Aspen D

When sending out your essays over CC...keep these things in mind

1. Anyone can steal your essay or its ideas
2. Be wary of posters that have a low post count
3. Do a little research on the person you're PM-ing your essay to. Does this person only have posts in this essay section, do they help out others, have they been ont his board in various places for a while, how much general knowledge do they have?
4. Is it the best idea to get advice from other high school students? Ask parents, family friends, other adults. I'm sure some at the parents' cafe would be happy to help.
5. Just because someone claims to be something...doesn't mean they are. A poster may claim to be a freshman at some college, but look to see if he/she really is. Look at their last 50 posts...just grazing by what they're talking about.
6. Never identify yourself. Don't give personal information. It's fien that you're getting help, but don't trust this person to where you're giving out personal info.
7. Never take anyoen's suggestions if they seem random or off-the-wall. Trust yourself. Some people will go to any length to ruin another's essay.
8. If someone is applying to the same schools as you...don't send them your essay. It's just tempting them.
9. Think about this. If an adult was watching you...would they trust the saem poster as you would?
10. Don't state what school you're applying to in the thread name. If someone sees a name like Harvard, Penn, Stanford, Duke, etc....they're ten times more likely to want to read it...to improve their own essay. This is wrong and is cheating...dont let it happen to you.

Happy revising/editing!

Roger_Dooley

That's all good advice, Aspen D. There is lots of good help and advice here, but one should always be cautious about giving out too much information, either in the forums or by private message/email.

Aspen D

Hence number 6 :]

Ilovesoftball44

Thanks for posting this

genericgenius

thanks, this should be really useful.. it is!!!!

Aspen D

No problem.

ns347

which is why I would never post my essay online nor discuss it in detail. After being admitted...I wouldnt mind helping people out....but im not giving my essays away.

WindCloudUltra

Lol...I'm not comfortable giving away my OLD essays and I'm already in college.
I am however, willing to read some essays granted if I have time.

Venkat89

I read people's essays on CC. I always give feed back. There are many parents, and other CCers just like me. Some people give us a bad name.

Also, I cannot use other people's essays because I have a different voice, different expereinces, am applying to differet colleges, have different questions, and have a few morals. I find that CC is a good place to get your ideas checked and make sure you are on the right track. For the grammar and other editing, I recomend people consut a teacher or someone else in person where they can mark up the essay.

shleasmom

On a practical level I agree with the general gist of these precautions. I am a parent and browsed CC since 05. I officially joined the community this year, even so i do not feel it necessary to ‘post’ if others are already saying what potentially amounts to what I would. On the other hand I have often cautioned posters sometimes via PMs when they present too much, or ask others the type of information that could make them vulnerable to crazies. I am hyper-vigilant about security (especially now with DD in college on sites such as Facebook).

In terms of in internet communities, I limit my self to few- a couple professional sites and CNN, but have found CCers to be some of the most supportive and courteous folks. I have recommended the site to just about all the parents in my many affiliations.
Personally, having been involved with pvt independent schools for over 15 years I am always assisting kids with thier high school and college application planning. I love doing it and never hesitate when asked.

So, although I agree 100% with being cautious about privacy, in terms of essays; let me remind you that there are hundreds of essay-planning books, comprised of selected candidates’ authentic winning-essays -. It would be all too easy to copy from those. However, I also feel the majority of kids in the CC community are conscientious, ambitious and motivated who understand that the individual's voice is measured across the total application including teacher’s recommendations.
It is not unusual that an application fails on the fact that parts just do not reconcile.

My bit of advice would be just use care, think about how much he information in your drafts will identify you, e.g. change identifiers such as your school’s name, your towns or work places etc. AND if you have no one to help you review your work, you might miss an opportunity to get some assistance. Finally, the number of posts is not necessary criteria on which to measure a genuine community member or their intention.

korektphool

Well said Aspen D. Security is vital dans nos jours.

Aspen D

Shleasmom--I knwo that post count isn't always accurate, but it's one of those blanket safety rules. People with one post haven't built up credibility. That's all.

It's sort of like eBay. Do you feeel more comfortable buying froms omeone with 1394 reviews or someone with 8 reviews?

S2530S2

seems like korektphool (2 comments above me) is one of these essay thieves -_- go write your own essays dammit. and good post, Aspen D.

lilav89

we should have a feedback system, say someone asked to read and essay but they didnt give a response or advice back than they should have -1, on the other hand if they offer advice and reply they should get +1 feedback or we can use percents, for example someone could have 99% feedback, so we can be sure that people who offer to help will help. Don't ask me how to set it up I've seen it used in other forums and on ebay but I have no idea how it works, but hey it's just an idea.

Aspen D

I wholeheartedly agree with you lilav89....i think someone mentioned this in another thread as well....

admins, where are you guys on this idea? No? Yes?