The past few days, I’ve hit the computer at 7am (Pitiful, I know. My vacation ends in a week and I still can’t sleep past 7 am.)
I check the local news and the NOAA Hurricane site, then hit College Confidential, where I come straight to the College Essays forum.
Where, inevitably, I find that someone has posted his or her essay for review/plagiarism overnight.
It doesn’t matter that it’s REALLY there for review. If it’s posted, you can fully expect that someone else will like it so much they’ll “borrow” it. And the essay that you worked so hard on becomes fodder for the plagiarism checkers.
Rule #1: DO NOT POST YOUR ESSAY ONLINE. EVER. EVER. EVER.
OK, you ask, then how am I supposed to get help? Easy. YOU select who sees your essay.
Rule #2: You want ONLY adults, with a proven posting history.
You can see the sticky at the head of this forum-- there’s a list of people who have agreed to do it. That may be hit or miss, since you may not know who is still an active member here. And it doesn’t weed out the people who may want your essay for the wrong reasons, or the ones with no experience in this type of writing.
You can start a thread of your own, requesting help. But here’s the thing: you want only adults with a proven posting history. While peer editing has its place, this is not that place!!
To determine whether someone is that adult, click on his/her screen name. Go to the left column, and click on “Threads.” That will show you threads they’ve started. You’ll find questions or comments about their kids (hint: they’re parents.) Or their students (Hint: they’re teachers). Or their spouses. (Hint: they’re old enough to be married. OK, technically that may mean 16 in some places.) Or their teachers / SAT scores/ Top college choices.(Hint: They’re still in school. Do NOT choose them!!)
You’ll also see the number of Likes they’ve received, along with the number of “helpfuls.” (Be careful, though. Very often we use “helpful” as a show of solidarity/support for someone going through a tough time.)
If you really want an idea of who you’re dealing with, read some of those threads. You’ll get a feel for the person, and have an idea of whether or not you’ll value his/her opinion.
Good luck!