Ethical concerns? I can't decide whether I should purchase editing services

JSL17824

hello 7sages!

I'm considering buying editing services from 7sage or somewhere else, partly because I'm too busy (working 13+ hours a day), partly because I'm not an English native speaker. Paradoxically, the fact that i'm not a native speaker also stops me from buying editing service, because i'm afraid that the polished statement from David Busis will be too good to be mine.

I browsed a few top law schools' websites, Michigan Law School makes it explicit

May a foreign applicant who does not write well in English use a professional editing service to edit for language and style?
We expect that essays are the work of the applicant. It's one thing to show them to a friend or two for input, but we definitely frown upon a professional service. This is true whether the applicant is a native speaker or not; all too often, U.S. natives will hire "admissions consultants" to actually pen their personal statements, and we view that too as a violation of our expectation that all the work is that of the applicant. You'd be surprised how easily we are able to detect these professionally polished essays. We will often compare the writing style of the LSAT essay with that of the personal statement, for example, and when there's a stark contrast, we'll know why.

Some law schools have similar warning as well.

If it's ghostwriting by editors, it's no doubt a cheating and should be forbidden. But if I have worked hard to the best PS I can produce, and then buy the services I need to compensate my disadvantages (not living in the US, nor a native speaker), it's seems a little in the grey area to me.
But of course, if I know i'm going to have a editor help me, i may rely on him or her rather than trying my best at the very beginning of my personal statement.

I really appreciate all of your help and opinions! Thank you!

Jonathan Wang

Some rich people have the means to hire ethically-challenged folks to do all the work for them. That's just a fact of life, as UMich's website acknowledges. But as long as you're getting actual editing and consulting and not "editing and consulting (wink wink)" you'll be just fine.

When I do consulting work I have no interest whatsoever in writing peoples' statements for them, and I imagine most ethical consultants feel similarly. For me, the initial piece you come to me with will be entirely your own work, and any changes made will also be done entirely by you. I will brainstorm topic ideas with you, talk you through how you might tackle sensitive topics, probe for interesting linkages between different concepts and potentially ways to transition between them, work on structure and other such things with you, and so forth. But at the end of the day, you're still going to be doing all the writing.

As long as you hire non-sleazy people (who know what they're doing, of course), your interests will align and you won't cross the line.

Nicole Hopkins

@"Jonathan Wang" said:
actual editing and consulting and not "editing and consulting (wink wink)" you'll be just fine

LOL LOL!

mes08

Absolutely. I worked with David Busis and he definitely does *not* ghost write for you. He provides you with constructive criticism and helps you write the best essay that you can. Highly recommend working with him.

David Busis

Thanks, @mes08 .

@"Jason Lai", I don't write people's statements for them. I can critique your work and catch grammatical errors without smoothing out your idiosyncrasies.

Sheri123

I second @mes08 David is awesome & will encourage you to bring out your best work. It will definitely be in your own voice.

JSL17824

Thank you for all of your comments!
It's really a challenging, long-journey for me to study law school in the US, and i'm glad i have 7sage as my company during the two year. You guys always give me great opinions and advice!