High School vs College Essay Guide

Students might expect their academic writing to improve with time transitioning from college to high school, however, it’s not just a student's psychological development that makes a college essay superior to a high school essay, it’s the writing requirements and lack thereof asked of college students to accommodate the nuance that makes writing and reading academic writing a more enriching experience.

Student life in high school can be more or less care free. Sure, you have homework, but in college, each assignments serves as a small piece in a larger body of work that amounts to your academic portfolio. If you are a history major, one day hoping to earn a PHD, you need to understand your essay assignments and writing on an in-depth, thorough level to ensure you make points that readers take seriously.

Before we focus on writing, this VCU guide gives fun insight into the differences between high school life and college life.

With this guide, we will compare and contrast the main differences between high school and college essays while delving into the ways your writing needs to evolve when writing for higher education.

Table of Contents

• First Year Composition

• What is Academic Writing?

• High School vs College Essays

• Structure

• Research

• Format

• Conclusion

• FAQ

First Year Composition

First year composition English courses don’t just teach college students writing skills, they want to dismantle the writing process you learned in high school. They tear down old ideas to build new ones from their rubble.

In high school, most students were taught to repeat a formula for structuring an essay that asked them to give the reader information. First year composition removes any notion of sticking to formula. Although, you might still be using a five paragraph structure, instead of dispensing information, college-level academic writing is about becoming a part of the conversation on any given topic by crafting an original argument using research to back up your points.

What is Academic Writing?

Academic essays refer to a specific kind of text that involves an argumentative idea supported by evidence. The reason this kind of writing is essential to academic pursuit is that with academic writing, students can exemplify what they’ve learned while demonstrating their critical reasoning faculties better than any other form of writing a professor might assign.

How you arrive at a point, how you persuade the reader and how you organize your thoughts are all on full display for a professor to evaluate when engaging in college-level academic writing.

High School vs College Essays

High school essays carry with them certain watermarks that are shed when retaught academic writing in college. These traits include formulaic structure within a single essay model, rules for writing and argumentation, and emphasis on knowledge of a subject as opposed to the writer's ability to critically think.

College essays differ in that they reject formulas. If you have a more effective or original way to make your argument, you are encouraged to pursue it over any sort of expected essay model or structure. The same notion is applied to rules for writing and arguing, college professors want to see your independent critical thinking at work, not your ability to follow steps.

Now, lets compare how high school and college essays differ when it comes to the features of essay writing, namely essay structure, research, and format.

Structure

In high school, there are certain guidelines your essay structure should follow. These include five paragraph essays where each paragraph consists of five to eight sentences and a one-sentence thesis statement located at the end of the first paragraphs that includes three points that each get addressed in the subsequent three paragraphs.

These high school writing guidelines aren’t problematic, they’re simply a launchpad. It’s the old adage, you need to learn the rules to break them. Once you’re in college, academic writing becomes much more flexible. In fact, your writing style may best be described as the original way in which you break the rules.

For college writing, your thesis doesn’t need to be three points. It can be more or less. Your thesis needs to be a point you can argue, not a fact you're stating. Here are a few tips on choosing and constructing a thesis statement:

The same freedom applies with the amount of paragraphs you include. A college essay can have as many paragraphs as necessary to build a good argument.

Research

In-depth research is essential to academic writing in college. For the most part, high school essays require you to report information compared to college where you are required to research information then write an argumentative essay.

College writing assignments require the use of sources with authority, while High School often lets writers use internet sources. Research paper sources are usually found in library databases, not general internet searches and unlike in high school, your essay needs to show you completely understand the research. Because your professors know their subjects deeply, they will know if you’ve misunderstood the research you've cited.

Research is an art in it of itself, read this guide on doing proper research to up your essay writing game.

Format

Lastly, formatting of citations is essential to college essays. You will need to format bibliography for your essay in whatever style your course requires, be it MLA, APA or another.

Academic writing needs to be formatted in an organized, uniform fashion to be included in scholarly discussion. If there are any rules to college writing, proper citations is at the top of the list.

Conclusion

The major difference between high school essays and college essays is freedom. In college, because enrollment is a choice students make to gain expertise in a field, writers have the freedom to pursue whatever methods they see fit to show professors they understand a topic and can craft an original argument.

High school graduates are better off understanding the main differences between the two levels of academic writing before they enter college courses. They should take this guide and use it to aim higher for the admissions essay prompts of their college application because the quality of your college experience can determine the quality of your professional life after.

Learn as much about essay writing as possible before submitting your college application essay. Our essay guide gives you 7 keys to improving your writing. it will be one of best steps you'll take to a brighter future in education.

FAQ

How Long Should A College Essay Be?

Common college admissions essays max out at 650 words. Supplemental essays are typically 250 words. Within those word limits, writers should be concise with their language. Communicating clearly and effectively with a limited amount of words.

What Should be Included in a College Application?

Make a personal statement using personal experiences by telling a story with a strong narrative that demonstrates your potential, capacity for personal reflection, and ability to communicate specific details, all while staying relevant to the essay prompt.

How Can I Use AI to Help With My College Writing?

With 86% of students using AI for school work, it’s important to understand the effective methods of using AI in your writing. These methods include brainstorming essay topics, critiquing your essay and giving you feedback, acting as a dictionary or thesaurus, automated citations and more. You don’t need to use AI to write your entire essay to properly apply the technology while still developing your writing skills.