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The Transition from High School to College Writing

The transition from high school writing to college writing can be daunting. First-year

college students frequently struggle with this transition because college professors usually have

different expectations regarding structure and argument than high school teachers. However, you

need not be intimidated by this difference because that’s all it is: a different approach to writing.

Audience

In college, professors comprise the most influential segment of your audience. Since they will be

the ones who evaluate your paper, they are the ones you need to appeal to in your writing. If you

are in a class where you will be reviewed by your peers, or where you will be required to post

your writing on a webboard, the audience for your writing may be broader. However, you should

also keep in mind that you are not only writing for an individual or group of readers, you are

adding to a conversation within an academic field, and each field has its own conventions.

Before you begin writing a paper, familiarize yourself with the disciplinary conventions for that

particular class. Consult the guidelines in the assignment your professor has given you, or look

over articles you have read for the class to familiarize yourself with the style used in the field.

The Writing Resource Center also has resources available that provide an introduction to writing

in the various disciplines. You may access these during our hours, without making an

appointment.

Structure

In high school, you may have been taught to construct five-paragraph essays and other short

forms of writing. College writing sometimes uses the five-paragraph essay as a starting point, but

often pushes students to break out of the limits imposed by such a rigid structure. Some

assignments simply cannot be responded to effectively with an introduction, three supporting

paragraphs and a conclusion. If you feel comfortable with the five-paragraph format, use it to

start out with, but be prepared to explore alternative strategies if and when necessary. For

example, it may be useful to add subheadings to longer papers to break them up into smaller

sections, but you should check with your professor first before using this strategy, as not all

disciplines prefer this approach.

Argument

In high school, you may have learned to include a thesis statement in your papers, usually

somewhere near the end of the first paragraph. Most college writing also depends on thesis

statements, but they may look very different from the statements you are used to seeing and

writing. A typical high school thesis statement might look like this: In this paper, I will discuss

Abigail Williams’ motive in The Crucible. A typical college thesis, on the other hand, might look

more like this: In The Crucible, Abigail Williams denounces Elizabeth Proctor and other women

from her village in an attempt to win John Proctor for herself. As you can see, the sample college

thesis statement sets up a specific argument and takes a position on that argument. In addition, it

gives the reader some warning regarding the kind of evidence to expect in the remainder of the

paper. Readers will expect, at minimum, information about the relationship between Abigail and

John, between Elizabeth and John, and between Abigail and Elizabeth.

Research

A research paper in high school might have involved collecting information from Yahoo! or

Google and re-presenting that information in a book-report format: research for research’s sake.

College research papers are nearly always argument-based: you collect evidence in order to make

a point, not just to prove that you found five sources. Moreover, college papers require a different

level of source material. While the Internet can be a great research tool, college students need to

The Transition From High School To College Writing

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