FAQs

Bring in a printed copy of what you have written so far, if anything, along with the assignment or prompt, if there is one. If you don’t have a paper yet, that’s fine; we love working with students during the brainstorming process as well as the revision process.

If you bring in a draft, the tutor will spend the first 15 or 20 minutes of the tutorial reading your draft carefully, and then you will have a chance to discuss the paper with the tutor for the remaining time.

In our tutorials, we start with the larger issues first, like argumentation and evidence, organization and development. We help students clarify and strengthen their ideas through the process of revision. We talk about style and some sentence-level issues like word choice and clarity, but we do not proofread. Instead, we will identify patterns of error and help you learn to strengthen the mechanics of your own writing.

Our goal is not only to help you write better papers but to help you become a better writer.

We will work with you on any writing project, including coursework essays, theses and dissertations, application materials, article manuscripts and more. We can even help with take-home exams. Unlike any other writing project, however, we require instructor permission to work with such exams. Please ask your instructor to email us at writing@wustl.edu in advance of your appointment.

Please note we’re only able to work with you on your own work. We can’t review something you are bringing in on behalf of someone else. The only exception is a group project, in which case you should make an appointment and contact us at writing@wustl.edu so we can make arrangements for other group members to access the online session.

To schedule an appointment with a tutor, you’ll first need to make a profile with us here. Once you have a profile, you can log into our schedule here. Be sure to select a schedule before you click “Log In” –unless you are a Brown School student, you should select the “all schools” schedule. This will give you access to our schedule. If you then click on a white/open square on the calendar, you can schedule a tutoring session for yourself.

For graduate students, our scheduling system will only allow you to sign up with one of our senior or graduate tutors (these are indicated on the schedule).

PLEASE NOTE:  All times on our scheduling system are in CENTRAL TIME (St. Louis time).

We will work with walk-ins if we have tutors available, but since we tend to get quite busy, we recommend that all students make an appointment.

Each semester starting after Fall Break or Spring Break, The Writing Center offers Undergraduate Walk-in Hours every Tuesday and Wednesday from 2:00pm to 5:00pm. 

We are located in Mallinckrodt 130 on the lower level.

Yes we do! When you click on an open spot on the calendar, a pop-up window will appear that asks you more about the appointment. There, you have the option to select an in-person appointment or an online appointment. If you have a draft, you can also upload the document. 

Online appointments take place using the built-in interface in our scheduling system. To access your online appointment, log into our schedule, click on your appointment, and click on “Start or Join Online Conversation” in your appointment screen. This will start a new tab where you’ll see a shared white board and a video interface. Click on the small camera icon near the top right and allow access to your camera and microphone.  Your tutor will be online at the top of the hour to start your session.

For weekday appointments during the fall and spring semesters, you may choose your modality. All evening and weekend appointments will take place online. During the summer, all appointments are online as well.

If you’re working on a take-home exam, you may make your appointment as normal, but we will need written permission from your instructor if it’s not explicitly stated on the course syllabus or the exam prompt. Instructors should email writing@wustl.edu before the time of your appointment.

You can have up to two writing appointments per week if the schedule allows. For undergraduates, you can also come to walk-in hours if you need more time with a tutor.

All appointments begin at the top of the hour and last a maximum of 50 minutes.  Students who fail to show up at The Writing Center or join their online appointment by 10 minutes past the hour will be considered no-shows. If you are running late but still want to keep your appointment, please call us at 314-935-4981.

We work with students on longer papers and projects, but we usually can’t cover more than 10-12 pages during one tutorial. Students working on theses and dissertations often work with the same tutor over a period of weeks or months, bringing in a chapter at a time.

If you schedule a writing appointment and aren’t able to make it, please try to cancel 24 hours in advance using our scheduling system. That will allow us to make that time available to other writers. If there are less than 24 hours before your appointment, please call us or email writing@wustl.edu.

No, you don’t need to have anything written. You can bring in the prompt, and we’d love to brainstorm with you and help you develop and organize your ideas!

If you have the time to keep the appointment, we strongly recommend you do so. If you know what you want to say but haven’t figured out how to say it yet, we can help. If you haven’t had time yet or struggle with procrastination, you are welcome to come in, talk about your goals, work during the session, and leave with an action plan and momentum to keep working.

We keep a waiting list during busy times in case we get cancellations. It’s worthwhile to join the waiting list if it looks like we are booked. To get on the waiting list for an appointment, simply click on the link below each day’s hours (to the right of your screen on the schedule).  You will receive an automated email or text, depending on your communication preferences in your profile, notifying you of any appointments that become available. You then need to log in to the schedule to claim the open appointment

In our tutorials, we start with the larger issues first, like argumentation and evidence, organization and development. We’ll help you clarify and strengthen your ideas through the process of revision. We do also talk about style and some sentence-level issues like word choice and clarity, but we do not proofread. Instead, we help identify patterns of error and so you can learn to strengthen the mechanics of your own writing.

Our goal is not only to help you write better papers but to help you become a better writer.

Unless your syllabus or writing assignment explicitly states otherwise, The Writing Center will assume the use of generative AI writing tools like ChatGPT are not permitted. We recognize that some writing assignments may permit or even require the use of AI tools. In those cases, we will support students seeking help within the bounds of our existing pedagogy and approach, and in addition to syllabi and writing prompts, we will accept faculty emails as proof of such permission.

Yes, we’re happy to work with groups on a group writing project. Please start by having one group member make an individual appointment. Then email us at writing@wustl.edu with the names and email addresses of the rest of your group so we can make arrangements for them to access the online session.

If you are writing in a language other than English, we can still help you in the brainstorming stages of your writing process. We can discuss your ideas with you, help you clarify your argument and your organization and more. We aren’t able to read drafts in other languages, however.