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Hours of Operation

Shabolovka Campus, room 2311

Tuesdays, 11:00-16:00 / Wednesdays 13:00-17:00 / Thursdays 11:00-18:00 / Fridays 14:00 - 17:00

Skolkovo Campus, room 2.55

Mondays 13:00-16:00 / Tuesdays 13:00-18:00 / Thursdays 16:00-19:00 / 13:00 - 17:00

Skype

Tuesdays 19:00 - 23:00 / Thursdays 19:00 - 23:00 / Fridays 19:00 - 23:00 / Saturdays 11:00 - 23:00 or by request

To request that an in-person appointment be conducted through Skype, make a note in the comments field when you register your appointment on my.nes. 

 

About the WCC

  • The Writing and Communication Center (WCC) at NES aims to support students in their efforts to become stronger writers and speakers and to assist faculty in integrating written and oral communication into their courses. We are also happy to meet with faculty members who are working on research projects and wish to enhance the quality of their written and oral academic communication. A unique feature of the NES WCC is its commitment to maintaining the highest levels of academic literacy in two languages, English and Russian.

    The services are available only to NES students, alumni, faculty and staff.

  • Mission

    We believe that effective communication is key to academic and professional success, cultural awareness and personal growth.

    The vision of the Center we would like to inculcate in the NES community is that of a place where both beginning and advanced writers and speakers can grow, not a "fix-it-shop" where "weak" students go to correct papers. Following the prevalent principles of writing center pedagogy, the WCC at NES concentrates on the strengths and needs of each learner as evident in her work, so she can have a long-term learning advantage rather than a mere editorial service. In their work, WCC consultants employ the Socratic method of thought-provoking questions to promote critical thinking and to help students become independent, empowered writers and speakers with distinct voices.

  • "The WCC is a great opportunity for NES students to improve their writing and speaking skills. The consultants give feedback after every session and they really help to understand your mistakes." —Vasily, MAE 2014

  • "The WCC is a very efficient and helpful organization to help students improve their speaking and writing skills in English and Russian, and have fun at the same time. The consultants always smile and make me feel at home. It is the ideal place for students who are trying to make themselves better." —Roman, BAE 2016

  • Sometimes it is difficult for students to write a structured essay. They often have such problems:

    • The main idea is in the end of the essay (Maybe it is the most popular issue in Russia)
    • A student starts to write and then goes away from a theme
    • A writer repeats the same idea again and again
    • A student doesn’t know about what he/she wants to write and then engages in empty talk
    • A writer just says everything that he/she has

  • Materials from our workshop on survival skills for first-year students can be found in this Google Drive folder. 

  • Materials from our workshop on Statements of Purpose for PhD programs are available in this Google Drive folder. 

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revision, Powerpoints Research Citation proofreading, drafting, cv, strategies argument application, graduate school, Grammar Writing for specific fields prewriting, academic cv process, writing,

Idiom of the Day

Cut corners

To do something hastily so as to save time or resources, usually with an outcome of inferior quality as a result.

Example: “As I was finishing my writing assignment, I was tempted to cut corners so that I could go out earlier, but I knew that this would only result in more work later.”

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Statements of Purpose

Details
Parent Category: Application Materials
Category: Statements of Purpose

Background

Graduate school is a long-term investment on the part of the student that requires considerable self-discipline, focus, and internal motivation as well as intelligence. Even very, very smart people do not finish. Indeed, many finish their coursework only to stall at the dissertation stage.

Admitting a PhD student also represents a significant investment of resources for the program in terms of stipend money and mentorship. The return graduate programs want from that investment is for you to finish and get a good job. Those who make admissions decisions for graduate programs are looking for evidence that you will do this, which isn’t always easy to tell from your grades and GRE scores.

Thesis Statements

Details
Parent Category: Academic Essays
Category: Introductions

Overview

One of the first tasks you need to perform when preparing to write a new paper is deciding what kind of argument you want to make. Even if the piece you are writing is explanatory or exploratory rather than making some kind of proposal or arguing about the cause of a thing, your project needs to have some kind of point that it is making. You need to give your reader a reason to read your writing and to care about your topic. Often the way we identify this essential point is by writing a working thesis statement, which may go on to serve as the primary claim of your paper (note that thesis, claim, main point and argument are used synonymously in this handout)but will also serve as your motivation to write the paper.