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From: answerly
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  • I used the dancing queen idea....lets just say.....you saved my bacon.

  • I'm not technically in college yet, but for my english essay last year it had to be 10 pages long and it was a research paper. we had to have a certain amount of quotes and my book was really long so i skimmed through it looking at sentences that seemed like it would fit with my theme. this certain teacher never liked my writing unlike my other teachers so i didn't good a very good grade on it. but hey, it still worked! XD

  • Or in a History essay, make up a load of events and dates that never actually happened; dot them around the essay occasionally, and BAM. It looks like you know the entire history of Fascist Italy. XD

  • I did the dancing queen thing on my english essay even though I'd read the book just for the sake of doing it haha

  • I'm in High School, I have an English Lit essay exam tomorrow... THANK YOU!

  • YOU JUST BS'D THIS VIDEO.

  • hmm, this information could be quite useful to me, especially since my history essay that was assigned 4 months ago is due on monday and i have yet to think of my third argument...yikes

  • Let me give you all a tipm

    Step 1) Sleep in class.

    Step 2) Drink water & come back to class like 1 hour.

    Step 3) Skip

  • @gr0tevis

    I.B. therefore I B.S.

  • I do the lyrics one all the time oh my god

  • I have to say, and I am probably alone in this, the best exam-essays I have ever done are from books I didn't even read. This a true history, usually essays from books I have read turn out with mediocre grades, while essays from books I didn't even open go Nicolas Cage-career style. Either very very good, or awful.

  • I have a literature final tomorrow for books I have not read. I will defiantly be using this advice :)

  • I wish I had known this earlier! Completely flopped an English essay :(

  • I always used to use the rest of the paper if it was a mixed paper, so in a science paper I would look back at the previous questions and see if they helped at all. At least they gave me something to write, plus there were certain keywords that you usually got a point for mentioning like 'energy change' or 'electrons'. In French essays I always used the reading comprehension and translation parts to help me with my grammar in the essay.

  • I watched this right before my Brass Methods (I'm a music major) final exam and so I was all set to do this because the entire test was essays and short answer, then realized that none of this would help on writing about how to play the trumpet. Then I realized I actually do know how to play the trumpet.

    So yeah. I didn't do this. But if it was a different class I probably would have actually done this...

  • English Majors just have an unfair advantage at bullshitting on essays. Mainly because that is all we do anyways. GO ENGLISH!

  • I love the advert before this video.

    It's an advertisement for a university; oh the irony !

  • i have done this so many times...

  • @kristenn07 Shouldn't you be studying for it right now? ;)

  • Also, go back to the multiple choice or t/f questions that you have figured out. You can write some true stuff just by using what you have figured was "true stuff". True stuff is always good, even if it doesn't exactly apply.

    Good stuff you have said in the video. Used them all many times.

  • LOVEEEE. I have an english final on wednesday that I know nothing about. this will help. :)

  • lol the lyrics to dancing queen. Thanks hayley! this helps a lot!

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  • English Final tomorrow/today. I'm fairly certain I will use your tips and then some.

  • Those points are practically my bible. I'm not one to pay attention to the important subjects in school, so I usually have to scrape by with stuff like that.

  • Useful! I will make practice of these tomorrow in my English essay. :)

  • I love the idea about writing lyrics then crossing them out.. I'll do that. or.. study...

  • ive totally done all those things on an essay

  • you forgot bad handwriting. if you write sloppily enough the teacher will probably not read it, or at least not read it completely

  • I bullshit my way through essays all the time ;p

  • I did this this morning for my Lit. midterm exam. Ohohohoho~

  • Using the bible as a reference in a science essay. Irony at it's best.

  • Writing in pen and cross a line off? MMh, I don't know about school in the US, but in France, an essay has to be "clean"

  • @BaudelairianBeauty It depends on what you're doing in at the US. This is more talking about an in-class essay and will be hand-written, in which it's okay to be a bit messy.

  • @BaudelairianBeauty in-class essays are a lot harder to keep clean and many profs like it if you write in pen as it is easier to read. whiting it out takes to long so they just get you to cross off whatever you don't want them to mark.

  • @itsbribriii It's totally the opposite here, profs prefer real ink rather than writing in pen. They won't mark you as well if you cross a lot of things off or if you don't structure in paragraphs and it's too messy for them to read.

  • So Hayley, last week was try out's at at my school for our musical. I was really excited and thought I did really well, but it turns out I didn't make it. All of my friends auditioned and they got in and I've been feeling really left out. It's all they ever talk about anymore. I've looked around for other activities to join but nothing else sounds interesting. Any advice you could give me?

  • Did you know that Shakespeare is a pseudonym that William "randomly" chose from the Bible? (Psalms 46)

  • Coursework handleage??? D:

  • I.B.

    International Bullshitters =D 

  • @gr0tevis My dad says I B smart. Ahh the things we put ourselves through

  • @gr0tevis ohmygod, this.

    

  • @gr0tevis I just saw this video and my first thought was "I'm an IB kid I don't need advice on this!" =P

  • @gr0tevis Heck yes!

  • @gr0tevis oh yeah. we are experts at that. 2 world lits out of nothing.

  • @gr0tevis love it

  • I could have used this a week ago when the only essay question on my final exam happened to reference the only lecture I missed throughout the term. -________-

  • I honestly think that English majors bullshit essays the most. And this is coming from an English Writing major.

  • Also write in coherent sentences with correct spelling and punctuation..

  • How do you normally do when writing like, real papers for you English classes? I mean do you get really into it because you really love the subject or do you just procrastinate like it's any other class? (I love English but I...don't love essays.)

  • i will use this on my religions final lol. thank you :)

  • Also if you write big, it looks like you're righting more.

  • Cool video, i usually do know my stuff but i BS a lot too haha, the pen tip was a new one though, good idea

  • Couldn't find a flag for hotness... Can't report... :(

  • Question: wanna get pregnant?

  • I got a 50/50 on my Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka essay, after reading exclusively the back cover of the book.

  • This is how I pass almost all my test, people think I study a lot. It makes me laugh how can't they realize how easy it is. It kills me xD

    Thanks for the video, you did awesome!

  • I got a B for an essay on a book I didn't read XD

  • Okay! English final, here I come!

  • LOL. This will actually help me, Hayley. Thanks!

  • The second tip is exactly what I did with my English essays for school this year haha.

  • who writes essays by pen/pencil anymore? :s

  • @JulielovesTandS New Zealanders in the schooling system that have no other choice.

  • @JulielovesTandS She's talking about essays on tests in this video, I think. Therefore you'd have to write it by pen or pencil.

  • It's more like; try to get specific points to answer the questions. Once you have the points, explain them in a vague or... A slighty less than indebted and sightful explanation and add in some connects (that make sense). To end it, restate your whole intro paragraph, just backwards.

    IB therefore I BS. ;D

  • or maybe just study proper? then people wonder why america is one of the dumbest countries in the world as of now, people put more effort trying to half-ass or cheat rather than actually LEARN something. thanks for this though ^_^

  • "That's not true.....but it might as well be." That reminded me of Labrynth! Pardon my spelling.

  • @Lozzzaaa5 yeah it's just reading the book you were assigned.

  • Haha, at least this episode was interesting, keep up the good work! (They don't call it a "BS" for nothing, unless your an artist, then you just sound like a goat.)

  • Don't you write essays on a computer?

  • @silverghostDK she's talking about the ones in tests hehe

  • @SauceyAndJay I know :) I've just always been allowed to bring a computer to my exams and tests.

  • @silverghostDK OMGOSH! luckyyyy D: wish I could hehe

  • <3

  • As a teaching assistant who hears stories from professors and other TAs who teach humanities...I feel sorry for whoever has to read your essays. Folks, please, just study - it's really not that hard, and your teacher/prof will thank you for not torturing them. Because yes, reading the essays that make you go 'what is this I don't even' is torture.

  • People break into cars all the time at my school. Also rob people at gun point.

  • I pretty much process of eliminationed all the way through the ACT. I got scholarships and stuff from that test. Yep.

  • LOL, i hate essays on the exam,

    it just screws you over, there's not enough time, and you get hand cramps..

    Don't know how you can be an english major! English i find is quite hard :( Analyzing books.. Like we're doing waiting for godot, ghosts, blood wedding. Not enjoying them at all.

  • I have never read an entire book in my life. However, I am done with all my English requirements. She speaks the truth.

  • This is what I do... even after reading the story, sometimes. I'm hoping that I won't need this advice on my final next week..

  • I have never had multiple choices questions. Ever. I am so jealous of everyone who does

  • I might have an essay question on my one final next week, but it really isn't something I could bs. It's about laws, not a story.

  • I managed to get full marks on my english coursework on Jane Eyre despite the fact that I never read the book.

  • This is actually exactly how I approach my lab protocols I have to do for uni classes. I'm the master of rewording. My friend and I considered sneaking in a couple of really palpable mistakes on the cover sheet just to see whether anyone would notice because let's be honest, who reads the cover sheet? :D

  • I am an english major too! BEST FRIENDS?

  • man! this would've been really helpful in my last year of highschool where and when essays were a mystery to me.

  • As a former college science teacher I would agree with the first tip and the fourth. A paragraph based intelligently on the question is okay and you can put another like that at the bottom restating the purpose if you need to. The fourth tip is also really good in a pinch. Relate the topic to something you do know about. Everybody knows about something. I would avoid the optical illusion thing though. After reading twenty essays... that would just make me mad.

  • too bad i'm studying science, it would have been really helpful but I can't do that for describing a technique which I don't even know what the acronym is standing for

  • so relevant to my life right now.

  • I'm having an essay test next week for the very first time. Thanks! <3

  • What a coincidence that you and John Green both mentioned the Bible and Shakespeare in your videos yesterday. Pretty cool.

  • I love the pen tip, I do that ALL the time.

  • A friend of mine had to write an essay about sports funding for the AP French test. Instead, she wrote about how they should give that funding to theater instead.

  • I have an english final tomorrow morning... and I'm completely sure I'll be thinking of this video when I get to the essay questions. (:

  • I somehow managed to get 3/4ths of the credit for an essay question on a HISTORY MIDTERM. I had absolutely no idea what the answer was.

  • It's nice when the Essay question is in some way connected to the Multiple Choice questions throughout the rest of the test, because you can pull in information from those. I also find that using a grandiloquent vocabulary and making everything extremely wordy helps, because it makes you sound REALLY clever, even though you have no idea what you're talking about. (I've BS'd a LOT of essays.)

  • Sadly this doesn't help me with my math final. *my creys*

  • So.... I kinda love you. As in: I'd go straight for you. Lol. Anyways, keep up the videos, you're awesome.

  • I actually became quite good at BSing my way through exams. Granted, as a science major much of it was math, but hey, you get more points for what looks like a lot of effort than not! In fact, on one exam I recognized one of the problems as a homework problem but couldn't remember the correct way to get there so I filled the page with gibberish calculus and followed it by the real answer. Only got knocked one point amazingly. I should mention that when all else failed I drew cartoons.

  • My world lit Professor doesn't care wants actually in the essay a long as it is "formed" well.

  • I have one class that the teacher believes in nothing else but multiple choice. I would love it if just once he would give an essay question or short answer so i could bs and get some freaking points GAH....

  • This would have been so helpful about ten hours ago for my essay. Why didn't I think of writing the lyrics to Dancing Queen, then crossing them out?! *head desk*

  • HELPFUL TIP: My English teacher has explicitly stated that neither she nor any other teacher she knows even reads the conclusion paragraph of an essay. They just check to see that it's there. 

  • haha. sounds kinda nice being an english major. if you do that in chemistry you make your TA laugh or pull out her hair in frustration. depending on her mood. either way you get zero.

  • I love your "write in pen" suggestion!

  • I'm from Australia, what does it mean when you do the reading? Is it just reading a book that you have to write an essay about...?

  • yea i had a friend who went to the writing center on campus for a paper about social classes, and the girl who helped her told her to write the paper about fish (since she's majoring in marine biology)....

  • I was in this situation last week for a history final. It's hard to BS history essays...sigh

  • Topic suggestion: How do you meet people when you go to college? I'm assuming it's a little more difficult when all your classes are with different people, and you're trying to balance your school work with your job.

  • I do all of this in my essays all the time! :p

  • Although you should never start a conclusion paragraph with "in conclusion" as a rule.

  • @winniemmkay yea but this is how to BS essays, not write a proper essay lol.

  • this is how i get through all my classes...... just make it sound like you know what your talking about, relate to real life, or make S#$% up that still pertains to the subject. and your good

  • im really looking forward to your video on breaking into people's cars. I've already bought burglary tools.

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  • Wonderful tip and funny video!!

  • this is actually really good advice ... which probably explains why college is a fuckin waste of time and 75% of americans are mostly worthless and incompetent at their jobs

  • the ability to bs an essay is a must for any college student. my freshmen year i had to write an in class essay on a book i never read for my history final. the question was "how does so and sos character match up to the image of womanhood in the 1900's" So I basically used what little information i had from the summary on the back of the book and wrote an essay analyzing old Jiff peanut butter ads "for moms that care."

    I got an A. professors are predictable

  • How to memorize a fugue the night before your jury.

  • Perfect timing. I have to write an in class essay tomorrow that will determine whether I pass or fail my whole class. No pressure. It's not like I'm panicking, or watching youtube videos when I should be studying, or sleeping....

  • Science essays? Huh... that would be fun.

  • "That's not true but... may as well be... Bye :D"

  • But again… What do you do with a BA in English? :)

    People have to realize that essays are exactly there to measure how good students are in phrasing and wording, etc. And how original insights and ideas you have. Most of the information asked can be answered in two sentences.

  • procrastinating from writing an essay i have no idea how to write by watching this = good idea.

  • Thanks Hayley, I have a test on Wednesday on an unseen film clip - will need this BSing technique for - and a test on Thursday which I haven't started studying for - will need this BSing technique for.

  • Perfect timing! I plan on doing this tomorrow morning.

    Every time somebody asks me what my major is, I say "Bullshitting... professional bullshitting"

    Yay English!

  • hahahaha so good

  • I LOVE this.

  • Great tips and so true! Sometimes they are just checking to see if you CAN write an essay, content be damned!

  • i had to write a critical lens essay today and relate it to a reading i failed to do. i wish i saw this earlier. *favorites* thanks hayley! <3

  • next one; how to BS a history FRQ and DBQ.

  • yes, good good

  • I wish I had seen this video before the essay test I took today.

  • Favorited :)

  • Hey Hayley. Make a video on your channel? Okay bye <3

  • Topic Idea: How to sleep in class successfully.

  • Oh....well I hope thats good for my major that I plan to be in....

  • I find that even if you do not know a thing about anything in a quiz, question that the teacher asks etc... just use an educated guess instead of absolutely nothing. If you remember some random thing that the teacher said two weeks ago, great! You may at least get a couple of points. :P

  • * Controversial opinion *

    If you don't study and/or read the book you were assigned then you deserve to fail.

  • @MeOnStuff I disagree with your controversial opinion.

  • I almost always listen and class, and I always do the reading. Everything in college is far too interesting and/or important to ignore.

  • In one of my classes last year, there was an essay question on the final and I had absolutely no idea how to answer it. Since it was the semester before Summer vacation, I wrote something along the lines of "I honestly don't remember anything about this subject and, instead of having you grade some bs'd essay, I'm going to apologize and end it here. Have a great summer!"...I passed the final with a B.

  • I'm getting a 98 in my English class. I have never once actually done the reading. Granted, Most of the questions are multiple choice, but basically for the finding meaning in this essays: Anything black and sometimes red is death. Red is sometimes passion. Birds mean freedom. Famous poets are usually depressed so write about how their writing is tied to their depression. Call the characters brave. Make up some dumb reason why they are brave from the quote.

  • who writes in pencil for exams? You aren't allowed in the UK!

  • too bad you can't bs a proof...

    the sad life of a math major :(

  • @hprockz101 I don't know...I've gotten away with bsing a proof here and there. I guess it really depends on your professor.

  • i think everyone has these moments. thanks for the pointers

  • I'm like an essay champion. I can BS any subject and then people ask me how I got my grades "I don't really know, I think I was lucky". Talking about your own life like you relate to the actual subject always makes the teachers feel like they accomplished something, like they taught you the deep meaning of life or something.

  • i have to write an essay about the YCJA in social studies....funn

  • I might be a little disappointed if there is no mention of car-jacking next week... just a little.

  • My go to method was to put my personal opinions or to somehow work some random personal experience into it. My favorite was still my essay on how much I hated Tom Hanks' acting in the Da Vinci Code rather then talking about the book or art history at all. I somehow aced that test, but I'm pretty sure it was because my professor found my ranting amusing

  • thanks!

  • just what i needed right now!

  • Great tips. I'm several years out of college though so thankfully won't need them :)

  • Teachers really hate when you use "in conclusion," though. XD

  • @NationalWonder Switch it up by using "in summation". =]

  • BRILLIANT. As a former English major, I already knew most of these, but I never tried the pen scribble trick.

  • *is a science major* =/

  • First year psychology student on my second essay and BS is already becoming second nature. Well I did take philosophy and ethics alevel which basically means I already am a master of BS not sure my lecturers will be as impressed with my recent essay on 'is psychology a science?' which I have spent my whole time going over the definition. and being like look it says science!

  • I like to call it doing the "Mexican hat dance" around the topic. If you dance around the general subject enough, you can get a good grade without ever answering the question.

  • No one can survive college without the delicate skill of BSing a paper. I have a 3.5 GPA and I have been on the Dean's List 6 times as a senior in college and I would be no where if I didn't know how to properly BS.

  • @monehish yeah but then you like scribble it out so it u can't see what it says but it fills space and looks like your really thinking about what your writing xD

  • *also, it's been proven that the neater your handwriting/paper looks the higher teachers tend to grade it, just saying. So make sure you stripe out your lyrics to Dancing Queen neatly (also thoroughly).

  • My favorite way to flesh out an essay is to use a full name instead of a pronoun or shortened form of that name. For instance, I was writing an essay about the Wife of Bath, so I often called her "the Wife of Bath" instead of "the wife" or "her." I also referred to her tale and prologue as "The Wife of Bath's Tale," and "The Wife of Bath's Prologue" so that there would be more words on the page.

  • Haha wish i could've used these tips yesterday!

  • this is exactly 12 hours too late.

  • Very nice. :) If you ever need another idea for a video, maybe make one on how to BS an essay that's NOT a test? Like, if it was a take home, two-weeks-to-do-it essay, and it's due the next day, and you haven't started and you pretty much know what you're supposed to be writing about...you just have NO time to write it. How do I use the things I know to fluff up an ENTIRE 5 page essay in one night?

    If that makes any sense. xD

  • haha thanks -this week I have to write a 2000 word essay about Romeo & Juliet, without any notes! school sucks -_-