Preparing for the SAT I Writing Section

July 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

High school students preparing for college will have to face the nerve racking SAT I writing section. The writing portion of the SAT I test is a 60 minute test that includes an essay writing and a multiple-choice section.

Whether you are looking to obtain an ivy league education or pursue one of the many online education degrees, the scores you get on the writing portion of the SAT I test can determine your future. Here are some tips you can use to help make the writing portion of the SATs a little easier.

Outline Your Writing

Many SAT test takers make the mistake of jumping into the essay portion of the test without outlining their thoughts. This can result in an essay that doesn’t flow or strays off topic.

If you are looking to write a great essay, make sure you take the added time to outline your essay and plan what you are going to write. This will help you create an essay that flows and reads well.

Stay on Topic

While it might be tempting to stray off topic during your essay, it will not help your SAT scores. You will be given one topic to write about. Make sure you stay on topic and only write about the given topic.

Don’t Go For Perfection

The SAT writing section assesses your writing ability but it does not look for perfection. While writing your essay keep this in mind and don’t try to achieve perfection. Instead, focus on writing a clear essay that conveys your thoughts in an organized fashion.

Using these tips will help reduce your stress and help you get a good score on your writing SAT section.

Filed Under: Education, Reading and Writing, Standardized Testing Tagged With: , ,

How to Write the Outline for a College Level Essay

July 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Writing a college level essay for the first time isn’t always easy for any college freshman. The main key to writing a great college level essay is by writing a strong outline. The outline is what’s going to help guide you through your essay.

Writing essays is important because they are a big part of your online Bachelors programs. Your outline is going to show the entire breakdown of the topic your essay is about.

Before you start writing choose the topic you wish to write about. Make sure the topic falls under one of your options given to you by your professor.

Stay Focused on the Topic

Think about the question you’re answering in your essay and focus on that only. Students will go off on a tangent pretty quickly and easily so it’s important to stay focus on the question you’re looking to answer.

Organize your Ideas

When writing your outline, write down all the ideas for the topic. Choose the ideas that are general and use those as your headlines. Once you’ve got the headlines write down specific ideas for each section of the paper.

The format will remain constant throughout the outline. If you start with capital letters then use capital letters throughout the outline.

Write your Thesis & Headlines

Your thesis statement is the hardest part to write so do that first. The thesis is at the beginning of your outline. The thesis explains your reasoning for the paper.

The headlines are a short sentence and will argue each point that you’re making in the paper.  Your subheads are going to fully support the arguments in each headline.

Filed Under: College Entrance Exams, Education, Online Resources Tagged With: , ,

Ways to Improve Your Grammar

July 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Many people struggle with writing. Despite the fact that many of us are writing each and every day, whether an email, Facebook status update, or a blog post, many don’t know the basic rules of grammar. Although for the most part this isn’t a big deal, for some it can important to impress your boss, look professional to clients, and come across as intelligent to those you do business with.

So how can you go about improving your grammar? One of the best ways is to take a college course on writing. Whether you’re working on an online college degree or not, taking an online college writing class is a great way to brush up your writing skills including reminding yourself of the grammar rules.

If you don’t have time to take a class on writing, there are a lot of grammar books that are used for such classes that you could read to remind yourself of these rules. If you’re looking for something more in-depth, check out Webster’s English Usage. Just like the dictionary, a book of how words are used in English is republished every few years. It includes things like when to use if and when to use whether and includes history of the item and why the usage is what it is.

The important thing when it comes to writing is to not slack just because what you’re writing is “unimportant.” Whether it’s an email to a friend or an entry in your personal blog, be sure to practice good grammar so it becomes habit.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , ,

Developing Writing Skills for the Workplace

July 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

When taking writing-related online courses or preparing for the writing section of a standardized test, rudimentary writing skills are being developed. In a world where emailing, tweeting and conducting more and more tasks online is becoming prevalent, the ability to express oneself in writing is essential.

What Employers Want

The qualities that employers look for in applicants vary depending on the industry. However, some commonalities do exist across employers and their hiring needs. Solid communication skills are a common requirement in many work environments. Whether you gain these skills through online courses, on the job or in a classroom, employers need workers who can read, write and speak clearly.

The Soft Skills Aspect of Writing

Much of learning how to write well involves learning basic grammar and sentence structure concepts. Beyond this, a skilled writer is careful about the message he or she communicates in a note, email or company message board. The length, tone and word choices of the message are all important aspects of effective communication. A message that is too short or too long or uses words that offend, confuse or belittle others can make it difficult for an employee to establish positive relationships in the workplace.

Becoming a Better Writer

Communicating well in writing at work requires commitment and focus. There may be days when a person is feeling frustrated or overwhelmed. On these days, especially, it’s important to be extra careful when communicating with others in writing. Saving an email to the draft folder may be best on these days until it’s clear that the email must be sent.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , ,

Importance of Taking the SATs

July 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The SATs have long been used by college admittance committees in choosing the right students for their school. Many high school students take them seriously — taking practice tests, going through prep courses, and using flashcards to help them remember concepts and vocabulary. Still, many students don’t seem to understand how important it is to get a good score.

When it comes to applying for college, a good SAT score can help make your application stand out, along with good grades, a well-written essay, and a demonstration of involvement in the community. It’s one important piece to the larger puzzle of college applications.

But what are students to do if they don’t get a good enough score? Many students take the SAT during their junior year of high school. This allows time for the students to retake the test before applying for schools if they don’t get the score they wanted. Statistically, students do better the second time they take the test. For students that don’t have this option, a really good alternative is to look into online college degree programs. This would allow the student to take classes online and if he or she would like to transfer to a college later, the school will look at grades received rather than the SAT score.

Remember, if you aren’t able to start at the school of your choice, all is not lost. Colleges and universities take transfer students each year and you could be one of them just by proving that you can get the grades needed.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , ,

The English Advantage: Degree Success

July 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Grammar is a loathsome subject — the stumbles of words and their meanings, the incomprehensible tenses. There is, you’re certain, no value to gain in mastering the English language. It’s a subject you hate: demanding time, effort and patience (a trait which you’ve never fully embraced). A degree therefore seems useless. You’d rather pursue other interests, taking only the necessary literature credits and then forgetting everything you’ve learned.

This is not wise, however — if only because online education degrees in English can generate success for other ventures.

Language isn’t simply a tribute to poetry and indecipherable prose. Instead it offers rewards (such as comprehension, analysis, creativity and more) that can be applied to other fields. Choosing to study English ensures that students gain the ability to read — and dissect — any form of text. And this is imperative for all careers… no matter how far removed from books they seem.

It’s estimated that over 50 percent of pre-law students select English as their secondary degrees. Those seeking medical fields choose literature over all other minors (with 60 percent using it for foundational courses). Such hard sciences seem incompatible with grammar; and yet they are perpetual favorites. The reason is obvious — because writing inspires dynamic thinking, offering ways to draft theses from unique perspectives and ensuring that students gain recognition. It allows for stronger technical perspectives, as well as helping complex ideas to be conquered: simply because students are given the tools to decipher prose.

English is not simply a degree for the poetic. It’s instead a cornerstone for all other elements and should be embraced.

Filed Under: College Entrance Exams, Education, Online Resources Tagged With: , ,

Tips for Writing Flawless School Papers

July 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Poster promoting reading by Charles Dickens in...

Image via Wikipedia

These are two words students fear hearing most: writing assignment. The dreaded school paper. Unlike a multiple-choice test, a school paper doesn’t have one right answer. Instead, a student must clearly, and sometimes eloquently, present an argument with supportive details over the span of two to five pages, and sometimes more. And if that’s not hard enough, the paper must have proper punctuation and grammar, and no misspellings. However, the tips below will help make the next writing assignment — be it a one-pager for middles school or a 20-pager for online Bachelors programs — flawless.

Build an outline first

Before writing the first sentence map out the paper by outlining the introduction and conclusion as well as each main point that will be discussed in the body. Once the major topics are figured out, the rest of the details become easier to fill in. In contrast, writing blindly increases the chances of going off topic and writing run-on sentences.

Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite

Even the best writers in history — from Dickens to Hemingway — constantly revised their work. Going through several drafts of a school paper weeds out the weak areas, making the overall paper much stronger.

Find a writing spot

Writing takes a lot of concentration, as well as creativity. That’s why it’s important to find somewhere that is secluded but can get the creative juices flowing, either indoors or outdoors.

Undergo peer criticism

No one should proofread their own work. Instead, every writing assignment should be proofed by a classmate who can point out the flaws and make suggestions

Filed Under: Education, Online Resources, Writing Techniques Tagged With: , ,

Preparing For Your Degree

July 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you have a specific career goal in mind, then one of the best things that you can do is make a plan to attend college. When you attend college and obtain a college degree, the result is often that your resume is taken more seriously and you are able to land the jobs that you seek more easily.

Preparing For Your Degree

Once you know what type of degree you are going to need to obtain in order to take on your chosen career path, the next step in the process for you is going to be to figure out how you need to get there. There are going to be specific courses that you will need to take in order to obtain your degree. There are also different types of degrees including offline and online education degrees, and they both offer a completely different experience so make sure that you consider both.

Once you know what courses are required of you, you can put together an education plan. Your education plan is going to tell you what to take and when, because once you have a plan you simply have to work through your course load until you have the grades you want to get your degree. Getting good grades is essential, because your GPA is going to look excellent on your resume when you are talking about the degree that you have obtained. Keep in mind that you are going to get out of college everything that you put in, so give it your all.

Filed Under: College Entrance Exams, Education, Online Resources Tagged With: , ,

Preparing for English and Writing Sections on the ACT, SAT and FCAT

July 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

When students are faced with taking tests such as the ACT, SAt or FCAT, it takes a steady plan of studying and practice to prepare. This is especially true for the English and writing sections, which are challenging for some students.

These tests are often required to study for many traditional and online education degrees. Students should studying early, especially with texts that are geared specifically for each test. These books will include a pre-test, practice problems and actual practice tests to help the student prepare. The pre-test is especially useful for finding out what weak areas need to be focused on the most.

The student will need to build a strong vocabulary, which is important on the English section. It is also imperative that they review basic grammar concepts and learn how to efficiently edit their work to save time. This is important on the test as each section is timed. Students should practice writing from prompts, carefully reading directions for each section and make sure that their writing is neat. These small factors can have a big influence on their final score for that section.

When planning how to study, the student should set up a certain time each day to work. They should concentrate on weak areas in grammar and spelling, but also practice on areas they do well in. Giving enough time to both ensures that the student will be adequately prepared for challenge ahead. With careful preparation and concentrated study, these students will have the best chance for success.

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Learning to Write for College

July 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Although college is designed to help you with a whole lot of learning, there are some basic skills that you are going to want to have before you start school for the first time. One of these skills is writing, which is why there is a writing section on the SAT, and why many colleges require you to take an English placement exam prior to signing up for your classes.

Learning to Write for College

One of the best things that you can do is to learn how to write for college. When you are in college you are going to be expected to have a basic understanding of grammar and spelling, and you are going to need to know how to write a paper and how to organize your thinking through things like brainstorming and outlining. If you do not have these basic skills under your belt yet, then one of the best things that you can do is to take some online courses, which will help you develop a better understanding of English and writing.

Online courses and seminars are going to help you develop a better understanding of how writing for college works. Once you know what is expected of you as a college student, then you can develop the right education accordingly. Knowing how to write in college is going to help you be able to excel in your courses, since you will not be taught to write but instead will be expected to already be capable of writing.

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