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Title

First Name Last Name

Course Title

Instructor’s Name

Date

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Abstract

Normally, you would first write your paper and your abstract would be the last part of the essay

you write. However, I am asking you to write it now so that I can see how you are

conceptualizing this rather short paper. The abstract is essentially a concise summary of the

essay. Keep it short. According to the APA style manual, an abstract should be between 150 to

250 words. Exact word counts can vary from journal to journal. If you are writing your paper for

a psychology or an economics course, your professor may have specific word requirements so be

sure to ask. The abstract should also be written as only one paragraph with no indentation. In

order to succinctly describe your entire paper, you will need to determine which elements are the

most important.

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The College Application Process (Outline in Basic APA format)

I. Choose Desired Colleges

A. Visit and evaluate college campuses

B. Visit and evaluate college websites

1. look for interesting classes

2. note important statistics

a. student/faculty ratio

b. retention rate

II. Prepare Application

A. Write Personal Statement

1. Choose interesting topic

a. describe an influential person in your life

(1) favorite high school teacher

(2) grandparent

2. Include important personal details

a. volunteer work

b. participation in varsity sports

B. Revise personal statement

III. Compile resume

A. List relevant coursework

B. List work experience

C. List volunteer experience

1. tutor at foreign language summer camp

2. counselor for suicide prevention hotline

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Title

The Introduction contains the thesis statement telling the reader what the research

problem is and a description of why the problem is important, and a review of the relevant

literature. In this case, because you have not conducted experiments and are not applying a

particular methodology, you are not going to conduct a formal literature review. However, in

your first paragraph, I would like to see you introduce your topic and state your claim in the

last sentence of your introduction.

In the next two to three paragraphs, provide some background information about the

problem that you studied. You must use information from your outside sources in this section.

You must also include parenthetical citations.

Total word count for this section: [400 words; approximately]