<p>Other way around. Harvard adcoms have stated that they consider anyone with an 1800 and–I think it was 3.0, but it might have been 3.5–GPA qualified to do the work. Of course no applicant could get in with those stats without about six hooks. I can’t imagine Princeton is so different.</p>
<p>Please refrain from putting words in my mouth.</p>
<p>My conjecture, like yours, comes from my personal experiences. Me: 2280 prepless, 2380 with minimal self-prep (including a little help from AcademicHacker’s excellent essay guide, if any 2011 applicants are reading this–it was invaluable). Friend attending CMU: 2240, 800/800/640, prepless. Friend attending Penn: 2320 prepless. Friend-slash-acquaintance attending Columbia: 2260 prepless, 2360 with self-prep and, reportedly, a very excellent AP Lang teacher. I could go on. For the most part, the kids taking prep classes roundabout these parts are not the kids who score 2300+.</p>
<p>I really have no reason to believe that we are so special, so uniquely brilliant, that there aren’t thousands of applicants just like us. I think to do so would be rather arrogant of me. Thus, I extrapolate.</p>
<p>I suspect the truth lies somewhere between our realities.</p>
<p>If you’ve got the money to shell out and the service is legitimate, I say go for it. Some kids can afford prep classes, some kids can afford private tutors, etc. etc. The process is already so unfair already that I don’t see anything wrong with getting some extra help on an essay.</p>
<p>Hope Full: I’m from SoCal and pretty much none of my friends took standardized test prep classes; aside from maybe getting a test prep book, most of us went in with no prep at all the first time. Is it so hard to believe that standardized testing is easy for some people? </p>
<p>OP: if it’s a legitimate service and your brother really feels he needs the help, go for it. It’s no different that hiring a tutor to help get your grades up.</p>
<p>I agree with Haavain. There were about ten kids in my graduating class that scored above a 2100 and not a single one of us took any sort of prep class. One student is a presidential scholar semifinalist and five of the students in the group were accepted into at least one of the following schools: Harvard, Dartmouth, Cornell, MIT, UChicago, Rice, and JHU. The guy that was accepted into MIT (who got a 2200) I would say is brilliant, but the others are just your average really smart people. Most any top student can get above a 2100 on the SAT with an expensive prep class. </p>
<p>Every student I know that took a SAT prep class had average to pretty good scores (1500s to mid-1800s) and were poor test takers who were hoping to get a little boost.</p>
<p>Why are we debating SAT prep? The SAT is a standardized test. Standardized. It has patterns that can be decoded, and practice problems that can be, well, practiced. In short, the SAT can be coached.</p>
<p>hahahahaha i showed this thread to my brother and he actually read every post. i told him not to do it, but he actually brought his friend over the other day and the kid said that at his private school, the counselors and even an AP Lit teacher wrote essays for the students. is this true? i had no idea…if its true, then DANG. sucks for those of us who got in by our own merits or went to a public school!</p>
<p>anyways my parents are making him do 2 summer jobs to pay for it even though i told him i can read it or even write it for him hahaha</p>
<p>In my opinion, this is just stupid. And yes, it’s true that counselors and AP Lit teachers at private schools write essays for you. I attended a private from junior through senior year of high school at the time the only good thing in my application was my damn essay because our English honors teacher made it a class assignment and forced us to write one based on UVA’s essay topic lol. Then he graded them all…</p>
<p>anyhow, i guess those attending public schools can reason that using an essay editing service “evens” the playing field. it MAY, but even if you get into harvard, if your writing really sucks, you’d just flunk out just as easily as you got in! anyways if you’re still desperate, [url=<a href=“http://www.essayshark.com%5DEssayShark.com%5B/url”>http://www.essayshark.com]EssayShark.com[/url</a>] seems to be the popular one these days (just came home for the summer and I’m substitute teaching at my old HS. just saw their posters plastered all over our bulletin boards lol). But they sure have a knack for spamming my high school. </p>
<p>still pretty stupid in my view. why can’t everyone just GET IN by their own merits?? if you dont succeed the first time (like me), you can always transfer! youre like the people who pay $5000 a pop for SAT services just to increase your score by 10 pts. sheesh</p>
<p>“, it’s true that counselors and AP Lit teachers at private schools write essays for you. I attended a private from junior through senior year of high school at the time the only good thing in my application was my damn essay because our English honors teacher made it a class assignment and forced us to write one based on UVA’s essay topic lol. Then he graded them all…”</p>
<p>Assigning and grading college essays isn’t the same as writing essays for students.</p>
<p>Even in many public schools, AP and honors English teachers assign students one of the common app essay topics, but teaching students to write essays (that the students may or may not use in their applications) is very different than is writing essays for students.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t do it even it was for free. It’s just dishonest, and if his writing ability isn’t good enough as it is then he will have a bumpy ride at harvard anyways.</p>
<p>Can someone tally yes/no answers and then keep track going forward.</p>
<p>I’d say these services work, but I’ve never heard of anyone spend ~$1000… it’s essentially 1 log off! $100 is more in line with what you should be paying.</p>
<p>IMO, you can get some good advice for free, great advice for $10, and awesome for $100, $1000, $10K (Economics 101 - diminishing returns)…</p>