Essay Edge

[Rover]

Has anyone used essayedge.com for help with writing the personal statement. Just wondering if it is worth the money or not.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[dewzen]

i used it, it was mediocre, better to get a real person that you can actually talk to and not be charged 100$. on the other hand, you're gonna be spending tons of cash anyway so if it can't really hurt. that was my thought

 

[coredump]

I agree: It was the biggest waste of money. 😡 The website makes it seem like it will be a savior to your essay. My "Harvard-trained" editor simply corrected grammar and gave trivial suggestions on content. Definitely, NOT worth the money.

As said before, you're better off taking it to your university's writing center, an English prof, or even a friend that is essay-inclined.

-cd

 

[Mad Cow]

I used essayedge.com and thought it stunk. Sure they helped with vague grammar suggestions, but they didn't keep my voice together. I had a better experience when i asked an MD who wrote a lor for me to look over it. Since she had the experience with adcoms and publishing, she really fixed up my statement. someone who knows the English language is good. Someone who knows you better is great...someone who also knows the system is the best! good luck!

 

[CoverMe]

I put together a pretty decent essay, then actually took up an offer here on SDN for another SDN'er to edit it. I ended up with a killer essay.

Friends who are applying to dental school have been using essay-inclined friends (ie. me) for suggestions and doing some large changes. Then they've taken the essays to the university writing center (don't forget to make an appointment, they can be busy around finals) for final polishing.

Save yourself the money!!! Of course, i'm terminally cheap and I'm sort of perfecting the art of getting through university cheaply... ever since I figured that most texts that are 1-edition out of date have AT MOST different numbers on the same homework problems, i've been buying texts for $8 from amazon z-shops and photocopying the homework pages from friends' $200 books. 😀

 

[akpete]

I didn't use essayedge, but I did use essayrx. I thought it was great. The person that edited my essay is a med student that is also a writer. He was really nice and emailed me a couple times. He was recommended on SDN in a thread last year (can't remember his name off the top of my head, but you could probably find it in a search), and so I requested him when I submitted my essay to the service. My essay's quality increased 10-fold!! It was $75, and for me it was money well spent. None of my friends write much, and I had my English classes at another school, so I didn't know the department here. Otherwise, asking SDNers is a good way to go too.

 

[Mr. Seeds]

I used essayedge and thought their help was fantastic. They suggest a few cliches here and there that you may want to replace (such as "help people"), but man I really got to hand it to them, I think they improved my essay dramatically. I would use them again, with no reservations.

My advise would be to get advise from many different sources, even if you do use essayedge. BTW, everybody says something different and usually contradictory to someone else's advise, so at the end of the day you just have to trust your gut.

 

[sweetpeamd09]

I don't think it's really necessary to pay for the advice. Get a list of at least these people to read your statement: 1) A scientist of some sort--md or professor, etc, 2) An English professor, 3) a loved one, and 4) your best friend (who may also be a loved one...but get two of them in that case). If you want get ten times that many people to read it. I worked like a dog on mine...first trying to draw from myself, and then looking at statement examples when I couldn't figure out where I was going. 🙂 The suggestions on Essay Edge and other sites may help. But, this needs to be about you...you--glowing--in as many ways as you can on paper (w/o seeming arrogant, verbose, or melodramatic). It's a challenge. Good that you're thinking of it so early.

 

[j8131]

People I know have had mixed results with Essayedge, but I do know that they screen their editors pretty carefully. It is difficult to do this kind of editing well. Try some friends and professors -- your satisfaction rate will likely be even lower. In my opinion, you're better off with Essayedge than some random English prof or certainly MD or scientist. It's a specialized genre of writing and you're best off with someone who knows it well.

I say try it. Even if only 20% of people are really pleased with the results, it's probably worth the investment.

 

[mr_bertman]

i'm actually an essayedge editor, and i'd be happy to look at an essay if you want, without the $39.99 price tag 😛

the majority of our customers are immigrants or foreign students who need substantial help with their english. it's a lot harder to edit essays that are already very good, since the writers of those essays usually have a clear idea of what they want and become frustrated when the editor (i.e. i) makes significant changes. likewise, if we the editors don't make significant changes, then the managing editors get on our case for being lazy. so yeah, that's how it works.

objectively, i'd still recommend it if you have money to spare and are looking for a second opinion. for me, the pay is great but i still try to do careful edits, since i'm in med school now and know how frustrating it was to write a decent essay. several of my college friends are also, and i know they don't do **** jobs so most likely they're being helpful too.

 

[mr_bertman]

i'm actually an essayedge editor, and i'd be happy to look at an essay if you want, without the $39.99 price tag 😛

the majority of our customers are immigrants or foreign students who need substantial help with their english. it's a lot harder to edit essays that are already very good, since the writers of those essays usually have a clear idea of what they want and become frustrated when the editor (i.e. i) makes significant changes. likewise, if we the editors don't make significant changes, then the managing editors get on our case for being lazy. so yeah, that's how it works.

objectively, i'd still recommend it if you have money to spare and are looking for a second opinion. for me, the pay is great but i still try to do careful edits, since i'm in med school now and know how frustrating it was to write a decent essay. several of my college friends are also, and i know they don't do **** jobs so most likely they're being helpful too.

are also editors. wow that's ironic.