ESSAY WRITING TIPS FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Essay writing is a major component of the university academic curriculum for many programs. It can also be pretty daunting for anyone who has never written an essay for university. Get off to the best possible start or improve upon your existing writing skills with these tips.

Plan Your Paper

If you’re going to write a successful essay, you need to understand the topic and create a good plan. Good planning includes effective time-management, essay mapping, and goal completion. First, create a schedule and stick to it. Next, map out the steps for completing your paper. For example, the first step should be to choose a topic. Additional, important steps should be:

·        Do some research

·        Take notes from the research on your essay topic

·        Create an outline

·        Write your first draft

·        Submit the first draft to a writing centre, professor, or your peers for feedback

·        Use feedback to complete your final draft

·        Proofread before turning in the paper

While mapping your essay is important, you should also take note of and meet any milestones/deadlines set by your professor. These milestones will also help with essay planning and time management. However, setting your own milestones and/or goals could boost your confidence and performance. Mark these goals off as you complete them. The final step in a successful essay-writing plan is simply to turn in the paper on time.

Show Your Critical Thinking Skills

Unbeknownst to most university students, the true purpose of essay writing is to test and enhance critical thinking skills. Of course, essays can also be an expression of students’ general knowledge, understanding in certain areas, and learned skills. However, blatant critical thought and analysis may be the greatest testament to what a student knows and has learned. Critical thinking can also be the difference between an average essay and an excellent one. If you want yours to stand out, engage with the theories and arguments you present, provide an academic and intelligent analysis – don’t just repeat other authors’ points and thoughts or information from your research.

Understand the Topic

Not understanding the essay topic is actually the top reason why students receive failing grades on essay assignments. Before starting your paper, make sure you understand the topic or research questions, as well as your professor’s expectations for the paper. If you’re unsure, then ask questions – even the simple ones. It can be extremely helpful to simply ask what you should do on the paper. This will help you decide what and how much to research. Remember that some essay assignments require more in-depth research and analysis than others. However, make sure you perform targeted, concise research that thoroughly covers your essay topic or questions. Think of the process as similar to what you'd do when looking for the best student housing Ottawa has to offer. Your search should be as narrow as possible and be based on your needs and pre-determined criteria. And the more you know about what you're looking for, the better the results. This applies to writing a great essay and finding great housing!

Build a Solid Structure

An essay that flows well is easier to read and follow. It also aids in conveying your messages throughout the paper. So, make sure your essays always have a logical structure. The most basic structure, includes:

·        An introduction, stating your hypothesis or the main ideas of your essay

·        A body, presenting your main points or arguments

·        A conclusion, summarizing the main points covered in the essay and presenting any reflection on them

To ensure your paper follows this basic structure, just create an outline to use as a guide. This will also help you create a focused argument or story arc. Furthermore, a strong structure can ensure your paper stays on track and only covers points relevant to the essay topic. Additionally, the order of your paragraphs should make the paper cohesive and comprehensive. Just remember to use logical transitions between the main points and paragraphs and reorder them as needed. Good luck!

The Dangers of Procrastination When You’re A University Student

Procrastination can affect anyone, but it's common among university students. There are a lot of distractions when you're a student and many things that may seem more fun than completing assignments and studying. The truth is, procrastination can be dangerous and even disastrous when you're a student. Check out a few of the dangers of procrastination below and take steps to avoid them.

The Quality of Your Work Can Suffer

When you start an assignment too close to its due date (e.g. a day before the deadline), it may be impossible to deliver your best work. A small timeframe or tight deadline could impede creativity and suppress your best ideas. Rushed work may also not be reflective of your talents or abilities and can lead to low quality work and failing grades. Plus, most major assignments and/or projects require weeks of research and planning. Neglecting this research and planning process could make your assignment or project less detailed and polished.

Procrastination Can Cause Stress and/or Anxiety

University can be full of stressors and anxiety-inducing conditions, including heavy workloads, a new social environment or pressure, homesickness, etc. However, unknown to many, procrastination is a common culprit of stress and anxiety for university students. The longer you procrastinate, the more you worry, the closer the deadlines become, and the more work piles up. Short deadlines and more work can cause pressure, compounding stress and anxiety. Most university assignments or projects are typically broken down into and meant to be completed in steps. Leaving all the work to the last minute can make an assignment larger and more complicated than it should be. Large, complicated projects are inherently stress and anxiety-inducing.

It Can Compromise Your Academic Record

How you work affects the quality of your work and how much you get done. With (self-imposed) tighter deadlines, it’s likely you’ll finish less and pay less attention to detail, offering lower quality work. Eventually, this could lead to falling grades. Chronic procrastination could also lead to complete academic failure, especially if it causes you to miss deadlines, and this can sidetrack your academic goals. If these types of issues persist or worsen, they could eventually lead to academic probation or worse.

It Can Negatively Affect Your Social Life

For many people, an active social life is one of the best parts of being a university student. During university, you meet new people, experience new things, and pass into a new phase of life. Procrastination can actually  put all of this in jeopardy, because if you're always finishing your work at the last minute or cramming for tests, there's a greater chance you will be forced to miss social events and time spent with friends.

Procrastination Can Lower Confidence and Self-Esteem

For many, it’s difficult to feel self-confident when you constantly put things off to the last minute. Not only can procrastination cause low self-esteem, it can result from low self-esteem, and the more you procrastinate, the worse you feel about yourself. Low self-esteem can compromise your academic performance and social life, and it can lead to social isolation, anxiety, stress and even depression.

If you find yourself pushing more and more of your work off to the last minute, make a commitment to change the way you tackle assignments and studying. Get started now, before exam season starts!

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Tips For Transitioning From Living At Home To Living With Roommates

For college and university students, living away from home can be fun, exciting and filled with possibilities. It can be even more fun and interesting when you’re living with roommates, although, there can sometimes be a transition period when you first start living together and adjust to each other's lifestyles and routines. Fortunately, most difficulties can be overcome when you have established household rules and every roommate takes care of their responsibilities. Good roommates can make moving from home to student housing fun, but there are some things you can do to make the transition and living with others easier. Check it out:

Set Some Ground Rules

Rules are the key to surviving on your own and with roommates. They play a major role in living in a peaceful environment and establishing a healthy relationship with your roommate(s). Have a meeting with your roommate(s) and set some ground rules immediately after moving into your new space. These rules should include:

•          Respecting each other’s privacy, e.g. setting rules for entering each other’s rooms, borrowing things or eating others' food, and being quiet during study times, etc.
•          Dividing the chores (including cooking) and any bills equally and fairly
•          Establishing rules for guests (especially overnight guests) and parties
•          Guidelines for using communal spaces, i.e. the living area, kitchen and bathroom(s)
•          Setting rules for how grievances should be aired and addressed

Learn Proper Communication

If you don’t know how to communicate well, it doesn’t matter what ground rules you set. Proper communication is essential to fostering good relationships and resolving issues. This is especially true when you’re living with others. However, communication is much more than simply talking. It also includes the method of communication, the approach used, the tone of voice employed, the undertone (or the way words are said), body language and more. When combined, all of these things can help tell others how you’re feeling, as well as how they should behave or react. For example, respectfully airing your grievances and listening to others is the most effective way to resolve issues. In fact, it’s much more effective than leaving notes, taking passive-aggressive actions without explanations, ignoring others or simply allowing the issues to continue.

If you have an issue with a roommate, set aside a time to talk, calmly explain your grievances, and most importantly, tell them how this issue makes you feel. Allowing discomfort to build and aggressively confronting a roommate or taking passive aggressive action could cause undue tension. It could also have severe consequences, making your home environment unbearable for you and others. Remember to:

•          Listen as much as you speak
•          Learn and seek to understand any cultural, social and personal differences between you and your roommate(s) and how they affect your living situation
•          Don’t yell at or belittle others and try to walk away if others do these things to you
•          Respect others, their words and their points of view
•          Be open and honest
•          Don’t talk nastily or disrespectfully about any of your roommates with the others
•          Ask and present points for making certain situations better for all parties involved
•          Be flexible and compromise where necessary and possible

Get to Know Your Roommates

It’s easier to get along with others when you have a basic understanding of their personality, habits, likes and dislike, etc. However, you can’t gain a basic understanding of your roommates if you don’t get to know them. And getting to know them involves spending some time together. Although college can keep you busy, you shouldn’t neglect spending quality time with others. Fortunately, living with roommates makes quality time more convenient. It also makes it easier to create bonds. And roommate bonds are often special and unique.

So, plan some ‘roomie time.’ You could schedule a movie or game night, plan to go clubbing together, host a party, create a roomie-only study group, attend concerts or school-sponsored events together and so much more. No matter what you do, show the people that you live with that you appreciate them, as well as that you care about connecting with them and learning about who they are.

Of course, not everyone is well suited for living with roommates – and that's okay, too. If you live alone in any furnished bachelor apartment Ottawa has to offer, for instance, you won’t have to worry about roommates or setting ground rules, but the best possible living situation depends on your personality and lifestyle preferences or habits.

Getting the School Year Off to the Best Possible Start

As it always does, the summer seems to have come to an end all too quickly. If you're one of the many students feeling a little reluctant about being back at school, it's time to change your outlook and to take some simple steps to ensure you get the school year off to a great start.

Create a Schedule and Daily To-Do List

If you want to survive college or university, you should have a comprehensive weekly schedule and daily to-do list. It’s the most effective way to stay organized, keep your priorities straight and ensure you complete all your important tasks and assignments. For optimal organization, consider using a cellphone app or a school planner. Create a daily to-do list with specific activities and assignments, then scratch the tasks off your list as you complete them. Alternatively, your weekly schedule can be vaguer and more open ended. Leave room for schedule changes and other surprises. Most importantly, remember that the more organized you are, the easier it will be to meet deadlines, schedule study times and perform well academically.

Use Student Software Programs and Apps

Plenty of software programs and apps are designed for students. They organize coursework and daily schedules, provide a system for balancing your work, school and personal life, provide reminders and help increase productivity and academic performance. There’s also software, apps and websites designed to help with assignments, projects or specific subjects. Apps and websites dedicated to math are particularly popular and useful. Some software and apps can even help you perform research, take notes and write essays. However, if an app isn’t enough, you can seek assistance at your campus learning centre.

Prepare to Live Independently

Independence is one of the most appealing aspects of attending college or university. Whether you’re living on campus or off campus in Ottawa student housing, living on your own can be incredibly fun, but also a little stressful at times. Get prepared and minimize stress!

·         Pack only the essentials

·         Choose your roommate(s) well (if applicable)

·         Learn as much as possible about your roommate(s)

·         Set ground rules

·         Choose affordable housing in a safe, student-friendly neighbourhood and building

·         Learn effective time-management and how to balance your work, school and personal life

·         Keep in touch with your friends and family

·         Ask for help when needed

·         Learn how to pay bills, shop for food and household products, clean, do laundry and cook simple meals

·         Ask for help reading and understanding your lease

Tackle Your Distractions

Distractions are one of the top reasons postsecondary students drop out. Although parties, video games, social media, hanging out with friends, etc. may be fun, they may also be so distracting that they negatively affect your academic performance. Staying up late all the time can also exacerbate stress and anxiety while limiting sleep. A lack of sleep can cause fatigue (obviously), confusion, irritability, health problems and so much more. It can also worsen stress and/or anxiety. All of these issues will negatively impact your ability to retain and recall information, concentrate in class and understand certain concepts. Keep the distractions to a minimum:

·         Only study in a quiet environment

·         Avoid going to parties during exam time

·         Set ground rules with yourself and your friends about partying, hanging out, etc. – stick to them!

·         Don’t overstuff your schedule by engaging in more activities than your time allows

·         Schedule leisure time, including spending time with loved ones

·         Monitor your leisure time, especially time spent on social media or doing online activities

·         Take care of your priorities before doing the fun stuff

·         Follow a schedule

Practice Taking Notes

Unbeknownst to many, notetaking is tantamount to the learning process. The better your notes, the easier it is to recall and retain information. Writing notes can also help with understanding. Often, it’s easier to understand concepts when you explain them to yourself. However, not all notes are comprehensive. For comprehensive notes, make sure they’re organized, use appropriate abbreviations and short phrases and only take notes on the most important points, for instance, don’t take too many or too few. Additionally, use multiple mediums; use note cards for vocabulary or if you’re taking notes from an online textbook, use the software provided to take notes or highlight pertinent information.

A Quick Guide To Moving To University

Moving to university is a major step in many young people’s lives. There are a lot of steps involved in the moving process, which can quickly overwhelm first-time university students, but with a bit of guidance, this process can become faster, easier and more efficient. Below is a quick guide to moving to university with as few hiccups as possible.

Pack Like a Pro

Packing is perhaps the most important and arduous part of moving. It requires planning, patience and organization. Without these things, the process may become time-consuming and stressful. But there are some tips and tricks that could help you pack like a professional. For example:

·         Start packing at least two weeks in advance

·         Create and follow a ‘packing to-do list’ and schedule

·         Scratch things off your to-do list as you complete them

·         Get packing materials

·         Throw away or donate unwanted items first

·         Pack the most difficult items and non-essentials (things you don’t use every day or often) before anything else

·         Some items may be provided by the university or your residence, so only pack the essentials

·         Obtain a list of the items provided, as well as a list of things you should bring

·         Ask friends and/or family to help you with your move

·         Secure a moving van or a car to move your belongings

·         Clean your space and separate your belongings into categories that include 'throw away,' 'leave behind,' 'take,' 'donate,' etc.

·         Label your boxes, don’t overstuff them, use appropriate packing materials (i.e. bubble wrap, packing tape, etc.), especially for fragile items or electronics and pack heavy items on the bottom of boxes

Secure Housing

Finding housing is really the first step in the moving process. It is, of course, also the most important step. But first decide if you want to live in a residence hall or in off-campus student housing. For a comfortable transition into your new housing, look for places that include the following amenities:  

·         A quiet study space, e.g. the library, study lounge or a quiet room

·         Proximity to your campus and/or transit

·         Space for fun and relaxation, such as a games lounge, fitness centre, movie theatre, etc., as well as quick access to neighbourhood amenities

·         A kitchen area or cooking space

·         On-site laundry and parking

·         Storage

·         Reliable Wi-fi

·         A workspace for homework and studying

·         Security and safety equipment and procedures

·         24-hour maintenance

Besides offering student-friendly conveniences, your housing should also be stable, in a safe neighbourhood and secured at least two months before the first semester begins. This will give you time to become familiar and comfortable with the housing facility, neighbourhood and your roommates (if applicable).

Introduce Yourself on Social Media

Social media can introduce you to your university and peers before the school year even begins. It can also offer vital information for navigating the campus, your courses, residence hall and more. Basically, information found on your university’s social media pages can act as a survival guide for your freshman year. Not to mention, social media provides a unique opportunity to connect with your peers, professors and student advisor. In fact, you should connect with your advisor before starting university. An advisor can offer advice on every aspect of university life, including choosing courses, joining student activities, finding a job or housing, making friends and so much more. You can also find ample help and information on campus events at your university’s student union Facebook page or social media groups.

How To Get Back into School Mode

A new school year is approaching, which means it's time to get back into academic mode. A summer full of relaxation, leisure activities and late nights, however, can make it a little difficult for many students to return to a school routine. Check out the following tips and make your transition as streamlined as possible:

Buy Your Textbooks Early

Before the school year begins, choose your first semester courses, create a workable schedule and purchase your textbooks as early as possible. Veteran students know that there’s always a rush to get the highest quality used textbooks at the lowest prices. The longer you wait, the more difficult it becomes. In fact, many used textbooks sell out in a matter of minutes. High competition can also make it impossible to get a fair price. If you want to save a ton of time and money, purchase your books at least two weeks before the semester begins. Ordering early is also essential if you’re buying your books online and having them shipped instead of buying them at the campus bookstore or ordering e-books. The earlier you order them, the faster you get them. An early purchase will also ensure the lowest price and level of competition.

Buy School Supplies

Buying school supplies can help get your mind back in the mode of going to class. To capitalize on this feeling, purchase your supplies one to two weeks before the semester begins. Make a list of all the essential and additional items you will need for the classroom. Besides plenty of pens, pencils and paper, you should also purchase:

·         Notebooks

·         A planner

·         Erasers

·         A stapler

·         Binders

·         A backpack

·         A calculator (if needed)

·         Highlighters

·         Rulers

·         A zip, USB or flash drive 

Follow a Schedule

Following a schedule is a key component of student life. For many, it’s also vital to success. An unpredictable, disorganized summer can leave you unprepared for a highly organized academic schedule. To get back into a rhythm before the school year begins, break out the old (or new) planner, create and follow a schedule. Doing this at least three weeks before the first semester begins can reduce early burnout and make it easier to adjust to the new school year. Plan your bedtimes, wake ups, meals, exercise, leisure activities and work schedule.  

Systematically Wake Up Earlier

Going to bed late and waking up late can be a difficult habit to break. As soon as you can, begin to systematically wake up and go to bed a little earlier. Go to bed an hour earlier and set your alarm to wake you up an hour earlier each week. To maintain consistency, switch this up every three to five days. The goal is to reach reasonable, fixed times for waking up and going to bed. Eventually, your body will adjust to the new sleep pattern.

Pack Up and Secure Housing

Packing and securing housing can be more complicated than most students anticipate, so choose your university residence as early as possible. This will leave plenty of time for packing and generally organizing your move. If you’re an incoming freshman, this process should be started even earlier.

Before packing, create a list of the items you will need, as well as those provided by the university or housing facility (if moving off-campus). Remember that packing is a process that should be done (ideally) over the course of a few weeks. This way, you will have time to organize your belongings, obtain packing materials, move things to storage, throw away or donate unwanted items and, of course, pack. Thorough planning and organization will help you avoid the frustration and stress associated with packing, especially if you’re a first-time mover. Packing a day or two before the semester begins can quickly become overwhelming, as the process is much more involved than you might imagine.