We try to make it clear around here that we don’t edit essays (and we don’t think you should have them edited either). We don’t tell you what to write. We do critiquing and give massive amounts of feedback. We provide coaching and offer gobs of best practices on how to do this thing you’re trying to do. We’ll tell you if your profile looks like it could be in range for the schools you’re saying you want to go to. We know our advice works because of the results achieved by those who adopt it. One of our original mission statements was something to the effect of “So your adcom reader doesn’t want to hurl when reading your essays.”
We tell you what doesn’t work, and try to prevent you from making your reader have an unfortunate reaction when going through your materials.
But there are limits.
Every now and then, we get a Brave Supplicant who does something out-and-out wrong or totally weird in their essays.
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There are many, many ways to commit an unforced error as you put together your applications. Careful proofreading should not be among them.
And, our stance towards the client is something we take seriously. There needs to be proper distance and daylight between what the consultant offers, and what gets executed by the applicant. This is about applicant integrity, and all those ethics we tout regularly here on the blahg. If it feels like we’re spending more time reviewing your essays than you spent in putting them together in the first place, well, that means that the allocation of effort on this project is off balance. Your applications to bschool actually are not meant to be a team effort. You’re to come up with the pitch, to the best of your ability (which for most people, means pulling out your hair and hitting your head against the wall for awhile before the light starts to come on) — leveraging all the resources we have made available. And then we will be tickled pink to serve as a supporting role for you — more like coach when you’re trying for the Olympics, perhaps, but definitely on your side, and definitely rooting for you to succeed with all of our powers.
If that sounds like a setup that you can leverage for the win, we hope you’ll jump in and get started. We are available to be your coach and guide, and we can’t wait to roll up our sleeves and get to work on what you produce!!
Tell us what you think.