Why You Keep Failing Essays (Even When You Try Hard)

Not Understanding the Question

Honestly, this is the big one. I've messed this up more times than I can count. You sit there, you write what you think they want... but nah. You miss the actual point.

Misreading the prompt

So many students (yeah, me included) skim the essay question and rush into writing. I once answered a prompt about "Discuss the impact of digital media" by just explaining what digital media is. Total fail. My prof wrote, “Interesting, but doesn’t answer the question.” Brutal.

Ignoring key terms

Look out for words like analyze, compare, evaluate. They’re not decoration — they tell you what to do. If you ignore them, even if your ideas are smart, it won’t hit the mark. Trust me, I’ve been there, highlighting all the wrong stuff.

Poor Structure and Flow

Well, this one's a killer too. You might have solid points, but if your essay is a mess structurally, it just... doesn't land.

No clear thesis

If you don’t state clearly what your argument is, the reader’s just guessing. I used to write intros like “There are many views on climate change…” and thought that sounded academic. It didn’t. My friend Rachel (a TA) literally told me, “I don’t know what your stance is after your first page.”

Weak paragraphs

Every paragraph needs a point. No, not three ideas jammed together in one chunky paragraph. Just one idea, explored well. If your paragraphs are all over the place, the reader gets lost. I’ve had teachers scribble “Where are you going with this??” in the margins. Not a good sign.

Lack of Evidence or Analysis

Pfff. You can’t just throw opinions around and call it a day. You’ve gotta show why you’re right.

Saying, not showing

I once wrote an entire essay about Shakespeare's villains and said stuff like “Iago is evil because he lies.” Okay, but how? When? Why does that matter? I didn’t quote once. Rookie mistake.

Not analyzing enough

Quoting is great, but don’t just drop a quote and move on. You have to explain it — really explain it. Like, break it down and connect it to your thesis. I used to think throwing in a quote = good enough. Nope. It's the explanation that earns the marks.

Bad Time Management

Ah, the classic. Leaving it to the last minute? Been there. Many, many times.

Rushing = sloppy work

If you write your essay at 2AM the night before, you know what’s gonna happen: typos, repeated words, no conclusion, missing references. One time I even forgot to change the placeholder title. It said “Insert Essay Title Here” and I submitted it like that. Never again.

No time to edit

You need time to step back, breathe, and read it with fresh eyes. I didn’t believe in editing until I actually did it. Found whole sentences that made zero sense. “The cause of the effect is because the consequence is caused.” What even was that??

Ignoring Formatting and Requirements

This sounds minor but oh boy, it can ruin everything.

Wrong citation style

MLA, APA, Chicago… whatever your teacher wants, you gotta follow. I once wrote the best essay of my life (I’m not kidding) and lost 10% just because I used MLA instead of APA. Ugh.

Not meeting the word count

Too short? You didn’t develop your ideas. Too long? You probably rambled. Either way, you’re not hitting the target. Try to land within 10% of the word count. That sweet spot shows you know how to stick to the brief.

Final Thoughts (And a Bit of Honesty)

Honestly, I’ve failed essays I thought were great. And sometimes the ones I dashed off got decent marks — go figure. But over time, I realized that effort isn’t enough. You need clarity, structure, evidence, and... yeah, a bit of planning.

I was just talking to my mate Liam about this last week. He bombed a history essay because he forgot to answer the second part of a two-part question. He was so mad at himself — and I get it. We all slip. But the cool thing is, once you figure out where you’re tripping up, it gets easier to fix.

So if you’ve been failing essays, don’t panic. Step back, look honestly at what’s going wrong, and tweak from there. You’ve totally got this.

Is 165 cm normal for a 15 year old?

The predicted height for a female, based on your parents heights, is 155 to 165cm. Most 15 year old girls are nearly done growing. I was too. It's a very normal height for a girl.

Is 160 cm too tall for a 12 year old?

How Tall Should a 12 Year Old Be? We can only speak to national average heights here in North America, whereby, a 12 year old girl would be between 137 cm to 162 cm tall (4-1/2 to 5-1/3 feet). A 12 year old boy should be between 137 cm to 160 cm tall (4-1/2 to 5-1/4 feet).

How tall is a average 15 year old?

Average Height to Weight for Teenage Boys - 13 to 20 Years

How to get taller at 18?

Staying physically active is even more essential from childhood to grow and improve overall health. But taking it up even in adulthood can help you add a few inches to your height. Strength-building exercises, yoga, jumping rope, and biking all can help to increase your flexibility and grow a few inches taller.

Is 5.7 a good height for a 15 year old boy?

Generally speaking, the average height for 15 year olds girls is 62.9 inches (or 159.7 cm). On the other hand, teen boys at the age of 15 have a much higher average height, which is 67.0 inches (or 170.1 cm).

Can you grow between 16 and 18?

Most girls stop growing taller by age 14 or 15. However, after their early teenage growth spurt, boys continue gaining height at a gradual pace until around 18. Note that some kids will stop growing earlier and others may keep growing a year or two more.

Can you grow 1 cm after 17?

Even with a healthy diet, most people's height won't increase after age 18 to 20. The graph below shows the rate of growth from birth to age 20. As you can see, the growth lines fall to zero between ages 18 and 20 ( 7 , 8 ). The reason why your height stops increasing is your bones, specifically your growth plates.