Ghostwriting SOP

[HeatherC]

I have heard several people using ghostwriters for their statements and just wondering what everyone's thoughts are about that. Has anyone ever used a ghostwriter before?

[bamafan]

That sounds like a horrible, horrible idea. If one is unwilling or able to write their own SOP, then they are neither ready nor deserving to be in graduate school. 

 

Also, practically speaking, it will probably not be a very good or successful SOP, since it will lack the personal touch and likely sound more like a recommendation based on a CV than a statement of purpose. 

[TakeruK]

I think it is a very bad idea because of the practical reasons bamafan pointed out (i.e. you're removing the advantage of being able to use "your" voice in the SOP). But maybe even more importantly, I am pretty sure that by submitting an application, you have to certify that everything submitted is both true and written by you. If you ever got found out, they might revoke your admission (I don't even want to speculate on what could happen if they find out after you've already started your program or if you've graduated). So the risk is really high! Not worth it, in my opinion.

[DarwinAG]

Terrible idea. And I would vehemetly side against it.

The ability to write is a hallmark ability of every graduate student. Having a ghost writer do it is a self admitance that theyre not ready for grad school work.

[1Q84]

The OP raises a pretty interesting point though: she says that she hears people are doing it.

 

Anyone think that it's quite common? I'm sure more than a few are able to slide by adcomms undetected.

[bamafan]

Again, I think it's not so much an issue of getting away with it, as it is with why would you want to? I can't imagine a ghost written SOP being very good, and writing an SOP is really NOT that bad. Try not to think of it as something you have to do but rather something you get to do, an opportunity so that you can express yourself, your interests, and qualifications in a personal and convincing manner. 

[asleepawake]

Let's call it what is it: plagiarism.

 

This is not "ghostwriting." You are not Hilary Duff penning a novel. You are an academic writing a statement about what kind of work you're going to do. It is requirement in any and all academic institutes that you complete your own work. Write it yourself. Go over it with someone who is a strong writer. Proofread it with them. But it absolutely needs to be your work, or you should not be anywhere near a University. 

 

I'm not trying to be harsh, but this is serious. You should pass this information along to anyone you have heard discussing this option.

Edited December 21, 2012 by asleepawake

[ridofme]

I have heard several people using ghostwriters for their statements

 

Where have you heard that? If this does happen regularly, I would be shocked to learn that people are openly discussing it. Having someone else write your statement of purpose clearly violates the terms of the application. All work submitted must be your own, and with good reason. 

And why you'd want someone else to write your SOP is beyond me. If you can't compose 1000 words about your background and research and/or career interests, then how are you going to be able to complete graduate-level work and write a thesis? It would be one thing if you were going into Chemical Engineering, and saw writing this SOP as a means to an end. (Although it would still be 100% wrong to have someone do it for you). But for Poli Sci? Presumably you should be pretty good at writing. In fact, I just clicked on your profile in an attempt to figure out if you're trolling (I've decided you're not), and you even list 'writing' as one of your interests.* You also seem to be a native English speaker, so that can't be it. Consider me perplexed.

We all have anxiety about our SOPs. Writing comes pretty naturally to me, and it still has been a very stressful process. But that is no excuse to have someone write it for you. Even if your duplicity goes undetected and you are admitted, you will have a very hard time in any remotely rigorous program, because enlisting a 'ghostwriter' suggests that you are either (a) incapable of writing it yourself, or ( too lazy. If you don't have any friends, family, colleagues, or former professors who can help edit/review your SOP, then I would understand you paying for some kind of outside review service. But do not, under any circumstances, have anyone 'ghostwrite' it.

*I would suggest removing your Skype name from your profile, as it appears to list your first and last name, and you have just posted some pretty damning information on this forum.

[1Q84]

Where have you heard that? If this does happen regularly, I would be shocked to learn that people are openly discussing it. Having someone else write your statement of purpose clearly violates the terms of the application. All work submitted must be your own, and with good reason. 

And why you'd want someone else to write your SOP is beyond me. If you can't compose 1000 words about your background and research and/or career interests, then how are you going to be able to complete graduate-level work and write a thesis? It would be one thing if you were going into Chemical Engineering, and saw writing this SOP as a means to an end. (Although it would still be 100% wrong to have someone do it for you). But for Poli Sci? Presumably you should be pretty good at writing. In fact, I just clicked on your profile in an attempt to figure out if you're trolling (I've decided you're not), and you even list 'writing' as one of your interests.* You also seem to be a native English speaker, so that can't be it. Consider me perplexed.

We all have anxiety about our SOPs. Writing comes pretty naturally to me, and it still has been a very stressful process. But that is no excuse to have someone write it for you. Even if your duplicity goes undetected and you are admitted, you will have a very hard time in any remotely rigorous program, because enlisting a 'ghostwriter' suggests that you are either (a) incapable of writing it yourself, or ( too lazy. If you don't have any friends, family, colleagues, or former professors who can help edit/review your SOP, then I would understand you paying for some kind of outside review service. But do not, under any circumstances, have anyone 'ghostwrite' it.

*I would suggest removing your Skype name from your profile, as it appears to list your first and last name, and you have just posted some pretty damning information on this forum.

Where in the OP's post did she say she was going to do it herself? Jesus. Take a moment, breathe, re-read her post, and then slowly get off your high horse.

Edited December 23, 2012 by 1Q84

[fuzzylogician]

If you're going to have someone ghostwrite your SOP, be prepared to also pay people to write your term papers, qualifying papers, dissertation, grant applications, abstracts, proceedings papers, journal papers, progress reports, etc. I don't know about you, but I don't have the money or the time to sit down with someone and make them as familiar with the intricacies of my work as I am. Moral issues aside, it's just not practical. You can't be an academic without at least some writing skills.

[Arcadian]

HeatherC, I just want to call to your attention that you ironically misspelled "intelligence" in your program title. Hey, it happens to the best of us. Just don't do that in your SOP. Lol. 

[Usmivka]

This is the first time I've ever heard anyone mention such a thing.

 

Grad school is fairly self-selecting, and can't imagine anyone

a) with a high enough opinion of themselves that they want to go to grad school lacking the self confidence to write a one page description about who they are and who they want to be, and

b ) tossing the (arguably singular) requirement of graduate and higher academic work (honesty) and still think they'd be granted a degree (they'll either get caught or get washed out since they can't actually do the work).

 

I realize you didn't write about doing anything more than contemplating this, personally that is, so maybe this is just some urban myth being shared by coworkers without an understanding of how higher education works?

 

As for your question, I can't imagine anyone who had done this and gotten away with it being foolish enough to admit it, least of all online where things you say can escape far quicker than you'd like.

Edited December 23, 2012 by Usmivka

[ridofme]

@1Q84 - Perhaps I came off as harsh, but my tone was only meant to convey how bad of an idea I think this is. As fuzzylogician and others show, hiring a ghostwriter won't do an applicant much good in the end, even if he/she gains an admit. You're right that HeatherC never outright says "I'm going to hire a ghostwriter", so I apologize if she was only posting this in some academic sense. But the tone of the post suggests (to me, and pretty much everyone else who responded I think) that she is intrigued by the idea of getting a ghostwriter, and wants to suss out how viable of an option it is based on the experiences and advice of other forumites. I certainly did not mean to come off as superior - just very, very against this idea on all levels.

[selecttext]

Writing the SOP was a breeze compared to writing my MSc manuscripts and scholarship applications. Remember that you are mostly going up against terrible writers. Focus on style, use proper grammar and be concise. You don't need to take the academically dishonest path. Writing an SOP should not be difficult.

Edited December 23, 2012 by david.timerman

[bamafan]

Where in the OP's post did she say she was going to do it herself? Jesus. Take a moment, breathe, re-read her post, and then slowly get off your high horse.

 

You're very right, that was a presumptuous statement by ridofme. However, I admit, I got similar read from it; the OP's post seems to imply that she's considering it. At least, that's how I read it since it's just such a stupid and preposterous thing to do, I can't imagine anyone actually doing it yet the OP "heard" that some people do it (which I certainly have never heard before).

[PhDreams]

I've seen these services offered for undergrads (personal statements), but I couldn't imagine a grad student using one. As everyone has pointed out, graduate work is about very specific research and it would be very difficult for someone who has no interest in the topic to convey the same excitement and passion for the topic than the researcher. However, while I understand that not everyone is extremely confident about their writing skills, feedback on your SOP and having someone write it for you are two completely different things. I'm sure all of use have received feeback from colleagues or professors, but I can't imagine that anyone would want to hire someone to write about their proposed research of which they know nothing about. Just try to imagine a person who has no background in science trying to write about the intricacies of neuroscience... just. not. good.

[huerita]

Where in the OP's post did she say she was going to do it herself? Jesus. Take a moment, breathe, re-read her post, and then slowly get off your high horse.

 

You're very right, that was a presumptuous statement by ridofme. However, I admit, I got similar read from it; the OP's post seems to imply that she's considering it. At least, that's how I read it since it's just such a stupid and preposterous thing to do, I can't imagine anyone actually doing it yet the OP "heard" that some people do it (which I certainly have never heard before).

 

 

In ridofme's defense, it really does seem like OP is considering doing this, otherwise why would she be asking? Imagine if someone posted on the GRE/GMAT forum asking how many people had hired others to write their exams? Although that might even be more sympathetic, quite frankly, because the argument that one standardized test is not predictive of success in graduate school is more convincing than anything similar said about a statement of purpose.

Edited December 23, 2012 by huerita

[languages-etc]

I agree with comments here, especially fuzzy logician. Very bad idea. Grad school means a ton of study, reading, research and writing (especially in PoliSci, the OP's field). If you can't write a 2-3 page statement, why go to grad school? 

 

But people actually doing it? This article was highlighted on LinkedIn. http://chronicle.com/article/The-Shadow-Scholar/125329/

I don't know if he's mostly talking about international students whose main struggle is writing academic English, but it was depressing. 

[Usmivka]

And we all stand corrected. Clearly I chose the wrong career.

[child of 2]

anybody read about the "sham phd"? http://mygraduateschool.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/the-sham-ph-d/

people who use these services can't fake their way through their entire career. Sooner or later, it's going to catch up to them. My research group encountered one of these. Came into our group as a post doc. Didn't do sht. And then literally disappeared, and never came back. I'm not losing sleep over this sort of thing....

Unless you can have ghost writers write your references. That would be scary...

Edited December 24, 2012 by child of 2

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

I've actually heard about someone doing something like this. A friend of mine--I won't list any names--applied to grad schools a year ago and wrote his/her own SOP. After getting accepted to a few schools, he/she had to postpone admission for a year because of personal issues. So when the following year came around, he/she wanted to apply to some different schools on top of the ones he/she had already been admitted to with deferment. Anyway--and this is how he/she tells it--he/she had read the SOP of a friend of his/hers who had already been accepted to and was attending grad school, and he/she liked this person's introductory and the overall layout of the SOP. So what happened was my friend sent his/her SOP from a year ago and had this person basically reconstruct the SOP using my friend's original SOP. So his/her new SOP ended up being the same exact introductory paragraph as this person's, the same exact transitions and clever wording, and all that was really changed were the specifics of the "ghost writer's" SOP had been replaced with the specifics of my friend's according to my friend's original SOP. Needless to say, I was a bit disappointed when I heard my friend had did this.

[TakeruK]

Maybe I don't fully understand the nuances of the English language but I did not interpret the OP's post as a person who was asking because they were considering using a ghostwriter for their SOP (i.e. plagiarism).

 

Instead, I saw a legitimate question. There are many instances in life where people do not play by the rules and it's acceptable. For example, where I grew up, most people drive 10km/hr over the speed limit (even driving examiners admit this is okay as long as we don't do it during the driving test). Or, some people fudge numbers a little bit when filing income taxes (especially if they are earning wages off the record, e.g. tips).

 

I'm NOT saying that plagiarism is a "minor/acceptable transgression". What I mean is that many "rules" are really flexible and when in a new situation, e.g. grad school applications, it might not be clear which rules are flexible and which rules are really serious. It's okay to ask and find out. We all wrote posts explaining why plagiarism is a serious transgression. In addition, I am actually also curious how many people plagiarise their SOPs. I would never submit any work I did not do myself but if I suddenly heard that supposedly a lot of people are doing it, I would be curious to find out how "big" of a problem this was. Obviously, asking my cohorts and supervisors would not be a good idea -- look how some people here responded to the OP. So, this forum, where you can be as anonymous as you want to be, is a safer place. In addition, people come from many different schools and background here, so you sample a wider range of responses.

 

I'm not surprised that people do this though. There are reports of well established faculty members completely falsifying their data in published journal articles! My current school has a student-run council that investigates academic dishonesty and about a dozen students per year are found guilty. And the stories that were linked earlier in this thread about "sham PhDs" and ghostwriters are intriguing because they provide an interesting viewpoint, but they refer to practices that I've heard of happening before. However, I've never personally known anyone to have done something this dishonest, but as one of the articles said -- most of their clients don't get caught. So, I wouldn't be surprised if I found out someone I knew did this, but it would destroy my respect for them!

 

I am optimistic though -- like the story of the external PhD examiner, most of these fraudsters will be found out. Sure, there will be a few cases where someone gets a position that they shouldn't have, but that happens outside of academia too. Resumes/CVs can be forged! I don't expect the world of academia to be any more honest than any other professional world since the consequences of lying in other professional fields are just as bad as academia.

[bamafan]

anybody read about the "sham phd"? http://mygraduateschool.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/the-sham-ph-d/

people who use these services can't fake their way through their entire career. Sooner or later, it's going to catch up to them. My research group encountered one of these. Came into our group as a post doc. Didn't do sht. And then literally disappeared, and never came back. I'm not losing sleep over this sort of thing....

Unless you can have ghost writers write your references. That would be scary...

 

Nah, that's not a problem. Falsified references would be INCREDIBLY easy to find out by an adcom, as a simple google query would be able to detect whether or not a letter writer actually exists at the claimed institution. As it is, recs from PIs who are not well-known don't hold as much weight, and a fake name that no one knows is more likely to trigger a background check on the presumed letter writer. 

 

Even if they for whatever reason use real names of real PIs, that seems ridiculously stupid and dangerous. So for the other things, maybe ghostwriting is a problem, but I'm not so sure. For references, I doubt it will ever be an issue.

[vertices]

anybody read about the "sham phd"? http://mygraduateschool.wordpress.com/2012/08/09/the-sham-ph-d/

people who use these services can't fake their way through their entire career. Sooner or later, it's going to catch up to them. My research group encountered one of these. Came into our group as a post doc. Didn't do sht. And then literally disappeared, and never came back. I'm not losing sleep over this sort of thing....

Unless you can have ghost writers write your references. That would be scary...

 

People might be able to fake references the way they've faked journal peer review: http://blogs.sciencemag.org/sciencecareers/2012/10/favorable-comme.html

(This thread is getting really depressing isn't it?)

 

OP:

There are students who rationalize cheating with "Everybody's doing it and there's no way I can compete if I'm not doing it too." This is false. While there are some students who are cheating, it's pretty far from everyone and you certainly don't need it to compete. It will only make things worse.

 

If you're really worried, start early enough that you can find good people to proofread and critique your work -- and so you have time to come back to it fresh and do the critiquing and re-organizing yourself. This will not only result in a SOP tailored to you and what you are trying to accomplish, but it will make you a stronger writer, no matter how strong you already are.

[Usmivka]

Given the recent Chronicle article (in retrospect I remember reading this a while back) and other recently spread news stories, I'm going to go out on a wild limb here (or rather parrot my partner's thoughts) and say the OPer just caught this story before a number of us, and there is no reason to assume she is actually considering using a ghostwriter. Early context would have been useful though, agreed?

Edited December 26, 2012 by Usmivka