Is Essay Writing in College Important?

For far too long now, essay writing has been the default method by which professors have judged the degree of learning and understanding that the students have of the lessons being taught in class. The belief is that by having a student write about some specific topic in an essay, he will be given the opportunity to learn more about a given topic. That is why essay writing is viewed by educators as an extension of the classroom lecture.

Alex Gonzalo from Marymount College finds that essay writing in college is more helpful as a learning tool because; “Essays allow me to study additional material that gives me a more in-depth point of view with regards to the reading material and class discussion. I am not sure about professors being lazy about doing lectures because of the possibility to assign essay writing tasks. My professors have always been active in lectures and discussions, often extending the discussion to include the essay prompt for a more active class discussion. If pressed for time though, I would not rule out the possibility of also hiring an essay writing service online because my classes do tend to get paper writing intensive.”

It is because of this lack of interest in essay writing, or the difficulty of having to develop several essays all at once that students often consider hiring an essay writing service online to help with the essay work. By hiring a writing service, the students have the chance to complete their course requirement, with the help of a highly educated, professional writer while still pursuing their actual academic learning interests.

Based on the two existing points of view regarding essay writing in college, it is important that a full consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of essay writing in the essay are and how it relates to students coping with the academic demands of a college life.

The Advantages

As a Learning Tool

Every class that a college student takes is time limited. While the classrooms may look flashy and the gadgets abound in class to help in note taking, not enough time is allowed for a thorough class discussion. Since not all students easily pick up on information in the class discussion, having a student write an essay becomes beneficial learning too. A professor who assigns additional reading material and then requests that students write an essay about the class topic allows the slow learners in class to catch up. The stress of having to keep up with the rest of the class is lessened. Some people learn the lessons better when they must write about it. A better understanding occurs when the student has the time to really stop to read, analyze, and understand the lesson, then write about it. As a class lecture extension, essay writing does have its benefits.

Opinion Maker

When a student is asked to write an essay, the student is forced to use analytical thinking in the writing process. The purpose of the exercise is to encourage the student to develop a point of view regarding a given topic. A student normally just commits what he reads to memory, regardless of what the information entails. Others, just do a passing read and forget the information instantaneously.  However, when forced to write an essay, the student is forced to remember what he/she learned, and create an opinion. Essay writing makes the student care about his lesson and proving that he has a point and supporting evidence for his opinion. When an essay is omitted from the learning process, the student is not required to go beyond the rudimentary learning methods.

While professors and teachers see benefits to be gained from essay writing, and the exercise should be simple enough, not all students appreciate having to develop a solid essay presentation for each class that is being taken during the semester. For students who do not enjoy having to type up several essays per day or a dozen essays a week, this exercise in learning tries their patience and doesn’t, in their opinion help to advance their education.

When pressed for an opinion, Kara of Mount Holyoke College indicated a strong dislike for writing essays. Her point of view is that “Essay writing doesn’t really help the student because we spend more time reading up on our lessons, which makes, based on my experience, some of my professors lazy to teach in class. They just come in, assign chapter readings, then dismiss the class. We come in at the end of the week, turn in our papers, then get a grade next week. My parents and I are paying for a complete college education. That means the professor should teach the class. That doesn’t happen when the professor relies on previously assigned reading and essay writing for recitation. That’s why I prefer to hire an essay writing service online for the essay writing instead.”

The Disadvantages

Takes Time to Complete

The day of an average college student is spent attending classes. After that, it’s homework time. There are chapters of books to read, documentary videos to watch, and extracurricular activities to eventually attend to. When a student still must write a time-consuming essay, there just isn’t any time left for the student to relax anymore. An essay requires additional reading material and research development. While these are part and parcel of being a student, it should not take several hours to complete an essay, which is normally the case these days.

Incorrect Information Might be Presented

Since an essay is normally based on additional reading material or purely based on newly researched information on the part of the student, there is a tendency for the student to present incorrect or unverified information in the essay. While teachers often try to explain the difference between a reliable and unreliable source, a student pressed for time will not have the opportunity to compare facts before using it in the essay. When the essay information is misrepresented or incorrect, the grade of the student will suffer. Hence, the belief that actual class discussions should take the place of essay writing instead.

While the debate regarding essay writing in college will rage on, for now, students will have to get used to the idea that essay writing is a normal part of the college experience. They can either find ways to cope with the essay writing assignments such as hiring an essay writing service online for the faster and more reliable development of their class essays or doing the work themselves.