Is it worth to pay someone to edit your personal statement? Which editing service firms are credible and would you recommend?
Its not worth it when you can post your PS on TLS for free and have others edit it for you.
It depends.
If you’re already a good writer and just need some tweaking and cleanup, TLS is totally qualified. (I posted my near-final essay here and got basically one solid suggestion, plus confirmation that the rest was ok.)
If you’re not a strong writer but don’t mind having your essay ripped apart and edited (probably with a liberal sprinkling of snark) in public, TLS will at least get you started.
If you’re not sure if your essay is going in the right direction at all, TLS is a great place to get overall reactions on topic, tone and style.
If you need hand-holding through several drafts, you might luck out on TLS and catch the attention of a proofreader with some spare time, but you’d be guaranteed the attention you need by a pay service.
TLSers tend to agree, in a broad sense, on what is good and what is bad. Different people will always edit and write differently, but that’s the beauty of having 25 TLSers look at your essay for free–you can get a variety of suggestions to choose from. With a pay service, you’re getting one person’s opinion.
I’d try TLS first. If you aren’t satisfied with the results you get, you can always pay someone later.
Thanks for the advise. I’ll post my PS when ready. Cheers.
Agreed, would probably not pay anyone, but i am now applying to grad programs and there are a number of resources (in addition to TLS) on the web. http://www.studiential.com is good, http://www.go-llm.com/7-tips-for-writing-your-llm-personal-statement was also helpful.
Is there a dept at your college that assists with editing? I would hit them up too.
If you have a chance asking an English teacher to have a look is also beneficial.
Some teachers do this others just refer you to the school’s writing lab, but a nice email or stopping by during their office hours is worth the effort.
Credited. My favorite English prof was awesomely helpful–she would look over each draft, give me suggestions…it worked out really well.