Underground Homework Network

studyblrs that study without knowing what they want to be when they grow up

studyblrs that study with depression and/or anxiety

studyblrs that study in a house with domestic violence

studyblrs that can’t afford to buy expensive notebooks and barely scrape by with loans 

studyblrs that find it hard to study everyday, but study on anyway.

General Format:

8.5 x 11 inch paper

Double spaced

Times New Roman font

12 pt font

Only one space after each period

1 inch margins on all sides

Indent the first line of each paragraph by half an inch

Use a header that includes your last name and page number in the top right hand corner

The First Page:

In the upper left hand corner:

Your Name

Your Instructor’s Name

The Class Title

The Date (Day Month Year)

The title of your paper should be one double-space down and should not be bolded, italicized, or underlined

The beginning of your paper should start one double-space down from the title with the first line indented by half an inch

What to Italicize and Quote:

Book titles are italicized

Play titles are italicized

Poem titles have quotation marks

Article titles have quotation marks

Chapter titles have quotation marks

In-Text Citations:

When you know the author’s last name

(Last Name Page Number) or

(Last Name Paragraph or Line Number)

When you don’t know the author’s last name

(Book Title Page Number)

(Article Title Page Number)

Remember to italicize the book titles and put the article titles in quotation marks

Works Cited Page:

Begin your Works Cited page on a separate page at the end of your research paper. It should have the same one inch margins and header as the rest of your paper

Label the page “Works Cited” (do not italicize or put in quotations) on the top of the page and center it

Double space all citations but do not skip spaces between entries

Indent the second line of a citation by half an inch

List sources in alphabetical order

If the source has more than one author, the first given name appears in last name, first name format and the following authors appear in last name, first name format separated by commas. The last author’s name should be preceded by an “and”

Citing Print Sources:

Book or Poem:

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book or Poem. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Print.

Magazine or Newspaper Article:

Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Print.

Journal Article:

Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages. Print.

Citing Web Sources:

Whole Website:

Name of Site. Sponsor or Publisher, date of resource creation. Web. Date of access. 

Web Page or Web Article:

Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Name of Site. Sponsor of Publisher, date of resource creation. Web. Date of access.

Online Journal Article:

Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages. Web. Date of access. 

Note: Don’t forget to indent the second line in the citation. I did not indent the examples because the indents on tumblr mobile and tumblr desktop differ starkly and I figured this was probably the less confusing way to write the information needed for a citation (trust me)

Unknown Information in Citations:

If the author is unknown, begin citation with the title

If the publisher is unknown, write “n.p.” in its place (no quotation marks)

If the publishing date is unknown, write “n.d.” in its place (no quotation marks)

The first photos I’ve uploaded that are not on a white table, haha! :)

On Tuesday night I attended a program called “Exploring College Options” in Portland. It was a seminar put on by admissions counselors from Georgetown, Duke, Stanford, Penn, and Harvard. Whether you are shooting for schools at this level or not, I thought I’d share what I learned. 

Applications

Letters of Rec: Find a teacher(s) who knows you well enough to actually give the college a sense of who you are as a student. One way to do this is to ask your teacher what would be missing from their class if you were not present. What do you bring to the table that no one else does? By portraying this they can capture exactly who you are as a person and student. 

Extra-Curriculars: There is no right or wrong EC. However, colleges would rather see you committing and succeeding in one specific area rather than dabbling in several. The Harvard officer explained it as “diving into the deep end” How deep can you go (to what extent) and how big of a splash do you make (your impact)? Finally, do something because you are passionate about it, not because you think it will get you into college.

Essays: It does not matter what you write but rather how you write it. The admissions team wants to get to know you. Get feedback on your essays, but not so much that it no longer sounds like you. The essays give a window into what you will bring to their campus. 

Testing: Testing is a standardized yard stick and is not always fair. Admission people realize that. Do the best you can. Take it once junior year, study over the summer, and again senior year. Don’t make standardized testing an extra curricular activity. In addition, know what tests or subject tests your schools require well before you have to start applying. Rushed testing is bad testing. 

Please do not discount safety schools.

I understand that this idea of safety schools is still somewhat frowned upon in the appblr community, but let me tell you something. Safety schools are so, so important. In a time where the price of attending an institution of higher education is at an all time high, safety schools are absolutely 100% invaluable. I applied to a wide range of schools, and got into quite a few top schools, but they gave me absolutely nothing in terms of scholarships; However, every single one of my safety schools gave me a scholarship. This makes a HUGE difference. It is so amazing to get into the top schools and you should be so proud of yourself if you do, and if that is the school that you absolutely want to attend, please, do so! But just keep in mind that at many of those schools, there is little to no possibility of getting a significant scholarship.

I am someone who has chosen to attend one of my more safe schools. At the end of the day, I was choosing between two similar schools, but a big part of what made the difference was the fact that at one school I had a very significant scholarship, and at the other, I had nothing. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the school I have chosen to attend. It truly feels like a home to me and I am so excited to be a part of an amazing family, but the fact that I wont be a quarter of a million dollars in debt by the time I graduate is also a huge factor.

Please don’t take this as me saying that there’s anything wrong with attending a school where you don’t have any scholarship. That is your decisions and that is contingent on a lot of different things; However, I do want to make sure that you’re all making smart decisions and applying to schools where you might have some cushion if things do not go as planned. I say this because I truly care for each and every one of you and I want to make you as successful as possible in your college search and selections!! I truly wish you all the best of luck, and please let me know if you ever need anything!

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