The typical academic essay doesn't (IME) really prepare students that well. What I felt worked best was a CS professor I had whose courses were entirely project

The typical academic essay doesn't (IME) really prepare students that well. What I felt worked best was a CS professor I had whose courses were entirely project-based and 50% of the grade was based on a report of your work. It was much closer to the type of writing an engineer will need to do and it was one of the most helpful experiences I had in school. Learning how to write well is important, but I didn't feel that any of the lit classes I took helped greatly.