Writing Partners are Yale College or graduate school students selected for both their writing skills and their ability to talk about writing. They have a student’s-eye view of the challenges you’ll face in writing papers.
Hours and Locations
Welcome, Yale College students! The Writing Center is open for in-person drop-in hours at the Poorvu Center Mezzanine and at our new location at Kline Tower, Poorvu North. You can visit our online drop-in hours by making an appointment ahead of time or by dropping in on Zoom after signing up on WCOnline.
Writing Partners are Yale College or graduate school students selected for both their writing skills and their ability to talk about writing. They have a student’s-eye view of the challenges you’ll face in writing papers.
How to Meet with the Writing Partners
Step 1: Sign Up for WCOnline
To meet with a Writing Partner in person or online, you will need to sign up for a WConline account. Please use the “Register for an Account” link to the left.
If you’ve created an account to schedule appointments for a different service (Residential College Writing Tutors, Academic Strategies Mentors), you’ll need to create a new one for the Writing Center.
Step 2: Stop by our Drop-In Hours In-Person or Online
During drop-in hours, students are seen on a first-come, first-served basis. Before seeing a Writing Partner, you will be asked to create an account on our WConline website if you do not have one already. Appointments last up to 45 minutes, depending on how many students are waiting to be seen.
During the above times, you may drop-in via the Zoom link you will find after registering for an account at yaleuniversity.mywconline.com. You can also schedule an appointment in advance.
Yale College Writing Center Schedule
Spring 2025
In-Person on the Poorvu Center Mezzanine:
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Sunday-Thursday |
3:00-6:00 pm and 7:00-10:00 pm |
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Friday |
10:00 am-noon and 3:00-5:00 pm |
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Saturday |
3:00-5:00 pm |
In-Person on the Concourse level of Kline Tower (Poorvu North):
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Sunday-Monday |
7:00-9:00 pm |
Online via Zoom:
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Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday |
7:00-10:00 pm |
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Saturday |
3:00-5:00 pm |
How to Make an Online Appointment
On the schedule page in WConline, click on any available white box. When you book a meeting, you’ll receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link you can use to find your tutor online at the time of your appointment.
If a Writing Partner has no appointments on their shift (i.e. all white boxes), please schedule a meeting with them before booking with someone who already has reservations. This will get you a fresher reader and ensure that our tutors’ work is evenly spread out.
Please only make appointments you know you can keep. If you must cancel, please do so online at least 12 hours before your appointment. Nobody likes a no-show, so please don’t be one.
Have Questions?
Email writing@yale.edu or contact the Associate Director of the Writing Center, Paula Rawlins at paula.rawlins@yale.edu
Request a Weekly Writing Partner
The Weekly Writing Partner program allows for Yale College students to be assigned a Writing Partner (WP) to work with 1-2 times a week throughout the term. Please only request a Weekly Writing Partner if you plan to meet with your WP most weeks of the term (at least once every other week). If you are seeking writing support on an appointment basis but do not anticipate wanting to meet more than a few times throughout the term, please consider meeting with a Residential College Writing Tutor instead. Alternatively, you can visit the Writing Partners during our daily drop-in hours.
Request a Fellowship Writing Partner
Working on an application for a fellowship or scholarship? Use this form to be paired with a Fellowship Writing Partner (FWP) who will support you throughout the drafting process. Together, you and your FWP will find times to meet that work for both of you. Please plan on meeting with your FWP up to three times throughout the drafting process for 30-45 minutes each. Keep in mind that FWPs do not proofread or edit drafts, nor are they familiar with the specifics of all fellowships. Instead, they are here to provide a reader’s perspective and ask questions that help you to improve the persuasiveness of your materials.
Contact Graduate Assistant Director, Alana Felton at alana.felton@yale.edu with questions about the Weekly Writing Partner Program and Fellowship Writing Partner Program.
Eligibility
Writing Partners work with Yale College Undergraduates. See Graduate Writing Consultations if you are a graduate student needing assistance.
Preparing for Your Session
- If possible, we highly recommend working with hard copies of your work during a session. Working with your writing in a different medium than the one you composed in helps you to see your work differently. Even if you think you’d prefer to work via screen, unless you have accessibility needs, please give it a try and print two copies your paper; a printer is available in the Writing Center for students with a BluePrint account.
- If you find you are unable to work via hard copies or prefer to work via the screen, please be prepared to share your work with the Writing Partner via a Google Doc or email. Some Writing Partners will not have laptops or iPads, so they may need to look at your screen alongside you.
- Bring the assignment or prompt that the professor gave you
- Even if you haven’t started writing, we can help brainstorm and outline
What to Expect
Since drop-in Writing Partners do not read papers before the session, you’ll spend time at the beginning explaining the assignment. Then, the Writing Partner will read your draft for 10-15 minutes and ask you to do some work using the second copy of your essay.
Sometimes 10-15 minutes is not enough to read the entire paper, but it is almost always enough to give you substantial help. The Writing Partner will ask questions to help you clarify your meaning, as well as give you advice about effective strategies for structure, analysis, and developing a thesis.
We won’t tell you exactly what to do to improve your essay, but we will help you figure out strategies for revision and prompt you to take notes on the suggestions that arise. Writing Partners can also help you with grammar and style, although not by proofreading your whole essay; instead, the two of you might edit a paragraph together, looking for suggestions that you can then incorporate into the rest of your paper.
Please note that Writing Partners cannot help with take-home exams.
Directions
Poorvu Mezzanine: To reach the Writing Partners for drop-in hours in the Poorvu Center, visit us at 301 York St. Take the stairwell near the York St. entrance to the mezzanine. The tutoring offices are at the top of the stairs. For elevator access, enter the Poorvu Center and head to the right. You’ll find the elevator on your left.
Poorvu North in Kline Tower: Kline Tower is located at 219 Prospect St. Once you enter Kline, look for the elevators/stairwell across the lobby from Steep Cafe. Head to the Concourse (lowest) level and look for the sitting areas with orange chairs. Rooms C69 and C73 are reserved for Writing Partners Sunday and Monday evenings, 7-9 pm.