College-Level Writing

Written by Emily Smith

The transition to college-level writing can feel like a big leap, but it doesn’t have to be nerve-wracking! In this guide, we’ll discuss what you can generally expect from college-level writing assignments, how they may differ from writing you did during high school, and what tools will support you in making the transition. 

Whether you’re about to start college or just want to brush up on the basics in anticipation of an upcoming assignment, this guide should give you the information you need to tackle your college-level papers with confidence. 

Why is college-level writing different from what I did in high school?

Although we sometimes think of high school as a form of preparation for college, the fact is that high school and college are distinct educational environments driven by very different variables. 

Curricula at public high schools are governed by a host of factors, ranging from federal performance measures and standardized testing to state-level and regional requirements. Even at private high schools, instructors are likely beholden to institutional guidelines that inform what and how they teach. As a result, many assignments at the high school level tend to be oriented around these broader standards. 

In contrast, college instructors usually have more freedom in designing their courses and assignments to facilitate student learning. You’ll also have more opportunities to specialize in particular disciplines and writing styles in college through your general education courses, as well as your major-specific classes. For these reasons, you’re likely to experience a wider variety of writing assignments and standards in college than you did in high school (more on that in the next section!). 

Aside from this issue of standardization (or lack thereof, in the case of college-level writing), the differences between composition in high school and college are largely oriented around the varying experience levels of the students served in each environment. In high school, students are still learning the basics of academic composition, while, at the college level, students are expected to utilize the structure and style of academic writing to articulate more complex ideas. 

In other words, the assignments you encountered in high school were probably intended to help you learn how to write, while in college you’ll be expected to use your writing as a platform to communicate new concepts, theories, and ideas. 

How is college-level writing different? 

Okay, so we know why writing looks a bit different in college, but what specifically can you expect from your assignments (and what will your professors be looking for in your writing)? Below, we’ve broken down some of the key differences you’ll likely encounter:

1. Assignment Length and Purpose

Due to the experience level of students being served, your high school writing assignments were likely fairly short in length. Writers are also typically tasked with composing more informative or narrative-driven papers at that level. In comparison, college writing assignments tend to be longer and more complex in nature, as they are oriented around more argumentative or expository writing assignments, and require higher-level thinking in the form of analysis, criticism, and/or synthesis of ideas. 

For example, a high school writing assignment on Pride & Prejudice might ask you to reflect on the issue of class in the novel and discuss how it pertains to your life or experience. A college writing assignment on the same novel might ask you to draft a literary analysis in which you analyze Austen’s class commentary through a Marxist lens. If you’re interested in more guidance on literary analyses, check out our guide here. 

2. Content and Scope

The goal of academic discourse is to advance knowledge and make new discoveries. For this reason, college-level writing assignments typically want you to say something new or fresh, rather than treading old ground. So, rather than exploring a classic theme from a literary text or a well-known controversy, your instructors will encourage you to offer a new interpretation or a fresh take on the content from your classes. In other words, the goal of many college-level writing assignments is for you to contribute to the discourse surrounding your topic by saying something new. 

To do so, writers must think critically by focusing on more complex questions (think “how” and “why”) to engage in thoughtful argumentation, analysis, and interpretation. You’ll also find that the topics you write on in college will likely be narrower in scope than you are used to. A narrower topic sets you up to write with more precision and to avoid broad generalizations and cliches. 

For example, in high school, you might have written an informative paper exploring the causes of climate change. In college, this topic would likely be (far) too broad, as it would be difficult (if not impossible) to discuss all of the causes of climate change in a single paper thoroughly. Instead, you might decide that you want to explore how manufacturing contributes to climate change, before narrowing down even further to focus on the impact of the fast fashion industry on greenhouse gas emissions. 

3. Structure

Students fresh out of high school tend to rely on certain writing formulas, such as the five-paragraph essay. This structure is a common feature of many students’ writing education because it’s an easy way to learn the basic elements of an academic argument. A five-paragraph essay streamlines an argument into five parts: 

• A funnel-shaped introduction that begins with a broad topic before narrowing to a thesis statement. 

• Three body paragraphs, each of which focuses on a subtopic or piece of evidence in support of the thesis statement. 

• A conclusion paragraph that restates the thesis before discussing its broader implications or significance. 

The five-paragraph essay is a great tool for learning how to assemble a basic argument; however, this formula can be limiting since it isn’t designed to accommodate more complex or nuanced ideas. Five-paragraph essays can also produce papers that are somewhat repetitive or “listy” in nature, since the body paragraphs are often treated as individual sections in support of a central argument, rather than as ideas that naturally build off of one another. For this reason, you’ll likely need to move beyond the five-paragraph essay for most of your college writing assignments in order to craft papers that are compelling and cohesive. 

Although it might seem uncomfortable to move beyond this familiar structure, bear in mind that this is a necessary step to avoid a scenario in which the structure of a paper dictates its content. Think of it this way: if you were buying someone a present, you wouldn’t decide what to get them based on the size of the box you had on hand. Instead, you would find a box (or a bag!) that fit the gift you selected for them. In the same way, you should not force your ideas into a five-paragraph structure if they don’t make sense within that format. Your paper’s structure and organization should accommodate (and even enhance) your ideas rather than constraining them. 

One rule of thumb that can help you move beyond the five-paragraph formula is to think about the issue of scale in your paper. For example, a one-paragraph introduction was probably appropriate for a three-page paper you wrote in high school. However, if you’re tasked with writing a ten-page paper in college, you’ll likely find that one paragraph probably doesn’t feel sufficient to contextualize your topic and argument, so you might experiment with a multi-paragraph introductory section to provide a foundation. 

Another strategy you can use is to divide a paper into sections (this is especially helpful for longer papers), with headings and subheadings that describe the focus of the content that follows. Headings can give a paper structure and focus, acting as mile markers for your readers to help them follow the development of your ideas. Some disciplines require the use of headings. Even if yours does not, utilizing them during the drafting and revision stages of your writing process can be a helpful way for you to visualize your paper’s organization. 

4. Research

You were probably required to use sources in some of your writing assignments in high school, but you’ll likely find that the way you engage with sources is quite different in college. 

First and foremost, you’ll be expected to scrutinize and evaluate your sources more intensely to ensure the sources you use are credible. For information on how to evaluate sources, check out this guide.  Your writing’s relationship with your research will also be a bit different. In high school, you likely settled on an argument you wanted to make in a paper and then found sources to support your point of view. In college, your research should inform your argument or perspective, and in some cases, a paper’s topic or argument might arise in response to your research (you may even end up arguing something like the opposite of what you initially thought or planned). Head to this guide for more information on the research process.

The way you utilize sources in your writing will also be quite different. In high school, it might have been sufficient to drop a quote from a source to show support for an idea in your writing. However, you’ll be expected to engage with your sources in a more meaningful way in college. Strong academic writing is often described as a conversation in which scholars respond to, critique, and build upon the ideas, research, and discoveries of others. Therefore, it’s not enough just to summarize what another person said on a topic; instead, you must actively engage with their ideas to show how they connect to, support, or complicate your own. In other words, rather than dropping or sprinkling sources into your writing, you’ll need to weave them into your papers. 

5. Audience and Style

Although you’ll likely take a first-year writing or English class, writing generally won’t be treated like a distinct subject in college the way it may have been in high school. Instead, you’ll probably write in the majority of your classes to explore new topics, theories, and concepts. For this reason, you’ll learn to become a chameleon of sorts so that you can adapt your writing to the conventions of different disciplines by learning how to write within new genres and citation styles. You’ll also find that your instructors have varying preferences and expectations when it comes to writing, so you’ll become adept at decoding their assignment prompts (check out this guide to unpacking academic prompts for more info!) and responding to their feedback (we’ve got you covered there, too!). 

What can I do to be a successful writer in college?

Although your journey as a writer will be unique, the following strategies will help you make the leap to college-level work: 

1. Move away from the five-paragraph essay

Any decisions you make about your paper’s structure should always be rooted in your ideas. Always consider what organizational framework will most clearly communicate your ideas, not the other way around. Trying to force your ideas into a certain structure or package will likely produce a paper that feels awkward, confusing, or incomplete. If you need help figuring out how to organize your ideas, try outlining to identify core themes you want to explore and to determine the best sequence in which to discuss them.  

2. Figure out how you write best

Writing is a highly personal experience, which means everyone’s writing process is unique. For this reason, it’s important to experiment with different writing strategies and approaches to identify which work best for you. For example, you might learn that you like freewriting as a brainstorming technique, before crafting an outline and composing a draft. Or you might prefer to map out your ideas on a whiteboard before drafting. You might even find that your preferred writing strategies differ based on the kind of writing you’re doing. Taking the time to explore writing techniques is a worthwhile investment of your time so that you can curate a writing process that works with you, not against you. 

3. Learn how to manage your time

Regardless of the exact form your writing process takes, you will definitely learn that strong writing takes time. You might have been able to get away with cranking out a first draft the night before a deadline in high school, but that approach will not serve you well in college. Effective academic writing takes time: time to conduct research and collect sources, time to write and revise multiple drafts, time to take breaks, and, sometimes, time to start over if your ideas radically shift. Writing isn’t a linear process, so carving out plenty of time to complete an assignment will ensure you have space for your ideas to organically take shape.  

4. Engage in your classes

Writing assignments are typically designed to build upon the lectures, discussions, and activities from your classes. Engaging fully in your classes—by attending and participating regularly, taking thoughtful notes, and going to your instructors’ office hours—will ensure you have a strong foundation when the time comes to tackle a writing assignment. 

5. Call in reinforcements

Although it can feel like you’re on your own in college, there are actually a ton of resources available to support your progress. Writing is a collaborative process, so don’t be afraid to seek out guidance and feedback from your instructor, university librarians, and writing center tutors. They are there to help! For more information on how to get the most out of your university’s resources, check out that guide. 

Final Takeaways

While there is a lot to consider when tackling your first college-level papers, there are a few key points to bear in mind to aid your transition: 

• It is completely okay to feel nervous about your writing. Writing is a skill that you will develop over the course of your life, particularly during your college years, so be kind to yourself as you acclimate and evolve. There is no such thing as perfect writing, so give yourself the space to grow and improve at your own pace. 

• As a college-level writer, you’ll likely have more freedom in terms of your papers’ content and structure. Embrace that flexibility so that you can explore novel ideas and craft papers that are clear, compelling, and cohesive. 

• Everyone needs support and feedback during their writing process, so never hesitate to reach out for guidance at any point. There are many people in your corner who want you to be successful! 

While you might not feel completely at ease about college-level writing, know that you have an exciting journey ahead as you come into your own as a student and as a writer. You’ve got this! 

Special thanks to Emily Smith for writing this post and contributing to other College Writing Center resources

Emily Smith (she/her) has worked with hundreds of students to become more thoughtful, intentional, and confident writers in her work as a composition instructor, college essay specialist, and, most recently, as a writing center director. Leveraging her background in writing center work, Emily loves to collaborate with students to find ease in the writing process. When not coaching students, she can likely be found baking in pursuit of the perfect chocolate chip cookie, watching TCM, and spoiling her cat.

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