Have you ever paid for a term paper?

[Eason]

Originally Posted by oman

fascinating, how'd you advertise?



interesting - i've always suspected this. you teach in asia, right? can we get some your thoughts on some of the "right" ways to go about it?

Basically, people learn from middle-school to try and stretch out their papers and insert more big words in. Most people don't even follow the instructions when they write a paper, they just write some meandering garbage and think that if it's long enough they'll get a high grade.

The art of effective written communication is almost lost- all you have to do is follow the instructions and state your ideas clearly. Follow standard organization, express your ideas succinctly and clearly, and you'll have a beautiful paper unless your ideas were garbage to begin with.

 

[jrd617]

Originally Posted by Eason

Basically, people learn from middle-school to try and stretch out their papers and insert more big words in. Most people don't even follow the instructions when they write a paper, they just write some meandering garbage and think that if it's long enough they'll get a high grade.

The art of effective written communication is almost lost- all you have to do is follow the instructions and state your ideas clearly. Follow standard organization, express your ideas succinctly and clearly, and you'll have a beautiful paper unless your ideas were garbage to begin with.

Text to speech programs make editing a breeze too.

 

[prokart]

No, but I know a guy who did it. He paid around 250 to get a 15 page paper done in three days.
His paper was worth 40%, and he did not receive his paper until 2 days after the deadline..

 

[L.R.]

Originally Posted by oman

fascinating, how'd you advertise?
Actually, with some difficulty to begin with. At the start, there were dozens of other people who tutored. I put up a few posters, and got very few responses. So I sat down one night, and tried to figure out who I wanted target. I ended up putting up setting up a few ads within the football players weight room. Than I spoke to a couple of the assistant coaches, and gave them the run down of my services. Soon football players and other athletes were a primary source of income. I also looked at Business students. I got to them 2 different ways. One, I found out which section of the library they always studied in. But I wasn't allowed to post notices within the library, so I went to the mens bathroom and put ads in the stalls lol. This worked awesome. Secondly, I had co-founded a Consumerism Society. It was basically a group of business and sociology students talking about advertising/marketing/pr practices. I started the group with no intention of directly using it for my tutoring, but it ended up being a great source. Hgalek: That's an amazing post. I'll definitely start looking at this from a different perspective. My main hindrance currently is geographic, I'm simply in the middle of nowhere. But I'm going to approach this whole mess with your post in mind. Especially the cold-call bit, it's something I've always been wary of.

 

[dfagdfsh]

this thread is ridiculous. you were paid 2k a week to write people papers? come on.

 

[FLMountainMan]

I wrote quite a few term papers for pay. I hear some of the organized services are pretty good.

 

[jrd617]

Do these people usually expect a "B" or better? Hell, I could rack up some serious cash in a few hours.

 

[dfagdfsh]

uhm, hypothetically it would depend on the assignment and the cost

 

[jrd617]

Originally Posted by Teger

uhm, hypothetically it would depend on the assignment and the cost
In some classes it's nearly impossible to get an A if you don't attend class and regurgitate lecture notes. Just the way certain professors grade.

 

[imageWIS]

No, and it's a stupid thing to do:

1) You don't learn / practice how to write which is a very vital skill.
2) You don't have the personal satisfaction of doing a job well done if you get a good grade.
3) You are paying money for a course but then paying someone else to do the coursework for you, effectively not learning and wasting your time / money going to class.

 

[jrd617]

Originally Posted by imageWIS

No, and it's a stupid thing to do: 1) You don't learn / practice how to write which is a very vital skill. 2) You don't have the personal satisfaction of doing a job well done if you get a good grade. 3) You are paying money for a course but then paying someone else to do the coursework for you, effectively not learning and wasting your time / money going to class.
Agreed. Plus, the Chronicle articles suggests that many of the freelance paper writers "phone in" their assignments. It's all a form of amusement to them. They're getting paid for mediocre papers. Poor bastards that buy those things.

 

[Fraiche]

I find the problem lies with the fact that we haven't developed good ways to teach people how to write. No one's trying to figure out how to effectively teach that skill. It's either you can or can't.



People don't seem to have as much difficulty in learning math or science as we've figured out multiple ways to teach the same concept.

 

[HgaleK]

Originally Posted by Fraiche

I find the problem lies with the fact that we haven't developed good ways to teach people how to write. No one's trying to figure out how to effectively teach that skill. It's either you can or can't.



People don't seem to have as much difficulty in learning math or science as we've figured out multiple ways to teach the same concept.

More reading generally leads to better writing IME.

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by Fraiche

I find the problem lies with the fact that we haven't developed good ways to teach people how to write. No one's trying to figure out how to effectively teach that skill. It's either you can or can't.



People don't seem to have as much difficulty in learning math or science as we've figured out multiple ways to teach the same concept.

See:

Originally Posted by HgaleK

More reading generally leads to better writing IME.

 

[dragon8]

No. I don't believe the service was widely available as it is now. I might've if its the present day.