How Essay Mills Prey Upon Student Fears

In March, one UK essay mill was sanctioned by the country’s Quality Assurance Agency for false advertising. Among the complaints as that the site falsely claimed to provide a “guaranteed grade, every time” and highlighted negative press mentions in a way to make them seem positive.

However, such language is far from unique to that site or such sites in the UK. Essay mills all over the world employ similar language to both over-promise what they can deliver and lure students into spending their money.

This is despite the fact that essay mills are known for producing low-quality work and that many students who pay money to an essay mill never receive the work that they pay for. Essay mills are, very often, nothing more than a scam.

So why do so many students line up to pay essay mills to do work that they could likely do better and more reliably themselves? For some, it’s simply laziness. For many, however, it’s because essay mills prey upon their fears.

The students who visit essay mill websites are, generally, in a vulnerable state. They’re there because they are feeling pressure to meet a deadline, get a specific grade or meet a certain standard and they are not confident they can do it.

The essay mill sites know that and the language they use is carefully written to exploit the lack of confidence in their visitors.

Nearly all essay mills will describe themselves as “experts” or “professionals” in the field. They will tout their editors as working solely within that language and will offer “100% plagiarism-free” and “guaranteed grade” promises.

The message of these sites isn’t meant to appeal to students who want take a shortcut. These phrases are meant to convince the student that the essay mill website is better qualified to write the essay than the student themselves.

However, that is almost never the case. A student in the class should know the material being covered, understand the assignment that has been given and, most importantly, the expectations of the instructor. There is simply no way that a writer, often working form halfway around the world, will be able to write the paper better and faster, no matter their qualifications.

Essay mills, however, ignore that fact. They present themselves not just as the easy alternative but the better alternative. They tell students that only they can guarantee a specific grade or that the work will be written to a certain standard, even though, as they showed in the UK, those claims are false.

Students that visit essay mill websites are often already vulnerable and doubtful of their ability to complete an assignment. Essay mill sites try to take those fears and make it so that they are the only viable solution.

It’s an effective way to prey upon those fears but remember, if you are tempted by essay mills, the only people who can truly help you get the grade you need are your instructor and tutors at your school.

You already have a small army of experts there to help you get the grade you need and meet your deadline, you just have to be willing to reach out to them.