| DeathBy240 |
I have a question for those of you in college/university/high school.
When you submit papers/essays, do you often lose marks for grammatical errors, or other errors that could have been avoided more time/attention was devoted to the project?
Also, would you ever consider paying someone to read over and edit your papers? Obviously a student has a limited income, so the fee would not be substantial.
And for those who may have graduated and are now looking for work, would you consider having someone check over your resume/cover letter and make adjustments that may help you get a job? Again, for a small sum of money...
Thanks for your feedback! |
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| Mobius |
Yes, grammatical errors are taken into account. In a post secondary environment, most professors expect your writing to be flawless, as you are not learning how to write in their classes. The are marking you on the subject you are writing about; your ideas, how you have formed them, and how you finally convey them. Especially in this age of computers, with spell check and grammar check, there is really no excuse for poor spelling, punctuation and grammar at that level of education.
I remember watching a news report about a retired professor, or maybe it was just some guy. In any case, he spent time at the [I believe it was the U of A] and he would write papers for people for a few hundred dollars. He apparently had quite I few "customers".
In high school I was paid on occasion to rewrite essays for English. I would always demand that they write the essay beforehand, and I would just make their clusterfuck of words into sentences and paragraphs. That way it was not plagiarism, merely editing.
I personally would not pay anyone to edit an essay I have written, or my resume. I could shame, beg, coerce and/or possibly extort the required services from them. I would rather spend the money on my car. |
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| RedDirtRoad |
In post secondary english classes the teachers are anal about things like grammar so you are usually docked a few marks for that kinda stuff. I usually don't care if I taker the hit and lose some marks but if I wanted 100% then yeah I would probably consider payin someone for that.
As for the resume thing I was just thinking about that today, since Im in an accounting co-op program so I have to prepare a resume that I can hand in to a corporation in order to get a job placement for january. The instructors havent been much help, they just showed us sample resumes/cover letters (each one different than the last) so I had to wing it. |
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| TrevorK |
The big problem is that half the people who offer resume help aren't in touch with what the HR people are looking for. They just state what the basic, first year business communications classes state.
Next thing you know you have a resume for a welding job that has this at the top:
Objective: To obtain fulltime employment in the welding field that will allow me to utilize my current skills as well as gain new skills
Some of the best real estate, wasted completely. |
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| REFLUX |
I haven't really noticed mark dockings on grammatical/spelling errors in my program (BA Psych).
There have been a few profs that said they would dock but more often than not it isn't mentioned.
Maybe because they all expect a high level of grammatical & spelling proficiency and most students deliver on that?
Either way, I think good writing skills are becoming a rarity in today's world of spellcheck & grammar check (which aren't that good to begin with) so yes, I think there is a market for such services.
Where I imagine more lucrative opportunities lie would be in proof-reading the reports white-collar workers write.
Especially the new employees. |
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| Mustard |
it basically comes down to how easy it is to read.
If your grammer skillz are so terrible that it becomes hard to read, your content will not get across regardless of how good it is.
I've found that if you write decently, such that things can are, at the very least, legeble... then the not 100% grammer stuff is ignored.
But yes, i have found prof's that dock for grammer, and rightfully so.... you should see what some people hand in sometimes. :eek: |
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| Mobius |
quote:
Originally posted by Mustard
it basically comes down to how easy it is to read.
If your grammer skillz are so terrible that it becomes hard to read, your content will not get across regardless of how good it is.
I've found that if you write decently, such that things can are, at the very least, legeble... then the not 100% grammer stuff is ignored.
But yes, i have found prof's that dock for grammer, and rightfully so.... you should see what some people hand in sometimes. :eek:
I bet you lose a lot of marks on spelling........ :asshole: |
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| DomesticDrifter |
quote:
When you submit papers/essays, do you often lose marks for grammatical errors, or other errors that could have been avoided more time/attention was devoted to the project?
yes all the time
quote:
Also, would you ever consider paying someone to read over and edit your papers?
no, thats why you date a girl whos an english major, or get your parents to do it so they can "feel involved in your education" |
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| HEWSINATOR |
regardless of whether or not there is a policy on this in the class, your writing mechanics help to either limit or convey your ideas, so....
I have only had 2 classes in 4 years that have a "unequivicable error docking" policy; both were business classes. |
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| JustinL |
quote:
Originally posted by HEWSINATOR
regardless of whether or not there is a policy on this in the class, your writing mechanics help to either limit or convey your ideas, so....
I have only had 2 classes in 4 years that have a "unequivicable error docking" policy; both were business classes.
I find that my business profs have worse grammar than most of the students. I think if someone submits something with horrible grammar, it should just be returned to them with an order of "fix it by the end of the day and I'll consider grading it". Spelling and grammar check is not infallible either, people still need to understand why it's wrong. |
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| ChromeDragon |
quote:
Originally posted by JustinL
Spelling and grammar check is not infallible either, people still need to understand why it's wrong.
It's not? Awww crap!
I found out just how bad spelling and grammar check was when correcting my sister's papers for her last year. I asked her to run the checks before printing the papers off. They still came back with ridiculous amounts of errors. Often when I am writing in Word it will bring up grammatical errors that aren't actually errors at all.
Between the grammar courses, english courses and writing courses we took in school, the message of grammar and spelling is pounded into our heads quite sufficiently. |
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| DeathBy240 |
Thanks for the responses. I thought I knew grammer, but then I took the grammar courses and realized I was missing a lot. For example:
quote:
Originally posted by JustinL
Spelling and grammar check is not infallible either, people still need to understand why it's wrong.
This could potentially be an error, depending on your program. If your spell check is a different function than your grammar check the sentence should read "Spelling and grammar check ARE not..." :)
But technically, if you push one button to do a "Spelling and grammar check" the sentence would be correct. But I don't think a lot of professors would be that picky anyway.
Thanks again for the comments. :thumbup: |
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| JustinL |
quote:
Originally posted by DeathBy240
Thanks for the responses. I thought I knew grammer, but then I took the grammar courses and realized I was missing a lot. For example:
This could potentially be an error, depending on your program. If your spell check is a different function than your grammar check the sentence should read "Spelling and grammar check ARE not..." :)
But technically, if you push one button to do a "Spelling and grammar check" the sentence would be correct. But I don't think a lot of professors would be that picky anyway.
Thanks again for the comments. :thumbup:
Oops I didn't realize I was handing this in ;); if I were to hand it in, then I would ask that you examine the tool bar in Microsoft Word to note the single button.
:beer: and kidding of course
Justin |
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