Oh my goodness-- I just checked out one of the online websites that says they'll review your essays, and just for kicks I took a look at their prices--- wooooooah!!!!!!!!!!! This is a copy and paste of one of the websites (which I don't think I should even name because it be advertising for them!)
Price $160.00 per hour.
Rush Price $208.00 per hour.
so I've never used these services before and definitely can't give a rating of their expertise, but seriously, I don't think any of us has that much to spare. For those of you writing your essays right now, some things you might want to think about before going to those ridiculously priced services..
1) go to your college/university's letter writing service on campus, almost always free and does a good job. My old campus had under 3000 students and we had a fully staffed writing center, so I'd be surprised if most schools didnt. Their editors generally have experience with other premeds who went through the same thing last yr or even earlier this summer, so dont' be afraid to go there because you think you're going to be edited like a novelist rather than a person writing his personal statement.
2) go to an old english/humanities professor (or hell, ANY professor that is a decent writer would be good. I'm surprised to learn my science professor is an amazing writer because of the number of grants he writes per month!). These professors, especially if they've taught you before, are likely to give you sound advice on what sounds good. Moreover, some of the science ones might even have worked closely with adcoms
3) proofread it yourself and then have a friend proofread it. I was surprised repeatedly when my good friend mentioned different things about my essay that really threw her off while reading it only to have those same things mentioned by profs and the writing center on campus. Things that sound okay might sound weird to others, so even a normal person not majoring in english can definitely offer good advice.
4) this is unintentionally last, because it is definitely one of the biggest helps-- there are people on SDN more than happy to read your essay (just search on the message boards). I don't know how long the lines for these are right now, and I imagine they are quite long, but still it's worth a shot!
5) Get a book for like $10.00 that gives good tips on how to outline your essay. I bought one and didn't end up using it, but it was still worth the time and I'll PM the title if anyone wants to go out and buy it themselves.
Either way, I'm really recommending against those online services.. save your cash, you'll need it for your plane ticket to Baltimore when you get accepted to Johns Hopkins (hey, don't laugh at my unreachable hopes) 🙂
-Cantal
Price $160.00 per hour.
Rush Price $208.00 per hour.
so I've never used these services before and definitely can't give a rating of their expertise, but seriously, I don't think any of us has that much to spare. For those of you writing your essays right now, some things you might want to think about before going to those ridiculously priced services..
1) go to your college/university's letter writing service on campus, almost always free and does a good job. My old campus had under 3000 students and we had a fully staffed writing center, so I'd be surprised if most schools didnt. Their editors generally have experience with other premeds who went through the same thing last yr or even earlier this summer, so dont' be afraid to go there because you think you're going to be edited like a novelist rather than a person writing his personal statement.
2) go to an old english/humanities professor (or hell, ANY professor that is a decent writer would be good. I'm surprised to learn my science professor is an amazing writer because of the number of grants he writes per month!). These professors, especially if they've taught you before, are likely to give you sound advice on what sounds good. Moreover, some of the science ones might even have worked closely with adcoms
3) proofread it yourself and then have a friend proofread it. I was surprised repeatedly when my good friend mentioned different things about my essay that really threw her off while reading it only to have those same things mentioned by profs and the writing center on campus. Things that sound okay might sound weird to others, so even a normal person not majoring in english can definitely offer good advice.
4) this is unintentionally last, because it is definitely one of the biggest helps-- there are people on SDN more than happy to read your essay (just search on the message boards). I don't know how long the lines for these are right now, and I imagine they are quite long, but still it's worth a shot!
5) Get a book for like $10.00 that gives good tips on how to outline your essay. I bought one and didn't end up using it, but it was still worth the time and I'll PM the title if anyone wants to go out and buy it themselves.
Either way, I'm really recommending against those online services.. save your cash, you'll need it for your plane ticket to Baltimore when you get accepted to Johns Hopkins (hey, don't laugh at my unreachable hopes) 🙂
-Cantal
