HOW I RANKED 1ST AT CAMBRIDGE | MY ESSAY WRITING PROCESS & ADVICE

how i write my essays? ✍🏻

throughout my undergraduate degree at cambridge and now as a master’s student, the majority of my assessments involve writing essays. i have previously talked about my full revision pipeline, but here i am going to specifically share my essay writing process, which can be applied in three main contexts: big assignment projects, practice essays and in exams. i hope this is useful 📝

FOLLOW ME

Depop | @hgabrielle

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 | Overview
1:44 | Big Assignments & My Overall Process
— 1:58 | Research & Making Notes
— 3:28 | The Importance of Reviewing Notes
— 4:20 | How to Make a Plan
— 5:30 | Colour Coding
— 6:11 | Writing & My 5 Tips
— 10:05 | Re-drafting
— 11:38 | Using Feedback
12:00 | Shorter Practice Essays
13:46 | Exam Essays
17:25 | Outro

OTHER USEFUL VIDEOS

PRODUCT LINKS

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FAQ ✌🏻

How old are you? | 23 apparently
Where are you from? | South of the UK
Current life situation? | I am currently studying as a master’s student at UCL
What is your course? | Cancer MSc
What did you study before this? | Biological Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge (2016-2019)
What camera(s) do you use? | Canon G7X Mark ii (with a Manfrotto Tripod linked above) and GoPro Hero 7
How do you edit your videos? | Final Cut Pro

[BandBudgets]

I am going to watch this weekly for the next 5yrs of my life!!

[PianoLibra]

I am a grown-ass academic neurologist and I still find this video (and your channel in general) very motivating and helpful while writing my latest review article, so thank you very much Holly!

[tokakhashaba-ggpp]

i'm literally writing a biology essay right now and was starting to procrastinate, ammm i feel like she is watching over me

[sarahs]

I have a research paper due tomorrow night. Yesterday, I hadn't started it and honestly I expected I would be writing up until midnight tomorrow. I checked your channel to see if you had any essay writing tips, and this video seriously changed my writing process. I usually spend quite a bit of time on research, but I tend to have a hard time trying to incorporate it all. I was able to spend the whole day yesterday completing my research and just from incorporating all your techniques, when I sat down this morning the essay just wrote itself. Now I have the whole day tomorrow to edit and tweak it before submitting. This was seriously the least stressful essay writing experience I've ever had. Thank you Holly!

[LucyWangYuxin]

Hi Holly! I've wanted to say this for ages but WELL DONE for getting first in the year at Cambridge!! That's genuinely so impressive. I'm going to Oxford in September, but I'll be lucky to get a 2:1! xx

[aidenl]

I’d love to see how you do your research, how can you tell if an article is good quality. How do you know if referencing that article will help or hinder you. When you’re looking at the article what do your notes look like ect

[greata]

Needed this! Essay writing can be difficult and it's cool to learn more about how to make effective ones. ♥📚📝

[itsi]

No wonder that you are so good at essay writing. I'm sure the effort you put into those really does the difference. This was so helpful Holly! Love the video 😍

[libbydaniells]

Hey Holly! Thanks for the advice, I’m studying a phd in Statistics at Lancaster university

[lolo]

Such good advice !! Wondering if you're planning on doing another study with me" ? I don't mean the live Wednesday one, just one that you later upload :) I love studying with them in the background, such a good motivation to prepare for my national exam. !! xx

[rebekaholivia]

I can't believe such a detailed video has so little views. Thank you so much for sharing your process!

[NehaSharms]

Yessss! Thank you Holly! Needed this so much! Uni has chucked us essays and essay exam questions in final year after saying on the first day of first year that they’ve scrapped essays. So now I’m in final year and they’ve given us no help or support with essay writing! Thank you for being more supportive than my uni 😂❤️

[poorvatamhane]

I have been procrastinating writing a Reseach Paper and a Lit. Review from last semester and this video really helped me get back on track. Now I just hope the faculty accepts it!! Fingers Crossed! Thank you Holly!

[silvialogan]

Holly, I struggled with essay writing through high school and university. That is where I suffered in academics. Whenever I wrote either essays, business letter, memos, and reports, many people said that my paragraphs were disjointed and the sentences did not make sense content wise because I had the tendency of writing too quickly. I always took notes and used many sources not too much the Required Readings which my tutors recommended. In essay writing, I had the tendency of describing and narrating instead of arguing. Essay writing and I did not get along very well.

[sdiv_]

I really needed this! It's finals season and all my subjects are essay based. Thank you so much Holly!!!💜💜💜

[lo]

Thank you! I've just started on my first ever essay, and it's exciting but daunting! This video really helps.

[upasanadey]

The best person to take Essay tips from👏

[PhoebeJones]

Holly I love how you put up so many uploads! But they are all so informative!!

[thedeidremovies]

The subheading advice is going to be so helpful for my dissertation this semester! Thank you, Holly!!

[annahall]

Super helpful, thanks Holly. I also really recommend Essential Study Skills ed. 4 by Burns and Sinfield. It's so helpful for making you more creative and think about all the ideas (e.g. many science students miss out the questions 'who?', 'how?' and 'when?', focusing rather on 'what?' and 'why?' - i.e. experimental evidence - which makes your essay better and it makes you a better scientist too). One tactic they taught me is to write those questions down in a mind map before I start reading! They have a lot of other useful stuff in the book too, and it's specific for people starting University.