<p>i still don't understand how turnitin has the right to go through people's personal blogs or journals though. but i guess if you put it on the internet, it ain't private no mo'.</p>
<p>i agree with daiikon. what about the privacy issues?</p>
<p>Damn, now I'm really nervous....I think I probably did send my essays to some wrong people.</p>
<p>Honestly, I think we should start a list of people who post to read essays and never respond. It may seem rude, but it's also for the protection of all of us. What do you think? </p>
<p>(the people I sent my essay to responded, and very well, too, so I don't have anyone to add)</p>
<p>We could, indeed. I have a few names to add.</p>
<p>According to a post by a moderator on another thread in this board, it would violate terms of service to list people who don't provide critiques after promising to. Apparently, that would be considered flaming.</p>
<p>I bet, however, it would be fine to list people who provide good critiques.</p>
<p>I also would think that a good way to screen people would be to avoid using posters whose only posts have been offers to read others' essays. I bet that such people are only looking for essays to steal.</p>
<p>I'm telling you guys, DO NOT POST OR PM ESSAYS ON CC. The majority of people might not steal or copy essays, but there ARE people who do. Don't send your work to random people on the internet. Would you feel comfortable telling your parents or college counselor that you did it? If not (and the answer should be No) then don't do it. It's not worth it. Even if you have a "CC buddy" that you trust, don't send them essays. The temptation to copy might be too great. And people can "inadvertently" copy--not deliberately plagiarizing, but taking your work and ideas. Don't give people that opportunity. DON'T DO IT. Ask people you know in real life: teachers, neighbors, parents, other family, maybe even pester your librarian. Random people on the web aren't somehow more qualified.</p>
<p>It happened to me, and I really regret doing it. I was lucky to find out about it; it may have happened more times without my knowledge.</p>
<p>Elihopeful -- what happened to you? I'm not asking you to name the person who stole your work, but to describe how it happened and how you realized it happened.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Honestly, I think we should start a list of people who post to read essays and never respond. It may seem rude, but it's also for the protection of all of us. What do you think?</p>
<p>(the people I sent my essay to responded, and very well, too, so I don't have anyone to add)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Or we could just all PM you our lists of people and you can keep the master list somewhere on your computer, to be PMed to anyone who requests it. That way no flaming goes on.</p>
<p>Also, a list of non-responsive people isn't going to guarantee safety. The person who took my work was helpful and responsive.</p>
<p>Edit: We exchanged essays over email and helped each other proofread/etc. The person sent me one essay that I felt was way too similar to an essay I had previously emailed to this person. The person had voluntarily sent me the copycat essay, innocently asking for proofreading help. The person did not deliberately plagiarize, but regardless of intention it was copied.</p>
<p>Yeah, but what about international students like me? I don't know anyone around here who knows what an American college application essay should be like. Especially my English teacher. We need CCers.</p>
<p>hmmm...this has me worried a bit, because I used like alot of my supplemental essays over and over again in my applications...say that MIT turned one of my essays in and found that it was basically the same as my Harvard and Yale supplemental....would that be counted against me?</p>
<p>and are you guys sure colleges use stuff like turnitin?</p>
<p>You're forgetting that a significant amount of people still turn stuff into them via mail, and I can't see adcoms typing ALL those essays out to get them into the system</p>
<p>landstander182 - You know how easy it is to scan a typed essay and then use a program to put it into word. The scanner recognizes the letters and puts them together with words and then you have an ESSAY.</p>
<p>I have the program, i use it a lot of times when i can't find document in my computer or i have to scan my textbook for pictures or important diagrams.</p>
<p>Sending your own essay to several colleges is normal and acceptable.</p>
<p>OneFry: There's plenty of info that you can find on-line about how to write college essays. Reading such info, which often includes good and bad samples, is a better and safer way to get essay advice than asking people on CC, some of whom may be plagiarizers, and some of whom may be very uninformed about what good essays are.</p>
<p>When essays were routinely posted on CC, I saw lots of really bad advice given by well meaning students. What students think are good or bad essays may be very different than what adults on admission and scholarship committees think are good essays.</p>
<p>Consequently, instead of having people here critique your essay, it's better to look at the various Internet sites and articles about college essay writing.</p>
<p>Here's an example of an on-line article about essay writing. This is from fastweb.com, which also has excellent advice about handling interviews and avoiding making common errors in your application.</p>
<p>"Be yourself. Choose a topic that is meaningful to you. Write in your own words. Write what you feel, not what you think the admissions committee wants to hear. "The essay is the candidate's opportunity to explain to us who they are and why they are unique," says Charlotte Lazor, associate director of admission information systems for Wesleyan University. </p>
<p>Don't overextend. Don't take on too big of a topic, and don't adopt a preachy tone. College admission officers don't want to be lectured on rainforest destruction. Instead, tell them how you became interested in environmentalism. </p>
<p>Be creative. Try to come up with something different. Remember that the people reviewing your essay have read hundreds -- if not thousands -- of essays. Don't give them one more "The Teacher Who Influenced Me Most" or "Drinking and Driving is Bad" essay to wade through. </p>
<p>Captivate your audience. Your essay needs to be engaging and memorable. Try to draw the reader in with a quick, enticing introduction. You want to catch their interest and give them a reason to finish your essay. "</p>
<p>Did anybody ever say whether or not sending an essay to a well-established CC PARENT is a bad idea? I know there is still some element of risk, but sometimes you NEED somebody, and those websites and books don't help as much as another pair of eyes.</p>
<p>Oh yes, I have read all those sites, several of them, but sometimes, what you think expresses yourself creatively might be the commonest thing ever. Personal appraisals are always better :). I second j07, as well. </p>
<p>I appreciate your point, but US students have parents, teachers, friends they can show their essays to, apart from CCers. Here, if I want to show someone my essay, I'll have to make them read the guidelines first, and it's too much of a headache.</p>
<p>I've heard about College classes using turnitin, but never College admissions</p>
<p>and think about it, if admissions used turnitin there would definitely be a BIG story on it like there were news stories that colleges were going to use your SAT writing scores to analyze how well your essays were written. </p>
<p>and i bet that so many people plagiarize a part of their essays that with the 2-3 million kids applying to college and writing essays, at least thousands and thousands of students would raise red flags of plagiarism past 80% on turnitin, then adcoms would have to go through the excrutiating task of figuring out who was the original writer and who was the copier...and with the workload they have, I doubt that they would have the time for that</p>
<p>It's a screwed up process, but hey what are you going to do?</p>
<p>i agree with icecreamman...i highly doubt they use turnitin.com for admissions...if they did, we'd definitely see an article about it...</p>
<p>oh yeah, i wasn't talking about admissions, just class essays. </p>
<p>most of the teachers/institutions that use turnitin have to inform the students that their paper will be subjected to the process, and they sign like contracts or something i suppose. it's a right to know kind of thing. i highly doubt college admissions could put our application essays through the same thing without their being some legal issues. they'd have to have a disclaimer or something on their website that says we're doing this and that.</p>