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Having your essay Custom-Written by Oxbridge Experts

http://www.oxbridgeessays.com/services.asp

A2 level essay, guaranteed upper first grade, 4000 words, 3 day delivery - 1176 quid
Ph.D Model answers, same condition - 3360quid

OK, they say they only provide 'model essays' but I feel that something's not quite right. Strictly speaking it may be completely legal but I think it only instigates plagiarism.

Also, I don't like the "All essays are written by experts from Oxford or Cambridge University" bit. (To be honest I think it's an abuse of reputation attached to these names)
and this 'Oxford Research Organization (ORO)' thing (they claim to be part of it), having a quick search on google, doesn't seem to have anything to do with academic research in Oxford.

Correct me if I'm wrong, am I misunderstanding something here?

Reply 1

AlphaNumeric

10

hellothere

OK, they say they only provide 'model essays' but I feel that something's not quite right. Strictly speaking it may be completely legal but I think it only instigates plagiarism.

It isn't legal (in a university rules sense, not the law sense). I've got to write an essay which counts for about 15% of my 4th year marks and on the front I have to put a standard blurb which basically says 'This is my own work, noone elses and I've never used any of the material in this essay for any other part of university projects' and I have to sign the front.

Their claims of things like 'We can guarentee top 1st marks' is BS, in some subjects it's extremely hard to do that. Their price for a full length PhD in over £20,000. You'd have to be a complete idiot to buy that for two reasons. One, it's enormously expensive! Two, if you pulled a PhD dissertation out of your ass, your PhD supervisor would be enormously suspicious. They'll know your writing style and spot a mile away it's not yours. Not to mention you have to sit a viva for 3+ hours on your project before you get awarded your PhD so if you don't write it, you'll not be able to talk about it.

I find it hard to believe they can write 1st level material on any subject at Masters level, or PhD level. You'd have to be employing hundreds of people across all subjects and who are still in academia. Just because you graduated with a PhD in high energy physics 5 years ago doesn't mean you could write a PhD on current research.

Calling themselves 'experts' is stretching it a bit too. I've a degree from Cambridge, I'm not an expert in anything though. Even PhD students are not experts like their supervisors are.

The FAQ page tiptoes around plagerism and cheating, saying their essays are for 'research purposes only'. If you want a list of information sources or parts of books relevent to your project, then thats for 'research purposes', having an essay of sufficent quality you can hand it in and is considered 1st material is 'We do your work for you'.

If it were for one of the many essays History, English etc students have to write during term, why not just write a crap one yourself and get a bad mark, or plagerise a friends, instead of paying £400!! If it were a major degree/Masters/PhD essay it's horrifically expensive and your examiner/marker would spot it wasn't your work very easily.

I know some people are willing to go to extremely lengths to get into Oxbridge, but £840 for a high quality A2 level essay? Only desperate rich idiots would use that site I think.

/edit

Having read the pay writers get and coupled with the unavoidable truth that there are rich idiots (and considerably more lazy idiots) it looks a nice money spinner for Oxbridge graduates on say a year out after graduating. You're protected by the terms and conditions of the company, because it's all the clients responsibility it seems. You're not even needed tp guarentee the paper gets a 1st actually, since the client is (supposedly) prohibited from handing your essay in unchanged and any changes void the guarentee :p:

Reply 2

President_Ben

15

This lot were flyering near my uni yesterday. What a load of ****.

Reply 3

SirScally

Haha! This site is the biggest load of b*llocks I've ever seen! And the prices they charge are HORRENDOUS! I really wouldn't ever even consider paying a single penny for an essay, and I really can't understand anyone ever contemplating paying such prices! Anyway jst in case there are such people.... I might register myself as a writer during the summer and churn out a few essays for them.... Nice little earner perhaps? :P (I'm joking by the way!)

Reply 4

Popa Dom

2

Dammnit I knew I should have chosen an essay subject! 125 pounds to write an essay, screw morals, I would so do that! Guess there wont be much demand for maths essays though..

Reply 5

FadeToBlackout

15

There's an article on this in Varsity this week, page 2, for any interested tabs. :smile:

Apparently, I could earn "up to £1,000 a week" writing essays.

What disturbs me is that teh company also offers work that can be submitted to Oxbridge as part of teh application process.

Oxbridge Essays also say stuff about how thier clients details will "never be divulged" and will be held in strict confidence- which has got to be an inspiration to use them as cheating if nothing else.

Apparently, the scheme "is proving popular with students of both universities" (Varsity), and Cambridge has issued a statement saying that not only is being complicit in cheating unethical, but that it's harming hte education of the people writing the things themselves.

Reply 6

Wrangler

2

I don't quite see how their employees can guarantee an "Upper 1st" standard, when the companies application criteria requires a 2:1 (assuming that they are willing to offer the services to all students, including those currently at Oxbridge).

Reply 7

Manatee

14

Wrangler

I don't quite see how their employees can guarantee an "Upper 1st" standard, when the companies application criteria requires a 2:1 (assuming that they are willing to offer the services to all students, including those currently at Oxbridge).

Good point. Since a First is the highest qualification available, how can even a First class student guarantee an "Upper First" (whatever that is - I have a degree from Oxford but have never heard the term before)?

What I find incredible are their terms and conditions:

The client understands and agrees that any essay or dissertation sold to them by Oxbridge Essays is sold and intended solely for the purpose of inspiring that client’s own work through giving an example of ‘model’ research, writing and expression and structuring of ideas. The client must never submit as if their own work, either in part or in total, to their university, school or any other institute of education an essay or dissertation sold by Oxbridge Essays.

Yeah, right :rolleyes:

. Why would anyone pay that much money for an essay which only provides a model answer/inspiration and is not supposed to be submitted, yet is guaranteed to be original, plagiarism-free and unpublished elsewhere (i.e. suitable for submission by the client)? Why stress the confidential aspect of their service if everything is above board and intended as a model example only?

The terms and conditions are just a cheap way to cover themselves when everything else on their website makes it very clear what it is they do. It may be not be illegal strictly speaking (the breach of university rules happens when the client submits it as their own work) but it's morally repugnant. A nice little earner, though, for anyone who has the stomach for it.

Reply 8

President_Ben

15

Apparently, upper first is 80% plus. I've never heard of it before either.

NB, mugging the rich and stupid has been the most successful business plan ever.

Reply 9

Manatee

14

President_Ben

Apparently, upper first is 80% plus. I've never heard of it before either.

I think they refer to it as 75-80%. Interestingly, I was having a chat to my tutor the other day and wondered if anyone actually gets, say, 80% in their history essay. Apparently not; I was told to think of 75% as the "ceiling" percentage. Makes you wonder what an "upper first" essay would be like, and how it could be produced on relatively short notice. Good thing they have all those Oxbridge "experts" on standby! :wink:

Reply 10

President_Ben

15

There are a number of staff here who didn't give marks higher than 70% on assignments. Such practice is pretty common... apparently.

Reply 11

sixthirtythree

Manatee

I think they refer to it as 75-80%. Interestingly, I was having a chat to my tutor the other day and wondered if anyone actually gets, say, 80% in their history essay. Apparently not; I was told to think of 75% as the "ceiling" percentage. Makes you wonder what an "upper first" essay would be like, and how it could be produced on relatively short notice. Good thing they have all those Oxbridge "experts" on standby! :wink:

You can definitely get 80% on history, it's just very, very rare.

Reply 12

eleri

5

Manatee

I think they refer to it as 75-80%. Interestingly, I was having a chat to my tutor the other day and wondered if anyone actually gets, say, 80% in their history essay. Apparently not; I was told to think of 75% as the "ceiling" percentage. Makes you wonder what an "upper first" essay would be like, and how it could be produced on relatively short notice. Good thing they have all those Oxbridge "experts" on standby! :wink:

75% is a harsh "ceiling". For Mod Langs finals, the marking scheme says that technically, the full 100% is available, but in reality, marks of 85% and above would be reserved for the truly exceptional. So that's quite a big difference.

Reply 13

Manatee

14

eleri

75% is a harsh "ceiling". For Mod Langs finals, the marking scheme says that technically, the full 100% is available, but in reality, marks of 85% and above would be reserved for the truly exceptional. So that's quite a big difference.

I'm sure there is a certain amount of variation depending on subject, department and university. When I was at Oxford, percentages were not used at all (not sure whether this has changed) - instead, there was a mind-boggling system of alphas, betas etc. and their various permutations, which makes it quite difficult to work out the corresponding percentages.

Reply 14

Wrangler

2

Manatee

I'm sure there is a certain amount of variation depending on subject, department and university. When I was at Oxford, percentages were not used at all (not sure whether this has changed) - instead, there was a mind-boggling system of alphas, betas etc. and their various permutations, which makes it quite difficult to work out the corresponding percentages.

They have a similar alpha/beta system for Maths. I think it allows for a clearer picture of someones performance in exams. For instance, during my finals you needed about 10-11 alphas for a 1st, but the top guy got 33 alphas. The usual %-scheme wouldn't have been easily implemented.

Reply 15

eleri

5

Manatee

I'm sure there is a certain amount of variation depending on subject, department and university. When I was at Oxford, percentages were not used at all (not sure whether this has changed) - instead, there was a mind-boggling system of alphas, betas etc. and their various permutations, which makes it quite difficult to work out the corresponding percentages.

I know it varies, I was just surprised that it varies that much within one university, seeing that an Oxford first in one subject is theoretically equivalent to an Oxford first in another subject.

Reply 16

Manatee

14

eleri

I know it varies, I was just surprised that it varies that much within one university, seeing that an Oxford first in one subject is theoretically equivalent to an Oxford first in another subject.

I'm at UCL at the moment - the comments were made by my tutor in the History department. Apparently the standard of marking does vary between departments (History being on the harsh side), which really surprised me as I had expected it to be the same across the board for exactly the reason you mention. I think it's partly to do with different entry standards for different departments - probably less of an issue at Oxford where they are consistently high.

The reason I brought it up was that I didn't expect Oxford or Cambridge to be more lenient in their markings than UCL, so the idea that the essay writing company could deliver a guaranteed "upper first" essay left me quite sceptical.

Reply 17

eleri

5

Ok, sorry, my misunderstanding.

Reply 18

thefin

1

How do you know I won’t plagiarise?

:hahaha:

Oxbridge Essays exhausts itself trying to think of ways to ensure that our model essays are not plagiarised. Oxbridge Essays can only remind students that the copyright for all our essays belongs with us alone, and we reserve the right to follow-up breaches of that copyright.

brilliant

Reply 19

Comp_Genius

4

AlphaNumeric

I know some people are willing to go to extremely lengths to get into Oxbridge, but £840 for a high quality A2 level essay? Only desperate rich idiots would use that site I think.

you don't even need to write essays in sciences!

Having your essay Custom-Written by Oxbridge Experts

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