cheap personal statement writers website au

cheap personal statement writers website au

Exploring the Impact of Online Personal Statement Writing Services on Academic Integrity in Australia

1. Introduction to Online Personal Statement Writing Services

Personal statements have become a requirement by universities across the globe, including in Australia, as part of the application process to undergraduate and postgraduate courses. This paper examines online platforms within the academic assistance industry that offer personal statement writing services. Previous research has discussed the academic integrity issues faced by Australia from a number of perspectives, but none has yet considered the issue of online personal statement writing services in Australia. Hence, this paper provides evidence of the impact of online personal statement writing services on academic integrity in Australia. The research reported here fills these gaps.

Between 2002 and 2004, research conducted by SWEETHEART at the University of Melbourne showed that almost 3% of university students use online services to assist with academic work, including online writing services. Students using such services had to pay between $60 to $300, with the most common cost being $150. While studies suggest that the number of students involved in using online essay writing services range between 3-6%, there are currently no exact figures available to know what percentage of Australian students use such services. For instance, Sivasubramaniam and colleagues found that the main motivations for students in using online writing services are the need for a quality customised essay and difficulty with ideas in writing essays. Therefore, an increase in the use of personal statement writing services can be justified if the students’ difficulties are real such as their unfamiliarity with the purpose of a personal statement in the context of a course application.

2. Analysis of the Market for Personal Statement Writers in Australia

2.1 Forces shaping the market Over the past few years, an increasing number of individuals have turned to online personal statement writers and services or submitted online requests for job applications. Many individuals choose this option to obtain high-quality, well-structured, and persuasive personal statements, which play an increasingly important role in applications. The companies operating in this space are generally termed as the “personal statement writing services” companies. Some providers claim to offer “a fully tailored professional personal statement” that is guaranteed to pass plagiarism checks. These companies are mostly small scale, but they can be lucrative for the providers.

2.2 Market players The demand for personal statement writers is not varied, as high-quality and experienced studies and resume writers are needed in this area. Among personal statement writers, individual authors who mostly maintain websites to provide personal statements in their personal computer language and brief professional resume are known competitors. The next cohort of companies operate by creating an account with domain registration, using direct match keywords. They may also invest in pay-per-click advertising to gain market penetration. As evidenced by these websites, the service providers promise to provide high-quality and immediately accessible material. The information on the websites required was expected to be presented in an aggressive and market marketing light. An example of a local Australian service provider is a company called “Navyism”.

3. Ethical and Academic Integrity Concerns Related to Using Online Personal Statement Writing Services

There are several ethical and academic integrity concerns associated with the use of such services. The foremost issue pertains to the students’ reasoning capacity and intelligence. Academic study supports the view that the development and presentation of one’s personal statement can and should be a learning experience, as is the process of applying for a job. The ability to write an effective personal statement is indicative of how a student goes about solving problems. Students do not develop such abilities if they rely on third-party professionals to develop their statement of personal experience, opinion, and competence. The skill of writing personal statements helps students to develop as individuals whose skill sets are different from those of other graduates.

Ethical dilemmas relate to the following stakeholder groups.

The difficulty some students face in putting their ideas down on paper can appear to justify handing over their ideas to someone who will do it for them. However, to ensure the learning potential is realized, students must be forced to seek help from an educator when they have this difficulty. The fact that students have not sought appropriate help is part of their moral responsibility. Educators face the problem of attempting to place a value on the truth of the assertions in the personal statement. The problem relates to the extent of the input the student received from a third party. Institutions of higher learning rank the abilities of graduates on the basis of qualifications obtained and thus have a vested interest in ensuring the standard is upheld.

4. Strategies for Promoting Academic Integrity and Preventing Plagiarism in Personal Statements

Given the competitive implications associated with obtaining online personal statements for academic scholarships by individuals, particularly those from countries that experience greater pressures for international student recruitment due to narratives of perceived laziness among the international student population, it appears that research into the potential severity of the issue is necessary. The consideration of how students may limit their potential involvement with academic dishonesty could usefully stem from policies that emphasize the vocational potential of academic integrity in future career and scholarship applications, but can also encourage students to appreciate the benefits of honest personal statements. Involvement in groups, clubs, and societies, overseas experiences, volunteering opportunities, and achievements unrelated to academic studies can function to prevent poor-quality reproduction in personal statements. Thinking outside of the box when selecting less common topics for inclusion in personal statements (e.g., refugee workers reflecting on mental health exacerbation), or the superficially unrelated trivial experience that can be made relevant to the question at hand may function to reduce opportunities for third parties to engage and recycle essays and statements from others. Attempts to increase academic integrity in this sphere of written academic submission should become part of future empirical work in this area.

This review has outlined a breadth of proactive strategies that students can engage in order to maximize the practical steps they can take to prevent academic dishonesty when using web-based personal statement writing services. A small number of strategies relevant to those involved in supporting the service takers are also suggested, including a focus on the career benefits of academic integrity, exposure to a wider range of application material, and an awareness of becoming cynical to the types of information provided in personal statements when perhaps students themselves are also attempting to illustrate their unique personal attributes. Overall, it is critical that these future approaches are developed with direct stakeholder input and further tested according to the principles of robust, empirical evaluative research.

5. Conclusion and Recommendations for Students, Educators, and Institutions

5. Conclusion and Recommendations

This study sought to investigate the extent and nature of commercially available online personal statement writing services for students enrolling in education and teacher education courses in Australian universities. We analyzed the responses from 334 websites that were active between December 2019 and October 2020. The majority of these websites (87%) offered commercial personal statement writing services, with various levels of service detail published. High levels of international presence and testimonials supported our fixation on the inability to confirm the actual geographical locations of the suppliers, and patrons’ reported satisfaction with a competitive product offering. Based on these results, we developed a set of recommendations for relevant stakeholders.

The use of online providers to access personal statements tailored to specific entry criteria is increasingly popular with students. It is a global market with a particular prevalence in the US, UK, and Canada. The range of services offered and the price points in Australia are likely to undercut these markets. Based on the results presented in this research paper, the authors present the following recommendations to students considering the use of these services, to educators and institutions involved in offering or overseeing entry personal statements, and for possible future research. It is acknowledged that these recommendations are pragmatic, and that academic integrity considerations are only some of the factors associated with personal statement production and assessment.