<p>I posted a couple of my essays on essayforum to have them proofread. Colleges do want to see that you put effort into them right? But is this website a bad idea? Do they judge you based on the fact that you posted in it? I knew it was risky because no one guarantees it won't be stolen but I'm an international student and there isn't much help available to me here and I was looking to get as much feedback as possible. But recently it has been pointed out to me that it might have been a really bad idea. I have to pay to take down the threads! What do you think?</p>
<p>If you send colleges an essay that has been posted on the Internet for everyone to see, how will they know that you aren’t the one who stole it?</p>
<p>I read the following in the FAQ section of the website:</p>
<p>In simple terms:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You post your essay under YOUR OWN name (the one found in your profile).</p></li>
<li><p>The essay is indexed in search engines within several minutes to make sure it shows your name and the publication date.</p></li>
<li><p>Now - EVEN IF - someone copies your essay, they cannot claim they were the authors because the essay had already been published under your name and in the past date. Of course, it only applies to content that has never been published before (ie. you are not allowed to copy an existing essay/content from another site and post it here).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>It works the same in other online publications; you may copy-paste an article from the New York Times but if you tried to claim authorship, you would not be able to prove it (and you would be put in jail for theft ; ).</p>
<p>Should I still worry about my credibility? I’ve worked really hard and it would more than suck to waste everything for a mistake like this. Should I really pay to take down the threads?</p>
<p>How much does it cost to take down your threads?</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s a good idea to use the forum; people might not be able to copy your entire essay, but they will be able to lift parts of it and integrate it into theirs…especially for the supplements. I think it’s best to use a forum like the one here where you can just PM the essay to a single person without having the rest of the world see it.</p>