If you are a student you might be familiar with posting your essays at the CC (College Confidential) forum. For the most part, students post their essays online at CC to get advice from students, and sometimes other professionals, on the essay papers they have written. Although known as a sought out method for gaining tips and the opinion of others, this particular forum, since its inception, has been debated as a being safe method for students to use. In other words, there is always a real concern your essay could get ripped off by another student- who let's say doesn't have your best interest at heart. Yet, on the other hand it has proven to be an extremely effective and useful tool for getting feedback and help for improving the quality of a student's essay paper.
So, as with any other forums where you post your personal information, papers etc...there is always a risk. What you have to decide is- if it is worth it. Now to give credit where it's due, the CC community is comprised of mostly supportive, friendly, and honest folks whose only goal is to help others. There are a few guidelines we think any student using CC should know prior to joining this community. Take a look at the following things you should consider to ensure you have a safe experience when partaking in the CC online forum:
- Always be cautious of posters who have a low post count
- NEVER identify yourself- this means giving any type of personal information-
- Try to do a bit of investigating first before PM-ing your essay to someone- it can be quite easy to find out if a person has a reputation for helping others, has been a part of the CC for a while or is a recent member, possess knowledge pertaining to your type of essay paper or topic? Always check the person's recent posts to see if they are indeed who they claim they are.
- Never for any reason give the name of your school, if someone sees that you are a student at let's say an Ivy league school they may be more incline to copy your work to improve upon their own essay.
- For college essays don't reveal the name of the school you are applying to, it will be just too tempting for someone who simply wants to ruin someone else's chances.
Bottom line here is... it can be safe if you follow the guidelines - but there is always a risk when you are too trusting- so best bet is to go with your instincts. Sure, there are always people out there that are going to give CC a bad name but for the most part it is a really worthwhile community of people who simply want to help others succeed in their academic writing...and the best part is...it's free!
