Writing Center
No matter what stage of the writing process you’re on — from the initial brainstorming to final editing — our diverse team of peer writing consultants can help.
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Who uses the Writing Center?
Regardless of what your college major is, be it something as writing-intensive as English or something else all together, we all need to know how to write — and we could all use a little help with our writing! That's where our team of peer writing consultants, who come from a wide variety of majors at Alma College, come in. We help all students at Alma College, from first-year students to seniors, with everything from organizing ideas to creating drafts. We value the diversity of languages and experiences and believe there are many ways to write well.
What happens at the Writing Center?
The Writing Center exists to learn and teach, helping you build confidence in your own writing abilities to help you long after you leave Alma College. We'll ask you what you need help with on that day and work with you from the top down ("What's your thesis statement?" or "How can we strengthen this argument?") to get the answers you're looking for. Not only can we help with essays and term papers, we can assist with any type of writing you might do in college: be it cover letters for internships, resumes for job applications, personal statements for scholarships or graduate school, and other types of writing.
Resources for students
Cover letters and resumes
- For advice on writing resumes and various sample resumes, consider this guide from the Career and Personal Development office.
- For a handout on personal statements, please see this guide recommended by one of our peer writing consultants.
- Career Services has prepared a great handout on personal statements.
- See too this useful handout on creating effective cover letters.
Academic essays
- This handout can answer questions about finding a topic.
- This handout can answer questions about structuring an essay.
Citing sources
- See this sample paper from the MLA for MLA Style.
- See this sample paper from concordia.edu for Chicago style.
- See these sample materials on APA style.
Writing lab reports
- University of Monash: “Writing a Lab Report”
- Portland State University: “Sample Lab Report”
Academic integrity
- This handout defines plagiarism at Alma College.