How to get the most out of a Writing Center appointment

Your friendly neighborhood writing center here!

We want you to get the most out of your appointment with us. Here are a few tips to help you out:

• Give us a clue. State what you want to work on when making your appointment online. This will help your consultant get a feel for how to help. Be as specific as possible.
• Come prepared. Bring a printed copy of your work if at all possible. It's easiest to help you when the document is right in front of us.
• Have a "target" for your consultant. If you bring in a long piece of work, we'll only be able to help you with a portion of it, so figure out where you need the most help and let us know.
• Remember what we do (and don't) help with! We can't proofread your document or "fix" your grammar, but we can help you identify error patterns in your writing and give you ways to work on them.
• Be on time. Undergraduate students get a half-hour appointment weekly, while graduate students get a full hour. If you're late, you'll miss out on valuable time.
• Book early. Once the semester gets underway, appointments fill up very quickly! The best idea is to go over your syllabus and determine when you'll need to have assignments turned in. Then, make appointments several days ahead of time. Showing up at the last minute makes us less likely to have time to help you, and that makes us sad.

If you follow these handy hints, you should be able to get exactly what you need from your appointment with us. We hope to see you soon!