College Essay Proofreading Tips for Students
How to Proofread a Paper and Avoid Common Writing Mistakes
Sep 1, 2009
One of the biggest mistakes that college students make when writing an essay is this: failing to proofread. After all, it's pretty tempting for a student to relish that feeling of being all done, and then turning in a paper without taking the extra time to look it over. However, when it comes to college essay writing tips, proofreading is one of the most important steps to ensuring a good grade.
Fortunately, proofreading doesn't have to be a time consuming task if a student knows how to proofread efficiently. Here are some tips to help students proofread a college term paper.
Look for Common Writing Mistakes
All students have their own "favorite" mistakes that they tend to make when writing. When proofreading, it's helpful for writers to be aware of their own typical mistakes and keep an eye out for them.
Here are some common writing mistakes that college students (and other writers) tend to make. Be on the lookout for these when proofreading an essay:
- Confusing "it's" and "its"
- Confusing "their," "there," and "they're"
- Capitalizing nouns that are not proper nouns, and failing to capitalize proper nouns
- Run-on sentences
- Sentence fragments
- Poor use of paragraph breaks
- Poor use of commas
- Confusing commas, colons, and semi-colons
- Shifting verb tenses
When checking to see if punctuation is correct, a handy tip is to read sentences out loud. If a sentence sounds incorrect, it probably is, and the problem often has to do with commas or other punctuation.
Spell Checking Tips
Spell check is a terrific tool for proofreading, but only if it's used correctly. Spell checking should never be used instead of a thorough proofread. Instead, it should be used to catch mistakes before proofreading, and then used again to catch mistakes after proofreading. It's also important to pay attention to the changes made by spell check to make sure incorrect terms don't find their way to the paper.
Paper Proofreading and Time Management Skills
When it comes to time management skills, many students could stand to do a little better, and this is very much the case when it comes to proofreading. Many students skip proofreading because they run out of time and are grabbing pages out of the printer as they zoom out the door.
To avoid this, it's important to schedule enough time to research and write a college essay. Moreover, the chunk of time set aside to write the essay needs to include sufficient time to proofread and make proofreading corrections.
If at all possible, schedule some time for someone else to look at the paper as well, especially for major assignments. A fresh set of eyes can catch all kinds of small mistakes.
Check the Assignment Requirements
Another serious mistake students make when writing papers is failing to follow directions. When proofreading, one of the most important steps to take is to compare the paper carefully against the assignment requirements. Is anything missing? Is this specifically what was assigned?
Keep a Style Guide Handy
If an instructor requires students to write in the latest version of APA style, MLA style, or some other standard format, they will be expected to do this correctly. When writing a paper that has a style guide requirement, keep a copy of the correct style guide handy to look for mistakes.
In addition, it's useful to keep an "old school" tool around – a dictionary.
Taking the Time to Proofread Efficiently
Proofreading is a writing step that should never be skipped. By checking for common mistakes, using spell check correctly, using smart time management, checking the assignment requirements, and keeping the right style guide handy, students are much more likely to turn in papers that are of college level quality.
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