Should I hire a college essay writer, or write my essay myself?
Lately, I’ve been stressing a lot about my college essays, especially since English isn’t my strongest subject. Some of my friends have talked about hiring professional essay writers to help polish their drafts or even guide them through the whole process. I want my applications to stand out, but I also want them to be authentically me.
Has anyone here actually worked with a college essay writer? Did it make a big difference in your outcome? I’m really nervous about making sure everything in my application is my own voice, and I’m worried colleges could tell if I used too much outside help. If you did write your essay yourself, how did you make sure it was good enough?
Any advice or experience with this would be super helpful as I start figuring things out!
Has anyone here actually worked with a college essay writer? Did it make a big difference in your outcome? I’m really nervous about making sure everything in my application is my own voice, and I’m worried colleges could tell if I used too much outside help. If you did write your essay yourself, how did you make sure it was good enough?
Any advice or experience with this would be super helpful as I start figuring things out!
2 months ago
•
33 views
Daniel Berkowitz
• 2 months ago
Advisor
There's a difference between hiring someone to write your essay and working with someone who helps you figure out what you want to say.
The first is a waste of money at best, and a disaster at worst. Admissions officers read thousands of essays. They know what a 17-year-old sounds like. They also know what a 35-year-old trying to sound like a 17-year-old sounds like. It's not subtle. And if your essay voice doesn't match your interview, your teacher recs, or literally anything else in your application, that's a red flag that can sink you.
The second, working with a good consultant or coach, is just... how writing works. Every published author has an editor. Every CEO has someone review their emails. The goal isn't to replace your voice; it's to help you find it and sharpen it.
Here's what ethical help looks like: someone asks you questions you hadn't thought to ask yourself. They point out when you're burying the interesting part three paragraphs in. They tell you that your "most meaningful activity" essay is actually about the wrong activity. They push back when you're being vague or cliché.
What it doesn't look like: someone handing you a finished draft, rewriting your sentences, or telling you what story to tell.
As for doing it yourself, that's totally viable. Read your essay out loud. If you wouldn't actually say a sentence in conversation, cut it. Have someone who knows you read it and ask: "Does this sound like me?" Get feedback from your English teacher or counselor.
The essays that work aren't the most polished or eloquent. They're the ones that sound like an actual person wrote them and that person is interesting to talk to. Your job isn't to write a perfect essay. It's to write one that makes the reader want to meet you.
English not being your strongest subject isn't the obstacle you think it is. Clarity beats fancy prose every time.
The first is a waste of money at best, and a disaster at worst. Admissions officers read thousands of essays. They know what a 17-year-old sounds like. They also know what a 35-year-old trying to sound like a 17-year-old sounds like. It's not subtle. And if your essay voice doesn't match your interview, your teacher recs, or literally anything else in your application, that's a red flag that can sink you.
The second, working with a good consultant or coach, is just... how writing works. Every published author has an editor. Every CEO has someone review their emails. The goal isn't to replace your voice; it's to help you find it and sharpen it.
Here's what ethical help looks like: someone asks you questions you hadn't thought to ask yourself. They point out when you're burying the interesting part three paragraphs in. They tell you that your "most meaningful activity" essay is actually about the wrong activity. They push back when you're being vague or cliché.
What it doesn't look like: someone handing you a finished draft, rewriting your sentences, or telling you what story to tell.
As for doing it yourself, that's totally viable. Read your essay out loud. If you wouldn't actually say a sentence in conversation, cut it. Have someone who knows you read it and ask: "Does this sound like me?" Get feedback from your English teacher or counselor.
The essays that work aren't the most polished or eloquent. They're the ones that sound like an actual person wrote them and that person is interesting to talk to. Your job isn't to write a perfect essay. It's to write one that makes the reader want to meet you.
English not being your strongest subject isn't the obstacle you think it is. Clarity beats fancy prose every time.
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Daniel Berkowitz
New York City
Yale University - PhD in Theoretical Physics | NYU - BS in Physics
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9 years
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