April 10, 2023
How editing & proofreading can help university students
How editing & proofreading can help university students
Whether you’re already a university student or in the process of applying to undergraduate or graduate programs, a professional editor can help elevate your work and get you noticed for all the right reasons.
Simply put, having your essays and papers professionally edited can improve your odds of being admitted into your dream program or getting an A+ on your term paper.
A professional editor will do the following five things to help you achieve this:
- Ensure that your writing is grammatically correct and natural sounding
- Improve the consistency and flow of your writing
- Help you communicate your ideas as clearly and concisely as possible
- Provide feedback on the structure and organization of your writing
- Make sure that your essay responds directly to the essay prompt and fulfills relevant requirements
- Check that your citations and references are formatted correctly
- Make you a better writer by providing helpful comments and suggestions
Keep reading for a detailed explanation of how each of these actions can improve the quality of your writing and set you up for success.
1. Ensure that your writing is grammatically correct and natural sounding
Now, you might ask yourself, “Isn’t this what grammar checkers and other AI programs are for?”
While such software is an immensely helpful part of the writing process and a powerful tool in general, it has serious limitations.
For example, while these tools are mostly able to identify glaring typos and grammatical issues, they lack interpretative capabilities and the ability to recognize and appreciate context.
This means that such tools typically fail to identify awkward and unnatural-sounding language as problematic, and they can miss more complicated errors related to grammar, syntax, and meaning.
Along with eliminating grammatical errors, a professional editor will take into consideration the tone and structure of your writing, as well as its suitability for your target audience, when editing and proofreading your work.
A well-trained editor can also make helpful suggestions regarding word choice, thus improving the accuracy of your writing and helping you communicate your ideas as effectively as possible.
2. Improve the consistency and flow of your writing
A big part of communicating your ideas effectively is ensuring that your writing flows smoothly, enabling your reader to easily follow what you’re saying while remaining engaged. Put simply, a good flow makes the reading experience more pleasurable while also appealing to the reader’s curiosity and aesthetic senses.
A professional editor will revise your writing to ensure that it proceeds in as smooth and compelling a manner as possible.
Additionally, few things are as important to writing as consistency. Not only does consistent writing appear more professional and refined, it also makes it easier for readers to understand the information you’re communicating.
During the editing or proofreading process, your editor will check to ensure that all elements of your paper—from your citations to your headings, indentation, margins, headings, use of punctuation, abbreviations, and spelling—are consistent.
3. Help you communicate your ideas as clearly and concisely as possible
No matter how much interesting, important, and accurate information you share in your college essay or assignment, it won’t matter if the reader can’t understand what you’re saying.
Unclear ideas that are ambiguous or difficult to understand can cause confusion or make the reader think that you mean something else, potentially compromising your academic success.
Thus, to help ensure that all of your excellent and insightful ideas are comprehended and appreciated by your readers, it’s important to communicate your ideas as clearly and concisely as possible. A professional editor can help with this.
During the editing or proofreading process, your editor will check to ensure that all ideas have been communicated clearly, help restructure sentences to improve their readability, and point out ways in which you may be able to further improve the clarity of your writing.
Your editor will also help ensure that your use of language and tone is appropriate for the type of document you’re working on. This will ultimately make your writing more accessible.
Furthermore, your editor will help ensure that your ideas are communicated as concisely as possible—that is, using the fewest words possible and helping you choose the most effective words to communicate your intended meaning.
Not only is concise writing usually clearer and easier to read but it can also be more engaging and help contribute to the flow of your writing.
Additionally, concision is extra important when you are working with a strict word count, as is usually the case with admissions essays and other university assignments. Your editor will help keep your word count to a minimum, enabling you to meet program and course requirements.
Finally, as part of the process of helping you make your writing as clear and concise as possible, your editor will help you eliminate distractions and irrelevant information, enabling your reader to focus on the most important relevant information you are communicating.
4. Provide feedback on the structure, formatting, and organization of your writing
Proper formatting and organization can make or break your paper, as they are essential for communicating complicated information accurately.
When editing or proofreading your document, a professional editor will help improve the structure and organization of your writing, making minor adjustments to the arrangement of content wherever possible and providing further suggestions for how you can make your document more organized.
For example, your editor might suggest that a paragraph or sentence be relocated to another section of your essay, that you present a lengthy in-text list as a series of bullet points, or that you convert especially detailed, complex statistics into a table.
Suggestions such as these can make your writing easier to read and help you communicate complicated ideas to your readers more effectively.
Additionally, many university instructors incorporate structure and organization into their essay- and assignment-grading rubrics, making proper structure and organization especially critical in the post-secondary context.
5. Make sure that your paper responds directly to the essay prompt and fulfills relevant requirements
One of the services provided by professional editors that can’t currently be fulfilled by AI programs and other software is the provision of detailed feedback regarding the overall quality and strength of your work.
During the editing or proofreading process, your editor will check to ensure that your essay or assignment responds directly to the essay prompt or assignment instructions. They’ll also let you know if anything has been overlooked in your assignment, helping to ensure that you don’t get penalized.
Additionally, they’ll provide feedback about the strength of your evidence, arguments, and reasoning and point out ways in which you can further improve your responses, maximizing your chances of getting an exceptional grade.
While editing your essay, your editor will also consider whether your document has adhered to the specified word count, formatting instructions, and citation and reference guidelines. This feedback can also help you get into the program of your dreams and/or score a high grade on your course assignments.
6. Check that your citations and references are formatted correctly
Whether it’s APA, CMOS, AMA, or Harvard, most universities, programs, and course instructors have unique and strict guidelines regarding the formatting of citations and references, and teachers typically factor adherence to these guidelines into their grading rubrics.
In other words, failing to properly cite your sources and format them appropriately can cost you precious percentage points and lead to you getting a lower grade on your paper.
Failure to properly cite your sources can also lead to accusations of plagiarism and academic dishonesty, which can jeopardize your reputation and your university education.
During the editing and proofreading process, a professional editor will ensure that your citations and references are present and that they adhere to the guidelines you’ve been asked to follow, thus improving your chances of getting a great grade.
7. Make you a better writer by providing helpful comments and suggestions
Most editors will also provide specific feedback that is intended to help their clients become better writers.
By considering the big picture—your use of language, the structure and tone of your writing, which mistakes you made most frequently, etc.—your editor may be able to provide useful tips and tricks that can help you improve your writing independently and become more capable of getting high grades without external assistance.
This kind of feedback can both help you improve your grades in the short term and save you money in the long run, setting you up for academic success.
Summary
In conclusion, professional editing and proofreading services are important for college and university students because they can help improve your chances of getting into your desired program or scoring a good grade while also making you a better, more successful student and writer in the long run.
Additionally, because businesses have begun proactively weeding poor writers out of applicant pools during the hiring process, becoming a better writer while you’re still a student will ultimately improve your chances of landing your dream job in the future.
If you’re in need of professional editing and proofreading services, you can reach out to us here for a free, no-obligation quote.
Jess Blackwell
Jess is the founder of Lumida Ltd., a passionate environmentalist living a low-waste life, and a lifelong writer. When she isn't helping our clients make their writing shine, Jess can be found working on her writing projects, experimenting in the kitchen, or taking nature walks.
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