essay website review

Best Essay Writing Service Reviews: Top 15

Quick Overview

Our current pick for the best website that writes essays for you is Customwritings.com . It’s a service that delivers great work that is recognized by best colleges. Choosing this site for essay writing is a wise decision.

Best essay writing service reviews according to the A*Help score (2024)

With hectic schedules and millions of things on your to-do list, it is extremely easy to get bogged down in daily routines without any chance to find a spare moment for your academic assignments. This is when custom writing services step in to throw a lifeline with their professional writers at your disposal to cover all possible topics and tasks – from essays to dissertations. But having to choose a reliable provider of essay writing services is another challenge due to scarcity of information and obvious lack of transparency and genuine reviews.

We have compiled a list of the best essay writing services that just get the job done for you, when you have a lot going on . You can also browse though our buying guide . For the sake of being clear and consistent with our judgment and assessment, we have introduced our own rating framework, called A*Help score. See How We Test Essay Writing Services for more details about our testing approach.

Our approach to essay writing service reviews

Our experts conduct mystery shopping by placing online orders with essay writing companies and analyze all vital aspects of the customer journey. We scrutinize how smoothly the ordering process unfolds and how customer support deals with inquiries and requests. We order papers from services – here you can read more about our testing scenario . Received writings are sent to US professors for evaluation through the same standards and criteria as those applied in US colleges and universities to ensure that the outcome can be projected on a real-life situation.

Three pillars supporting the A*Help score are Value for Money, Overall Experience and Paper Quality. In our opinion, they incorporate all important aspects of custom writing services to meet the needs of students and solve their problems. This is the first attempt in the essay writing niche to introduce a customer-first approach to choosing the best writing platforms.

TOP essay service reviews

According to our Mystery Shopping Reviews (2024) we can recommend the following legit writing services:

CustomWritings

One of the old-timers of the industry with more than 15-year experience in essay writing business. CustomWritings.com has earned an excellent reputation over the years and turned into a household name when it comes to writing essays and fulfilling academic assignments. This service should be given praise for consistency in its efforts to make quality and customer satisfaction their top priorities from top to bottom throughout all their processes. 

We audited CustomWritings.com with two college assignments, and they did really well across all reviewed aspects. Our US-based professor graded their paper with the highest score 92.6 out of 100 pts, pointing out flawless integrity (100%), spelling (97%), grammar (100%), punctuation (97%), clarity (100%) and objectivity (98%). Generally speaking, the platform produced excellent papers, reaching the second-highest result in our rating in this category. 

Our mystery shoppers were delighted with the level of communication with assigned writers about orders. The writers took time to find out our preferences and personal details to incorporate the data into their texts so that they align with potential customer writing style and personality.  

Minimum price per page starts at $10, but we would put this service into a somewhat pricey category since our average paper price was $81, which is above the industry medium level. But everything comes with a price and you get what you pay for, you know. With high quality papers, positive overall experience and value for money ratio, this website deserved the top position according to the A*Help score. They just get the job done and save a ton of students’ time. 

• High-quality papers
• Customer-oriented communication
• Lots of additional services
• No loyalty program
• Limited discounts

SpeedyPaper

SpeedyPaper is another established provider of essay writing services with 8+ years in this field. It’s a great outlet to meet your writing needs. 

Our assessment of the service is torn between two conflicting issues. The paper quality score in our rating (85.9) was high as both documents were well-composed by the writers, but there were minor flaws with word choice (77%), grammar (89%), and clarity (74%). On the other hand, we didn’t enjoy sufficient communication with their writers and were limited with payment options. Interaction with the author was low, which left us wondering whether the final result would comply with our personal preferences and traits to be incorporated into the essay. This furnishes room for improvement. Food for thought for SpeedyPaper.   

Other than that, the company is definitely to be recommended. They fall into a medium price segment, with the average price at $60.66. Minimum price starts from $9. Our orders were delivered ahead of deadline and customer support was helpful and responsive. 

We can say for sure that, according to Speedy Paper reviews, this platform puts customers first, and their writers are determined to produce the best results with their services. At the end of the day, the main goal of the essay writing company is to provide decent and plagiarism-free papers, which SpeedyPaper did quite well.

• Quality papers
• Responsive customer support
• Wide range of free and additional services 
• Limited payment options
• Low customer-writer communication

MyAssignmentHelp

MyAssignmentHelp.com was set up in 2009, and they are one more seasoned and reputable provider of online assignment help with affordable pricing. They claim to be budget-friendly, and it turned out to be 100% true.

Our online orders were both quoted at $40, which keeps their average price at a lucrative $40-level, the second lowest price in our rating. Low-priced segment always raises questions about integrity and paper quality. Can they deliver what they promise and advertise? Unfortunately, our experience with MyAssignmentHelp.com did prove the point that lower price comes with potential issues with results.

Our personal narrative essay by MyAssignmentHelp.com received 80.9/100 pts and our memo to the CEO was graded at 58.6. The latter score means that the article failed to meet the assessment minimum acceptance limit of 60 pts according to the US college grading methodology. Our assessor criticized the document formatting, labeling it “fair”, and pointed out issues with grammar (75%), word choice (51%), reference formatting and text efficiency (51%).     

In terms of service and overall experience, MyAssignmentHelp.com is a well-oiled machine and well-rounded business. They provide a vast array of free and additional services, users can largely benefit from discounts and their loyalty program, and their support is above all helpful. 

We will track MyAssignmentHelp.com and collect more data to support our rating and essay writing services reviews to back up our arguments with even more actual paper scores based on their delivered papers. 

• Affordable prices
• Fast order completion
• Great price-service ratio
• Not suitable for complex assignments
• Difficult-to-grasp pricing strategy

The next place in our TOP-10 rating belongs to EssayShark.com. This website is built around a bidding model when writers compete to get hired for orders. EssayShark was established in 2011. Sure thing, they belong to the top cohort of the legit essay writing companies. 

Our review of EssayShark showed that they perform very well in every department. Their papers are in the medium+ price segment. The charging policy is consistent regardless of the paper type. We paid $83 and $86 for our papers, which came to an average of $84.5. 

Speaking of the work’s quality, there isn’t a significant disparity between their evaluations either. The first essay (88.2/100) received high marks on nearly all fronts. However, efficiency (51%) and word choice (75%) were the only performance elements that left room for improvement.

On the other hand, the second paper (79/100) had its weak spots in citation formatting and references. In contrast, all other aspects were rated highly. This indicates a consistent level of quality across different assignments, with specific areas identified for enhancement.

All in all, EssayShark is a reliable provider that can be trusted to fulfill different academic assignments. Customers can be sure to receive their orders in a timely and due manner.   

• Meeting deadlines
• Robust refund policy
• High level of communication with writers
• No additional services

PaperHelp.org was registered in 2008 and their major focus is on developing custom academic papers. This is the most expensive website in our rating, with the highest price quoted for the paper in our shopping experience. We were charged a stunning amount of $108.29 for a 4-page memo to the CEO with a comfortable 7-day deadline. Our 6-hour paper request cost us $74.4, taking the average price to $91.35. 

We have pointed out that pricing of PaperHelp.org is the top-tier category. And many paperhelp.org reviews from students prompt them to expect great paper quality due to such high prices. With this in mind, let’s look at the scores received by their articles to see how the price and value compare. Both essays beat the expected grading minimum of 60 pts and came with high scores of 79.8/100 pts (personal narrative story) and 71.9/100 pts (Memo to the CEO). This leaves us wondering – are high prices justified in this case? To be frank, the highest price doesn’t guarantee the highest score, just bear this in mind, when you select any custom writing service. 

The site offers few basic payment options, but they have robust discounts and an interesting referral program. On top of that, customers can enjoy a wide selection of free and additional services and justified value for money traits. And, to answer the question “is Paper Help legit?” we will say that they do provide great essays which you can rely on.   

• A wide range of additional features
• Appealing discounts and loyalty programs
• Few payment methods
• Medium communication with the writer

CheapestEssay

CheapestEssay.com came online in 2014. They position themselves as an out-of-the-box essay writing service with affordable prices. We have audited both statements. 

First of all, our main verdict is that CheapestEssay.com stands out as one of the best services in the low-budget category, although not “the cheapest”, but still affordable. The average paper price for our orders turned out to be $44.07 ($40.72 and $47.42 respectively), which is a good start. 

Second of all, their submissions were graded with mostly positive scores, nothing remarkable but well-rounded and elaborate. The personal narrative essay was a tiny bit short and the papers showed lackluster results in terms of the text efficiency (51%), clarity and objectivity.  

Our experts were picky about the overall experience, citing the low communication with the writer and laid-back attitude of support not rushing to solve our customer problems. 

CheapestEssay.com provides great value for money, offering diverse free services, affordable prices and above-average writing standards. It’s a solid and versatile provider of essay writing services.    

• Affordable pricing
• Wide selection of free and paid extras
• Fine quality of work
• Timely delivery
• Poor customer service
• PayPal inaccessibility

With their bluebird brand mascot resembling a distant relative of another famous tweeting bird, EduBirdie.com has been trusted by students since 2015. Medium prices, acceptable quality of papers and generally positive overall experience make this website almost as good as they describe themselves. But for small and recommended tweaks in all our reviews categories.

The average article price was $72.55, which is far from being the cheapest, but still acceptable. There was a slight difference with quoted prices for our orders – $65 and $80.1.   

Essay quality score received 74.3 pts with the papers varying in terms of assessment from the very good document formatting of the personal narrative essay (83.9/100 pts) and the lacking document formatting of the memo to the CEO (64.7/100 pts). Paper aspects such as text efficiency (51%), word choice (52%) and grammar (67%) left room for improvement.  

Value for money could be boosted by introducing more additional services and payment methods. The writer’s communication within our orders was medium, as almost everything with EduBirdie.com. If we express our opinion in sports terms, this website is a strong and balanced team in the middle of the table that is never relegated to lower divisions, but always has good chances of getting one step closer to the top of the league through hard work and a bit of luck.

• Active support team
• Variety of free services
• Quick paper completion
• Lack of payment methods
• Above-average results across all categories

EssayPro.com is the absolute winner in terms of paper prices. The site beats its peers with the bottom-low average price of $35.63. Scandalous prices of $32.49 and $38.76 could make you ask questions like “is Essaypro legit?”. Or, on the other hand, they could easily make you forget about all other aspects – shut up and take my money!   

We, of course, take a more balanced approach, scrutinizing EssayPro.com and its writers from all possible angles. 

This website came out of the blue for many industry veterans, disrupting the traditional way of doing business with its low-budget pricing and aggressive marketing approaches. Let’s look at what’s going on under the hood of EssayPro.com.

Their biggest bet is the low price – do they manage to make it work as a sustainable business model? Can they ensure excellence of their papers? We would say that it can be a gamble. We got one of our essays, the personal essay, written very well and received 89.7/100 pts from the US professor. It drove us to believe that EssayPro.com may have found some magic formula or well-trained AI-algorithm to compile fine writings with low prices. But the harsh reality struck us with the second order, which failed to reach the grading limit of 60 pts scoring 58.7/100 pts. The main drawbacks included formatting (31%) with missing elements, low attention to details, punctuation (51%), and text efficiency (51%). Students’ time is too precious, and few have enough of it to spare for improving what they’ve paid for. With the overall paper score of 74.2 pts EssayPro.com tanked down our charts.      

We had a really great overall experience with this website since they have helpful and responsive support, various payment options and high communication with the writer. Almost perfect overall experience, we would say.

EssayPro.com doesn’t offer any additional solutions, but you can count on a discount provided upon registration. If it hadn’t been for the lapse with the quality of one of our papers, we would have called EssayPro.com the best and most valuable essay writing service. We hope they will earn this title through our future mystery shopping efforts.

• Early paper completion
• Moderate paper quality
• Lacking discount and loyalty programs

Interesting service claiming to operate the AI-powered platform, quickly connecting customers with hundreds of their freelance writers. But, since it uses artificial intelligence, is Gonerdify legit at all? The website utilizes a social-first approach taking their business interaction to messengers instead of traditional channels. Their “nerdy” positioning and a so-called AI-approach which in reality is supported by human operators comes at a pricey $88.2 on average ($82.8 for the personal essay and $93.6 for the memo to the CEO). Generous discounts and referral options serve as sweeteners to attract new customers.    

Using messengers for user interaction implies responsive support and convenient payment scenarios. Although the communication with the writer could have been better. 

When it comes to our favorite point of paper quality, “the Nerds” provided us with good, but not the best works. The memo to the CEO hardly made it to 64.1/100 pts, beating the grading limit by a thin margin, and the personal narrative essay did much better with 79.2/100 pts. In total, paper quality stood at 71.65 pts which is somewhere in the middle of our desired range. Nothing to complain and nothing to brag about – issues included punctuation (51%), fair formatting and text acuity (59%).

Those who prefer text messengers for their speed and convenience could benefit from ordering essay writing services from GoNerdify.com.

• A wide range of free and extra services
• Varied payment methods
• Poor writer-customer communication

CheapWritingService

This company has been in the market of academic writing services for over 15 years, having accumulated a vast pool of professional authors and a community of satisfied customers during this time. The service distinguishes itself from others with exceptionally quick turnaround time and a risk-free pay-on-delivery work model.

What’s the price tag for these benefits? The cost for a personal essay stood at $54.40, while a CEO memo was priced slightly higher at just $3 more, averaging an industry standard of $56. The narrow price difference between the two distinct papers underlines the affordability of this pricing, making it a cost-effective option for those seeking quality writing services.

The first paper (63.1/100) nearly aced all mechanical aspects, spanning from spelling to word choice. However, it fell significantly short in the area of reference formatting. The scholarly references provided didn’t measure up, and it lacked a reference list altogether. Additionally, the absence of in-text citations was a notable drawback that impacted the final score.

Conversely, the memo to the CEO (79.7) exhibited better structuring, with only minor formatting glitches and errors in the reference section header. The subpar quality of academic references was flagged as well. Regarding the general mechanics of the paper, it’s hard to find fault – every aspect scored above 90%, showcasing a high level of proficiency. 

CheapWritingService excels in delivering high-quality customer support, offering additional options to lower the final cost of the order, and presenting various payment options. These features embody what one would anticipate from a reputable company, catering to its clientele’s diverse needs and preferences.

• Helpful support
• Many free and paid services
• No loyalty programs
• Quality may vary

Final thoughts on college paper writing service reviews  

We are committed to providing unbiased opinion and essay writing services reviews without prejudice and unfair treatment. Our mission is to provide true reviews that can be used as guidance for informed customer decisions to hire the best providers that put quality at the top of their business agenda. We do hope that the A*Help score can serve as the North Star showing the way for travelers in the land of academic assignments.

Best essay writing services – May 2023 Update

As life never remains still, rapid transformations are inevitable in all sectors, including the academic services industry. As newer and better offerings continue to emerge, A*Help stays in sync with these changes to provide students with more options to choose from. Thus, we’re excited to introduce new, superior-quality companies that have earned a spot on our 2023 list of the best in the field .

99Papers is an excellent essay-writing platform that collaborates with professional independent authors. The company affirms that all its staff members are meticulously chosen and their academic credentials are verified.

Our study showed that the 99Papers consistently excels across all evaluation criteria we used. The service is clearly user-oriented and provides an expansive array of free and paid offers. The flexibility in payment options, including credit cards and PayPal, will likely appeal to numerous users. We paid $55.08 for the essay and $63.26 for the memo. This indicates that the company reasonably charges clients.  

The work’s quality did not let us down either. On the contrary, it exceeded our expectations. Both documents were rated quite highly. The personal essay earned a score of 95.3, while the memo received 78.9, which is considered high for technical writing based on our experience and observations. The personal essay nearly hit perfection in all its elements, scoring between 90-100% for each. The only aspect that slightly faltered was objectivity, standing at 79%. Regarding the memo, despite some notable issues in formatting and the references section (80%), the rest of the components performed as well as they did in the essay. 

The A*Help score of 85.5/100 effectively sums up our collaboration. 99Papers stands as an excellent choice for anyone in search of a dependable partner for all sorts of writing needs.

• High quality of papers
• Plenty of free and paid services
• Nice loyalty and referral programs
• Unlimited revisions
• Missing Google Pay and Apple Pay
• Poor communication with writers

Academized represents another writing platform that offers a comprehensive suite of academic writing solutions, catering to everything from minor homework tasks to major projects such as dissertations. The company assures swift delivery of completed works, along with student discounts.

The service truly offers fine value for money. Customers can select their preferred writer from multiple available choices and academic levels, and numerous supplemental features can be added to enhance their paper. The average cost for our orders was $69.97 ($63.73 for essays and $76.20 for memos), which aligns with the standard market rate. 

Academized performed impressively on both assignments we ordered. The essay received a score of 94.3, and the memo to the CEO – 80.2. The average grade for the two papers stands at 87.25. The areas of improvement include issues with formatting, vertical and horizontal spacing in particular, and certain inconsistencies in citation formatting.

Nonetheless, some aspects of the company’s operation disappointed us as users. The standard customer support is a little limited and of average effectiveness, while personalized help comes at an extra cost. 

Although some drawbacks, such as the demanding registration process, subpar quality of basic customer support, and limited payment choices, were discovered, Academized is a dependable writing service. It consistently delivers well-written essays within the specified timeline.

• Variety of free features
• Extensive discount program
• No communication with writers

Affordable Papers

When an online business has managed to sustain and grow for nearly two decades, it clearly indicates its excellence and the trust it has garnered from users. Affordable Papers is precisely such a company, promising to carry out your work perfectly, and as its name implies, it offers everything at a reasonable cost.

The two assignments we ordered cost $51 and $64, placing the platform in the medium price range with an average cost of around $58 per order. It is indeed very affordable, as the name declares. Furthermore, customers are given the option to split their payment, paying 50% upfront and the remaining 50% after the paper completion. 

The quality of work delivered by AffordablePapers was impressive, with a personal essay scoring 91.8/100 and a memo to the CEO – 72.9/100. Both assignments scored highly for technical aspects like length, grammar, punctuation, and reasoning. However, they also experienced formatting issues relating to spacing, margin control, and citation formatting. Despite these minor defects, the overall writing level was very good. 

AffordablePapers’ customer support was responsive and helpful, accessible through various platforms, including a 24/7 chat. Our interactions with the assigned writers also went well; they clarified task requirements and communicated about adjustments made. 

Overall, our experience with Affordablepapers.com was largely positive, but with more diverse payment options, the service could potentially rank even higher.

• Variety of extra services
• Helpful customer support
• Good paper quality
• No variety of payment options
• Limited options for free extras

“Do my essay” is the request this company seeks to hear from its clientele. It assures that the team of writing professionals consisting of native speakers and university professors, will take care of all sorts of academic writing assignments. 

What primarily catches the users’ attention are the incredibly low prices. We were charged around $36.60 on average for our essay ($34.20) and memo ($38.40). While discounts are minimal, we still managed to receive 5% off our first order. 

Domyessay demonstrated remarkable quality in our papers. The personal narrative scored an impressive 93.5 out of 100 points, while the business memo received 78.1 points. The final grades were primarily taken down by issues with formatting in the essay and poorly organized citations and references in the memo (51%). Despite these problems, both papers were well-structured and followed instructions, with excellent grammar and spelling (100%), suggesting that Domyessay’s writers are competent and dedicated.

The intuitive interface and effective customer support immediately create a positive experience. Among the most felt shortcomings is the difficulty establishing communication with the writers, which is often critical for personalized tasks. Overall, Domyessay provides a satisfactory experience, though certain areas can be improved.

• Free plagiarism report
• Limited payment methods

GradeMiners

Grademiners is ahead of many in providing value for money, with customer satisfaction levels that surpass many industry veterans.

The prices are reasonably set in the lower-middle range, with our essay costing $53 and the business memo a dollar less. Though the minimum price per page is $14.59, the extensive array of free services should compensate for this. The company provides enticing discounts, such as a 15% on your first order and a referral program that offers $50 rewards. We were also impressed by their adherence to deadlines, with our orders arriving well before the due time. 

As for the quality, the results of the personal narrative essay and business memo were 78.6/100 and 65.1/100, respectively. Both papers showcase excellent grammar, spelling, and punctuation, with the essay standing out for its word choice. Yet, their reasoning and logic failed, particularly in the personal essay. Both documents struggled with formatting, especially the memo, as it has more specific requirements for structuring. Despite exceeding the minimum acceptable score of 60 pts, it’s essential to consider these factors when opting for Grademiners as an academic writing service.

Grademiners’ overall user experience leaves a lasting impression. Their customer support is exemplary, with prompt and professional representatives ready to assist with all sorts of inquiries. Although our contact with the writer was minimal, the possibility to engage in more extensive communication is there, further facilitated by the supportive customer service. 

Summing up, it is a solid essay-writing provider. Good value for money, reasonable prices, and an assortment of free and paid services are among its merits. Users should also expect to receive well-written assignments. 

• Rich choice of free and paid additional services
• Responsive and helpful customer support
• Google Pay, PayPal not available
• May be pricey without discounts

Our methodology and testing scenario

Here is what we asked to write:

Paying Attention to the Right Features: Buying Advice for Essay Writing Services

Reading reviews is a good way to learn which writing services are better than the others. But what if there are a few good ones? How do you decide between seemingly similar platforms? There are some specific features that you can pay attention to so that you won’t miss a gem.

Versatility of Services

If you decide to work with an essay writing platform, look to get as broad of assistance as you can. Notice which features the website offers to give you for free. Do they offer revisions? Is there any quality assurance? Can you add something like references or a title page? You should also pay attention to additional features. The more there are, the less you will have to worry about bringing your assignment to the ideal format.

Prices can vary, as well as your budget, but getting a few % off your order will always be a huge plus when it comes to assignment help websites. Look at the platform’s first-order coupons, loyalty programs, and referral opportunities. They will help you find a service that cares for its customers and doesn’t skimp on discounts. 

Customer Support

Sometimes, the ordering process can get confusing. Or you are getting anxious about not finding the right writer. All you need to solve these problems is to turn to customer support. It should be convenient to talk to, that’s why a 24/7 on-site chat or a social media contact is always a huge advantage. The agents should be responsive and quick to answer, in case you need something arranged immediately. A good client support system is always a sign of a highly-functional organization.

Paper Quality

Of course, you can’t know how good of a paper you will receive without making at least one order. As it is a very important aspect of an essay writing service, it’s a good idea to scroll through review websites like Reddit, Sitejabber, Trust Pilot, and Reviews.io to find what previous customers have to say. And if you don’t want to go through all that trouble, you can just read through the A*Help reviews. They always include paper quality in their analysis. 

You need to be able to revise your work at least a few times without paying additional costs. It’s your right as a customer to get your work to the result you want. So, don’t forget to look through the website’s revision policies or inquire in the support chat regarding the specifics. 

Why academichelp.net is a credible source of information:

Stay curious with us. Academichelp.net has been a reliable educational resource since 2011, providing students with the latest news, assignment samples, and other valuable materials. Even with the extensive information we process, our quality remains consistent. Each team member has experience in education, allowing us to evaluate new sector offerings critically. Our reviews are up-to-date and relevant, with impartiality ensured by the A*Help score methodology from mystery shopping. We aren’t affiliated with any listed service providers. Our focus remains on providing our audience with reliable and unbiased data.

Follow us on Reddit for more insights and updates.

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Unsolicited - verified purchase, solicited - verified purchase, ratings on other platforms.

EssayPro has a rating of 4.8 stars from 26,090 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally satisfied with their purchases. Reviewers satisfied with EssayPro most frequently mention great work, timely manner, and easy process. EssayPro ranks 2nd among Education sites.

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“Live communications with the writers so YOU can tell...”

Live communications with the writers so YOU can tell them what you want, I thought that was great. They bid on the work to do it for you so you can bargain a price, be aware the system does set a minimum price and they can't go lower than that. The bedside is well setup to be honest.

“Great service so far”

Great service so far. From the initial registration of my assignment I received a phone call instead of communication through the online tool. I felt very better knowing that they really care to understand your individual needs.

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Welcome to EssayPro - where students trust our team of pro experts with years of experience and hundreds of satisfied customers. We offer a wide range of services, including help with essay writing, editing, proofreading, and more, capable of handling tasks of any complexity. During 2021, we finished 300,000 assignments. Every month, our experts crafted 25,000 new assignments, with a daily influx of 850 fresh tasks. We understand the financial struggles of students, which is why we offer affordable and student-oriented prices. Our mission is to provide you with quality help with assignments that meet your academic needs. Our platform is like a fortress, offering you complete security and anonymity for a worry-free experience. Our support team is on standby 24/7 to assist you, and we even back our service with a money-back guarantee. Trust us with your academic success - order now!

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14 Best College Essay Services for 2024 (40 Services Reviewed)

Research conducted by Emily Kierkegaard , PhD, and expert-reviewed by Kevin Wong, PrepMaven Co-founder

Not sure which college application essay coaching and editing service is the best? We compared the top 40 services, created in-depth reviews for 14 of them, and narrowed it down to the 4 best that will help guide you through the process of writing amazing college application essays.

What is the Best College Essay Service?

• PrepMaven  – best college application essay service overall
• College Essay Mentor  – best for individual consultants
• The College Essay Guy  – best for unlimited essay assistance
• College Vine  – best of the big platforms

The best of the rest:

Individual essay consultants:

• College Essay Editor  – small editing team
• Allison Karpf  – former English teacher helping students
• Your College Vision  – former journalist with more affordable rates
• The College Guru  – good on paper but unresponsive
• Sofia Zapiola – budget-friendly application assistance

Mid-size teams:

• Lotus Learning  – focus on health sciences

Large platforms:

• Study Point  – larger platform with mystery editors
• Ivy Select  – larger platform with mystery editors
• Empowerly  – larger platform with mystery editors
• BeMo  – expensive and aggressive with wrong expertise

Schedule a college essay consultation

Best College Application Essay Services in 2024

#1 – prepmaven.

Our Verdict — Best College Essay Assistance Overall Price: $79–349/hour (minimum $510 package) PrepMaven’s one-on-one college essay assistance is the best option overall. Founded by brothers and Princeton grads Greg and Kevin, almost all of PrepMaven’s essay coaches have Ivy-League experience, primarily from Princeton and Harvard. All essay coaches also undergo a thorough training program in PrepMaven’s methods, developed by professional writers with deep understanding of the college admissions process, for helping students to discover the most compelling stories for their essays. Unlike other services, PrepMaven offers college essay assistance at several different price points. At the most accessible rate, students can work with current Ivy-League undergraduates who specialize in writing and have recently aced the college application process. At higher rates, students can work with coaches who are both Ivy-League grads and professional writers (screenwriters, journalists, editors) with many years of experience helping students to craft compelling essays. Interested students can even work directly with founders Greg and Kevin, who have over 15 years of experience helping students through the entire essay-writing process. PrepMaven’s services combine many of the best features of other good options into one, and it’s hard to beat their experience.

Sign up for PrepMaven’s college essay help now

Any student wanting college essay help, at any point in the process, with a range of budgets.

At a glance:

• Cost: $79–349/hour (minimum $510 package)
• Writing coach qualifications: Princeton graduates and professional writers (or current Princeton students); all trained

What we like:

• Ivy League experience —most of their writing coaches are Princeton grads or current students, with some from Harvard and other Ivies
• Different pricing options to meet different families’ circumstances
• More flexible and greater capacity to take on new students compared to individual consultants

Sign up for PrepMaven’s college essay help

#2 – College Essay Mentor

Our Verdict — Best of the Individual Consultants Price: unknown but high Some college essay consulting services consist of just one expert. Of these individual essay consultants, Chris Hunt at College Essay Mentor is our favorite. He combines writing experience as a journalist for the Economist and the Wall Street Journal with personal experience as a graduate of Dartmouth. However, he only works with a small number of students each year, and students need to apply to work with him — he only accepts students with top grades and test scores who are already strong applicants for top schools. Chris offers the option for one-time written feedback, but this only gives big-picture generalizations. (And written-only feedback is always limited.) In order for help with the essay process, students need to purchase a complete essay package.

Students with top grades and test scores who want to work with a one-person business, who have a sizable budget, and who are ready to get started early.

• Cost: $210 for a one-time written essay feedback (big picture only), then $110 per draft feedback; pricing for essay process packages unknown
• Essay coach qualifications: professional journalist, Dartmouth grad
• Professional writing experience as a journalist
• Extensive experience working with college applicants
• Partners with Debra Felix, former Director of Admissions at Columbia, for full application review

What we don’t like:

• One-on-one work is limited to very high-achieving students, who need to apply with a resume : “I limit my one-on-one work to students who I believe will be strong applicants to elite universities. As a rule, this means having high grades in challenging classes, a test score of ACT 34+ or SAT 1500+, and substantial activities outside of the classroom.”
• Works with a limited number of students (60 per year), so often no availability
• All-or-nothing packages don’t allow students to work with Chris for just a few hours or for part of the essay-writing process
• Secretive about pricing (he’ll only give pricing details once he’s reviewed the student’s resume and agreed to work with them), but we expect the minimum cost of working one-on-one to be several thousand dollars

#3 – The College Essay Guy

Our Verdict — Best for Unlimited Essay Assistance Price: $4900 for application to 3 schools, $8050 for application for 10 schools We’re fans of Ethan Sawyer, the original “college essay guy”— his book, College Essay Essentials , is a great guide to the essay-writing process. Ethan doesn’t work directly with many students these days, but he now has a team of consultants who help students follow his principles. Their assistance is really all-or-nothing — they prefer to work with students from the very beginning of the process, and their minimum package is $4900, which includes assistance with essays for three schools. If students are applying to ten schools (a more realistic number for students aiming at competitive colleges), the fee is a hefty $7400.

Students who want unlimited help through the entire process, who have a sizable budget.

• Cost: $4900 (supplemental essays for 3 schools) – $7400 (supplemental essays for 10 schools)
• Essay coach qualifications: mix of Ivy grads and former teachers, some writers/screenwriters; all trained
• Great free resources about the essay-writing process
• Their Matchlighters Scholars Program gives back to the community by providing admissions consulting for select qualifying students
• All-or-nothing packages have a high minimum fee and don’t work for students who want just a few hours of feedback or help with just part of the process

#4 – College Vine

Our Verdict — Best of the Big Platforms Price: $140–180/hour There are plenty of large platforms with large stables of part-time tutors and coaches available to work with students. Of these big platforms, we think CollegeVine has the best offerings. Compared to other large companies, CollegeVine provides more information about their tutors, and students can pick individual tutors to work with from their roster. However, this model is really just a way of finding individual tutors to hire. Tutors don’t receive any training and don’t share a common approach, so it’s a mixed bag. Their rates are fairly high for part-time tutors who don’t have specific expertise and training in college essay consulting. Because CollegeVine is really just a marketplace where individual tutors can find students, the quality and price will vary widely.

Students who want to work with a big company, or those who want a quick session or two to go over their essays.

• Cost: Typically $140–180/hour
• Essay coach qualifications: no specific qualifications, but a few are Ivy League graduates
• Possible to select individual editors to work with from their roster.
• Easy to schedule ad-hoc sessions with a tutor through the website.
• No training or common approach for tutors
• Editors are part-time , with no option to work with full-time college admissions experts
• Relatively expensive for this level of expertise

College Essay Editing Alternatives (that Didn’t Make the Cut)

Individual essay consultants, #5 – college essay editor.

Our Verdict — Small Editing Team Price: Roughly $5,950 for applications to 10 schools College Essay Editor comprises two graduates of Stanford. This means that they have personal experience applying to highly competitive schools. One member of the team also has a college counseling certification, which is a good background for college essays. Based on their website, they appear to focus on the editing and proofreading phase of the essay-writing process. This can be helpful to students, but we recommend working with a service who can help students to uncover their values and brainstorm really great material that allows them to really shine—and if this doesn’t happen at the beginning of the process, it’s much harder to add in later on.

• Cost: $195/1000 words for proofreading, $495/1000 words for 3 rounds of editing and proofreading, or $595/1000 words for unlimited rounds of editing and proofreading; for the purposes of comparison, complete applications to 10 competitive colleges would be around 9,650 words, or $5950.
• Writing coach qualifications: Stanford graduates, one of whom has college counseling certification
• Editors are graduates of Stanford University , and one is a member of NACAC, the national association of college counselors
• They focus on editing and proofreading only , not on the crucial earlier steps of brainstorming and strategy
• Small team with very limited availability
• All asynchronous editing so you won’t be able to cultivate a real relationship with your essay coach.

#6 – Allison Karpf

Our Verdict — Former English Teacher Helping Students Price: $385/hour or $3850 package for application to one school Another option for students looking to hire an individual consultant is Allison Karpf. Allison is a former high school English teacher and a graduate of UC Berkeley who also holds a Masters of Education from Stanford. Her rates are definitely on the higher side, especially for someone who doesn’t have a professional writing background, but she does have extensive experience working with students to craft their essays.

• Cost:  $385/hour or $3850 unlimited counseling (includes supplemental essays for one college)
• Essay coach qualifications: former high school English teacher; Berkeley grad, Stanford MEd
• Lots of experience helping students improve their college essays
• Very quick to respond to client requests
• No professional writing experience or Ivy-Plus undergraduate experience
• High rates relative to other options
• Limited availability , since she works alone

#7 – Your College Vision

Our Verdict: Former Journalist with More Affordable Rates Price: $180/hour, or packages starting from $3500 Laurie Lande is another individual consultant who helps students through the essay-writing process. She comes recommended by other consultants like Chris from College Essay Mentor . Laurie did not herself attend a highly competitive school, so she doesn’t have that personal experience of going through the selective admissions process, but she does have a professional writing background as a journalist for the Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong.

• Cost: $180/hour or packages starting at $3500
• Essay coach qualifications: journalism background
• Affordable pricing , relative to other options
• Not a graduate of a highly selective school

#8 – The College Guru

Our Verdict — Good on Paper but Unresponsive Price: unknown Yet another individual essay consultant is Geanine Thompson from The College Guru. Geanine attended Dartmouth as an undergraduate and also holds an MBA from Duke. She also has a professional writing background as an assistant book editor at Berkley Publishing Group. Like Greg and Kevin at PrepMaven , she combines experience in the business world and at Wall Street firms with experience in education.

• Cost: unknown
• Essay coach qualifications: former assistant book editor; Dartmouth grad, Duke MBA
• Dartmouth graduate and former book editor
• Not responsive to emails and client requests

#9 – Sofia Zapiola

Our Verdict — A budget-friendly, personal essay editor. Price: $80/hour Yet another individual essay consultant is Sofia Zapiola, who offers a mix of essay editing and college application counseling services.

• Cost: $80/hour
• Essay coach qualifications: M.A. from Harvard; certificate in College Counseling from UC San Diego.
• Individual approach, budget-friendly rates, commitment to working within families’ budgets.
• Very few testimonials, so it’s difficult to evaluate how effective she is.

Mid-size Teams

#10 – lotus learning.

Our Verdict — Expensive for Tutor Background Price: $165/hour Founded by a Harvard grad who is a former teacher and veteran of the publishing industry, Lotus learning offers college essay help in the Boston area. They have a small team of tutors, mostly recent grads from good but not Ivy-Plus colleges, and mostly with focus in health sciences.

• Cost: $165/hour (minimum 8 hours)
• Essay coach qualifications: tutors are recent grads, but not Ivy-Plus schools
• Reasonable pricing with flexible packages
• Essay editors aren’t graduates of Ivy-Plus schools and don’t have professional writing experience

Large platforms

#11 – study point.

Our Verdict — Larger Platform with Mystery Editors Price: Rates Between $60 and $120/hr Study Point is a larger essay editing service. They claim to have several decades of experience helping students to craft their college essays, but they do not give information about who their essay coaches are and what qualifications they might have.

• Cost: $60-120/hr, depending on tutor experience
• Essay coach qualifications: unknown
• Larger company with several decades of experience
• Unclear who the essay coaches are
• Lack of statistics about their results

#12 – Ivy Select

Our Verdict — Larger Platform with Mystery Editors Price: unknown Ivy Select makes a lot of big promises on their website about having the best college essay consultants in the business, but they offer no information on who these consultants are, or on their backgrounds. They also brag that each consultant “only” works 20 students in one application cycle, but in our experience, that’s quite high.

• Long list of impressive (but anonymous) testimonials
• Only work with “top students”
• No information on their website about who the editors are
• Each essay coach works with up to 20 students at one time

#13 – Empowerly

Our Verdict — Larger Platform with Mystery Editors Price: High, from $6000/year Empowerly has over 60 college counselors who each work with an average of 5 students per year, in order to have more time to devote to each student. Their counselors come from “different educational backgrounds,” and while they do not provide specific biographical details we can assume that most of their essay coaches did not attend highly selective schools.

• Cost: typically from $6000/year
• Essay coach qualifications: college counselors
• Counselors work with just a few students per year
• You have to upgrade to “Empowerly Elite” to guarantee a counselor with a more selective educational background
• No professional writing experience

#14 – Prepory

Our Verdict — Expensive but with Good Expertise Price: $325/hr Prepory is a college application and career counseling service that offers a comprehensive program for college applications at any stage of the process (including as early as 9th grade). They make a lot of impressive claims about the expertise of their coaches, but it’s quite difficult to actual find much information about their essay coach qualifications.

• Cost: $325/hr
• They have a comprehensive college application program that begins as early as 9th grade.
• Limited information about essay coaches
• High prices

Top 40 College Essay Services Considered

• College Essay Editor
• The College Essay Guy
• College Vine
• College Essay Mentor
• Study Point
• Allison Karpf
• The College Guru
• Lotus Learning
• Summit Prep
• Sofia Zapiola
• Ivy Global / New Summits
• College Essay Solutions
• Your College Vision
• Essay Edge*
• ServicEscape*
• PapersForge*
• QuickWriter*
• JustEditMyEssay*
• JustDoMyEsssay*
• ExpertWriting*
• SpeedyPaper*
• GradeMiners*

* A number of services will edit essays directly for students, or even write portions of the essay for students. We do not condone this. Admissions officers can tell when essays have been written or edited by adults and this can have severe consequences. We have excluded these services from our reviews.

Why are college application essays important?

Can a great college essay alone get you into Harvard?

No. You’ll need your grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities (as well as letters of recommendation and interview) to be outstanding.

But can a mediocre essay be the reason you didn’t get into Harvard?

Yes. There are thousands of amazingly-qualified students who graduate from high school each year. Great grades and test scores might be a prerequisite for admission to a competitive college, but they alone aren’t enough.

College essays are a key component of a student’s application . When done well, they transform a collection of numbers—GPA, class rank, SAT or ACT scores , number of AP classes taken, AP scores—into a glimpse of a real, individual person.

Essays do many things. Good college essays can highlight extracurricular achievements which otherwise would be overlooked in a sterile list. Strong essays often indicate the student’s future plans —how they plan to leave a mark on their college campus and on the world. They can shine a light on unique challenges that a student may have had to face on their journey.

College admissions officers only have a few minutes to spend on each application. College essays need to be original, interesting, and memorable . They need to grab the attention of the admissions officer and persuade them that this is the student out of hundreds or thousands of other similarly-qualified applicants who should be admitted.

College admissions essays are usually unlike any other kind of writing that students have done before. They’re a combination of memoir and marketing pitch, and they need to be creative but also highly strategic. That’s a tough assignment!

What’s more, students are left to figure this assignment out on their own. A thoughtful and generous high school English teacher may provide guidance or offer to read essays and give feedback, but these teachers are responsible for many students, and they’re (usually) not experts in admissions strategies.

There’s another reason college essays are especially important from 2024 on. After the recent Supreme Court decision, the application essay has become one of the main ways that you can communicate how your racial identity has affected your life.

In fact, the New York Times published an article about how important it can be for students to discuss race in their college application essays!

Why work with a college essay service?

You may want to consider a college essay service if:

• You have no idea where to start in order to write your college application essays
• You feel overwhelmed by all of the different ideas you have and don’t know what would be the most strategic for college admissions—and what topics to definitely avoid for college essays
• You don’t know how to craft a compelling stor y
• You’re not sure how to edit and refine what you’ve written
• You have a hard time keeping yourself on track and want an external structure to hold you accountable
• You’re tired of conflict between students and parents about college essays
• You’re aiming at a competitive college (not just the Ivy League!) and know that you need your essays to be outstanding
• Your grades, test scores, and extracurriculars aren’t exceptional, so you need your essay to make your essay stand out from the pack
• You’re unfamiliar with the US college admissions process (a common situation for international students and first-generation families in the US)

Any of these are strong reasons to consider working with a college essay service!

It’s also worth remembering that a lot of the free advice on college’s website isn’t always very clear. For example, NYU’s admissions Senior Assistant Director of Admissions says that “There is no right or wrong way to answer as long as your answer is genuine to you.”

While that’s true, that doesn’t offer much guidance on how to actually write the essay!

Though many college applicants might not mention it, more and more students are using professional college application consultants. Research at the University of Chicago has shown that over a quarter of high-achieving seniors employed private specialists to help with the college application process.

In fact, according to NPR , some companies are even offering college admissions counseling to their top employees as an incentive–that’s just how important professional help can be in the current landscape of college admissions.

It’s important to note that a good college essay service will not write your college application essays for you . This is unethical and illegal. That’s not just coming from us: take it from a school like Princeton, whose website insists on the importance of writing your own application essays.

A good college essay service will guide you through each step of the process , teaching you how to self-reflect and write well while sharing insider insight about admissions strategy .

What makes a good college essay service?

We strongly believe that students need to write their own college essays , and we do not condone plagiarism or “buying” a college essay.

However, writing college application essays requires a completely new set of skills that is rarely taught in high school!

Writing a personal essay is much more creative than simply writing a good paper for English class. It requires a compelling narrative and a great deal of writing craft . A good essay service will teach how to do this kind of writing.

There are many college essay services that will provide only written feedback to students, usually in the form of comments added to an essay draft. (Remember, it’s important that students write their own essays, so avoid any college essay service that will make edits directly to an essay document .)

Written comments can be an effective component of good essay coaching. However, writing college essays is a deeply personal process , and it’s incredibly difficult to guide a student through the process of self-reflection, brainstorming, and planning purely through written comments.

In addition, a great college essay coach will teach students how to do this entire process of brainstorming, planning, outlining, writing, and revising . It’s difficult to learn why an essay coach is advising certain changes through written comments alone.

For these reasons, look for a college essay service with live, one-on-one services , not just written feedback. These days, it’s easy to work with the best college essay consultants in the country over Zoom!

Students need to reflect on their goals, their passions, and what drives them to be the person they are. This requires a great deal of self-awareness and self-analysis . An experienced college essay coach can help draw these ideas out of students through tested introspection techniques and brainstorming exercises .

On top of all of that, students need to be cognizant of which traits and accomplishments will be most appealing to colleges , and which stories will be cliche and boring. Personal statements and supplementary essays need to fit together to tell a cohesive story, and they need to work together with the rest of the student’s application (extracurriculars, grades, and other accomplishments).

In other words, there’s a great deal of strategy here! An experienced college essay service can help students decide how to present themselves in the best possible light .

Furthermore, most students don’t know how to edit effectively . A really top-notch college essay service will also teach students how to edit their own writing —how to reorder sections for better flow, cut unnecessary words to meet a word count, eliminate passive verbs, and make their writing vivid and exciting. Our students are routinely amazed by how transformative this step can be, and how much they learn by doing it together with the essay coach.

Finally, the best college essay services can also help students to make a writing plan and keep them on track , so that parents don’t have to be involved directly.

Ready to work on your college essays? Schedule a free 15- to 30-minute consultation with Jessica or one of our founders.

Best overall: PrepMaven’s tutors offer the highest quality at the best price. With three tiers of tutors, they make it easy to work with an Ivy League undergraduate for as little as $79/hr. Or, families can work with education professionals or Ivy League graduates from $150/hr. PrepMaven’s track record means that you can be sure every hour is being spent productively, so that you can expect real results from the work.

Best for individual consultants: College Essay Mentor. In theory, College Essay Mentor would offer an unparalleled level of individual attention and guidance: his website boasts of some very impressive results. You might find it hard to actually schedule with him, however, since he’s very selective about his clients.

Best for unlimited essay assistance: The College Essay Guy might not offer that personalized attention you get from live, face to face essay coaching, but they do offer unlimited essay editing for up to 10 schools (if you’re comfortable paying a hefty package price).

Best of the big platforms: College Vine will always be a bit of a gamble. Because it’s a tutor marketplace, your results (and costs) will really depend on how lucky you get with your consultant. From our research, however, many of their essay coaches look to have solid track records.

Ready to work on college essays with one of our experienced writing coaches? Schedule a free test prep consultation with Jessica (Director of Tutoring) or one of our founders to see what would be the best fit for your family.

It’s always best to start early and not wait until the last minute to write your college essays! Remember that essays can be used to earn scholarships as well as college admission, so a few months of writing now can pay off with up to $300,000 in tuition saved later. 

We work with students at all stages of the writing process, from I-have-no-idea-what-to-write to final edits. To start working with an Ivy-League writing coach today, set up a quick free consultation with our team.

Schedule a free college essay consultation

Top College Essay Posts

• 14 Best College Essay Services for 2023 (40 Services Reviewed)
• Qualities of a Successful College Essay
• 11 College Essays That Worked
• How to Answer the UC Personal Insight Questions
• How Colleges Read your College Applications (A 4-Step Process)
• How to Write the Princeton Supplemental Essays
• The Diamond Strategy: How We Help Students Write College Essays that Get Them Into Princeton (And Other Ivy League Schools)
• What is the College Essay? Your Complete Guide for 202 4
• College Essay Brainstorming: Where to Start
• How to Write the Harvard Supplemental Essays
• How to Format Your College Essay

Emily graduated  summa cum laude  from Princeton University and holds an MA from the University of Notre Dame. She was a National Merit Scholar and has won numerous academic prizes and fellowships. A veteran of the publishing industry, she has helped professors at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton revise their books and articles. Over the last decade, Emily has successfully mentored hundreds of students in all aspects of the college admissions process, including the SAT, ACT, and college application essay. 

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20 Most Legitimate Essay Writing Services

Sometimes essay writing is like visiting a dentist – painful, but inevitable. Nobody is interested in student’s personal circumstances. Who cares if you have time and energy for doing that essay juggling work, study and private life? Is your heart broken? Or, maybe, have you spent several sleepless nights? In the eyes of your professors, these are weak excuses for not doing homework. Do it or die.

‘No extensions, no excuses’ – most professors are pitiless. This indifference has given rise to the development of essay writing services. Finally, in the desert of teachers’ insensitivity, students can rest in the oasis of expert writing help. Online writers are skillful and understanding at the same time. If you are lucky enough to find a good essay writing service, not a mirage, your life will become easier.

This list of top 20 best essay writing services is here to help you choose the best writing companies without trial and error method. Welcome to the oasis of writing help – understanding and helpful certified writers are waiting for your order right now.

1. 3HoursEssay.com

This writing service is the first one in our list of the best writing companies. The company offers not only academic writing help, but also editing and proofreading services. Professional writers promise on-time delivery and premium quality of research materials. Students can use money back guarantee if they are occasionally unsatisfied with the quality of their projects. Clients can urgently request a draft of their paper in any moment to track the writing process.

Pricing : Pricing depends upon deadline and study level and ranges from $10 per page (undergraduate level, 14 days) to $197 per page ( admission help , 3 hours).

Customer Reviews :

“Whenever I want to submit a paper, I use this company as they never disappoint me. They have writers who have knowledge for every field and they always deliver the best in the stipulated time. Scoring on papers was never so easy.” – Amelie

“I needed someone to write my essay for me and I was skeptical about who I should go with. A friend of mine recommended 3HoursEssay, so I thought why not. The website is easy to use and they have very affordable prices. My essay was ready in three hours! I would recommend this site to anyone who needs help with their writing.” – Calum

2. EssayOneDay.com

As it is clear from its name, this website specializes in urgent projects. Importantly, doing their best to provide papers ASAP, they never sacrifice quality of materials. One of the most important advantages of this service is its affordability. While the prices start at $7.50 per page (it is pretty close to the industry minimum), most writers employed by this company are native English speakers. The service offers unlimited free revisions and 24/7 instant support. The company can help with a wide range of academic tasks, including book reviews, proposals, dissertations etc. Numerous special offers and discounts make this company even more attractive.

Pricing : Pricing is a huge advantage of this website. Students can get a high school essay at only $7.5 per page, while a PhD level of writing with a 24 hour deadline costs $83 per page.

“I love most of my college writing assignments, except for book reviews. It takes so much time – first you read, then you summarize and write the reviews. I can’t find any creativity in these, so I use EssayOneDay to do my boring assignments like book reviews. They always do it perfectly!” – Alex S.

“There is no magic bullet for finishing a coursework, especially when it comes about History… Thinking back to my own experience as a burned-out wanting to be a graduate student, I might have balked at the idea of spending additional time on a course to help me get “unstuck”. However, Essayoneday’s systematic approach has made my dream come true. I was sent the work in parts and was able to communicate with my writer which was great. Whilst my work was in progress I was able to maintain the physical and mental health (was struggling before to be honest), I also began my job search, and much more. I have no idea what I would have done without the help of Essayoneday. Thank god they exist.” – Vanessa Racksoufberg

3. EssayPro.com

Delegating your MBA essay to amateurs can be dangerous. In that regard, students may feel safe with this online writing service, which employs only professionals with certificates and years of experience. The company can deliver various kinds of essays, and other assignment types, including reports, case studies etc. Students are free to choose their writers, looking through their profiles and ratings.

Pricing : The minimum price is $10.8 per page and it will rise, depending upon task complexity and order urgency.

“Very helpful service. I received an excellent essay! The writer was great and kept in touch so I was informed about the progress all the time.” – Samantha H.

“I have to admit I was hesitant at first, never ever have I ordered a paper before, always written everything myself. But now the circumstances have forced me to use online assistance, and I am just thanking God that I have settled for EssayPro.com. I love the product I got, and I received an A grade for it too, which cannot be a better proof of the hard work that this writer has done for me. My friend, however, used some other company, and the experience was horrible. He got his paper late, there were so many grammar mistakes as if it was written by some illiterate immigrant who barely speaks English. So yes, I paid a little more than he did, but I got so much for it that it’s totally worth the money! Thank you guys!” – Terrence W.

4. The-Essays.com

This company emphasizes their affordable prices along with professional writing service. Experienced writers can meet any reasonable deadlines. Of course, completing a thesis within a couple of hours is impossible. However, doing a 2 page essay within a couple of hours is possible though it would be more expensive than a project ordered beforehand. Student-friendly customer service is another important advantage of this website.

Pricing : The prices start at $9.36 and depend upon academic level and urgency. At the same time, a PhD thesis, delivered within 6 hours, may cost $46.95 per page.

“I have given them my accounting, statistics and many research homework. They completed all in time with A+ quality. Their customer service is very active and always ready to help.” – Sandra Warner

“The-Essays is one of the best places to get essays. They are prompt, affordable, and you always get your work back with no errors. I will continue using their service!” – Jayden H.

5. OvernightEssay.com

This service guarantees on-time delivery even if you want it to be done overnight. The company promises confidentiality, on-time delivery and original academic content. The tight deadlines are possible and even welcome with this service. Whenever a student feels that 3 a.m. is either too early or too late to start an essay, they can delegate their task to this service and go to bed. Their essays can be handled by expert writers overnight.

Pricing : Like with most other services, pricing depends upon deadline and academic level, starting from $11 per page.

“Great work with my college essay. Thank you so much. As I am unskilful in writing I will definitely use your custom writing services again.” – Maris

“I don’t know why you would want to spend your time and money anywhere else. OvernightEssay is perfect for high school and college students who need help doing research, editing, and proofreading assignments.” – Salma M.

6. CollegeEssay.org

This is an essay writing service that helps students write essays for their college applications. They have a team of professional writers who are highly qualified and efficient. Experienced writers know what they are doing, but avoid cliches or prewritten templates. All materials provided by this website are original and meeting students’ individual requirements. Focusing on clients’ needs, this company provides high quality service and plagiarism free papers.

Pricing : The prices are based upon assignment type (writing from scratch or editing), deadline and study level. Thus, a high school essay with a deadline of 8 days costs $15 per page, while urgent mba essay help costs $42.75 per page.

“I have used different online essay writing services a several time in year and often found many mistakes in texts. But when I found CollegeEssay.org, quality of my essays significantly increased. Great writers, support and property. I was really excited, when I get my paper!” – Rena M.

7. EssayVikings.com

This service fulfills a dream of all students – to pay for a writing service only when you are satisfied. Unlike most other websites offering repaid writing services, this company allows paying after a paper is completed. In this way, you can be certain that the quality of your paper is perfect. Along with superior quality and students’ absolute comfort, this company guarantees confidentiality and expert writers. Importantly, there would be no hidden charges on any stage of the writing process.

Pricing : Pricing is not set, as writers who know how to handle your project will bid on it and the bids depend upon their personal requirements.

“I researched a lot before finally chosing Vikings. They were very helpful. My essay was written in a few hours and the content was really good. I might say it was the love from the first sight.” – Phil N.

“I’m studying at college and one day got an assignment paper. I didn’t have much time to write it by myself. Been busy at work, so I had to order an essay to save some time. Yep, it’s not fair, but I didn’t have choice. Anyway, I got my essay really quickly.” – Kate Holt

8. EssayShark.com

Despite the ‘shark’ part in the website name, the company has one of the friendliest support teams in the industry. One of the biggest advantages offered by Essay Shark is the opportunity to pay only after the paper is approved. Thus, students may feel safe, as they are eligible for free unlimited revisions. Security and confidentiality are guaranteed by this service. There are no hidden charges or any other unpleasant surprises. An urgent paper can be completed in one hour.

Pricing : The service has a bidding system. Prices depend upon deadline, assignment type and writer’s hour rate.

“I have always been a responsible student and all of the academic works were done by myself. But afterwards I decided to find a job at the same time with my studying. And as you can imagine, I hadn’t enough time for doing homework. I am a bit embarrassed, but I used the service called EssayShark from time to time. Usually I dont write such reviews, especially about this kind of services, but honestly, I would like to let you know about this company that helps you in critical moments of your life. I confirm that EssayShark provides high-quality and unique texts. They did it the way that Id have written. Their academic writers are true professionals and always online when I needed some revision of my paper.” – Elsa B.

9. UKEssays.com

The service has been in the niche since 2003, and it is one of the oldest companies in the industry. As it is obvious from the website name, it employs writers from the UK who can help English-speaking students from all over the world. It means that you will never have any language or grammar issues with their papers. On the other hand, it is possible to request a writer residing in Canada or Australia, for instance. Be sure to provide detailed instructions when placing your order.

Pricing : Students are welcome to place a $25 deposit to clarify the price of their particular orders later.

“Just had my Master’s thesis proofread – the researcher took time to ensure that my work was perfect. It has saved me a fortune in time. Thank you for your hardwork; without you I would not be passing with a distinction.” – Chris C.

10. BestEssays.com

This reputed service has been providing essay help since 1997, which makes it one of the industry dinosaurs. Currently, the company employs over 900 professional writers who can boast of numerous certificates and gratitude of thousands of students. Clients’ satisfaction and superior quality of writing are a good tradition with this service. Unlike other companies, this service employs researchers who collect resources, writers who write papers and editors who eliminate typos and occasional errors. In this way, you receive a paper of impeccable quality.

Pricing : The prices start at $21.99, but taking into account the quality of the received materials and number of professionals involved, it is totally worth it.

“They showed a great eye for every detail on my argumentative essay. The whole process went easy and the paper itself was of good quality in some 24hrs – looks professional. I`m going to use them again whenever I need that.” – Char C.

“This essay writing service is the best one I’ve used so far. The custom essays are not cheap to buy all the time but if you are short on time it is definitely worth it. The quality of the essay writing is top notch so I would imagine that a term paper, research paper or any other course work would be equally as good.” – James P.

11. EssayTigers.com

Cooperation with this service looks like an easy way to optimize your homework routine. The joke on the main page says that the service employs predators (‘Tigers’) who feed on academic assignments. Anyway, this energy is promising and it gives hope for proper quality of writing. The individual approach and customer satisfaction are prioritized by the service.

Pricing : The prices range between $10 per page and $197 per page, depending upon urgency and assignment type.

“EssayTigers do good essays as for the formatting style and information included. I paid $25 only for my bachelor’s work with 2 day deadline, saved a lot of time and remained satisfied with the result I saw. No revisions were needed.” – Emily B.

12. EssayLab.org

This company has everything students can dream of – professional writers, support team working around the clock and financial guarantees. The company can handle any assignment types in numerous, even rarest disciplines. If you cannot find your subject in the list, place a request and the company will try to find a writer for you. Full confidentiality and quick delivery are the top reasons why students choose this service.

Pricing : The prices on essay writing services start at $16.50, while editing prices start at $10.55.

“Essay writing is just marvelous and without doubts the best of all. The writer completely understood what I wanted to see in the essay. Thank you so much for the help. Please continue the same efforts in the future as well.” – Harry Louis

13. Samedayessay.org

In the previous 10 years that the company has been in the industry, the service has helped thousands of students. Confidentiality of users and originality of content are the two main principles of the website. Rush essays are among their best services. Along with custom writing, the company offers editing and proofreading services. Every paper passes several stages of professional quality control before a student receives it.

Pricing : The prices depend upon urgency, number of pages, academic level and assignment type and start at $17.10.

“Followed instructions carefully, to the point and displayed indepth analysis and critical reasoning with the necessary effort and skills to deserve the 5/5stars grade! Well done!” – Tonya E.

14. KingEssays.com

As it is clear from the website name, the service promises superior quality of academic content. The two main advantages offered by the company include urgent deadlines and low prices. The combination is every student’s dream that can come true with KingEssays. The site has sample papers, which allow you to evaluate the quality of the provided services.

Pricing : The prices range from $10 per page to $29 per page, depending upon academic level and assignment type.

“My English knowledge is not good, since I am an international student and I placed my order on KingEssays. The easy interface helped me to register and place the order without any problems. My writer made my assignment with simple words, because I asked him to. In the end, my order was made according to my directions.”- Mr. Gonzalez

15. EssayRoo.com

The company provides a wide range of writing services, including essays, reports, research papers, presentations and even math problems. Professional researchers and writers can cover any topic in-depth. High quality writing is a good tradition with this online service. Whenever a student places an order on this website, a client can expect prompt answer and expert writing help. Students are eligible for free unlimited amendments until they are fully satisfied with their papers.

Pricing : The prices are interrelated with a deadline and academic level and start at $17.09 per page.

“My friend suggested me to use this service, he told he bought a couple of essays and research papers there. In the beginning I was a little nervous using the essay writing service, but after completing the order I was surprised with the paper I got. The quality of writing is amazing! And just to say I received an A+ for this one. Thanks Essay Roo!” – Jenna Z.

16. BuyEssayClub.com

Affordable prices and qualified writing help are the core reasons explaining popularity of this service. Professionalism and individual approach to every order allow satisfying needs of the most demanding students. Instant Support is available 24/7. Money back guarantee demonstrates the company confidence in their product. Affordable prices and friendly team make cooperation with this online service unforgettable.

Pricing : Prices range from $10 per page to $29 per page, depending upon the requested academic level and order urgency.

“I had some very nice experience with Buyessayclub.com, to be honest. They managed to write exactly what I was looking for (My professor actually:)). I would recommend you to contact the support team as soon as you come to the website. I only used the chat option in the right bottom corner for my communication and never spoke to them, but it was enough for me. I couldn’t find any review of Buyessayclub online so just gambled and decided to try them out. Now I want to share my experience and say that it is a nice and legitimate service! Don’t be afraid to order your essays from them. (I also think they write almost everything, not only essays).” – Ross S.

17. CoolEssay.net

CoolEssay makes college students feel cooler, boosting their academic performance and saving their valuable time. This experienced company with professional writers can help students solve various homework problems. This essay writing service guarantees students’ satisfaction. Even if a client has some doubts, free revisions are unlimited and can help resolve all kinds of questions.

Pricing : A high school essay with a two-week deadline can cost $10 per page, while an urgent doctoral project can cost up to $49 per page.

“I have used many companies during the past 2 years, but I found the website called CoolEssay.net, and first of all I was impressed with prices! This company is pretty cheap comparing to other companies, so i decided to give a try. I absolutely loved the service, since they could even complete my IT project which quite complicated. I bet they can complete any paper or project of any complexity..definitely worth to try! I will recommend them to my friends.” – Sarah P.

18. CheapestEssay.com

The website name is self-explanatory, as the main emphasis is put on cheap price of the provided services. Fortunately, students do not need to compromise quality of writing services. The company offers 100% refund to students who are to certain extent unhappy with their papers. Original papers written from scratch follow every client’s individual instructions. The website revision policy allows polishing papers to make sure they are error free and close to perfection.

Pricing : The prices are unprecedentedly low (the cheapest ones in the industry) – $4 per page for a high school essay with a reasonable deadline.

“I hope you will have more free features with your orders because it is not enough, some services offer more. But, your quality is the highest and you several times saved my life, and I will soon graduate from college. Thank you for my future!” – Marilyn W.

19. NinjaEssays.com

Just like true ninjas, essay writers from this service remain invisible but do their best to help you. Security and confidentiality are guaranteed. Therefore, nobody will ever know that your essay is based on research materials from an expert ninja writer. This service is professional and affordable at the same time. Furthermore, a flexible discount system can make your cooperation with this company even more pleasant.

Pricing : Prices are calculated, taking into account assignment type and deadline. The minimum price is $19.99 per page.

“Being a good student myself I just couldn’t crack the essay one professor assigned me, so I decided to buy essay from NinjaEssays. They delivered great essay fast and cheap. Good job.” – Bobby V.

“Usually all school paperworks I do myself. But once it happened that I had to use the services of this company. I was really impressed with quality and style. They do their job professionally.” – Carmen Allison

20. EssayBox.org

This reliable and legitimate essay writing service employs only native English speaking writers from the different corners of the world. The company offers a money back guarantee and 24/7 online support. With this company, students can be certain that third parties are never involved. Their personal info will never be shared with anyone, and their essays will never be resold in the future.

Pricing : Pricing ranges from $16 per page to $65 per page, depending upon academic level and deadline.

“I have been using EssayBox off and on for a couple years now, and I have yet to be disappointed. All of their writers are very professional and produce outstanding work. What ever you are wanting or needing, EssayBox will be able to get it done.” – Sloan B.

“60 pages of Masters in Thesis was excellent. Writer followed directives carefully and was very courteous, knowledgeable and reliable!” – Kyle Walden

Professional writing services do not work miracles, but they can make a whole world of difference for your academic career and even private life. To maximize effects of expert writing help, try to choose an effective and reputable writing company. In that regard, this list of top 20 legit essay writing services is enough for you to make an informed choice.

Related articles

• The 20 Best Assignment Writing Services
• The 20 Best Research Paper Writing Services
• The 20 Best Custom Writing Services
• The 20 Best Proofreading and Editing Services
• The 20 Best Dissertation Writing Services

A professional freelance web copywriter with several years’ experience in web marketing and SEO copywriting.

Other posts by Christina Walker

Comments (3)

Okay, that was a good review of those services. However, you forgot something very important, I’m afraid. This site https://essayoneday.com/ possesses a lot of value to many students seeking professional academic writing help. Make sure to include it to your list as well.

Thanks for your offer, we have researched this site and added it to list of top 20 essay writing services. It is a really good service.

If you are searching for best essay writing services so do not forget to check Essay Pro services which is the best leading academic assistance in USA.

Best Essay Writing Service Reviews

Discover the Best Essay Writing Services Reviews With Ease

Best essay writing services.

• 24/7 quick online Support
• 100%  Plagiarism Free
• Lowest price
• Ability to place an order through support
• Super fast writer selection
• Moneyback Guarantee
• Excellent quality-price ratio
• You control writing from beginning to end
• Timely Delivery
• User-friendly interface
• Good Online Reputation
• 100% Paper Originality
• Detailed and free plagiarism report
• Unique content
• Affordable prices
• Good Reputation
• Professional Behaviour
• Free Unlimited Revisions
• Quality control by editors
• 100% Confidentiality
• Easy-to-use website
• A list of free features
• Email and SMS notifications upon paper readiness
• Timely delivery
• Fast support service
• Open-minded writers
• The platform offers reasonable prices
• Customer service is responsive and friendly.
• Good-looking and user-friendly website.
• Educated and skilled writers.
• Exceptional paper quality.
• Lower-than-average prices.
• Helpful customer support operators
• Good customer support
• Affordable pricing
• Writers compensated fairly
• Referral program discount
• Price calculator
• Helpful support team
• Good social-media presence
• User friendly interface
• Support is available 24/7
• Plagiarism-free papers
• Native writers
• User-friendly website
• Free originality reports
• Unlimited edits and corrections
• Direct student-writer communication
• 24/7 support team
• User-friendly platform
• Receive your order on time
• Plagiarism-free content
• Low prices for non-urgent orders
• Short lead time
• Wide range of services
• Decent accuracy in basic error detection
• Save time in proofreading and editing
• Convenient plagiarism detection
• Affordable to buy and free to use
• Generates whole essays in under a minute
• Is available for free
• Delivers plagiarism-free text
• There is a useful chatbot
• Work is delivered on time
• Service refunds money if delivery is delayed
• Smooth communication with the exerts
• 100% original works
• Flexible service
• Average reputation
• Responsive customer service.
• Service offers loyalty program
• Unlimited number of edits
• Plenty of teachers
• Good reviews online
• A useful free app
• Mostly on-time delivery
• Guarantee of high quality
• Wide range of offered services
• Well-structured and intuitive site
• Sufficiently broad range of features and services
• Flexible deadlines
• Completely safe
• Large discounts
• Preply is your chance to improve your language knowledge (for example, if you’re an ESL student) and gradually work on your writing skills
• Preply is very affordable

• Great paper quality.
• Original human-written texts with a high uniqueness percentage.
• Native English-speaking staff and writers.
• Helpful and communicative customer support.
• The site is easy to navigate,  
• Reasonable prices
• Don't violate any deadlines for completing the work.
• Responsive customer support
• Responsive support service
• Free revisions
• Reliable refund policy
• The choice is vast for all price points
• Lots of languages to choose from
• They have an app

• Online support
• Total confidentiality
• On-Time Delivery
• Wide range of  services
• Extensive library of free essay samples
• Free text checking tools
• Easy to use platform
• Variety of services
• High uniqueness of the papers
• Friendly and available 24/7 support

• Large writers selection
• Easy to use
• Useful blog
• Free tools (Grammar Checker & Citation Generator)
• 24/7 live support
• 3 revisions for one order
• Wide range of covered subjects
• Free revision availability
• Confidentiality
• Easy and intuitive to use
• Impressive content creation speed
• Free trial available
• Prompt customer support response
• Free revisions within 7 days
• On-time delivery
• Instant content generation
• Large training database
• Budget-friendly pricing.
• Serviceable deadlines.
• Intuitive user interface
• Multiple pricing options with
• Tools to increase efficiency
• 24/7 customer support
• Generates a paper in less than a minute
• Service offers reasonable prices
• Comprehensive database of sample essays
• Essay grammar, plagiarism, and style checking tools
• Essay writing blog
• Prompt customer support
• Loyalty program
• Benefits for loyal customers

• It's easy to find a very affordable tutor.
• Very large number of tutors
• It has been in existence for 25 years
• Support service works around the clock
• The service is honest about the papers containing plagiarism
• Skillshare is quite affordable
• Classes’ profiles are very detailed and informative
• Responsive and helpful customer support team
• Writing tool is better than others on the web
• No plagiarism.
• Autocomplete streamlines productivity
• Platform with an interesting concept
• Clear refund policy
• Tutor profiles are quite comprehensive
• You can try out Cambly’s lessons for $1.00
• There are free resources
• Extensive library of free sample essays
• Over 1,500 professional writers
• Timely delivery of orders
• Reasonable prices.
• Friendly and responsive support service
• Plagiarism-free papers with attached reports.
• Responsive writers
• Precise adherence to instructions.
• Live chat without sign-up
• Simple and clear design
• Generated text contains no plagiarism
• Essay generation is lightning fast
• Generate an unlimited number of essays.
• Great flexibility
• A lot of native-speaking teachers
• Well-structured full course
• Great for creative writing tasks
• A lot of helpful features
• Responsive and friendly support service
• Discount offers at registration
• Modern and intuitive website
• A wide range of services
• A comprehensive privacy policy
• Convenient ordering process
• Useful Nerdy Bot for basic questions
• Writers deliver orders on time
• Easy-to-navigate website, so you can easily find what’s what.
• Useful tips that help authors
• Essay AI Lab is very affordable
• Adds in-text citations and a list of references to the text
• Payment in two installments
• Our order was completed on time
• Customer service responds quickly
• Fast generation
• Flexible subscription plans
• Geeks are well capable of meeting deadlines
• The refund policy is clear

• Wide variety of tests and prep materials
• Responsible and experienced teachers
• Plenty of additional materials for sale
• Friendly and responsive support
• Finished papers in as little as 8 hours
• Direct chat with the author
• Website is pretty easy to navigate
• Plagiarism check that seems decent
• References according to your topic
• Content pieces according to your topic
• A single website where members can ask questions on 150+ topics and get quick help from experts
• 12K experts across 700 categories
• The service supports 4 languages

• The website is well-designed, looks good, and does its main function
• CourseHero has materials for the most popular courses
• Coursehero's costs are affordable
• If your college is one of those Study.com partners with, you can earn transferable credits
• All materials for the K-12 curriculum are well-organized and helpful
• Has a user-friendly website
• Provides more or less-reliable science-related answers
• Responds in under a minute
• Numerade’s website is easy to navigate
• The service is rather good when it comes to equations
• Numerade’s Ace AI tutor is free

• Authors accept very urgent orders - 3 hours+.
• Free revision of the first draft
• Chegg has quite a good citation generator
• The subscription will cost you only $9.95
• Low pricing
• Good summarizing tool
• Good social media involvement
• A large pool of writers
• Simple and intuitive ordering process
• On-time order delivery
• Fast execution
• Full free version
• Content is generated quickly
• Plagiarism checker works correctly
• A wide variety of features
• Availability and absence of actual pricing

Best Essay Writing Service Review. Which One to Choose?

The best and most legit essay writing reviews are looking for:.

• Top-level essay writers
• Pocket-friendly rates
• Versatility (a combination of essay writing, proofreading, editing, etc.)
• Positive customer feedback
• Quick and high-quality work of the customer support team
• Intuitive in use
• Customer satisfaction and quality guarantees
• Money-back guarantee
• Always timely delivery
• Zero tolerance for plagiarism
• Safety and anonymity

Authors overview

What do we pay attention to when writing our reviews, reliability, third-party reviews, unbiased feedback, customer support, price range, time frames, best essay writing services reviews that are worth your attention.

Our Latest Essay Services Reviews

Frequently Asked Questions

How can your best online essay writing services reviews help me, are there any legit essay writing services, what is the most reliable essay writing service, why do you write essay writing service reviews, what does your best essay service review include, why do we set out to write an essay writing service review, how do i choose the best essay writing service, do essay reviews really help.

Best Essay Writing Service Reviews

Find the best essay writing service according to your writing needs by reading our deep-dive, unbiased reviews. We’ve tested dozens of essay writing companies and collected 500+ students’ reviews to keep you away from scams.

The ever-growing number of untrustworthy writing services makes it harder to find a legitimate writing company. If you want to be on the safe side while purchasing essays online, you have to be able to make informed decisions. BetterWritingServices.com is your reliable source of best essay writing service reviews, rankings and insights.

We’ve put together a number of informative guides, essay writing tips and advice to keep you informed and up-to-date on any changes in the industry. Read our reviews, write your own, help other students make better choices!

The Top 8 Popular Essay Writing Companies

1. paperhelp review — most versatile.

PaperHelp is one of the pioneers among essay writing services. It has been incorporated in early 2008 and has a proven track record of writing academic papers of any difficulty for students from all around the world.

• Price from: $10 per page
• Deadline: 3 hours
• Money Back Guarantee
• Free Revisions

Paper Help is your best bet if you are looking for a proficient and reliable online paper writing company. It guarantees 100% anonymity, plagiarism-free papers, and a timely delivery period of just 3 hours. Seasoned writers ensure an individualized writing approach to all your papers and essays.

Also, they have a money-back guarantee in case you are not satisfied with the quality of delivery. However, this is rarely the case as over 105,000 students use the writing service and report to be happy. This is a legit company that is well worth to reside at first position of our rating.

Read our full PaperHelp review to learn more.

2. EssayPro Review — Best Choice of Writers

EssayPro is a unique writing platform that allows you to browse hundreds of writers’ profiles, view their track record, academic qualifications, and reviews. Choosing a suitable freelance writer for your task is fast and convenient.

• Price from: $11 per page
• Deadline: 6 hours

EssayPro lets you communicate with an essay writer of your choice and negotiate a price for your order. The customer support is always ready to come in handy anytime you need their help. With free previews and revisions that allow you to select a writer with a writing style that suits you, this affordable writing service will enable you to pay when you have approved received parts of your paper.

It offers a free plagiarism report to ensure that your document is completely original. You’ll surely want to try out this essay & research paper writing service if you desire to make college life more comfortable.

Read our full EssayPro review to learn more.

3. SpeedyPaper Review — Best Reputation

SpeedyPaper is known for its spotless reputation and strong online presence. Thousands of students report that the service delivers high-quality papers on time at a reasonable price.

• Price from: $9 per page

SpeedyPaper is one of the best paper writing services available online, with writers sourced from experts who offer a wide range of writing services from well thought out essays to academic research papers and exceptional dissertations. Everything you write is also wholly confidential as originality and uniqueness are ensured for all its projects.

Not to mention that they offer their writing services at affordable prices depending on the nature of work demanded, and also provide a free 10-day period to request edits after the contract date. 89% of clients have claimed significantly improved grades after using this writing service.

Read our full SpeedyPaper review to learn more.

4. ExpertWriting Review — Good Value

ExpertWriting is among best college essay writing services in terms of the value you get for money. By hiring a writer on ExpertWriting to write your essay, you get a person who is directly qualified in a subject of your paper.

With excellent writing, fast turnaround, and top-notch customer service, ExpertWriting ranks above most essay writing websites as the students’ favorite. With highly skilled and trained experts, this affordable writing service ensures high-quality custom essays even with minimal time requirements.

Not only do seasoned experts look at your essays and research papers, but they also have trained editors who review every project to ensure that all experts deliver consistent results. They give room for you to share your feedback and always keep you in charge.

Read our full ExpertWriting review to learn more.

5. GradeMiners Review — Best For Urgent Essays

GradeMiners is one of the fastest essay writing services on the market. Here you can have your essay written in as short as one or three hours at any time of day or night. Tight deadlines are not a challenge for this company.

• Price from: $14 per page
• Deadline: 1 hour

With over 3,500 seasoned experts and 10-year experience in the writing business, GradeMiners.com is among the top writing services if you need any writing help with your essays or research papers. From math and chemistry to English literature and almost any academic discipline, you can be sure that there is an expert that can take care of your needs.

Also, 97% of assignments are delivered on schedule, and there is also a money-back guarantee if you are sure that an essay writer did not follow your order details. About 9 out of 10 clients who use this service report higher grades.

Read our full GradeMiners review to learn more.

6. EssayBox Review — Best Customer Service

EssayBox is a reputable writing service that writes papers across more than 50 academic disciplines at any academic level, be it a a high school essay or a master’s thesis.

• Price from: $12 per page

Students who use this college paper writing service attest to it being among the best writing services available with zero cases of complaints or dissatisfaction. They deliver expert level custom essays of the highest quality, and you can always expect to have your essays delivered on time.

High-quality papers are available at affordable prices. There is also a strict confidentiality policy, meaning that all private information and payment details are kept secure. With this research paper writing service, you effectively save time, which you could use for other productive activities.

Read our full EssayBox review to learn more.

7. JustDoMyEssay Review — Best For Complex Assignments

JustDoMyEssay is a great option if you have a very important paper due. The company is known for their writers’ exemplary diligence and excellence in completing all types of academic papers.

• Price from: $17,5 per page

With a thorough and extensive selection process for its experts and group of writers, JustDoMyEssay.com guarantees high-quality custom orders sure to meet your needs and improve your grades.

Among the top-ranked writing services, JustDoMyEssay.com provides the following guarantees to its clients: safety and confidentiality of orders and payment details, quality of orders, timeliness of deliveries, and reliability. This research paper service also provides you with a sample of past works for free to measure their top authors’ expertise before deciding.

Read our full JustDoMyEssay review to learn more.

8. WiseEssays Review — Most Customer-Centric

WiseEssays is generous when it comes to discounts. The company provides wide range of writing services and deals with most writing tasks a student can have. This is a good option if you’re on a tight budget and not looking for an urgent service.

For fair prices and significant discounts, WiseEssays.com recruits highly trained and seasoned professionals and experts to guarantee high-quality essays delivered on time. They also boast secure payment methods, money-back guarantees, and a qualified support crew that will leave you utterly satisfied. Authorship is guaranteed as the work becomes your exclusive property as the owner, and you reserve the discretion to use it however you wish.

According to stats from 2017, about 91% of clients who have used this college essay writing service have come back to place orders, so you can be sure that you will be getting papers of the highest possible standards.

Read our full WiseEssays review to learn more.

So Which Essay Writing Service Is the Best?

There are many reliable writing services out there, and it’s really difficult to select the single best company. All custom writing services have their pros and cons, so naming the best writing service will inevitably reflect somebody’s subjective opinion.

You have to read reviews, compare, and choose what is best for you. It doesn’t mean, however, that certain companies don’t deserve a highlight when talking about the most professional writing services. We have analyzed and reviewed dozens of writing companies to create a list of top 8 ones that deserve your attention.

Some services are great in terms of quality but quite expensive, so it’s difficult to recommend them to everybody. There are also services that offer affordable prices but hire low-skilled writers and provide subpar essays. You can find reviews of different academic writing services on our website.

But if we had to single out the single best writing service, it would be PaperHelp . This company manages to provide well-written essays at average prices, and the papers are always delivered on time. It has a great reputation online and is backed by years of experience.

Are Essay Writing Services Safe?

Yes, using an essay writing website is completely safe, as long as you are using a legit company to do your work. However, you should be aware of some risks associated with hiring a writing service. There are many scammers and services that provide low-quality papers, so you shouldn’t use any writing services without doing some research first. Students always share their reviews online, and we recommend that you read them before making a choice.

If you don’t read essay writing service reviews first, you may:

• buy a resold paper that someone has already handed in;
• end up wasting your money on a useless paper written by an unprofessional writer;
• get a well-written, yet plagiarized essay and face disciplinary action;
• be denied a refund and even blackmailed if you demand your money back and decide to complain .

You should only use reliable websites that work with writers who are actually familiar with their subject. In this case, you won’t risk anything when ordering your papers online. There are a lot of companies that write high-quality essays and do their best to exceed their customers’ expectations.

What Criteria Do the Best Writing Services Meet?

The writing services of exceptional quality can be recognized by particular features of excellence and credibility. Below you can find some key characteristics of a reliable service.

✅ Strong Online Presence

The credibility of a company is largely defined by reviews. Needless to say, top essay writing services have lots of reviews and constructive feedback for their services from independent reviewers. A well-deserved reputation on the web adds value to the trustworthiness of a service. If you can’t find any reviews about the website online, it’s better to avoid it.

✅ Transparent Terms & Conditions

Legitimate essay writing services have transparent terms and conditions. This is one of the first things we look at when writing an essay writing service review. Reliable companies provide easy access to the policies on their website. Terms and conditions must be detailed, clear, and easy to read. If you can’t find policies on the web, it’s not recommended to use the service.

Note that the company cannot be responsible for something that was not officially guaranteed. Hence, it’s important to find some time and go through the policy if it’s available on the website. You should invest a little time to check the regulations in order to learn about your rights as a user. 

✅ Ease of Use

The website of a decent writing service must be user-friendly. Proper platforms run fast and look reliable. The ordering process can’t be interrupted by a website’s crash, so all its features work smoothly. One of the main indicators of a good writing service is a secure connection.

✅ Reliable Customer Support

Responsive customer support is a key characteristic of an outstanding writing service. In case something goes wrong, there must be someone who can help out a client. In the best-case scenario, customer support is available 24/7 via instant live chat and phone. What’s more, the assistance is delivered by a real customer support agent, not a bot. A trustworthy company can provide continuous help to users.

✅ Fair Price

Credible agencies offer services for affordable but not too cheap prices. Reasonable prices for a high-quality paper written by professionals start from around $10 (ESL writers) and $20 for ENL writers. Regular customers can get discounts for multiple orders, so it motivates them to come back. 

✅ Sample Papers

While this is not mandatory, it is nice to have an option to check some writing samples before placing an order. Top writing services typically offer paper samples. Essay examples allow website visitors to see the level of writing completed by a company. Once a potential customer knows what work quality to expect from a writer, they can decide whether it suits them or not. 

✅ Error-Free Website Copy

While this may seem obvious, some students usually overlook this thing or put a blind eye on it. Any type of writing mistakes is unacceptable for essay services. If there is something like grammar errors or typos inside of the text published on the website, it means that the agency lacks a good editing team. Reliable companies always offer excellent web content on their website.

These are the most important features that must be considered before choosing an essay writing company. It’s essential to check the points described above before making an order at a writing agency.

How Do We Choose the Best Essay Writing Services for our Users?

As we’ve mentioned above, not all writing services are reliable. Therefore, we do the necessary research before writing an essay writing service review and recommending a writing company to our readers.

Not only do we make sure that the services presented on our website are legit, but we also evaluate all the companies based on several important factors. When we select writing services, we make sure that they meet the following criteria:

• Good writing services ensure effective communication between writers and customers;
• Reliable writing services write papers based on in-depth research;
• When dealing with reliable websites, you can edit and proofread your drafts;
• Credible paper writing companies provide papers formatted according to the necessary citation styles;
• These companies also provide structurally and grammatically correct papers;
• The papers are 100% original, with no plagiarism or unattributed content;
• Reliable services also provide 24/7 customer support and do their best to resolve any issues.

What Factors do We Take Into Account When Reviewing Essay Writing Companies?

We pay attention to existing essay writing service reviews, fact-check their policies, evaluate the ease of ordering process, check for discounts, examine paper quality and customer service. Let’s consider each of these factors in detail.

🔍 Online Reputation

This is one of the most important factors that we consider when evaluating essay writing companies. The first thing we do is check a company’s online reputation to determine whether or not students consider it reliable. If a company has been around for a while, the chances are that there’s a lot of customer feedback available online. At the same time, it’s important to keep in mind that some writing services publish fake positive reviews in an attempt to save their reputation.

Best essay writing service reviews are unbiased, that’s why we only consider reviews from well-known and reliable review platforms like TrustPilot, SiteJabber and BBB (Better Business Bureau). Why? Because we want to be a reliable review source for you.

We analyze different independent review platforms because we know that the reviews companies publish on their websites cannot be trusted. Most often, such reviews are fake. For instance, many websites have reviews with photos and names of customers, while students always want to remain anonymous when buying their papers, for obvious reasons.

It’s also easy to spot fake writing service reviews because they all are positive. Companies that don’t receive positive feedback on third-party review platforms often decide to display positive feedback on their websites. However, even the best companies have some unsatisfied customers. Therefore, if all the feedback that you see is positive, it’s probably fake.

🔍 Revision and Money Back Policy

Another important factor that we consider when evaluating writing services is the guarantees they offer. Most companies offer free revisions and a money-back guarantee. However, both revision and money-back policies can be quite sketchy and complicated. When you make an order on some website for the first time, you should know the details of their revision policy and money-back guarantee because getting your money back might be not as easy as it seems.

For instance, you may not be able to get a 100% refund so you will only receive partial compensation. Some companies don’t even have a clear set of rules that would determine in what cases customers are eligible for a refund.

For example, each particular case can be considered by the quality assurance team so they will decide whether or not you can get your money back. Sometimes, customers may also be unable to get a refund if they’ve already requested a revision. Therefore, we analyze all the rules and make sure to inform our readers about the possible pitfalls.

🔍 Ordering Process

When evaluating writing services, it’s also important to take into account the ordering process: how simple it is, how quickly customers can place an order, and what the whole process looks like. Best paper writing services have all the necessary information and provide quick customer support so that the ordering process is intuitive and fast. Customers may also be able to get notifications while their papers are being written. We also make sure to check the payment options available on the website.

🔍 Pricing and Discounts

We provide information about writing services’ pricing policies with screenshots from websites. However, we recommend that you also check the websites because the prices might change. We also find information about available discounts and coupons. Quite often, writing services offer discounts for new customers. Some companies may also bombard you with discounts and promo codes if you try to close the website.

🔍 Paper Quality

Paper quality is something that most essay writing service reviews never mention. But obviously, this is one of the most important factors when it comes to choosing writing services. Therefore, we test the quality of writing by placing a simple order and analyzing the result. First of all, we check the overall structure of the paper and make sure that the writer created a proper introduction, body, and conclusion. We also assess the research basis of the paper and check whether all the arguments are supported by evidence or not.

Some services hire native English speakers, while others work with ESL writers. Sometimes, you can also request an ENL writer for an additional fee. At the same time, if papers are written by an ENL writer, it’s also important to make sure that they actually know their subjects.

🔍 Customer Support

Sometimes, good customer support service can make a big difference even when dealing with unreliable services. If you’re unsatisfied with the quality of papers, timely help from support representatives might enable you to get a revision, choose another writer, or even get your money back. Good writing services usually have a live chat on the website so that customers can contact the support service 24/7 and get the necessary assistance.

How to Find Genuine Essay Writing Service Reviews?

There are quite a few red flags that may indicate that the reviews you read are either fake or paid. These tips will help you filter out some genuine reviews from the fake ones.

❗ Check the Date

A surge in the total number of reviews during a very short time frame may be a sign of fraud. If a lot of reviews appear in a few weeks or days and then there’s nothing else for months, the chances are that they are all fake. However, there might be some exceptions. For example, during finals, or on Black Friday when people make more purchases.

❗ Don’t Rely on One-Sided Opinions

If a review offers only positive or negative judgments, be careful with it. Take a closer look at what it says because it might not be true. Make your own research on ‘balanced’ reviews. Consumers must always find both pros and cons in any product, so one-sided reviews filled with nothing but extreme admiration or total hatred look quite suspicious.

It might be better to sort out the reviews with an average rate as they are typically more objective than others. Usually, such reviews are more honest and insightful because they show both positive and negative aspects of the services provided. It is easier to notice real trends by comparing positive and negative feedback.

❗ Stay Away From Brandjacking

Probably you’ve seen the comments like ‘I’ve tried this thing, absolutely hated it, and decided to buy the [linking to the competitor’s product] and I just loved it! Purchase it here now with a 30% discount!”. Hopefully, nobody falls for this kind of reviews. Such reviews are a part of a link-building strategy because people usually leave them with a URL to their own website. Unfortunately, reviewers don’t realize that this horrible tactic leads to instant credibility loss and doesn’t drive sales. 

❗ Take Glowing Reviews With a Grain of Salt

If a review looks too good to be true, you should turn to a healthy skepticism. This is the best weapon against fake comments that might help you avoid poor-quality services. Note, that if a particular company has an extraordinarily high number of reviews compared to others in that category, it might mean that those essay writing service reviews are fake. Especially, if they are overwhelmingly positive. 

❗ Seek For Real Experience

The most helpful writing service reviews are those that are based on real experience. Try to find those comments that are likely to be written by people who regularly resort to essay writing help. Although it might be difficult because students are not always eager to share their opinions, it would be better to do this work and be sure that the service you are going to use is highly reliable. 

If you want to know the real truth about an essay writing company, you shouldn’t count only on comments. Instead, search for professional reviews written by people who order papers from different agencies and compare their quality. However, you shouldn’t blindly trust such review websites either. Please be aware that some essay writing companies create fake review platforms to trash their competitors and improve reputation of their own brands.

How To Spot a Fake Review Platform?

Writing services are aware of the fact that students check out essay writing service reviews when they want to buy papers online. Therefore, there’s no surprise that unreliable services try to mislead students by publishing fake positive reviews.

Sometimes, such companies create fake review platforms where affiliated writing services have the best ratings. Such review platforms may also spread misinformation about trusted writing services in an attempt to damage their reputation. Therefore, you should keep in mind that not all review platforms can be trusted.

Fake review platforms usually share some common features that might help you spot scammers. First of all, they usually don’t provide enough information about themselves. Their reviews are generic, with no specific details about particular orders. Besides, all the services except the affiliated ones have a very low rating. Quite often, all the reviews are posted from fake accounts that only have one review each.

How to Avoid Scammers?

It’s difficult to withstand the temptation to use a cheap writing service that promises to deliver the best papers on time. However, not everyone who makes sweet promises actually keeps them. If you want to find a nice writing service that will be safe to use, we recommend that you carefully consider the following details. This way, you’ll be able to avoid scammers. Here are the things you should look for when choosing a custom writing service.

• Look for affordable prices within a reasonable range. If prices are too low, the chances are that you won’t be able to purchase nice papers on such a website.
• Choose companies that have at least two years of experience in helping students with academic papers.
• Use companies that offer 24/7 support so that you can get all the necessary assistance.
• Choose services with a 3.5-star or higher rating. You should only consider reliable review platforms.
• Choose companies with clear revision and money-back policies.

Fortunately, if you’re reading this, it means that you’ve already found a reliable review source. We are always ready to help you choose a good service and avoid scammers.

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Essay Service Honest Review 2023: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Athina hansen.

Content Writer at Gradehacker

• Updated on June, 2023

What We Did To Review EssayService.com

You have a 5-page essay due in 2 days and haven’t had the time to even look at the instructions. However, you know that you won’t have the time to do a high-quality paper because, after your 8-hour shifts, you have to cook dinner for your family and help your kids with their homework.

And by the time you tend to all your responsibilities, it is 10 pm, and your exhaustion prevents you from focusing on school work. You have a lot on your plate, and that’s why you’re interested in purchasing an essay from EssayService.com .

However, when searching ‘Essay Writing Service review’ on google, the first thing that pops up are sites filled with sketchy 5-star reviews.

You know that an honest Essay Service review would be a lifesaver as you would be able to determine if they’re a legit essay writing service and if they’re worth your purchase. 

Well, here at Gradehacker, we’re here to help you. First off, why should you trust us to conduct this Essay Service review? Well, we have been a part of the essay writing industry for years , and we know what makes or breaks a college essay writing service.

We fully commit to giving you an objective, no B.S., Essay Service review in this article. And to do so, we actually purchased an essay from the Essay Service, so we’ve got an insider’s perspective.

We ordered a 4-page nursing essay for a microbiology course . In the paper, we had to describe a specific microorganism, covering different required sections such as the pathogen’s virulence factors or the infectious disease it causes. The selected microorganism was Bacillus Anthracis.

We ordered the essay on a Tuesday and set the deadline for the following Saturday, so we gave our EssayService.com writer four days to complete it .

By reading this article, you will get a walkthrough of how EssayService.com works and know if their academic writing service will be a good fit for you.

Essay Service’s Ordering Process

You might have been browsing Essay Service’s website but aren’t quite sure the steps you have to follow to actually order an essay. Don’t worry; we’re here to help!

To start the ordering process, you will need to create an account . This is one of their biggest drawbacks , because not so long ago, you could enter all the information of your assignment first and see how much it would cost you without having to register. 

While we believe that creating a user to order such a service was always a bad choice , it was reasonable to register after you had completed a part of the process. But now, it is necessary to create an account first.

The only way to see an approximation of how much your service will cost is with their online calculator , where you will select the service you want to purchase (writing, rewriting, editing).

Anyway, where does the process begin? On their homepage ! When you enter Essay Service’s page, you will see a ‘hire a writer” button at the center, redirecting you to the registration page.

Once you log in, you will be taken to the ‘order essay’ page , where you will see the same small essay calculator we mentioned earlier and where you will select the service you need.

In our case, we selected the ‘writing’ service because we wanted an essay to be written from scratch.

In this calculator, you will also fill out the type of assignment . There is a wide range of assignment types you can choose from, from creative writing all the way to a thesis/dissertation! We just selected ‘essay’ for the assignment type.

You also have to fill out:

• The assignment’s academic level (ex: master’s)
• The completion time
• The number of pages
• Double or single spaced

Once you’ve filled out all the necessary information, you will simply click the ‘write my paper’ button . You should know that when you click this button, you will either have to register for an Essay Service account or simply log in to proceed.

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Ordering Form

After following the above steps, you will be taken to Essay Service’s actual ordering form ! The information you filled out in the essay calculator will be transferred to this ordering form. Still, you will have more information to fill out.

In the first part of the ordering form, you will enter your order requirements . This is the information that will be transferred from the essay calculator, such as:

• Assignment type
• Pages/words
• Line spacing
• Academic level
• Due date and time

Something we found great about Essay Service was that they offered different language options for your assignment.

The language options they offer are:

• English (U.S.)
• English (U.K.)

The next part of the ordering form revolves around the order details . Here, you fill out the assignment’s topic, number of sources required, citation style, and subject. In this part, you also choose between a ‘public order’ and ‘private order.’ 

Now, you’re probably thinking, what does that even mean? By choosing a public order , a whole team of writers will be able to see your order to determine who will take your assignment. Whereas in the private orde r option, only the writers you invite will be able to see and bid on your order.

Does the private order come with an added cost? Nope! However, obviously, for this order option, you have to have experience ordering from Essay Service. That way, you know which writers you like and want to invite to complete your essay.

As it was our very first time ordering on Essay Service, we simply chose the public order option.

The final part of the ordering form is where you summarize the essay’s instructions and upload any files relevant to your essay (ex: essay rubric, guidelines, etc.). 

You need to keep in mind that the Essay Service asks that any files you upload do not include your personal information such as your name, phone number, or college name.

Writers’ Bids

So, what happens next? Does Essay Service take care of assigning me a writer, or do I have to choose one?   

You have to choose your writer! The next step of the ordering process involves choosing between writers’ bids. Essay Service does not assign you a specific writer. Instead, it has a bidding system where you can choose between different experienced writers, and the writers’ prices vary.

However, although each writer has a unique price, their prices don’t vary much from one another!

Having to choose your own writer is something that not everyone will enjoy. As a new client, you don’t have experience with any of the writers and therefore don’t know which one will be most qualified for your assignment. 

Also, it can be difficult to choose with the number of bids you receive.

Okay, so how does one actually go about choosing a writer? Well, you can choose by reviewing the writers’ profiles.

On their profiles, you’ll be able to see:

• Their overall star rating (1-5)
• An ‘about me’ section
• Their orders by subjects and type (ex: research paper)
• Customer reviews

It’s worth noting that the customer reviews might not be very helpful when deciding. This is because there is an overwhelming number of 5-star reviews with generic or no comments at all.

You can also utilize the chat box available to chat with the different writers before hiring them.

This bidding process is very similar in experience and layout to Fiverr , which is a freelance service marketplace. 

Something we found peculiar is that only seconds after submitting the ordering form; you start to receive bids and messages from writers . 

What do the messages say? Well, the messages we received were all very similar. Something along the lines of “ I’ve read your essay’s requirements , and I have the capabilities to complete it, please hire me.”  

There is the possibility that these are just automated messages as they appear in seconds.

We wouldn’t recommend basing your decision on their messages because their messages were very similar. Instead, we recommend that you read the writer’s about me section . 

However, there is a chance that a writer just embellishes their skills and areas of expertise in this section.

In our case, we chose a writer because they mentioned that nursing was one of their areas of interest, and our requested essay was a nursing essay.

When you’ve decided upon your writer, you simply click the ‘hire writer’ button and complete your essay’s payment.  

Overall, we rated the ordering process an 8/10 . The ordering form is straightforward and easy to complete, but it can be difficult to choose a writer due to the many 5 star reviews that have basic comments or none at all. The biggest downside to ordering from Essay Service is having to create an account.

Communication With Assigned Writer

If you order on Essay Service, do you get to communicate with your assigned writer ? The answer is yes!

How exactly do you communicate with your assigned writer? Well, by logging in to your Essay Service account and clicking on ‘my orders’ on the left-hand side. Here, you will open up your order, and when you do so, you will see a chat icon. 

By clicking on this chat icon, you will open up a chat box to directly communicate to your writer. 

The fact that you can communicate with your writer on Essay Service is very valuable. This is because you can relay any information necessary for the completion of your essay directly to them.

Now, if you’re curious about whether the writers take a long time to respond, in our experience, we never had to wait a long time for our assigned writer to reply. We would receive replies in minutes.

A downside would be that if you have urgent information to relay and your writer is not responding quickly, you have no option to call them .

All in all, we gave the communication a 9/10 . This is because you have direct communication with your writer, and the writer replies very quickly; however, they cannot be reached by phone.

Essay Service Essay Cost

So, how much does an essay from Essay Service actually cost?

We’d love to fully explain what goes into their pricing, but unfortunately, they do not have a pricing page or table on their website. 

In fact, the information we found on their website related to pricing changes depending on where you look at . They say their essays begin at $10 per page on their home page. When you are about to register or log in, it is $11, which is the same price you can find in their online calculator for a one-page essay. And in some tabs, you can still see the former price: $8. 

Maybe we have COVID-19 to thank for this three dollar increase. It is a minor difference that may not change the overall cost, but that adds to their lack of transparency. 

Although their prices start at $11 per page, you must consider that Essay Service utilizes a bidding system. This means that different writers will have different prices .

How much did we pay? We ordered a 4-page essay to be completed in 4 days and paid $47.86 . That nearly equals $12 per page.

All in all, Essay Service’s prices are definitely quite low!

What payment options are available?

EssayService allows you to pay via popular credit/debit cards such as the following:

• American Express
• Discover Network

And they also offer the option to pay through PayPal!

Something you should know is that Essay Service has a unique payment system ! How does it work? You transfer funds into your Essay Service account and release the payment to the writer incrementally as they complete certain checkpoints. 

Basically, you choose when to release the writer’s payment and how much you want to release. This allows you to release the full payment only when you are satisfied with the essay.  

We would rate Essay Service’s cost an 8/10 . Even though they have an affordable price, there is not much explanation of what affects the pricing.

Essay Service: Essay Quality

To begin with, we uploaded two files (essay instructions and guidelines) that extensively explained what sections needed to be included in the essay and the information that must be present within each section.

It was hard to believe, but our assigned professional writer left out four of the required sections . Yes, FOUR!

And in the sections that our writer did include, they didn’t include all the required information. So, my writer did not entirely fulfill the essay’s instructions .

As for the actual essay content, we rated this a 4/10 . This is because there wasn’t a clear focus on including and solely focusing on the required information.

Writer's English Level

Now, you’re probably curious about the writer’s English level. And unfortunately, it was pretty evident that my writer’s English was not at a native level .

In fact, many mistakes demonstrated that the writer had poor English ; we will cover these one by one. 

The first poor aspect of the essay that revealed the writer’s low English level was that many sentences did not make sense . 

Just look at the example below:

Another negative aspect of this essay was tons of grammar mistakes! Below you will find a perfect example.

But these two problems weren’t the only indicators of a poor level of English. Another huge error was that the writer misused certain words.

Below are some examples of this error:

Another error related to the writer’s poor English level is that there were many typos spread throughout the essay.

Overall, we would give the essay’s clarity a 4/10 . This is because the grammar mistakes and typos made the essay hard to read. But also, multiple sentences were complicated to decipher.

Poor APA Citing Skills

A serious error that isn’t related to the writer’s English is the citing throughout the essay . In the first essay we received, there were only four references in the five pages they had written.  

This is because entire paragraphs did not have a single reference even though the information was undoubtedly taken from an outside source.

When noticing the poor citing, we asked the writer to revise the citing and fix the issues. However, the improper citing was far from being fixed in the essay we got back.

In the revised version, there were still paragraphs without any references . There were additional citing mistakes, such as the writer including the same reference repeatedly instead of once when that source’s information ended. 

Just look at the examples (taken from the revised version) below to get an idea:

We discovered that the writer copied almost word for word a sentence found in a page published by the CDC . However, this page wasn’t cited nor present in the reference page at the end.

Take a look below:

The sentence at the top is taken from the essay we received, and the one at the bottom is from the page written by the CDC.

It is evident that the writer tried to change a couple of words from the first sentence. But in the second sentence, the writer almost completely copied it word for word . Shockingly, this page from the CDC wasn’t even cited!

We would rate the APA citing a 4/10 . Apart from having multiple paragraphs with no references, there were many citing mistakes, such as not using ‘et al.’ and repeating a reference.

We rated Essay Service an 8/10 in plagiarism . After receiving the essay, we gave it to our in-house Editor In Chief , who ran it through our own editing software tools and found a 2% score in our plagiarism report. What showed as plagiarized was one sentence. 

However, as we stated above, we found some sentences that were almost word for word from the CDC website with no citations referencing where the information came from.

Essay Service Guarantees

You should know that Essay Service does offer a money-back guarantee .

The first guarantee they offer is a full refund if your essay is sent late or is of poor quality .  

They also offer a no plagiarism guarantee ! According to their website, Essay Service examines your essay’s plagiarism and originality before sending it your way. 

Lastly, Essay Service guarantees your confidentiality . None of your information is handed over to third parties!

As for revisions, nowhere on Essay Service’s website did we find a revision guarantee . Although, according to this review , they have an unlimited revision policy.

Overall, we gave the guarantees offered by Essay Service a 7/10 . This is because they include a refund and confidentiality guarantee, but there is no specific mention of a revision guarantee on their website.

Is Essay Service Legit?

Is Essay Service legit? Well, they did deliver our essay to us. So, in terms of delivering an essay, they are a reliable service and will not just run off with your money . 

However, there are certain aspects of Essay Service that are not very legit. 

Many things about their writers’ profiles are fake . To start off, all of the writers’ profile pictures are noticeably fake. 

Just take a look at this writer’s image:

We tried to download some of their writers’ profile pictures and feed them through reverse image search to prove they were fake. However, we discovered that it’s not possible to download any of their profile pictures .

The fact that you cannot download their profile pictures may be intentional so that no one discovers that their images are fake. However, we must say that it is pretty evident that the picture is fake in the example we included.

Another fake aspect about Essay Service is the client reviews on their writers’ profiles. The majority of customer reviews are all five stars and have very generic comments or no comments, indicating that they could be fake.

As mentioned before, when you submit your ordering form, you receive bids and chats in seconds. The writers mention they’ve read the requirements indicating that these messages may be automated .  

We uploaded two files in the ordering form so that they could understand the essay’s requirements. One file was 572 words long, and the other was 695 words long. I think it’s pretty clear that no one can read those documents in seconds !

Overall, we would rate Essay Service’s legitimacy a 5/10 . This is because the writers use fake profile pictures, the writers’ profiles are filled with positive reviews with basic or no comments, and the writers’ messages are most likely automated.

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Essay service pros.

• Low starting price of $11 per page
• Money isn't released to the writer until you're happy with the essay
• Refund policy available in case of late delivery or poor quality

Essay Service Cons

• Non-native English mistakes
• Poor APA formatting
• Fake client reviews and images within writers' profiles

Essay Service Review: Our Verdict

So, what do we rate Essay Service? Well, considering our ratings regarding their ordering process, communication with the writer, cost, essay’s clarity, APA formatting, essay content, guarantees, and legitimacy, we give Essay Service’s essay writing service an overall rating of 6.3/10.

The pros of Essay Service are their low starting price of $11 per page and their payment release system where you choose when to pay.  

The cons included non-native English mistakes, poor APA formatting, creating an Essay Service account, and fake client reviews and images in the writer’s profiles.

Essay Service will be a good fit for you if you are looking to purchase essays at a meager price . However, Essay Service will be a bad fit for you if you aren’t willing to modify the essay significantly for it to be suitable to hand in.

Now you have all the tools and information to make an informed decision . Essay Service might or might not be for you, but we already exposed everything you need to know to determine who you will be trusting your essays with.

In the case that you are now searching for a different option, Gradehacker provides an essay writing service that may be a great fit for you. We are here to help, so don’t hesitate to reach out to us. 

Want to find other essay writing service reviews ? Here are some of our blog posts that may interest you:

Essay Writing Services | Are They Legal?

5 Common Essay Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

How Much Does it Cost to Write My Essay?

Edubirdie Honest Review 2023 | Everything You Need To Know

Athina has worked with Gradehacker both as a content writer and a study consultant, where she assisted college students with nursing courses. Athina has a background of educating others and producing content, having tutored college students and produced articles for her school magazine. She brings her experience to her current role, where she writes content to empower and assist the non-traditional college student who is often overlooked. You can find her on LinkedIn

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A website review.

Look at the website review and do the exercises to improve your writing skills.

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Do the preparation exercise first. Then do the other exercises.

Preparation

Technology review: www.lyricstraining.com.

One of my favourite websites is lyricstraining.com. It’s great because you can learn English while you listen to your favourite songs. You choose a song and then listen to the song and complete the lyrics. You can also watch the video of the song.

The good points include the fact that there are lots of up-to-date groups you can listen to such as The Script or One Direction. In addition, you can choose the level: beginner, intermediate or expert, depending on your level of English. Another good feature is that you can repeat a line of the song as often as you want, until you know the missing word. Also, the website is very easy to navigate and you can listen to songs in different languages, for instance in Spanish, German and Italian.

One of the drawbacks is that some songs aren’t on the website. Another bad point is that there is a lot of advertising on the website. However, you can just ignore it.

To sum up, I think this is an excellent website if you like music and you want to improve your English. You should check it out!

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, getting college essay help: important do's and don’ts.

College Essays

If you grow up to be a professional writer, everything you write will first go through an editor before being published. This is because the process of writing is really a process of re-writing —of rethinking and reexamining your work, usually with the help of someone else. So what does this mean for your student writing? And in particular, what does it mean for very important, but nonprofessional writing like your college essay? Should you ask your parents to look at your essay? Pay for an essay service?

If you are wondering what kind of help you can, and should, get with your personal statement, you've come to the right place! In this article, I'll talk about what kind of writing help is useful, ethical, and even expected for your college admission essay . I'll also point out who would make a good editor, what the differences between editing and proofreading are, what to expect from a good editor, and how to spot and stay away from a bad one.

Table of Contents

What Kind of Help for Your Essay Can You Get?

What's Good Editing?

What should an editor do for you, what kind of editing should you avoid, proofreading, what's good proofreading, what kind of proofreading should you avoid.

What Do Colleges Think Of You Getting Help With Your Essay?

Who Can/Should Help You?

Advice for editors.

Should You Pay Money For Essay Editing?

The Bottom Line

What's next, what kind of help with your essay can you get.

Rather than talking in general terms about "help," let's first clarify the two different ways that someone else can improve your writing . There is editing, which is the more intensive kind of assistance that you can use throughout the whole process. And then there's proofreading, which is the last step of really polishing your final product.

Let me go into some more detail about editing and proofreading, and then explain how good editors and proofreaders can help you."

Editing is helping the author (in this case, you) go from a rough draft to a finished work . Editing is the process of asking questions about what you're saying, how you're saying it, and how you're organizing your ideas. But not all editing is good editing . In fact, it's very easy for an editor to cross the line from supportive to overbearing and over-involved.

Ability to clarify assignments. A good editor is usually a good writer, and certainly has to be a good reader. For example, in this case, a good editor should make sure you understand the actual essay prompt you're supposed to be answering.

Open-endedness. Good editing is all about asking questions about your ideas and work, but without providing answers. It's about letting you stick to your story and message, and doesn't alter your point of view.

Think of an editor as a great travel guide. It can show you the many different places your trip could take you. It should explain any parts of the trip that could derail your trip or confuse the traveler. But it never dictates your path, never forces you to go somewhere you don't want to go, and never ignores your interests so that the trip no longer seems like it's your own. So what should good editors do?

Help Brainstorm Topics

Sometimes it's easier to bounce thoughts off of someone else. This doesn't mean that your editor gets to come up with ideas, but they can certainly respond to the various topic options you've come up with. This way, you're less likely to write about the most boring of your ideas, or to write about something that isn't actually important to you.

If you're wondering how to come up with options for your editor to consider, check out our guide to brainstorming topics for your college essay .

Help Revise Your Drafts

Here, your editor can't upset the delicate balance of not intervening too much or too little. It's tricky, but a great way to think about it is to remember: editing is about asking questions, not giving answers .

Revision questions should point out:

• Places where more detail or more description would help the reader connect with your essay
• Places where structure and logic don't flow, losing the reader's attention
• Places where there aren't transitions between paragraphs, confusing the reader
• Moments where your narrative or the arguments you're making are unclear

But pointing to potential problems is not the same as actually rewriting—editors let authors fix the problems themselves.

Bad editing is usually very heavy-handed editing. Instead of helping you find your best voice and ideas, a bad editor changes your writing into their own vision.

You may be dealing with a bad editor if they:

• Add material (examples, descriptions) that doesn't come from you
• Use a thesaurus to make your college essay sound "more mature"
• Add meaning or insight to the essay that doesn't come from you
• Tell you what to say and how to say it
• Write sentences, phrases, and paragraphs for you
• Change your voice in the essay so it no longer sounds like it was written by a teenager

Colleges can tell the difference between a 17-year-old's writing and a 50-year-old's writing. Not only that, they have access to your SAT or ACT Writing section, so they can compare your essay to something else you wrote. Writing that's a little more polished is great and expected. But a totally different voice and style will raise questions.

Where's the Line Between Helpful Editing and Unethical Over-Editing?

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether your college essay editor is doing the right thing. Here are some guidelines for staying on the ethical side of the line.

• An editor should say that the opening paragraph is kind of boring, and explain what exactly is making it drag. But it's overstepping for an editor to tell you exactly how to change it.
• An editor should point out where your prose is unclear or vague. But it's completely inappropriate for the editor to rewrite that section of your essay.
• An editor should let you know that a section is light on detail or description. But giving you similes and metaphors to beef up that description is a no-go.

Proofreading (also called copy-editing) is checking for errors in the last draft of a written work. It happens at the end of the process and is meant as the final polishing touch. Proofreading is meticulous and detail-oriented, focusing on small corrections. It sands off all the surface rough spots that could alienate the reader.

Because proofreading is usually concerned with making fixes on the word or sentence level, this is the only process where someone else can actually add to or take away things from your essay . This is because what they are adding or taking away tends to be one or two misplaced letters.

Laser focus. Proofreading is all about the tiny details, so the ability to really concentrate on finding small slip-ups is a must.

Excellent grammar and spelling skills. Proofreaders need to dot every "i" and cross every "t." Good proofreaders should correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar. They should put foreign words in italics and surround quotations with quotation marks. They should check that you used the correct college's name, and that you adhered to any formatting requirements (name and date at the top of the page, uniform font and size, uniform spacing).

Limited interference. A proofreader needs to make sure that you followed any word limits. But if cuts need to be made to shorten the essay, that's your job and not the proofreader's.

A bad proofreader either tries to turn into an editor, or just lacks the skills and knowledge necessary to do the job.

Some signs that you're working with a bad proofreader are:

• If they suggest making major changes to the final draft of your essay. Proofreading happens when editing is already finished.
• If they aren't particularly good at spelling, or don't know grammar, or aren't detail-oriented enough to find someone else's small mistakes.
• If they start swapping out your words for fancier-sounding synonyms, or changing the voice and sound of your essay in other ways. A proofreader is there to check for errors, not to take the 17-year-old out of your writing.

What Do Colleges Think of Your Getting Help With Your Essay?

Admissions officers agree: light editing and proofreading are good—even required ! But they also want to make sure you're the one doing the work on your essay. They want essays with stories, voice, and themes that come from you. They want to see work that reflects your actual writing ability, and that focuses on what you find important.

On the Importance of Editing

Get feedback. Have a fresh pair of eyes give you some feedback. Don't allow someone else to rewrite your essay, but do take advantage of others' edits and opinions when they seem helpful. ( Bates College )

Read your essay aloud to someone. Reading the essay out loud offers a chance to hear how your essay sounds outside your head. This exercise reveals flaws in the essay's flow, highlights grammatical errors and helps you ensure that you are communicating the exact message you intended. ( Dickinson College )

On the Value of Proofreading

Share your essays with at least one or two people who know you well—such as a parent, teacher, counselor, or friend—and ask for feedback. Remember that you ultimately have control over your essays, and your essays should retain your own voice, but others may be able to catch mistakes that you missed and help suggest areas to cut if you are over the word limit. ( Yale University )

Proofread and then ask someone else to proofread for you. Although we want substance, we also want to be able to see that you can write a paper for our professors and avoid careless mistakes that would drive them crazy. ( Oberlin College )

On Watching Out for Too Much Outside Influence

Limit the number of people who review your essay. Too much input usually means your voice is lost in the writing style. ( Carleton College )

Ask for input (but not too much). Your parents, friends, guidance counselors, coaches, and teachers are great people to bounce ideas off of for your essay. They know how unique and spectacular you are, and they can help you decide how to articulate it. Keep in mind, however, that a 45-year-old lawyer writes quite differently from an 18-year-old student, so if your dad ends up writing the bulk of your essay, we're probably going to notice. ( Vanderbilt University )

Now let's talk about some potential people to approach for your college essay editing and proofreading needs. It's best to start close to home and slowly expand outward. Not only are your family and friends more invested in your success than strangers, but they also have a better handle on your interests and personality. This knowledge is key for judging whether your essay is expressing your true self.

Parents or Close Relatives

Your family may be full of potentially excellent editors! Parents are deeply committed to your well-being, and family members know you and your life well enough to offer details or incidents that can be included in your essay. On the other hand, the rewriting process necessarily involves criticism, which is sometimes hard to hear from someone very close to you.

A parent or close family member is a great choice for an editor if you can answer "yes" to the following questions. Is your parent or close relative a good writer or reader? Do you have a relationship where editing your essay won't create conflict? Are you able to constructively listen to criticism and suggestion from the parent?

One suggestion for defusing face-to-face discussions is to try working on the essay over email. Send your parent a draft, have them write you back some comments, and then you can pick which of their suggestions you want to use and which to discard.

Teachers or Tutors

A humanities teacher that you have a good relationship with is a great choice. I am purposefully saying humanities, and not just English, because teachers of Philosophy, History, Anthropology, and any other classes where you do a lot of writing, are all used to reviewing student work.

Moreover, any teacher or tutor that has been working with you for some time, knows you very well and can vet the essay to make sure it "sounds like you."

If your teacher or tutor has some experience with what college essays are supposed to be like, ask them to be your editor. If not, then ask whether they have time to proofread your final draft.

Guidance or College Counselor at Your School

The best thing about asking your counselor to edit your work is that this is their job. This means that they have a very good sense of what colleges are looking for in an application essay.

At the same time, school counselors tend to have relationships with admissions officers in many colleges, which again gives them insight into what works and which college is focused on what aspect of the application.

Unfortunately, in many schools the guidance counselor tends to be way overextended. If your ratio is 300 students to 1 college counselor, you're unlikely to get that person's undivided attention and focus. It is still useful to ask them for general advice about your potential topics, but don't expect them to be able to stay with your essay from first draft to final version.

Friends, Siblings, or Classmates

Although they most likely don't have much experience with what colleges are hoping to see, your peers are excellent sources for checking that your essay is you .

Friends and siblings are perfect for the read-aloud edit. Read your essay to them so they can listen for words and phrases that are stilted, pompous, or phrases that just don't sound like you.

You can even trade essays and give helpful advice on each other's work.

If your editor hasn't worked with college admissions essays very much, no worries! Any astute and attentive reader can still greatly help with your process. But, as in all things, beginners do better with some preparation.

First, your editor should read our advice about how to write a college essay introduction , how to spot and fix a bad college essay , and get a sense of what other students have written by going through some admissions essays that worked .

Then, as they read your essay, they can work through the following series of questions that will help them to guide you.

Introduction Questions

• Is the first sentence a killer opening line? Why or why not?
• Does the introduction hook the reader? Does it have a colorful, detailed, and interesting narrative? Or does it propose a compelling or surprising idea?
• Can you feel the author's voice in the introduction, or is the tone dry, dull, or overly formal? Show the places where the voice comes through.

Essay Body Questions

• Does the essay have a through-line? Is it built around a central argument, thought, idea, or focus? Can you put this idea into your own words?
• How is the essay organized? By logical progression? Chronologically? Do you feel order when you read it, or are there moments where you are confused or lose the thread of the essay?
• Does the essay have both narratives about the author's life and explanations and insight into what these stories reveal about the author's character, personality, goals, or dreams? If not, which is missing?
• Does the essay flow? Are there smooth transitions/clever links between paragraphs? Between the narrative and moments of insight?

Reader Response Questions

• Does the writer's personality come through? Do we know what the speaker cares about? Do we get a sense of "who he or she is"?
• Where did you feel most connected to the essay? Which parts of the essay gave you a "you are there" sensation by invoking your senses? What moments could you picture in your head well?
• Where are the details and examples vague and not specific enough?
• Did you get an "a-ha!" feeling anywhere in the essay? Is there a moment of insight that connected all the dots for you? Is there a good reveal or "twist" anywhere in the essay?
• What are the strengths of this essay? What needs the most improvement?

Should You Pay Money for Essay Editing?

One alternative to asking someone you know to help you with your college essay is the paid editor route. There are two different ways to pay for essay help: a private essay coach or a less personal editing service , like the many proliferating on the internet.

My advice is to think of these options as a last resort rather than your go-to first choice. I'll first go through the reasons why. Then, if you do decide to go with a paid editor, I'll help you decide between a coach and a service.

When to Consider a Paid Editor

In general, I think hiring someone to work on your essay makes a lot of sense if none of the people I discussed above are a possibility for you.

If you can't ask your parents. For example, if your parents aren't good writers, or if English isn't their first language. Or if you think getting your parents to help is going create unnecessary extra conflict in your relationship with them (applying to college is stressful as it is!)

If you can't ask your teacher or tutor. Maybe you don't have a trusted teacher or tutor that has time to look over your essay with focus. Or, for instance, your favorite humanities teacher has very limited experience with college essays and so won't know what admissions officers want to see.

If you can't ask your guidance counselor. This could be because your guidance counselor is way overwhelmed with other students.

If you can't share your essay with those who know you. It might be that your essay is on a very personal topic that you're unwilling to share with parents, teachers, or peers. Just make sure it doesn't fall into one of the bad-idea topics in our article on bad college essays .

If the cost isn't a consideration. Many of these services are quite expensive, and private coaches even more so. If you have finite resources, I'd say that hiring an SAT or ACT tutor (whether it's PrepScholar or someone else) is better way to spend your money . This is because there's no guarantee that a slightly better essay will sufficiently elevate the rest of your application, but a significantly higher SAT score will definitely raise your applicant profile much more.

Should You Hire an Essay Coach?

On the plus side, essay coaches have read dozens or even hundreds of college essays, so they have experience with the format. Also, because you'll be working closely with a specific person, it's more personal than sending your essay to a service, which will know even less about you.

But, on the minus side, you'll still be bouncing ideas off of someone who doesn't know that much about you . In general, if you can adequately get the help from someone you know, there is no advantage to paying someone to help you.

If you do decide to hire a coach, ask your school counselor, or older students that have used the service for recommendations. If you can't afford the coach's fees, ask whether they can work on a sliding scale —many do. And finally, beware those who guarantee admission to your school of choice—essay coaches don't have any special magic that can back up those promises.

Should You Send Your Essay to a Service?

On the plus side, essay editing services provide a similar product to essay coaches, and they cost significantly less . If you have some assurance that you'll be working with a good editor, the lack of face-to-face interaction won't prevent great results.

On the minus side, however, it can be difficult to gauge the quality of the service before working with them . If they are churning through many application essays without getting to know the students they are helping, you could end up with an over-edited essay that sounds just like everyone else's. In the worst case scenario, an unscrupulous service could send you back a plagiarized essay.

Getting recommendations from friends or a school counselor for reputable services is key to avoiding heavy-handed editing that writes essays for you or does too much to change your essay. Including a badly-edited essay like this in your application could cause problems if there are inconsistencies. For example, in interviews it might be clear you didn't write the essay, or the skill of the essay might not be reflected in your schoolwork and test scores.

Should You Buy an Essay Written by Someone Else?

Let me elaborate. There are super sketchy places on the internet where you can simply buy a pre-written essay. Don't do this!

For one thing, you'll be lying on an official, signed document. All college applications make you sign a statement saying something like this:

I certify that all information submitted in the admission process—including the application, the personal essay, any supplements, and any other supporting materials—is my own work, factually true, and honestly presented... I understand that I may be subject to a range of possible disciplinary actions, including admission revocation, expulsion, or revocation of course credit, grades, and degree, should the information I have certified be false. (From the Common Application )

For another thing, if your academic record doesn't match the essay's quality, the admissions officer will start thinking your whole application is riddled with lies.

Admission officers have full access to your writing portion of the SAT or ACT so that they can compare work that was done in proctored conditions with that done at home. They can tell if these were written by different people. Not only that, but there are now a number of search engines that faculty and admission officers can use to see if an essay contains strings of words that have appeared in other essays—you have no guarantee that the essay you bought wasn't also bought by 50 other students.

• You should get college essay help with both editing and proofreading
• A good editor will ask questions about your idea, logic, and structure, and will point out places where clarity is needed
• A good editor will absolutely not answer these questions, give you their own ideas, or write the essay or parts of the essay for you
• A good proofreader will find typos and check your formatting
• All of them agree that getting light editing and proofreading is necessary
• Parents, teachers, guidance or college counselor, and peers or siblings
• If you can't ask any of those, you can pay for college essay help, but watch out for services or coaches who over-edit you work
• Don't buy a pre-written essay! Colleges can tell, and it'll make your whole application sound false.

Ready to start working on your essay? Check out our explanation of the point of the personal essay and the role it plays on your applications and then explore our step-by-step guide to writing a great college essay .

Using the Common Application for your college applications? We have an excellent guide to the Common App essay prompts and useful advice on how to pick the Common App prompt that's right for you . Wondering how other people tackled these prompts? Then work through our roundup of over 130 real college essay examples published by colleges .

Stressed about whether to take the SAT again before submitting your application? Let us help you decide how many times to take this test . If you choose to go for it, we have the ultimate guide to studying for the SAT to give you the ins and outs of the best ways to study.

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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We use them all the time — Yelp, Tripadvisor, the BBB — websites that post reviews by customers, clients and patients of all sorts of companies and health care providers. But can we trust these reviews? Are the websites that post them taking steps to assure they are legit?

“No and no,” says Kay Dean of San Jose, Calif., a former criminal investigator in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General. Dean’s bad experience with a health care provider with glowing reviews led her on a journey into the expansive realm of fake online reviews. “I no longer put an ounce of trust in any online review site,” she says.

She is the founder of Fake Review Watch , which she says is on the side of consumers and honest businesses and attempts to show the issues that major review platforms have with fake reviews.

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Personal experience led to her investigation

About seven years ago, Dean used stellar reviews she saw on Yelp and Google to select a medical care provider. “The experience turned out to be the exact opposite of what was claimed on the platforms, leaving me suspicious about these reviews I had relied on. And so, drawing on my knowledge as an investigator, I began doing some digging and uncovered this medical practice was trading fake reviews with other businesses in Facebook groups.”

She discovered that “the online review world was saturated with so much deception — far more so than people realize.”

Frustrated by a lack of official action against this widespread fraud, Dean created YouTube videos with case studies as real examples, which she offers to major news outlets. “That’s been effective, but my larger goal is to highlight the culpability of tech companies and review sites that are not doing enough to protect the public. I try to educate people not to trust online reviews at all, and I attempt to rally public support for more enforcement and new legislation.”

Fake reviews are very convincing

I asked Dean to share the clues consumers should look for to alert them that they are reading a fake review.

“It is extremely difficult for the average consumer to discern which reviews are fake,” Dean notes, “as they can be very detailed and convincing, some written by the business itself. I’ve seen many contractor reviews with photos of work lifted off of a real estate listing in another state and thousands of Yelp reviews with content simply plagiarized from Tripadvisor written by other people, sometimes years earlier. Determining whether (a review is) real or fake often requires analyzing sets of reviewers and businesses together to see if suspicious patterns emerge indicating deception.”

Dean points out that even the Better Business Bureau website “has become polluted with review fraud, hosting plenty of fake BBB reviews. I’ve found that a robust black market exists for them, including several marketers in Facebook groups offering to sell BBB reviews. I reached out to one guy from Pakistan. He offered to sell them for $3 each!”

Furthermore, she notes, the BBB site lacks transparency. “Just click on a BBB review to find out something about the reviewer. Nothing comes up. There are no photos. No last names are used, nor is there any other way of finding out who or what else the person has reviewed, or if they even exist. So while the BBB says, ‘Trust us,’ you can’t.”

An industry of fake reviews

Online networks, many based in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, sell fake reviews for the BBB, Yelp, Google, Angi and many more, charging as little as 50 cents per review. They have “programs” for movers, lawyers, doctors, dentists, you name it, and will create fake positive and negative reviews that appear to come from real people in cities all over America.

Sites such as Reviews That Stick offer reviews across multiple platforms to boost the reputation of a business.

“Much of the fraud, though, is organized on social media sites with impunity,” Dean says, adding, “Facebook does little to stop the marketing of fake reviews. There are scores of groups on its platform that openly facilitate buying and selling them. Under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act , however, web-hosting platforms are not responsible for this kind of illegal activity conducted by third parties.”

Houston defamation attorney Paul Sternberg says, “But when the platform itself — such as the BBB — gives an A+ rating when they know or should know from hundreds of complaints the business is misleading its customers, I believe they have opened themselves up to being sued. Even if the platform says, ‘We do not endorse,’ the very fact of awarding that grade — which then is used by the business in its advertising — is an endorsement.”

If we can’t trust online reviews, then what?

Dean believes that until social media sites like Facebook and review platforms such as Google and Yelp can be held accountable for the rampant review fraud they allow to be foisted on the public, not much will change. This would require congressional action.

Until then, she recommends consumers use the old-fashioned method of choosing businesses — by talking to real relatives and friends about who they would recommend.

Dennis Beaver practices law in Bakersfield, Calif., and welcomes comments and questions from readers, which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993, or e-mailed to [email protected] . And be sure to visit dennisbeaver.com .

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After attending Loyola University School of Law, H. Dennis Beaver joined California's Kern County District Attorney's Office, where he established a Consumer Fraud section. He is in the general practice of law and writes a syndicated newspaper column, " You and the Law ." Through his column he offers readers in need of down-to-earth advice his help free of charge. "I know it sounds corny, but I just love to be able to use my education and experience to help, simply to help. When a reader contacts me, it is a gift." 

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A charming look at a reader’s many moods

Elisa Gabbert’s essays in “Any Person Is the Only Self” are brimming with pleasure and curiosity about a life with books.

Tell people you read and write for a living, and they picture a ghostly creature, an idea only incidentally appended to a body. What they often fail to understand is that the life of the mind is also a physical life — a life spent lugging irksomely heavy volumes around on the Metro and annotating their margins with a cramping hand. The poet, essayist and New York Times poetry columnist Elisa Gabbert is rare in grasping that reading is, in addition to a mental exercise, a movement performed in a particular place.

“If I remember anything about a book, I also remember where I read it — what room, what chair,” she writes in her charming new essay collection, “ Any Person Is the Only Self .” Writing, too, proves spatial: “I think essays, like buildings, need structure and mood. The first paragraph should function as a foyer or an antechamber, bringing you into the mood.”

The 16 delightfully digressive pieces in this collection are all moods that involve books in one way or another. But they are not just about the content of books, although they are about that, too: They are primarily about the acts of reading and writing, which are as much social and corporeal as cerebral.

In the first essay — the foyer — Gabbert writes about the shelf of newly returned books at her local library. “The books on that shelf weren’t being marketed to me,” she writes. “They weren’t omnipresent in my social media feeds. They were very often old and very often ugly. I came to think of that shelf as an escape from hype.” The haphazard selections on the shelf were also evidence of other people — the sort of invisible but palpable community of readers that she came to miss so sharply during the pandemic.

In another essay, she learns of a previously unpublished story by one of her favorite authors, Sylvia Plath, who makes frequent appearances throughout this book. Fearing that the story will disappoint her, Gabbert puts off reading it. As she waits, she grows “apprehensive, even frightened.”

There are writers who attempt to excise themselves from their writing, to foster an illusion of objectivity; thankfully, Gabbert is not one of them. On the contrary, her writing is full of intimacies, and her book is a work of embodied and experiential criticism, a record of its author’s shifting relationships with the literature that defines her life. In one piece, she rereads and reappraises books she first read as a teenager; in another, she and her friends form a “Stupid Classics Book Club,” to tackle “all the corny stuff from the canon that we really should have read in school but never had.”

Gabbert is a master of mood, not polemic, and accordingly, her writing is not didactic; her essays revolve around images and recollections rather than arguments. In place of the analytic pleasures of a robustly defended thesis, we find the fresh thrills of a poet’s perfected phrases and startling observations. “Parties are about the collective gaze, the ability to be seen from all angles, panoramically,” she writes in an essay about fictional depictions of parties. She describes the photos in a book by Rachael Ray documenting home-cooked meals — one of the volumes on the recently returned shelf — as “poignantly mediocre.” Remarking on a listicle of “Books to Read by Living Women (Instead of These 10 by Dead Men),” Gabbert wonders, “Since when is it poor form to die?”

“Any Person Is the Only Self” is both funny and serious, a winning melee of high and low cultural references, as packed with unexpected treasures as a crowded antique shop. An academic text on architecture, the Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke, a rare memory disorder whose victims recall every aspect of their autobiographies in excruciatingly minute detail, “Madame Bovary,” YouTube videos about people who work as professional cuddlers, a psychological study about whether it is possible to be sane in an insane asylum — all these feature in Gabbert’s exuberant essays. She is a fiercely democratic thinker, incapable of snobbery and brimming with curiosity.

Perhaps because she is so indefatigably interested, she gravitates toward writers who see literature as a means of doubling life, allowing it to hold twice as much. Plath confessed in her journals that she wrote in an attempt to extend her biography beyond its biological terminus: “My life, I feel, will not be lived until there are books and stories which relive it perpetually in time.” The very act of keeping a diary, then, splits the self in two.

Plath once insisted that bad things could never happen to her and her peers because “we’re different.” Gabbert asks “Different why?” and concludes that everyone is different: “We are we , not them. Any person is the only self.” But that “only” is, perhaps counterintuitively, not constrained or constricted. Walt Whitman famously wrote that his only self comprised “multitudes,” and Gabbert echoes him when she reflects, “If there is no one self, you can never be yourself, only one of your selves.” And indeed, she is loath to elevate any of her many selves over any of the others. When she rereads a book that she loved in her adolescence, she thinks she was right to love it back then. “That self only knew what she knew,” she writes. “That self wasn’t wrong .” Both her past self and her present self have an equal claim to being Elisa Gabbert, who is too fascinated by the world’s manifold riches to confine herself to a single, limited life.

Becca Rothfeld is the nonfiction book critic for The Washington Post and the author of “All Things Are Too Small: Essays in Praise of Excess.”

Any Person Is the Only Self

By Elisa Gabbert

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Announcing TGC’s 2024 Essay Contest for Young Adults

Writers aged 16–22 can get published and win $500.

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The Gospel Coalition announces its 2024 essay contest, inviting young adults (ages 16–22) to explore and write about God’s faithfulness, their relationship with technology, and their heart for full-time ministry in our secular age.

Winning authors will receive a prize, and their essays will be published on TGC’s website. In addition, every writer who submits an essay will receive a coupon code for $50 off the Gen-Z registration for our TGC25 conference .

Essay Requirements

Each 800–1,000 word essay must be original, previously unpublished, and must respond to one of the following three prompts. With each of these prompts, contestants should draw from their own experiences and convictions, and use Scripture to support their conclusions. (Want examples? Read the winning essays from 2022 and 2023 .) Contestants must give permission to TGC to publish their work, and each essay will be judged by TGC’s editorial team.

Submissions will be accepted from June 1 to July 1 and winners will be announced on September 2, 2024.

1. When did the Lord love you by not giving you what you wanted?

Many of us have unfulfilled desires. When was a time you saw the Lord’s love and kindness when he withheld something from you? What was it that you wanted and how did you see the Lord’s faithfulness through not giving it to you? Tell us what you learned from your experience, especially considering that our culture tells us we deserve to have all our desires fulfilled.

2. How has the gospel changed your relationship with your phone?

Today, phones are considered a necessity rather than a luxury. How does the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ change how you view your phone and how you use it? How has your phone been a hindrance and how has it been an asset to your relationship with the Lord? Tell us what you’ve learned in navigating how to use your phone for the glory of God.

3. Why are you considering full-time ministry?

There’s a greater need than ever for young people to pursue full-time ministry. Why are you considering making ministry your vocation? Tell us your heart behind it, why you think it’s important, and what influences in your life have led you to move forward in this direction.

The contest winner will receive $500; second place will receive a $100 gift card to the TGC bookstore; third place will receive an assortment of books. The winning essays will be published on TGC’s website, as will any other essays the judges select.

Read the full contest rules and upload your essay. Questions? Contact [email protected] .

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Jamie Raskin: How to Force Justices Alito and Thomas to Recuse Themselves in the Jan. 6 Cases

By Jamie Raskin

Mr. Raskin represents Maryland’s Eighth Congressional District in the House of Representatives. He taught constitutional law for more than 25 years and was the lead prosecutor in the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump.

Many people have gloomily accepted the conventional wisdom that because there is no binding Supreme Court ethics code, there is no way to force Associate Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas to recuse themselves from the Jan. 6 cases that are before the court.

Justices Alito and Thomas are probably making the same assumption.

But all of them are wrong.

It seems unfathomable that the two justices could get away with deciding for themselves whether they can be impartial in ruling on cases affecting Donald Trump’s liability for crimes he is accused of committing on Jan. 6. Justice Thomas’s wife, Ginni Thomas, was deeply involved in the Jan. 6 “stop the steal” movement. Above the Virginia home of Justice Alito and his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, flew an upside-down American flag — a strong political statement among the people who stormed the Capitol. Above the Alitos’ beach home in New Jersey flew another flag that has been adopted by groups opposed to President Biden.

Justices Alito and Thomas face a groundswell of appeals beseeching them not to participate in Trump v. United States , the case that will decide whether Mr. Trump enjoys absolute immunity from criminal prosecution, and Fischer v. United States , which will decide whether Jan. 6 insurrectionists — and Mr. Trump — can be charged under a statute that criminalizes “corruptly” obstructing an official proceeding. (Justice Alito said on Wednesday that he would not recuse himself from Jan. 6-related cases.)

Everyone assumes that nothing can be done about the recusal situation because the highest court in the land has the lowest ethical standards — no binding ethics code or process outside of personal reflection. Each justice decides for him- or herself whether he or she can be impartial.

Of course, Justices Alito and Thomas could choose to recuse themselves — wouldn’t that be nice? But begging them to do the right thing misses a far more effective course of action.

The U.S. Department of Justice — including the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, an appointed U.S. special counsel and the solicitor general, all of whom were involved in different ways in the criminal prosecutions underlying these cases and are opposing Mr. Trump’s constitutional and statutory claims — can petition the other seven justices to require Justices Alito and Thomas to recuse themselves not as a matter of grace but as a matter of law.

The Justice Department and Attorney General Merrick Garland can invoke two powerful textual authorities for this motion: the Constitution of the United States, specifically the due process clause, and the federal statute mandating judicial disqualification for questionable impartiality, 28 U.S.C. Section 455. The Constitution has come into play in several recent Supreme Court decisions striking down rulings by stubborn judges in lower courts whose political impartiality has been reasonably questioned but who threw caution to the wind to hear a case anyway. This statute requires potentially biased judges throughout the federal system to recuse themselves at the start of the process to avoid judicial unfairness and embarrassing controversies and reversals.

The constitutional and statutory standards apply to Supreme Court justices. The Constitution, and the federal laws under it, is the “ supreme law of the land ,” and the recusal statute explicitly treats Supreme Court justices as it does other judges: “Any justice, judge or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” The only justices in the federal judiciary are the ones on the Supreme Court.

This recusal statute, if triggered, is not a friendly suggestion. It is Congress’s command, binding on the justices, just as the due process clause is. The Supreme Court cannot disregard this law just because it directly affects one or two of its justices. Ignoring it would trespass on the constitutional separation of powers because the justices would essentially be saying that they have the power to override a congressional command.

When the arguments are properly before the court, Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Sonia Sotomayor will have both a constitutional obligation and a statutory obligation to enforce recusal standards.

Indeed, there is even a compelling argument based on case law that Chief Justice Roberts and the other unaffected justices should raise the matter of recusal on their own, or sua sponte. Numerous circuit courts have agreed with the Eighth Circuit that this is the right course of action when members of an appellate court are aware of “ overt acts ” of a judge reflecting personal bias. Cases like this stand for the idea that appellate jurists who see something should say something instead of placing all the burden on parties in a case who would have to risk angering a judge by bringing up the awkward matter of potential bias and favoritism on the bench.

But even if no member of the court raises the issue of recusal, the urgent need to deal with it persists. Once it is raised, the court would almost surely have to find that the due process clause and Section 455 compel Justices Alito and Thomas to recuse themselves. To arrive at that substantive conclusion, the justices need only read their court’s own recusal decisions.

In one key 5-to-3 Supreme Court case from 2016, Williams v. Pennsylvania, Justice Anthony Kennedy explained why judicial bias is a defect of constitutional magnitude and offered specific objective standards for identifying it. Significantly, Justices Alito and Thomas dissented from the majority’s ruling.

The case concerned the bias of the chief justice of Pennsylvania, who had been involved as a prosecutor on the state’s side in an appellate death penalty case that was before him. Justice Kennedy found that the judge’s refusal to recuse himself when asked to do so violated due process. Justice Kennedy’s authoritative opinion on recusal illuminates three critical aspects of the current controversy.

First, Justice Kennedy found that the standard for recusal must be objective because it is impossible to rely on the affected judge’s introspection and subjective interpretations. The court’s objective standard requires recusal when the likelihood of bias on the part of the judge “is too high to be constitutionally tolerable,” citing an earlier case. “This objective risk of bias,” according to Justice Kennedy, “is reflected in the due process maxim that ‘no man can be a judge in his own case.’” A judge or justice can be convinced of his or her own impartiality but also completely missing what other people are seeing.

Second, the Williams majority endorsed the American Bar Association’s Model Code of Judicial Conduct as an appropriate articulation of the Madisonian standard that “no man can be a judge in his own cause.” Model Code Rule 2.11 on judicial disqualification says that a judge “shall disqualify himself or herself in any proceeding in which the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” This includes, illustratively, cases in which the judge “has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party,” a married judge knows that “the judge’s spouse” is “a person who has more than a de minimis interest that could be substantially affected by the proceeding” or the judge “has made a public statement, other than in a court proceeding, judicial decision or opinion, that commits or appears to commit the judge to reach a particular result.” These model code illustrations ring a lot of bells at this moment.

Third and most important, Justice Kennedy found for the court that the failure of an objectively biased judge to recuse him- or herself is not “harmless error” just because the biased judge’s vote is not apparently determinative in the vote of a panel of judges. A biased judge contaminates the proceeding not just by the casting and tabulation of his or her own vote but by participating in the body’s collective deliberations and affecting, even subtly, other judges’ perceptions of the case.

Justice Kennedy was emphatic on this point : “It does not matter whether the disqualified judge’s vote was necessary to the disposition of the case. The fact that the interested judge’s vote was not dispositive may mean only that the judge was successful in persuading most members of the court to accept his or her position — an outcome that does not lessen the unfairness to the affected party.”

Courts generally have found that any reasonable doubts about a judge’s partiality must be resolved in favor of recusal. A judge “shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” While recognizing that the “challenged judge enjoys a margin of discretion,” the courts have repeatedly held that “doubts ordinarily ought to be resolved in favor of recusal.” After all, the reputation of the whole tribunal and public confidence in the judiciary are both on the line.

Judge David Tatel of the D.C. Circuit emphasized this fundamental principle in 2019 when his court issued a writ of mandamus to force recusal of a military judge who blithely ignored at least the appearance of a glaring conflict of interest. He stated : “Impartial adjudicators are the cornerstone of any system of justice worthy of the label. And because ‘deference to the judgments and rulings of courts depends upon public confidence in the integrity and independence of judges,’ jurists must avoid even the appearance of partiality.” He reminded us that to perform its high function in the best way, as Justice Felix Frankfurter stated, “justice must satisfy the appearance of justice.”

The Supreme Court has been especially disposed to favor recusal when partisan politics appear to be a prejudicial factor even when the judge’s impartiality has not been questioned. In Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co. , from 2009, the court held that a state supreme court justice was constitutionally disqualified from a case in which the president of a corporation appearing before him had helped to get him elected by spending $3 million promoting his campaign. The court, through Justice Kennedy, asked whether, quoting a 1975 decision, “under a realistic appraisal of psychological tendencies and human weakness,” the judge’s obvious political alignment with a party in a case “poses such a risk of actual bias or prejudgment that the practice must be forbidden if the guarantee of due process is to be adequately implemented.”

The federal statute on disqualification, Section 455(b) , also makes recusal analysis directly applicable to bias imputed to a spouse’s interest in the case. Ms. Thomas and Mrs. Alito (who, according to Justice Alito, is the one who put up the inverted flag outside their home) meet this standard. A judge must recuse him- or herself when a spouse “is known by the judge to have an interest in a case that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding.”

At his Senate confirmation hearing, Chief Justice Roberts assured America that “judges are like umpires.”

But professional baseball would never allow an umpire to continue to officiate the World Series after learning that the pennant of one of the two teams competing was flying in the front yard of the umpire’s home. Nor would an umpire be allowed to call balls and strikes in a World Series game after the umpire’s wife tried to get the official score of a prior game in the series overthrown and canceled out to benefit the losing team. If judges are like umpires, then they should be treated like umpires, not team owners, fans or players.

Justice Barrett has said she wants to convince people “that this court is not comprised of a bunch of partisan hacks.” Justice Alito himself declared the importance of judicial objectivity in his opinion for the majority in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overruling Roe v. Wade — a bit of self-praise that now rings especially hollow.

But the Constitution and Congress’s recusal statute provide the objective framework of analysis and remedy for cases of judicial bias that are apparent to the world, even if they may be invisible to the judges involved. This is not really optional for the justices.

I look forward to seeing seven members of the court act to defend the reputation and integrity of the institution.

Jamie Raskin, a Democrat, represents Maryland’s Eighth Congressional District in the House of Representatives. He taught constitutional law for more than 25 years and was the lead prosecutor in the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump.

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Subcommittee 3 on Health and Human Services

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Agenda - Part B - Human Services

May 9, 2024 - Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services Subject: All Departments - Open Issues Agenda

May 2, 2024 - Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services 9:30 a.m. or Upon Adjournment of Session - 1021 O Street, Room 1200 Agenda: California Health and Human Services Agency, Department of Health Care Services, Department of State Hospitals, Mental Health Oversight and Accountability Commission, All Departments - Open Issues

• Presentation: Toby Ewing, Ph.D., Executive Director, Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission
• Presentation: Michelle Doty Cabrera, Executive Director, County Behavioral Health Directors Association
• Presentation: DHCS - Overview of Proposition 1 

April 25, 2024 - Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services 9:30 a.m. or Upon Adjournment of Session - 1021 O Street, Room 1200 Agenda: Department of Social Services

April 18, 2024 - Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services Agenda: Department of Health Care Services

MCO Tax Importance to PHS and Our Looming Financial Challenges

April 11, 2024 - Subcommitte e No. 3 on Health and Human Services Agenda - Department of Child Support Services, Department of Social Services

April 4, 2024 - Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services Agenda: Department of Health Care Services

March 21, 2024 - Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services Agenda: Department of Developmental Services, Department of Rehabilitation

March 14, 2024 - Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services Agenda: Department of Public Health

March 13, 2024 - Joint Hearing - Health and Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services Agenda: Progress Reforming Medi-Cal’s Behavioral Health Services Through the CalAIM Behavioral Health Initiative

Background Paper  

DHCS - CalAIM Behavioral Health: Preliminary Implementaton Feedback Report 

March 7, 2024 - Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services Agenda: Department of Aging, Department of Community Services and Development, Department of Social Services

February 29, 2024 - Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services Agenda: CalHHS, CHFFA, EMSA, HCAI, CovCA

February 14, 2024 - Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services and Subcommittee No. 5 on Corrections, Public Safety, Judiciary, Labor and Transportation 

Subject: Oversight of Juvenile Justice Realignment

LAO Handout

Process for Submitting Budget Requests for Sub #3 :

• Stakeholders who would like to submit budget requests for consideration in Sub #3 must find a Senator to sponsor the request.  This does not count against any other limits on a Senator’s budget requests that may exist, but is meant to demonstrate support within the Senate.
• Stakeholders must have their Senate sponsor complete and submit the Budget Request Information Worksheet (see link to document below), no later than seven (7) days prior to the hearing in which the affected department/agency will be heard.  Requests that miss the deadline may be heard in the subcommittee’s early May hearing, but will not benefit from having the relevant Administration staff present to comment.  Please refer to the Senate Daily File for details on when departments/agencies will be heard.
• Any budget bill language or trailer bill language that accompanies the request must be provided to the subcommittee staff by no later than the release of the May Revision on May 14 th .
• Any sponsored request submitted by the deadline will be referenced in the published subcommittee agenda.  At the Chair’s discretion, a small number of stakeholders will be permitted to present a request during the subcommittee hearing.  However, all requests included in the published subcommittee agenda will be under consideration by the subcommittee for inclusion in the Senate’s version of the budget, regardless of whether they are presented at the hearing.
• Requests that have failed to attract a Senate sponsor may still be submitted to the subcommittee by the deadline.  At the Chair’s discretion, these requests may be reviewed for inclusion in the subcommittee agenda, or for presentation during the subcommittee hearing.

Budget Request Information Worksheet

Please email comments or Letters to :

   [email protected]