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My sons used the free Grammarly for most of the SDC stuff and the Cornerstone, but for the Capstone they used the paid for version of Grammarly. (So very thankful for all the people that mentioned Grammarly on here.) The free was nice, but the paid is wonderful! Still not perfect, but a big help.
It would be interesting to see the difference in the smarthinking vs. Grammarly. Did ST correct writing in detail? If so that is great for free.
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I gave grammarly a try when I received a paid membership from Strayer. It quickly became a valuable tool for me. Now, I do all of my writing in the grammarly app. Once my draft is complete, I open up the assistant sidebar and address the suggestions. Then, I paste my work into the assignment document or class discussion.
Smarthinking is on a completely different level compared to grammarly. The paper I submitted had no outstanding grammarly suggestions, yet the tutor found plenty of points to address. They provided both examples of issues along with corrections, as well as in-text and summarized feedback.
TESU Class of 2024 BSBA-CIS+GM, BSIT, ASNSM-CS+Math, AAS-GEN
Earned credits from Sophia, SDC, ASU ULC, TEEX, Microsoft, Strayer, TESU, Saylor, DSST, CLEP, CompTIA, StraighterLine, and others since starting in April 2020
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That sounds great. We may try that for the final Capstone. Thank you for the comparison.
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07-16-2021, 01:10 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-16-2021, 01:18 AM by studyingfortests.)
(07-15-2021, 07:33 PM)ARhead Wrote: What was the turnaround time on the essays you submitted?
My experience has been similar to jch. Two papers submitted, both returned within 3 or 4 hours.
I suspect they probably have a pool of hundreds of out-of-work college grads working on contract who are paid on a per-assignment basis. The information from both was detailed and gave examples and was useful. I wouldn't call it absolutely exhaustive, but it was certainly helpful.
The shortcoming is, you can only choose a couple of different things for them to specifically check and comment on. If I were *paying* a writing tutor, I'd provide instructions to check everything from content to sentence structure to APA formatting, but it does not appear that you can do all of that with one submission.
(07-15-2021, 10:23 PM)jch Wrote: I gave grammarly a try when I received a paid membership from Strayer. It quickly became a valuable tool for me. Now, I do all of my writing in the grammarly app. Once my draft is complete, I open up the assistant sidebar and address the suggestions. Then, I paste my work into the assignment document or class discussion.
Smarthinking is on a completely different level compared to grammarly. The paper I submitted had no outstanding grammarly suggestions, yet the tutor found plenty of points to address. They provided both examples of issues along with corrections, as well as in-text and summarized feedback.
I'll second the recommendation on Grammarly. I use it for my work writing as well as for school assignments, and it is surprisingly good.
I also got a really good deal on Grammarly. I signed up but abandoned the sign-up process before completing the purchase. A few days later, I got an offer to buy it for 50% off for a one-year subscription. That made it something like $70 for the year. (It goes up to the regular price after the first year.) I've learned that almost all software-as-a-service providers offer some sort of major discount like this if you wait a few days before signing up.
Also, to be clear... ST does not actually correct anything. They don't edit. What they do is provide specifics of where you need to make corrections, and give you examples of approaches you might take to making those corrections. To be honest, it was very similar to my going to an office hour of one of my professors and having them mark up my essay and say "Expand your thesis statement... beef up this argument... consider repositioning these statements... this justification is a little slim"... that sort of thing. Super helpful at actually making me a better writer rather than doing the work for me, which I actually appreciated.
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(07-15-2021, 07:25 PM)studyingfortests Wrote: Also, if a moderator happens across this thread and would like to change my misspelling and maybe add Smarthinking.com to the thread title it might be helpful to others.
Fixed it for you.
In progress:
TESU - BA Computer Science; BSBA CIS; ASNSM Math & CS; ASBA
Completed:
Pierpont - AAS BOG
Sophia (so many), The Institutes (old), Study.com (5 courses)
ASU: Human Origins, Astronomy, Intro Health & Wellness, Western Civilization, Computer Appls & Info Technology, Intro Programming
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(07-16-2021, 03:42 AM)rachel83az Wrote: (07-15-2021, 07:25 PM)studyingfortests Wrote: Also, if a moderator happens across this thread and would like to change my misspelling and maybe add Smarthinking.com to the thread title it might be helpful to others.
Fixed it for you.
Thank you!
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(07-15-2021, 06:49 AM)studyingfortests Wrote: I'm trying to discern how much time is available per student, and how often the 'time used' resets.
I've used it a couple of times to review papers and the advice seems pretty decent. Just curious what others experiences are.
Also, does anyone know the rates if you go over your allotted time available?
I just logged in again, and my available time has reset back to 180. Not exactly sure when that happened, as I haven't monitored it.
Rates for additional time are available on the add time page. Here's what it lists right now:
Quote:1 hour US$41.67 : Includes live, on-demand tutoring; a prescheduled session with a tutor; or question submission in any subject area.*
4 hours US$150.00 : Includes live, on-demand tutoring, prescheduled session(s) with a tutor, or question submission in any subject area.*
1 Writing review US$31.25 under 10 pages; US$41.67 for 10+ pages: Includes review of writing with detailed critique and recommendations.
1 Career writing review US$31.25 : Includes review of resume, cover letter, employment profile, or other job search materials.
TESU Class of 2024 BSBA-CIS+GM, BSIT, ASNSM-CS+Math, AAS-GEN
Earned credits from Sophia, SDC, ASU ULC, TEEX, Microsoft, Strayer, TESU, Saylor, DSST, CLEP, CompTIA, StraighterLine, and others since starting in April 2020
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An update on this:
I still think the service is pretty good, but non-exhaustive. I submitted one of my near-final capstone assignments, asked for APA review and overall review. They pointed out a few APA problems and gave some helpful general guidance, but as I was going over it a third and fourth time, I found a whole bunch of APA formatting errors I made that they had not caught.
So I would not rely on it if you really need help, or want an exhaustive review, but it's good general guidance, especially for free. With some help from my awesome TESU mentor who answered a whole bunch of detailed questions, and actually sitting and reading the APA book itself (rather than the Owl resources, which are excellent but not exhaustive), I was able to nail my APA formatting in the final version of my paper.
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