To think I can write a 2000 word assignment before Monday?

[Littlefluffyclouds81]

Me and the dc have been plagued with illness, and now I have 4 days to get this done.

Don't know much about the subject area so will involve a fair bit of reading.

Please tell me your stories of how you started an 8000 word assignment the night before and got a first, or suchlike.

Although, to be fair, a 40% pass would be fine. First year of my degree so it's not the end of the world.

I may be procrastinating by writing this thread.

Totally. I wrote almost all of a 15,000 word thesis in 3 coffee fuelled nights.
Getting started is the hardest bit. Then the only trick is to not stop!

Oh, I really like that as a question.

Have you picked your approach, then? You need to get down to it if not, so you can turn it over in your mind overnight.

And to answer some of your questions, I have 9-6 with no dc tomorrow, 9-3 on Friday then I have them all weekend but have the evenings and some time during the day when they are not hassling me I expect.

I've already got extensions! Had a right old nightmare this last semester and missed loads of uni, but my director of studies said I will be able to get mitigating circumstances because of all the stuff I've had going on.

One particularly memorable day I had a 3000 word essay and five minute video due by 5pm. At 10am the computer died. I grabbed an old laptop and got it done and ended up with 42/50, so yes it can be done. I don't recommend cutting it that close though, it was not a good day.

It is four single-spaced pages in 12pt Times New Roman.

It's not the same really but I'm a writer and my daily word count is 1000. I know "making stuff up" is not the same as a referenced essay, but when I was on a deadline right before Christmas I wrote 6000 in one day, so you can do it!

Yes do it. You'll be able to do it, you just need to focus.

Do you know about Google Scholar, BTW? That was absolutely invaluable to me for essay writing to a short deadline.

I did sociology too :)

Nice to know I'm not the only one who uses the 'flying by the seat of her pants' approach.

Some very helpful tips so far, thank you.

Christ I hope my lecturer isn't a mumsnetter.

Easy peasy! :)

I'm currently doing an MBA. I rarely start mine more than a couple of days before the deadline, as I'm such a last minute mess, but I still manage to get distinctions nearly every time. Monday is ages away. :)

Sure you can, I finished my degree three weeks ago in the last week I wrote 16000 words in four days, I didn't sleep much mind

So NOW write your headings (these are not on the tablets of the ten commandments, you can change them later).

Introduction.
There are theories and metaphors, list, then say which ones you are going to focus on.

Describe theory, describe metaphor

Compare and contrast - conclusion.

Part two - apply part 1 to your choice of topics.

Thats very vague as i know nothing about sociology but thats what my very loose "headings" or sections would be - i like the posters idea to write a sentence on each one as an opener.

Good luck x

I disagree with PP who said read for 2-3 days. Spend no more than 2 days max reading. That's the big time waster, I used to read loads and not use any of it in my essay! You need time to think about and write a really good plan. That's the key bit. Then bash it out. But also allow time for proofreading at the end. Don't leave it too late or panic will set in and you'll make sloppy mistakes.
It is possible to get a brilliant mark under huge time pressure but it's certainly not the optimum way of doing things. I recently f*ed up a job application by not giving myself enough time (although I know essays are different! I would have preferred to write an essay I think!)

Christ I hope my lecturer isn't a mumsnetter.

Shall I link this to the academics' chat thread?

I did know about Google scholar but never used it! Is it a resource to get journals?

(And, btw, LEM's advice is spot on.)

I always managed to do my assignments in a weekend. I could never understand why some people took weeks to write the same as me. I always got good marks too.

I did this last year project a 10000 word write up of a years internship, I had done work before and got told it's fine just had to put it all together so night before I go to do it but out of interest re read the brief and realise nope I've got most of it to still do. I started at around 7pm and it had to be in for 9am and I got it in with 2 minutes left..

Noooooo please don't Jeanne! I think she's on annual leave this week anyway so hopefully she's off somewhere nice abroad. Somewhere nice and remote, with no internet.

Actually, she had dc. She's probably mooching about at home with loads of time for mn.

There are quite a few not-so-humble brags on this thread! I won't name the culprits as it should be obvious!

I was joking, little, sorry. I've had too many of those 'argh, bet she's on MN' moments with mine.

She's marking essays at the moment, bet you.

Now: go get on with it!

Go for it. I wrote almost 600 words in French in a 3 hour exam yesterday so 2000 in 4 days is no problem. Bonne chance!

Yes. 2500 words takes 3 days from scratch so you'll be fine with 2000 by Monday.

another - she asked people for bragging. Don't think anyone has bothered to be humble.

Pulling essays together at the last minute is a time honoured tradition.

Make sure you choose a topic you are the most well read on in the first place.

I once did two essays drafted in one night. One was 3000 words and one was 5000. It was only last year and i had to get both done and dusted in one weekend due to going away the week after. Both written on a friday evening, proof read on saturday and sent off by the sunday night.

Absolutely, brag away. No stealth needed, on this thread.