The Writing Center: Usage Data for Winter 2011

Carleton students make frequent use of the Writing Center

-       The Writing Center staff conducted over 349 sessions this Winter

-       80% of visits were return visits

-       41% of students using the writing center were sophomores, 32% were freshmen, 17% were seniors and 10% were juniors

Students bring a variety of projects to the Writing Center

-       Students came with projects from all departments, even foreign languages and sciences

-       Students from over 21 different majors used the Writing Center

-       72% of projects were essays

-       44% of projects were 3-5 pages, 26% were 6-10 pages, 21% were 1-2 pages and 10% were over 20 pages

-       10% of visits were to work on applications while another 10% of visits were to work on Comps

-       7% of students focused on other projects such as the writing portfolio

Students visit the Writing Center to make substantive improvements to their work

-       Students mostly focused on issues of clarity (66%), organization (63%), and thesis (53%)

-       30% of students made an appointment with the goal of integrating evidence/support in their papers

-       23% visited for proofreading, 18% visited for help with citations and 8% visited with a focus on brainstorming

Students visited the Writing Center throughout the writing process

-       48% of students had completed a first draft, 28% of students had written a second draft, 15% had written a partial draft and 8% came to start brainstorming

-      25% of students visited the day before their project was due, 18% visited two days before their project was due and 17% of students visited the day their project was due

-       Other students planned in advance: 23% of students visited 3-5 days in advance while 16% of students visited at least a week before their project was due