On
the Importance of Writing Papers
When I assign papers, I do not assign them merely as busy work or simply as something that I can have on which to base a grade. They are assigned because, done well, they will assist you in learning how to present a coherent thesis in writing, acquire basic writing skills, develop careful reasoning and learn to apply appropriate data analysis. When you postpone working on the paper or turn in a substandard piece of research, you will not only receive a poor grade, but, more importantly, you will have wasted an opportunity to acquire skills that will be essential to whatever future career plans you may have. Good writing is essential to success in the kind of careers you will likely want to pursue.
If you plan to go on to graduate school, regardless of what field you choose, you will be expected to write many papers, most of which will be 30-40 pages in length. You will be expected to write papers that are clearly written, that have a clear thesis and that demonstrate careful and considerable research. Those who have learned to write such papers as a part of their undergraduate education will be in a more competitive position to be accepted to graduate school and to perform well in graduate school once you are there. Simply having what you might think is a decent grade point average isn't enough.
Grade Inflation at American Colleges and Universities
SOURCE: Gradeinflation.com
One of the main reasons
is grade inflation. Several years ago, the average GPA of graduating seniors at Muhlenberg was 3.25 This means that any student who graduated at that time with less than a 3.25 average graduated in the bottom half of their class. Those students who graduated with a 2.5 average (which would have been the norm 30 years ago) graduated in the bottom 20% of their class. Similarly, whereas a 3.4 or 3.5 GPA might have been considered a very good average at one time, it is currently barely above the average. And the situation has gotten worse. When I arrived on campus in 1996, I discovered that only 7 of the 21 departments on campus maintained GPAs (average grade given to all students in all courses taught in a department) below 3.0. Today, only one department maintains a departmental GPA below 3.0. Moreover, some departments maintain GPAs as high as 3.7, 3.8 and 3.9.It is because of grade inflation that many companies have begun to test job applicants; they simply don't have much confidence that the GPA means anything. Ford Motor Company has even begun a mandatory writing program for certain of its employees. For the same reason, many graduate programs don't trust undergraduate GPAs either, especially the better graduate programs, unless those GPAs are very high. Practically every graduate program in anthropology that I have reviewed requires applicants for admission to have a minimum GPA of 3.5 to even be considered, and most programs only accept between 10-25% of those who apply. The Head of Penn State's Anthropology Department, where I used to teach, informed me that they are not likely to consider any applicant with less than a 3.7 GPA. They expect a high GPA, very good math and reasoning skills and the ability to write well. Penn State's Anthropology Department accepts about 8-10 of the 80-100 students that apply each year. Many graduate programs are even beginning to require that applicants submit the average GPA of their graduating class as part of their graduate school applications in order to better assess the applicant’s “real” GPA.
A former adult student of
mine interviewed several years ago for a job as a conference planner for a national
pension company. She was given an hour examination as part of her
first interview. The test covered math, English, grammar and
writing. If she had not passed the test, she would not even have
been considered for the job. Those who scored higher on
the test were more likely to get called back for a second interview.
She scored nearly 100% and, ultimately, got the job.
You can pay tens of thousands of dollars for tuition and still not
be competitive on the job market, if you have not acquired the skills
needed to out-compete students who have learned
what you have not learned.
Graduate departments
look very closely at the statements they have applicants write as part of
the admission process. Applicants are expected to discuss their reasons
for applying to the specific graduate program in those statements.
Many graduate programs also require that applicants submit a writing
sample from which faculty members in the department can determine the
quality of research the applicant is likely to perform while a graduate
student and their potential as a scholar. The faculty members who
review the applications can pretty well determine what the applicant knows
and doesn't know and how well he or she is able to do quality research
simply by reading their papers. Graduate faculty don't want to waste
their time with students who they believe will not be able do the level of
work they expect..
The need to be able to compose well-written papers and
reports extends beyond graduate school (including law school, medical
school, etc.). If you were, for example, to get a job with an
investment agency, you might be given an assignment to submit a report on
a particular company or sector of the economy that the investment firm can
use to advise its clients. If your report is not good, you are not
going to find yourself employed for very long, because businesses cannot
afford to waste their time and money on people who are not competent.
The same would be true if you were working for a law firm and were given
an assignment to research a subject that was the focus of a
lawsuit being handled by the firm. Law firms, like investment
companies (and most other businesses), cannot afford to hire or retain
people who cannot do their jobs well, and they are all prepared to fire
those who don't do well if they think they can get someone better.
They are not in the business of nurturing incompetence.
So, writing a good paper is not just an
irrelevant exercise that you need to do in order to get a passing
grade. It is an exercise through which you learn:
(1) how to research a topic, (2) how to think critically about that
topic, and (3) how to coherently express your understanding, analysis and
conclusions about the topic to someone else who may or may not be as
informed on the subject as you are. The more you write quality
essays and papers in college and the more you work to improve your research and
writing skills, the better your writing and your analytical skills will
become. However, the less you do, the less competitive you will be,
and the more likely you may look back in later years at your time at
Muhlenberg and regret the opportunity you wasted.
This is why taking advantage of the services provided by the
Campus Writing Center
is so important.
Remember, the day will come when you will have to prove your worth in the real world. The "Muhlenberg Bubble" won’t be there to protect you.
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