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Psychology essay writing help

Hi to whoever reads this,
I’m a 2nd year psychology student and I’m struggling to figure out what I’m missing in my essays to get a 1st. Sometimes I do great and get a 70/75 but most of the time I’m stuck around 65-68 :frown: Does anybody have any useful advice?? I have a feeling it’s because my writing is too simplistic?? Also you might think it’s bc I don’t spend enough time refining but I’ve scored higher on essays I wrote in 3-5 days then 2-3 weeks, so it’s not that. How can I develop a more academic and psychological tone in my essays?

Reply 1

Original post by tryingherbest3
Hi to whoever reads this,
I’m a 2nd year psychology student and I’m struggling to figure out what I’m missing in my essays to get a 1st. Sometimes I do great and get a 70/75 but most of the time I’m stuck around 65-68 :frown: Does anybody have any useful advice?? I have a feeling it’s because my writing is too simplistic?? Also you might think it’s bc I don’t spend enough time refining but I’ve scored higher on essays I wrote in 3-5 days then 2-3 weeks, so it’s not that. How can I develop a more academic and psychological tone in my essays?

Hi lovely to meet you so I have few tips regarding your question here they are if you want to improve your essay writing you can include precision and clarity be precise and clear in your language, avoid ambiguity and vague statements also define key terms and concepts to ensure your reader understands your arguments. Furthermore objectivity maintain an objective stance in your writing. While it's essential to express your opinions and interpretations, strive to present evidence-based arguments rather than personal beliefs. Avoiding bias be mindful of biases that may influence your writing acknowledge potential biases and strive to present a balanced view of the topic. Lastly engage with Psychological theories and concepts to demonstrate your understanding of psychological theories, concepts, and methodologies relevant to your topic. Incorporate these theories into your analysis to provide depth and insight.

Hope all these helps :smile:

Reply 2

Original post by Athinaaa
Hi lovely to meet you so I have few tips regarding your question here they are if you want to improve your essay writing you can include precision and clarity be precise and clear in your language, avoid ambiguity and vague statements also define key terms and concepts to ensure your reader understands your arguments. Furthermore objectivity maintain an objective stance in your writing. While it's essential to express your opinions and interpretations, strive to present evidence-based arguments rather than personal beliefs. Avoiding bias be mindful of biases that may influence your writing acknowledge potential biases and strive to present a balanced view of the topic. Lastly engage with Psychological theories and concepts to demonstrate your understanding of psychological theories, concepts, and methodologies relevant to your topic. Incorporate these theories into your analysis to provide depth and insight.
Hope all these helps :smile:

Thank you so much!! I definitely need to consider being more precise, less ambiguous, hadn’t crossed my mind haha. I’ll try to incorporate this in my upcoming essays (:

Reply 3

Original post by tryingherbest3
Hi to whoever reads this,
I’m a 2nd year psychology student and I’m struggling to figure out what I’m missing in my essays to get a 1st. Sometimes I do great and get a 70/75 but most of the time I’m stuck around 65-68 :frown: Does anybody have any useful advice?? I have a feeling it’s because my writing is too simplistic?? Also you might think it’s bc I don’t spend enough time refining but I’ve scored higher on essays I wrote in 3-5 days then 2-3 weeks, so it’s not that. How can I develop a more academic and psychological tone in my essays?


When I’m disappointed in a grade I email the lecturer who marked it, and very politely request a meeting with them to help me understand where I went wrong (particularly if their marking style is less clear). They don’t have to say yes to this, but the two I’ve asked said yes (I asked very politely, things like ‘i found this module particularly difficult but I’m really determined to use your feedback to improve in the future, would you be willing to meet with me when you are free so I can better understand where I can develop my writing for my next assignment/assessment’ , I found the 1 to 1s quite helpful 😊

Reply 4

Original post by Autumn223
When I’m disappointed in a grade I email the lecturer who marked it, and very politely request a meeting with them to help me understand where I went wrong (particularly if their marking style is less clear). They don’t have to say yes to this, but the two I’ve asked said yes (I asked very politely, things like ‘i found this module particularly difficult but I’m really determined to use your feedback to improve in the future, would you be willing to meet with me when you are free so I can better understand where I can develop my writing for my next assignment/assessment’ , I found the 1 to 1s quite helpful 😊

This is super helpful!! Thank you !! I’ll do this 100% for next essays to come 😉

Reply 5

Original post by tryingherbest3
Hi to whoever reads this,
I’m a 2nd year psychology student and I’m struggling to figure out what I’m missing in my essays to get a 1st. Sometimes I do great and get a 70/75 but most of the time I’m stuck around 65-68 :frown: Does anybody have any useful advice?? I have a feeling it’s because my writing is too simplistic?? Also you might think it’s bc I don’t spend enough time refining but I’ve scored higher on essays I wrote in 3-5 days then 2-3 weeks, so it’s not that. How can I develop a more academic and psychological tone in my essays?

Do you know who is marking them?

Reply 6

Original post by Athinaaa
Hi lovely to meet you so I have few tips regarding your question here they are if you want to improve your essay writing you can include precision and clarity be precise and clear in your language, avoid ambiguity and vague statements also define key terms and concepts to ensure your reader understands your arguments. Furthermore objectivity maintain an objective stance in your writing. While it's essential to express your opinions and interpretations, strive to present evidence-based arguments rather than personal beliefs. Avoiding bias be mindful of biases that may influence your writing acknowledge potential biases and strive to present a balanced view of the topic. Lastly engage with Psychological theories and concepts to demonstrate your understanding of psychological theories, concepts, and methodologies relevant to your topic. Incorporate these theories into your analysis to provide depth and insight.
Hope all these helps :smile:

I dont disagree with any of this but I'd add to apply it the other way too. It should be mostly critical reflection and evaluation in psychology but it can depend on module and who is marking. I did postgraduate split between psychology and psychiatry. Psychiatry I got 65 or maybe 2 and in psychology I got 82. The reason I add this is one didnt want ANY reflection from me at all and the other did. So as with many things in life context matters.

So when mentioning vagueness if the theory is weak or not fully formed as yet it can be really good to point this out. Unless they're psychiatrists and they want equation in number out. Of course this was my experience.
(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 7

From my experience, refining your critical analysis skills can really improve your essays. Engaging more deeply with existing research, evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of theories, and comparing contrasting perspectives can make your arguments more sophisticated. Also, check the marking criteria closely—sometimes, different markers emphasize different aspects. If possible, meet with your lecturers for clarification on what they expect. Also, reading high-scoring essays can help you see the level of depth and structure that gets the best marks. My writing is not perfect at all, too, and I spend a lot of time improving because such skills are vital in university and for the future. Sometimes, I use the help of https://essay-company.org/narrative-essay/ when I see that I'm stuck, the topic is too complicated, or when I have some other difficulties. I prefer such a thing because a missed deadline or low grade can affect a lot.
(edited 2 months ago)

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