BUS421 Capstone OL/GS - Which Professor?

[Merlin]

Yes, I agree he is more interested in the content and your analysis of the subject than just trying to meet the rubric.

Each of my papers was like 50% longer than required, but that is because I was purposely being exhaustive in my analysis in order to cover my topics from different perspectives. Mr. Lampman told me that he appreciated my attention to detail and was particularly pleased with my final paper. So if you show that you care about doing quality work, he will see and appreciate it.

I'm sure I probably would have still gotten good marks for meeting the minimum rubric requirements, I think putting in the extra effort allowed me to provide more convincing arguments while helping me to learn and synthesize the material better.

I was the opposite with my case studies, which I very much enjoyed.  I am a very concise writer, and choose to use strong vocabulary rather than extra words to make my point.  I also spend a lot of time organizing my papers, so that the paragraphs do what they're supposed to do, without a lot of superfluous stuff in there. I got 100% on all of them, and all were shorter than required.

FYI, I don't think your intention was to suggest that my papers were longer due to weak vocabulary, poor organization, or inability to be concise. But that is the way that just came across.

My papers tend to be longer because I like to provide multiple perspectives and a plethora of research-based data points, illustrations, and citations in support of my conclusions. I am concise where necessary, but I generally prefer to be thorough over being concise where I think there may be an opportunity for confusion or I don't feel that I have provided sufficient evidence to support my points. Then again, I enjoy research, so I tend to include a lot of citations in my papers in general.

In my case, the instructor called out that he appreciated the extra work I put into my papers, despite the additional length. Other instructors may prefer shorter papers though. My wife is a college instructor and I know she prefers shorter papers since she can usually move through them more quickly.

I feel like the word count or page length requirements are to give people an idea of what a paper should be - you can be shorter, or longer, but the key is to make your points well, give good evidence to back everything up, and please, be nice to your instructors and check your spelling and grammar.  They will appreciate it.

Agreed. Also, unless stated otherwise, be sure to follow proper APA (or MLA) guidelines for format and citation style. You can and will be marked down if your papers don't follow the standard required by your school, department, or instructor. You can't go wrong by following APA if not told to follow a different academic style. By the time you get to your capstone you should be well-versed in academic writing.