EssaySnark

  • about
  • contact
  • help
  • sign up
  • login
CLICK FOR MORE!
  • Essay Questions
    • Harvard
    • Stanford
    • Wharton
    • Chicago Booth
    • Kellogg
    • MIT Sloan
    • Tuck
    • NYU Stern
    • Columbia
    • Yale SOM
    • Berkeley Haas
    • UVA Darden
    • Duke Fuqua
    • Michigan Ross
    • UCLA Anderson
    • Cornell
  • Strategy Guides
    • MBA Reapplicant Guide
    • Pitching Entrepreneurship as Your Post-MBA Career
    • Applying to European Business Schools
    • School-Specific MBA Application Guides
      • Harvard 2022 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Stanford 2022 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Wharton 2022 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Kellogg 2022 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Chicago Booth 2022 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Columbia 2022 MBA Strategy Guide
      • *MORE SCHOOL-SPECIFIC GUIDES HERE*
  • MBA Consulting
    • Free essay reviews
    • What stage are you in?
    • Military MBA
    • Testimonials & Reviews
  • My SnarkCenter
    • My Strategy Guides
    • My Favorite Posts

EssaySnark is not an editor

September 13, 2012 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

Well, not really.

If you were to send your essays over for a little reviewsio by the ‘Snark, you should not expect to get a grammarly-perfect and perfectly-proofread essay back.

We don’t edit essays. Shucks, we won’t even write ’em for ya. Apparently there are all sorts of services out there that will do this. We’ve even seen companies that will write someone’s dissertation for them. (Really?? sheesh. This world is muffed up.)

We don’t do that stuff.

Our job in reviewing your work is still very editorial — in that we’re looking at things from the perspective of the all-important person: your reader. Your job in writing your essay is to COMMUNICATE CLEARLY. Our job in evaluating your essay is not only to check that you’re communicating the RIGHT things (in order to have a real chance at getting into the school you’re targeting), but we also care about HOW you’re communicating it. We take this part very seriously.

Here’s what an editor at Salon once said about editing:

Good editors work with and not against a writer. They calibrate how aggressively they edit according to how good the writer is, how good the piece is, the type of piece it is, the kind of relationship they have with the writer, how tight the deadline is, and what mood they’re in. But an editor’s primary responsibility is not to the writer but to the reader. He or she must be ruthlessly dedicated to making the piece stronger. Since this is ultimately a subjective judgment, and quite a tricky one, a good editor needs to be as self-confident as a writer. (emphasis added)

That bold part pretty much sums up our MO in working with Brave Supplicants. If we like you (because you’ve been polite, and friendly, and most especially if we see that you already did your homework before sending us any drafts by reading the blahg and using the advice we’ve already offered — and even more so if there’s evidence that you actually tried to incorporate our suggestions into your work when you went through your revisions) and if you didn’t ask for the impossible by sending us your first cruddy drafts two days before the deadline, and if we haven’t morphed into Oscar the Grouch due to too many really bad essays in too short a time, then we’re likely to be more liberal with you in pointing out the issues and mistakes.

But please note that, unlike a regular editor, we do NOT correct your mistakes. In fact, sometimes this would be BAD for you – if your essays are too perfect, and your AWA score is not, then the adcoms will know you got lots of help on the essays. And if your AWA score is perfect then you don’t need our help. Either way, it’s not our job to fix your spelling erros. That’s not what you’re paying us for.

Most of the time, we will comment on the first instance of where you did something goofy or awkward or just plain wrong (subject/verb agreement, missing articles in front of nouns, items in a series that are not parallel are three very common problems in this category). We might comment on it if you do it again. Especially if it’s a writing mistake that seems especially amateur and thus is irritating. You’re a businessperson. You should know better.

But please do not expect EssaySnark to do all the work for you. It would actually be easier on us to do it; going in and fixing someone’s muffed-up writing is way easier and takes way less time than going through the whole process of identifying what the mistake is and writing up a note on it so she can fix it herself. We’d probably breeze through the essays in half the time if we just went ahead and corrected the errors in the drafts.

The point of this whole snarky endeavor is not to tell you what to write, or how to think. Our possibly unrealistic goal with this here project is to help you do learn to do all that for yourself.

That whole teach ’em to fish thing, right? A sisyphean task, perhaps…


PS: If you’re still thinking about getting some help from EssaySnark for Round 1, you’d better get a move on. Those deadlines are peering out at you like monsters on the horizon. They are only going to get bigger and scarier. We’ll be helping you do battle all the way to the last minute but it’s much less stressful  – and your results are likely to be much stronger – if you don’t wait that long.

 

Filed Under: EssaySnark products & services Tagged With: grammar

« Previous: That’s more like it.
Next: How to be a leader, and how to reset the ethical compass – all in one post »

So who the heck is EssaySnark, anyway?!

We're the snarky experts in MBA admissions!

Sometimes amused and often appalled by what candidates write in their MBA applications to top bschools, EssaySnark created this little blahg to share common mistakes. Learn from them and avoid making admissions directors laugh (or want to hurl) when they read your essays. If you are hoping to have your essay reviewed anonymously on the blahg for free, submit it for consideration.

Want EssaySnark's personal assistance with your MBA applications? Start with our menu of consulting services and please read the Help FAQ to learn how we operate. Still have questions after doing all that? Email Team EssaySnark at gethelpnow at essaysnark dot com.

Good luck on your apps, Brave Supplicant!

Tell us what you think. Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign up for the 'Snark via email

Enter your address to get weekday blahg posts by email.

UPCOMING MBA APP DEADLINES

  • INSEAD Jan '24 Intake Rd 2
    in 3 weeks
  • INSEAD Jan '24 Intake Rd 3
    in 3 months, 0 weeks
  • INSEAD Jan '24 Intake Rd 4
    in 4 months, 2 weeks
   
   

CLASS OF 2025 MBA APPLICATION STRATEGY GUIDES

From a former BSer:
"love the guide books!"




    The 2022 Stanford MBA Application Guide - for "what matters most" in your MBA application!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Stanford GSB for the Class of 2025
   
    The 2022 Harvard MBA Application Guide - updated for the Class of 2025!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Harvard Business School!
   
  The 2022 Wharton MBA Application Guide - even more advice on how to get to a win with those essays!
SnarkStrategies Guide for The Wharton School - with clear guidance for the 2022 essays!
   
  The 2022-2023 Columbia MBA Application Guide
SnarkStrategies Guide for Columbia Business School for 2022-2023 applications
   
    The 2022 MIT Essay Guide covers the org chart, the cover letter and 'introduce yourself' video, plus the new optional short-answer question on "the world you come from" -- and everything else you need to know!
SnarkStrategies Guide for MIT Sloan MBA - totally revised for the Class of 2025!
   
    The 2022 Kellogg Essay Guide - with a full methodology to identify your 'lasting impact' and your 'values'
SnarkStrategies Guide for Kellogg MBA - revised for 2022!
   
    The 2022 UVA Darden MBA Application Guide gives insights on the essays, Early Action, the possibility of a test waiver, and everything else going on here!
SnarkStrategies Guide for the Darden MBA - updated for the Class of 2025 requirements!
   
   
The Yale SOM MBA Application Guide for Class of 2025 candidates!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Yale SOM - updated for 2022
   
    The 2022 Berkeley-Haas MBA Application Guide - updated for the Class of 2025 application!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Berkeley Haas - refreshed and updated, with brainstorming exercises and structured maps to help you focus your stories!
   
    The 2022-2023 NYU Stern MBA Application Guide that covers the essays, the EQ Endorsement and test strategies!
SnarkStrategies Guide for NYU - discusses your requirements for the Class of 2025 essays!
       
   
   
Get started now - without doing any work! The Comprehensive Profile Review will help you start your strategy for your MBA applications.


EssaySnark® is a registered trademark. All content copyright © 2010–2023 Snarkolicious Press · Privacy Policy