Ghostwriters
Aug, 09, 2007
Categories: Admissions Consulting | Essays | Graduate School | LLM | LLM留学 | MBA | MBA留学 | 大学院留学
This is the fifth in a series of five posts. The forth one is here. The first one is here.
It should be absolutely clear that I don’t condone ghostwriting and would never advocate anyone using it. That said, it is clearly something that enough applicants do that it is a recognized problem. As originally reported in the April 7, 2007 edition of The Wall Street Journal:
The problem of ghostwriting is just one part of a larger problem of inauthentic applications.
SOME ADMISSIONS CONSULTANTS ARE GHOSTWRITERS
Not just here in Japan, where I live, but elsewhere I know of counseling services that provide ghostwritten essays. Not only those pursuing MBA, but even LLM, MPA, MPP, and other degree programs, use such services. I certainly will not name these services. Anyone who wants to find them anywhere in the world can find them easily enough.
NO LECTURES ON ETHICS HERE
I will not provide a lecture on why ghostwriting is unethical. If you are so morally challenged that you find it necessary to cheat to get into school, anything I write will not matter.
THE DAYS OF GHOSTWRITING ARE NUMBERED
For those seeking admission to top programs, I strongly suggest reading The Wall Street Journal article referenced above. In particular consider the following:
Clearly more and more schools will be using the technology for detecting
plagiarized applications.
Now imagine how they will use content analysis software to analyze whether the person who wrote the GMAT, GRE, and/or TOEFL essay, is the same person who wrote the essay(s). While at present, admissions can probably only do this on a case by case basis, the detection tools of forensic linguistics are likely to eventually make their way into the application process.
STILL WANT TO USE A GHOSTWRITER?
You may get away with it. I would be dishonest if I said otherwise. I hope I have the chance to revisit this issue again and announce that admissions offices are now routinely eliminating ghostwritten applications using a standardized protocol.
CONCLUSION TO THIS SERIES OF FIVE POSTS
As an applicant, only you can decide what kind of advice you need and who to ask for it. This is a very important part of the process that you control. I hope this series of posts has helped you better identify who will be a part of your advising team.
Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com.
-Adam Markus
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MBA留学, LLM留学, 大学院留学