Resources for Students

Now on the Web! You can download the booklet developed for high school students by Texas college and university writing instructors and high school English teachers. It’s not a textbook. It’s not a rulebook. It’s The Next Level—What Colleges Expect from Your Writing.

The first pages briefly review the principles of good writing that you have been practicing in your English classes. These skills will be the foundation for the increasingly complex writing tasks you’ll find in college classes and in the workplace.

The heart of The Next Level is a collection of essays written by first-year college students, complete with their instructors’ comments in the margins. You also will find professors’ supporting handouts, such as writing prompts and grading standards.

What you see in this booklet may not reflect your high school classroom experience, or even the environment you encounter at the particular college you may attend. Keep in mind that these sample papers come from a wide variety of Texas higher education campuses—community colleges, public universities, and private institutions. The Next Level represents schools in different regions of the state, with different types of students, different missions, and different methods. All of them want students to learn to use writing as a tool for acquiring and communicating knowledge, ideas and opinions.

We hope you find in The Next Level encouragement and motivation to learn new skills and write well. Not just in school, but everywhere life takes you!

• The Next Level - What Colleges Expect from Your Writing, 2nd ed. (PDF)