Paying a professional editor to go over my statement

[unpretentious username]

Has anyone done this or heard of anyone doing so? It seems like it might be worth it. Thoughts?

[-hermes-]

I haven't done this, but I've definitely heard of people getting 'professional' editors to go over their statements, which to my understanding, actually means getting them written/rewritten to a large degree.

Personally, I'd recommend against it if you have a friend/family member/professor who could read it over for you instead. If English isn't your first language, a native speaker can catch any mistakes you might have made. It's also useful if the person reading through your statement knows you personally, because they'll be more likely to spot if you've unintentionally said something that means something else instead (i.e. they'll be better equipped to read for content than a stranger would).

If the 'professional service' includes getting your statement redone in any shape or form, I believe it's unethical to consult with them. Ethics aside, universities are looking for your own personal voice and story, which can be lost through a stranger's extensive edits/input.

[GreenePony]

I would be afraid that it would compromise your style/voice in it. I know even between my husband and a good friend, I'm more likely to retain a better sense of "me" if I have a friend edit it since he has read my writing longer and is used to the quirks that come from where we grew up. That being said, I did send my SOP to a number of people to read so I could be sure that it would be well received by someone who wasn't used to my writing style.

[TakeruK]

Ethical reasons aside (someone else writing parts of your SOP for you would likely be unethical, and making major edits would be a grey area), I'm not sure paying for this would even be worth it. You do have to tweak your SOP slightly for each school so unless you plan to pay an editor to help with every SOP, you would probably write a generic/master SOP with an editor and then tweak each one yourself for each school. This could introduce inconsistent voice/styles from the parts that the editor helped you write vs. your own.

I'm not sure about your field, but do graduate committees really care whether your SOP is a masterpiece of writing or not? I think they would judge it mostly for the content and as long as it's not horribly written, it won't send up any flags. With so many to read, I doubt that an individual SOP would be especially memorable unless it is really stunning, and I'm not sure even professional editorial services unfamiliar with graduate admissions could really do that.

In addition, you will have to write many of these essays in the future. Applying to funding for a conference, workshop or summer school? Applying for summer schools themselves? Research proposals? Are you going to pay for this every time? It is an important skill for a researcher to be able to make a case for themselves/their work to an unknown audience in a concise manner. So now is as good a time to learn as any!

Finally, I don't think it's worth it because you can get so much help for free online and from mentors/peers. You can see tons of example SOPs and some schools even explicitly say what they want to see. There are lots of articles with tips on what to mention. But most importantly, you would want someone who is actually familiar with the whole process to read it over -- for example, a mentor/supervisor/prof at your undergrad institution. My friends and I also read over each other's SOPs and while it may be "the blind leading the blind" here, it's good to get an outsider perspective on your own writing.

[antanon82]

How authentic is online editing/allowing someone else to edit your draft and paying them online? And what websites are out there - anyone have any examples?

[BuddingScholar]

I thought about hiring one from "Kaplan," for example, but since I cannot afford it, and ultimately feel that I should be doing it alone anyway, I ended up choosing not to. But FYI, they do not write or rewrite the SOP for anyone (in fact, they are very adamant about that), at least the ones I checked. They will read your CV and after finding out more about you (after an initial meeting), they suggest how to organize, what to emphasize, etc, and later they will help proof/edit, but without changing one's writing style.