Learning to write a strong essay is challenging. It can take a person years to master proper formatting, structure and grammar.
This is especially true for college freshmen.
Fresh out of high school, where they have been indoctrinated with the formulaic five-paragraph essay, new college students often struggle with the new, stricter standards of college professors, who expect all their students to quickly adapt to a more demanding academic environment.
But if a freshman can follow these three tips, they’re sure to receive a solid grade—as long as they put in the time.  
1. Don’t try to do too much.
Like an exam, an essay is a way to test your knowledge of a course’s material. The only difference is that, with an essay, the professor wants to know how you interpret that material.
As a result, they will often assign prompts with no right or wrong answer. They want their students to show how well they can think critically about the subject at hand.
This leaves a lot of room for error. Many times, because of the broadness of the assigned prompt, students think it necessary to make profound comments about the philosophical nature or historical foundations of the given topic.
A good example of this would be the following opening sentence of an essay on the founding of the United States: “Since the beginning of time, people have dreamt of freedom and hated tyranny.”
Such a statement may very well be true, but it’s simply not relevant to your interpretation of the American Revolution. It’s best to be straight forward and get to the point. Whoever’s grading your essay, whether a professor, instructor or teaching assistant, knows enough to immediately see through such abstract statements.
2. Have a clear/introductory paragraph.
Theoretically, most middle and high school students will have learned how to write a strong introduction to an essay. Yet, students often forget what a strong opening paragraph should include: an attention-grabbing opening sentence, a clear thesis statement and a punchy summary of the essay’s points of argumentation.
While the opening sentence of an essay shouldn’t be melodramatic, it should grab the reader’s attention and immediately throw them into the action and subject of a paper.
This is true of any genre of writing. Think, for instance, of Charles Dickens’ famous opening sentence to “A Tale of Two Cities”: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Such a sentence is enticing yet makes no claims of universal truth. It does just enough to draw in the reader.
After a few sentences introducing the subject of an essay, state your argument clearly and succinctly; tell readers how you will be interpreting the essay question.
This is called a thesis statement, and it’s one of the things young college students often forget to include.
It’s easy to incessantly write and write about something. It’s much more difficult to come down on a side of a question, especially when it’s an open-ended prompt being graded by an expert teacher. 
Make the thesis statement punchy and clear. Don’t mince words. There are few things that annoy a teacher more than a paper that won’t get to the point.
Instead of saying in a thesis statement that, for example, “The American Revolution was both justified and unjustified,” say something like, “While there are reasons to think that the 13 colonies should have stayed under English control, ultimately the American founders were right to break away from the British Empire.”
Immediately follow your thesis statement with a quick summary of the points of your paper. They can be as short and simple as: “The American Revolution was ultimately justified because King George III was a tyrant; the colonists did not have representation in parliament; and the British Empire was a cruel entity.”
3. Be concise.
Maybe the essay you’re writing has a minimum of 500 words. Maybe you’re at 434 words and completely out of things to say, so you start adding adjectives and qualifiers just to fill space.
Avoid this temptation at all costs. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that your teacher won’t notice a few extra words. For clarity’s sake and for the sake of your professor’s or teaching assistant’s sanity, know that it’s always better to be concise than wordy. Less is more.
If you’re a freshman, don’t fall prey to the five-paragraph essay formula. It may have worked in high school, but it won’t help you flourish in college. Take your time, study, research, outline and think critically about your next paper. If you do, you’re guaranteed to succeed. 
There may be short cuts to writing, but there are no short cuts to writing well.
Benjamin Haines is a 24-year-old history graduate student from Shreveport.