Tips For The Last-Minute Academic!

1, 2, 3, 4

As a self-confessed eternal student and learning addict, essay deadlines have been a major part of my existence (and in many instances, bane of my life) for many years.  Taking a course split between two departments also meant that there were many instances of deadline clashes, and many of us ended up with three or four essays to give in on the same day, which of course inevitably led to one of them being completely neglected until the very last minute.

Sitting up until 4AM, typing away at an essay then staying awake so I could hand it in as early as possible then sleep is one of my most enduring memories of full-time study. (If it’s correct to say things like that, having only been out of full-time study for a year). During my years at university, I picked up many tips and ideas that made this process a whole lot easier. The Sparkle Guide to Pulling an All-Nighter dealt with the practical side of staying up late working, however I also learned and came up with several tricks to deal with the actual work side of things too. Having shared some of these with friends who are still affected by this peril of university life, I thought I would share them here too, as I have been told that one of them in particular is a “grade-saver”.

* The first thing you must learn is that Wikipedia is not as evil as all the lecturers tell you it is! When used in the right way it can provide an excellent and easy-to-understand overview of a subject if you missed the lectures, and the links cited as sources for Wikipedia articles are often credible sources you can cite in your bibliography. Obviously you need to be careful when doing this, but by googling the  name of an author of a paper cited, it’s usually pretty easy to judge whether or not they are a credible authority in their field.

* The same applies to blogs, don’t disregard a search result because it’s a blog post and you won’t be able to cite it, if a blogger’s worth their salt when writing about an academic subject they’ll have linked to some credible sources and again, reading others’ articles even if you can’t directly use them can only enhance your understanding of the subject.

* Google Books is amazingly useful! (This one was the grade-saver for an English paper). By searching for a few keywords including the subject area or title of the book you’re writing about, you can find quotations on all manner of subjects that can be used in essays. Look for the books that say “Limited Preview”, those are the ones where you can read the pages your search brought up, and copy down quotations and citation information.

* Wikipedia can also be used to great effect when revising for exams, as long as you don’t take everything you read on there as definitely correct. I use it as a jumping-off point to pinpoint areas I’m least confident on. A typical Wikipedia entry will comprise of the brief framework of a subject area, which is all the casual learner needs to know. I use this to test myself, if I can’t expand thoroughly on what the Wiki entry says, I have identified an area I need to particularly focus on.

* Pool your resources! If you have a flatmate or friend who’s doing the same or similar essay to you, agree to swap useful sources as and when you find them. As long as you’re not handing each other particular useful quotations you’ve found, or reading portions of each-others’ essays then you’re not going to end up with identical pieces of work. Although there’s a definite advantage to keeping your sources to yourself if you’re well-prepared and prepare your work with loads of time to spare, when you’re working at the very last minute it really does save time and boost your bibliography to collaborate with someone on the research!

As a quick disclaimer, I feel the need to add (even though I’m sure you’re already aware of this) that Wikipedia does not know all, it’s accuracy cannot be guaranteed from one day to the next and most of the tips here rely on your own ability to identify which information sources are reliable and which aren’t. Having said that, they’ve pulled me through at the last minute on numerous occasions and I hope they can be of help to other procrastinating and / or overworked students out there!

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has last minute essay and revision survival tips to share however! I’d love to hear yours!