structure

Where the essay focuses on a specific problem, the problem-methods-solutions structure can be used to organize the essay. This structure is ideal for essays that address complex issues. It starts with presenting the problem, the context, and thesis statement as introduction to the essay. The major part of the discussion which forms the body of the essay focuses on stating the problem and its significance, the author’s approach or methods adopted to address the problem along with its relevance, and accordingly proposing solution(s) to the identified problem. The concluding part offers a recap of the research problem, methods, and proposed solutions, emphasizing their significance and potential impact. 

Compare and contrast structures

This structure of essay writing is ideally used when two or more key subjects require a comparison of ideas, theories, or phenomena. The three crucial elements, introduction, body, and conclusion, remain the same. The introduction presents the context and the thesis statement. The body of the essay seeks to focus on and highlight differences between the subjects, supported by evidence and analysis. The conclusion is used to summarize the key points of comparison and contrast, offering insights into the significance of the analysis.  

Depending on how the subjects will be discussed, the body of the essay can be organized according to the block method or the alternating method. In the block method, one para discusses one subject and the next para the other subject. In the alternative method, both subjects are discussed in one para based on a particular topic or issue followed by the next para on another issue and so on.  

Frequently asked questions on essay structure

An essay structure serves as a framework for presenting ideas coherently and logically. It comprises three crucial elements: an introduction that communicates the context, topic, and thesis statement; the body focusing on the main points and arguments supported with appropriate evidence followed by its analysis; and a conclusion that ties together the main points and its importance .  

An essay structure well-defined essay structure enhances clarity, coherence, and readability, and is crucial for organizing ideas and arguments to effectively communicate key aspects of a chosen topic. It allows readers to better understand arguments presented and demonstrates the author’s ability to organize and present information systematically. 

Yes, while expert recommend following an essay structure, early career researchers may choose how best to adapt standard essay structures to communicate and share their research in an impactful and engaging way. However, do keep in mind that deviating too far from established structures can hinder comprehension and weaken the overall effectiveness of the essay,  By understanding the basic elements of essay writing and employing appropriate structures such as chronological, problem-methods-solutions, or compare and contrast, researchers can effectively organize their ideas and communicate their findings with clarity and precision. 

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More From Forbes

College essays that worked and how yours can too.

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CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS - JULY 08: A view of Harvard Yard on the campus of Harvard University on ... [+] July 08, 2020 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have sued the Trump administration for its decision to strip international college students of their visas if all of their courses are held online. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

The college essay is a pivotal piece of the college application showcasing your individuality and differentiated outlook to admissions officers. What makes an essay truly shine? Let’s dive into the words behind three standout essays highlighted by university websites and a school newspaper's brand studio so you can get into the right mindset for crafting your own narrative.

Embracing Differences: Finding Strength In Uniqueness

Essay Excerpt: ‘Bra Shopping ’ (Harvard)

Featured by the Harvard Crimson Brand Studio , Orlee's essay recounts a student's humorous and insightful experience of bra shopping with her grandmother, weaving in her unique family dynamics and challenges at her prestigious school.

What Works:

• Humor and Honesty: The student's humor makes the essay enjoyable to read, while her honesty about her challenges adds depth.
• Self-Awareness: She demonstrates a strong sense of self-awareness, embracing her uniqueness rather than trying to fit in.
• Resilience: Her narrative highlights resilience and the ability to find strength in differences.

For Your Essay : To write an essay that embraces your uniqueness, start by identifying a quirky or challenging experience that reflects who a key insight into your experience. Think about how this experience has shaped your perspective and character. Use humor and honesty to bring your story to life, and focus on how you have embraced your differences to become stronger and more resilient.

Best High-Yield Savings Accounts Of 2024

Best 5% interest savings accounts of 2024, finding connections: humor and self-reflection.

Essay: ‘Brood X Cicadas ’ (Hamilton College)

As an example on Hamilton's admissions website, Nicholas writes about the cicadas swarming his hometown every 17 years and draws a parallel between their emergence and his own transition to college life. He uses humor and self-reflection to create a relatable and engaging narrative.

• Humor: Nicholas uses humor to make his essay entertaining and memorable. His witty comparisons between himself and cicadas add a unique twist.
• Self-Reflection: By comparing his life to the cicadas’, he reflects on his own growth and readiness for change.
• Relatability: His narrative about facing new experiences and challenges resonates with readers who have undergone similar transitions.

For Your Essay: To infuse humor and self-reflection into your essay, start by identifying an ordinary experience or object and think about how it relates to your life. Write down funny or insightful observations about this connection. Use humor to make your essay more engaging, but ensure it still conveys meaningful self-reflection. This balance can make your essay both entertaining and profound.

Persistence and Multicultural Identity: Life Lessons From Tortilla Making

Essay: ‘ Facing The Hot Griddle ’ (Johns Hopkins University)

In this essay published by Hopkins Insider, Rocio uses the process of making tortillas to explore her multicultural identity and the challenges she has faced. Her story beautifully weaves together her Guatemalan heritage and her experiences growing up in the United States.

• Metaphor and Symbolism: The process of making tortillas becomes a powerful metaphor for the student’s journey and struggles. The symbolism of the masa harina and water mixing parallels her blending of cultural identities.
• Personal Growth: The essay highlights her perseverance and adaptability, qualities that are crucial for success in college.
• Cultural Insight: She provides a rich, personal insight into her multicultural background, making her story unique and compelling.

For Your Essay: To write an essay that explores your identity through a metaphor, start by thinking about an activity or tradition that holds significant meaning for you. Consider how this activity relates to your life experiences and personal growth. Use detailed descriptions to bring the activity to life and draw connections between the process and your own journey. Reflect on the lessons you've learned and how they've shaped your identity.

A winning college essay isn’t simply about parading your best accomplishment or dramatizing your challenges. It’s not a contest for which student is the most original or entertaining. Rather, the essay is a chance for you to showcase your authenticity, passion, resilience, social awareness, and intellectual vitality . By sharing genuine stories and insights, you can create an essay that resonates with admissions committees and highlights your unique qualities.

For you to have the best possible essay, mindset is key. Here’s how to get into the zone:

• Reflect Deeply: Spend time thinking about your experiences, challenges, and passions. Journaling can help you uncover deep insights.
• Discuss and Share: Talking about your stories with friends, family, or mentors can provide new perspectives and emotional clarity.
• Immerse Yourself: Engage in activities that you are passionate about to reignite the feelings and memories associated with them.
• Draft Freely: Don’t worry about perfection on the first try. Write freely and honestly, then refine your narrative.

The secret to a standout college essay lies in its authenticity, depth, and emotional resonance. By learning from these successful examples and getting into the right mindset, you can craft an essay that not only stands out but also provides a meaningful insight into who you are. Remember, your essay is your story—make it a piece of writing that you will always be proud of.

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