Are they looking to see how well a student writes? Or what they have to say?
“even a single phrase”? Being too strict I would say. Some kids want editing, some don’t. Should be up to them.
I think that’s really excessive @joblue . Thomas Jefferson asked John Adams and Benjamin Franklin to look over the Declaration of Independence. Sometimes input from others is needed. What’s clear to one person isn’t always clear to another.
I am interested to know if you think this student cheated: He/she asked me to look over the supplemental essay to a tippy top college. The student is a very good writer. I read the essay, which contained a sentence about this person’s unique quality, but the student then said all people of the sex have this quality. I suggested that the student clarify what is unique about him/her, because the next sentence belied the previous one.
Was this cheating? Maybe I thought this student deserved a chance to rectify a simple oversight. Maybe in the student’s mind, the inference was clear, but it was not clear to me, an impartial reader. I don’t regard this as cheating.
Nearly everyone’s writing improves with another set of eyes.
Agreed.
But so does everyone’s math.
Does that mean that one could/should submit a math sample that is executed/edited for quality by a parent or consultant?
How about an art supplement?
This is not an easy question.
The art supplement I can answer. We’re constantly critiqued and edited during class when we’re creating work. While we’re the only ones with our hands on the paintbrush/pen, the professor will say “that line is wrong, you need to change it” or “you’ve got issues with your negative/positive space”. Very few artists create in a social vacuum, and they often are inspired by each other’s work.
“Picasso emerged within this complicated and uncertain artistic situation in 1904 when he set up a permanent studio in an old building called the Bateau Lavoir. There he produced some of his most revolutionary works, and the studio soon became a gathering place for the city’s vanguard artists, writers, and patrons. This group included the painter Juan Gris, the writer Guillaume Apollinaire, and the American collectors Leo and Gertrude Stein.”
This was (and is) very common behavior with artists.
At my D’s college, the student code of conduct says students “never represent the ideas or the language of others as their own.” This is the essence of most academic honesty and anti-plagiarism codes. The student must give proper attribution to sources and not submit the ideas or language of others as his or her own. So I think @Joblue is correct in saying that if parents or others actually compose a phrase in a student essay, that violates the code of conduct, But on the other hand, I see no problem with proof reading and pointing out that arguments are not convincing or language is unclear. Obviously it’s easy to slide into suggesting that the way to clarify it is to write such and such phrase instead, and that’s where you start sliding into violations of the honor code.
As far as I can remember, every single admissions session we’ve sat in has recommended the students get another set of eyes on their essays. Every single one.
Also, good writing is rewriting. This is what most people (especially kids) don’t get. If a kid is turning in his/her first draft, or even second draft IMO, this is not this kid’s best work.
Some people do not know the difference.
This is an entirely different thing from having someone else write the essay/do the math/draw the art.
To take the math example posed above–if you did the kid’s math and the kid turned it in as his own that’s cheating. If the kid said, “check my work?” And you say it’s right and the kid submits it, not cheating. But if you saw their work, and said, “hey, how could you apply this proof to lasso-ing the moon?” And the kid took that question and created a much more brilliant proof out of it, then that is also not cheating.
Art supplement-- Kid draws boring drawing. Teacher suggests, hey, make it sparkle by adding something else, maybe? Kid adds glitter and a frame. Product no longer boring. Not cheating.
@lindagaf, no, not cheating.
What about a “take home” SAT—Which is kind of what admission essays are supposed to be…I thought.
If the kid says “check my work” and someone fixes his math…
I’m just saying, it seriously disadvantages kids who, for whatever reason, actually submit their own work.
I better rethink my VERY limited involvement in the application process.
It seems that in the end it should just not be counted heavily or taken seriously if it is not exclusively the applicant’s own work.
That’s all.
@Joblue - suggesting edits to a student is not unethical.
@workinghard1234- a college essay is not a test. It is a personal essay. It should be the student’s decision whether to incorporate other people’s suggestions but as long as the student makes the changes himself I don’t see any problem with kids having help with essays.
@redpoodles has it right. Good writing is rewriting. All my kids teachers tell them to show their papers to other people for editing. My own professors had peer editing day in class. All the lawyers I work with use others for suggestions.
@LovetheBard I love it that you used the word “moreover” 
I am often asked to read essays for students (though I didn’t read my own child’s essay until she was about to hit “send”). I make constructive comments. For example, a swimmer was writing her essay about how juggling swimming and work in a very competitive private high school left very little time for sleep. It was a great essay but in 500 words, they used the word “sleep” at least 75 times. My advise was that, even though the essay was about sleep, the word did not have to be used so much. It was redundant. So, I suggested they either take out the old Thesaurus or rework some of the sentences so that the word wasn’t needed. That is the kind of advise that is pertinent. Not rewriting it. Once she made the changes, I just checked for grammar and typos and was done.
Highly polished essays stand out like a sore thumb and AdComs can pick up on them. For all these fancy folk getting thousands to get kids into tippy top schools, I still have not seen that their admits rates are any higher than a regular kid that did it one their own with the regular amount of assistance from parents and GCs.