Roberts 1

Carly Roberts
De Piero
Writing 2
4 November 2015
The Freshman 15: Fact or Fiction?
Before arriving to college, most students have a misperceived conception of the nation
wide phenomenon, the Freshman 15. Many students fall into the traps of social media and
word of mouth, which leads them to believe college students experience a severe weight gain,
especially during their first year. The two scholarly articles Freshmen Women and the
Freshman 15: Perspectives on Prevalence and Causes of College Weight Gain written by
psychologists, TeriSue Smith-Jackson and Justine J. Reel, and Revisiting the Freshman 15:
Assessing Body Mass Index in the First College Year and Beyond written by statisticians, Jo
Ann L. Nicoteri and Mary Jane Miskovsky, conducted studies to examine the accuracy of this
phenomenon. In addition, The Atlantic magazine article, The Origin of the Freshman 15
Myth written by Olga Khazan, believes that this phenomenon has been completely exacerbated.
The psychologists, statisticians, and Khazan all use different methods of study to explore the
topic of college weight gain, as well as exhibit distinctive moves throughout their sources to
prove that although victims rarely ever gain the full fifteen pounds, the intense fears that come
with gaining weight lead to diverse attitudes and certain health risks among college students.
Even though both of the scholarly articles come from different disciplines, they still share
many of the same conventions, including ethos and logos. Since both sources belong to the
scholarly article genre, they share the same basic format which includes background
information, methods of the experiment, results, discussions, references, and aims for future

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research. Both articles are illustrated by professionals from both the statistical and psychological
field, who use a formal and informative tone, which creates a sense of credibilityethos
throughout the sources. Another convention that the scholarly articles have in common is that
they both state facts drawn from individual research. For example, the statisticians propose that
the rate of overweight and obese individuals rose from 25.6% upon admission to college to 32%
in senior or graduate year (Miskovsky and Nicoteri), while the psychologists assert that the
average weight [gain] ranged from 4.6 to 7.4 pounds (Reel and Smith-Jackson). It is important
for the authors to include results drawn from their research, because it adds to the logos of the
source and persuades the audience to believe their case study is credible. Overall, both
disciplines use many of the same rhetorical devices and conventions to exemplify the
superstition of the Freshman 15.
In contrast, there are many apparent differencessuch as the diction and structure of the
articlebetween the two scholarly articles, since each discipline has an opposing approach to
studying college weight gain. First, a primary difference is that in the psychology article there are
six subcategories under the Results tab. Each tab represents different factors of possible causes
of the weight gain, since psychologists have motives to understand why the phrase Freshman
15 is so popular and how it actually affects college students. The statistical article contains a
table of reported BMIs of different students from the start and end of their college experience, in
order to analyze the change that occurred. In addition, the statistical source often uses more of a
mathematical diction, such as Statistics were considered significant at the p < .5 level
(Miskovsky and Nicoteri). In comparison, the psychological article contains quotes and scenarios
from college students including I see [my roommates] theyre all really thin and theyre like
complaining about how fat they are (Reel and Smith-Jackson). The statisticians tend to keep it

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academic and stick to the facts, while in this case, the psychologiststhrough interviews
focused on the mental affects and how girls often consider themselves heavier than they are.
Moreover, statisticians are more concerned with analyzing the mathematical change in weight to
yield a conclusion, rather than the studying the psychological impacts on the students.
On the other hand, the magazine article is compiled from different research methods than
scholarly articles, which leads to many differences in the way the information is presented. The
magazine article is structured completely different than the scholarly articles, containing many
short paragraphs and a conversational tone for its readers. Khazan portrays a sense of credibility
among the article by compiling quotes from respectable sources, such as the New York Times and
Washington Post, rather than conducting self-experiments. Also, the article contains facts to
disprove the Freshman 15 theory, just like the scholarly articles, by announcing that just 10
percent of college freshmen gained 15 or more pounds, and a quarter of them actually lost
weight (Khazan). Khazans use of logos presents the counter argument that a portion of
freshman actually lose weight, whether it is due to healthy or unhealthy eating habits. Therefore,
different genres focused on the same topic may appear to be dissimilar, but the content often
contains many similarities.
Furthermore, Reel and Smith-Jackson use many different moves to impact the audience
in certain ways and to strengthen their research credibility. In order to be able to identify these
moves, Mike Bunn illustrates in How to Read Like a Writer that one must locate what you
believe are the most important writerly choices represented in the textto consider the effect of
those choices on potential readers (including yourself) (Bunn). Moves can be identified in many
locations of a text, since the author usually has a purpose for each sentence. With that being said,
the first move used by the psychologists is when they established a common perception that

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Several of the women talked about how important appearance was and that being thinner is
better (Reel and Smith-Jackson). According to the They Say, I Say, Appendix, the move
demonstrated here is Standard Views. Here, the researchers motive is to inform the audience
of the social comparisons and judgments that college students face, as well as show the pressure
women experience to sustain an acceptable physical appearance. They received their data from
interviewing students, which establishes a personal connection between the researchers and their
subjects.
Many students believe that they have an obligation to impress their peers in order to be
socially accepted. For example, the psychologists found that Concern about the Freshman 15
was, however, related to perceived weight gain, poorer body image, and more eating disorder
behaviors (Reel and Smith-Jackson). The researchers used a chain effect move to show that
one little concern, can lead to serious health issues. This move may lead a reader to identify the
intended audience to be psychologists who treat patients with eating disorders or are just having
a tough time adjusting to college, as well as professionals in the field of psychology interested in
new research. A claim can be made that the audience expects to learn the different interpretations
taking place in peoples minds and how it can affect their lifestyle. Overall, authors have many
hidden reasons behind their moves, which takes a strong writer to be able to point them out.
In comparison, Miskovsky and Nicoteri use moves to educate the audience on the
consequences of weight gain. For example, the statisticians argue that statistics show People
who are obese are at increased risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes,
arthritis-related disabilities, some cancers, and sleep apnea (Miskovsky and Nicoteri). This
chain effect move is used again to establish obesity as a severe health problem, and hopefully
persuade the audience to want to develop healthier eating habits to avoid facing these issues.

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Also, even after finding that college weight gain is not enough to change a students status to
overweight, the researchers believe that Health courses or freshman seminars need to focus on
healthy eating and maintenance of weight or weight loss in the environment of independent
choices (Miskovsky and Nicoteri). This call to action move indicates that steps need to be
taken in order to prevent college weight gain, instead of just watching it happen. This move also
helps identify the audience of this piece as not only someone who is interested in the statistics of
college weight gain, but also for someone who works in the Health and Wellness field at a
university. Nevertheless, obesity is a serious health concern prevailing among many young
people that is in need of more attention.
First, Khazan begins the magazine article by implying that in order to fight off the
Freshman 15 students may vow to eat only the most reasonable servings of soft-serve [ice
cream] from the campus soft-serve machine. At least until said machine is stolen by the Pi Kappa
Phi brothers Khazan made the move of telling a joke to shed humor on the subject that
students do not actually gain a full fifteen pounds, as well as relate the article to events that
actually take place in reality. This portrays that the audience is intended toward first year college
students that are worried about unhealthy eating habits and gaining weight. On a more serious
note, Khazan asserts that A fear of weight gain can lead to eating disorders such as anorexia
nervosa and bulimia, the incidences of which peak between the ages of 16 and 20, coinciding
with the time young women enter university (Khazan). Khazan uses the move, Establishing
Why Your Claims Matter from They Say, You Say in order to alert the audience of an
underlying issue that some students face. This is also a contradiction to the weight gain, since in
some cases, students develop eating disorders which can lead them to ultimately lose weight in
an unhealthy manner. Overall, the purpose of this magazine article was to prove the

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misconception of the Freshman 15 in a humorous way, with intentions to prevent students
from developing a fear of gaining weight in college.
When it comes to reading an academic or non-academic text, there are many different
accomplishments that each one can achieve. For example, the magazine article was much more
concise, interesting and relatable, which captured my undivided attention. In comparison, the
scholarly articles are very long, and at times, it was hard to stay engaged with the text. However,
the scholarly articles exert a sense of respect toward the authors because of the admirable
research and effort they put into creating the source. Pop-culture sources will often contain
pathos to trigger its readers emotions, which will persuade them to develop their own point of
view on the topic. In contrast, academic articles are strongly supported with research and facts,
which adds more credibility to the source. Therefore, the audience will be more persuaded to
believe its content and argument. Being as though academic and non-academic articles are two
different genres, each source is meant to impact its audience in its own, unique way.
In conclusion, the scholarly article published from a psychological discipline argues that
many women develop a tendency to hide their fears of gaining weight, which may lead to risky
behavior. The statistical scholarly article analyzes the changes in BMI from a college students
first and last year in the university, as well as expresses concern for the physical health of obese
students. In comparison, the pop source article uses humor to exemplify that students rarely gain
a full fifteen pounds, and that it is unnecessary for students to develop fears about the Freshman
15. Overall, this phenomenon has been proven to be a myth, however, actions must be taken to
encourage college students to eat healthy and exercise more.

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Works Cited
Birkenstein, Cathy, Durst, Russel and Graff, Gerald. They Say, I Say. 17 Aug. 2007.
Bunn, Mike. How to Read Like a Writer. Writing Spaces. Vol. 2. 2011. 30 Oct. 2015.
Khazan, Olga. The Origin of the Freshman 15 Myth. The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company,
05 Sept. 2014. Web. 30 Oct. 2015.
Miskovsky, Mary Jane and Nicoteri, Jo Ann L. Revisiting the Freshman 15: Assessing Body
Mass Index in the First College Year and Beyond. Journal of the American Association
of Nurse Practitioners. Vol. 6 Issue 4, p220-224. Apr. 2014. 30 Oct. 2015.
Reel, Justine J. and Smith-Jackson, TeriSue. Freshmen Women and the Freshman 15:
Perspectives on Prevalence and Causes of College Weight Gain. Journal of American
College Health. Vol. 60, Issue 1, p14-20. Jan. 2012. 30 Oct. 2015.

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Did Not Meet
Expectations
Thesis Statement
Use of Textual
Evidence from
Genres
Use of Course
Readings
Analysis
Organization/Str
ucture
Attention to
Genre/Conventio
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Factors
Sentence-level
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Mechanics, Flow
Other Comments

Met
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Exceeded
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