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The top list of academic search engines

1. Google Scholar

4. science.gov, 5. semantic scholar, 6. baidu scholar, get the most out of academic search engines, frequently asked questions about academic search engines, related articles.

Academic search engines have become the number one resource to turn to in order to find research papers and other scholarly sources. While classic academic databases like Web of Science and Scopus are locked behind paywalls, Google Scholar and others can be accessed free of charge. In order to help you get your research done fast, we have compiled the top list of free academic search engines.

Google Scholar is the clear number one when it comes to academic search engines. It's the power of Google searches applied to research papers and patents. It not only lets you find research papers for all academic disciplines for free but also often provides links to full-text PDF files.

• Coverage: approx. 200 million articles
• Abstracts: only a snippet of the abstract is available
• Related articles: ✔
• References: ✔
• Cited by: ✔
• Links to full text: ✔
• Export formats: APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, Vancouver, RIS, BibTeX

BASE is hosted at Bielefeld University in Germany. That is also where its name stems from (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine).

• Coverage: approx. 136 million articles (contains duplicates)
• Abstracts: ✔
• Related articles: ✘
• References: ✘
• Cited by: ✘
• Export formats: RIS, BibTeX

CORE is an academic search engine dedicated to open-access research papers. For each search result, a link to the full-text PDF or full-text web page is provided.

• Coverage: approx. 136 million articles
• Links to full text: ✔ (all articles in CORE are open access)
• Export formats: BibTeX

Science.gov is a fantastic resource as it bundles and offers free access to search results from more than 15 U.S. federal agencies. There is no need anymore to query all those resources separately!

• Coverage: approx. 200 million articles and reports
• Links to full text: ✔ (available for some databases)
• Export formats: APA, MLA, RIS, BibTeX (available for some databases)

Semantic Scholar is the new kid on the block. Its mission is to provide more relevant and impactful search results using AI-powered algorithms that find hidden connections and links between research topics.

• Coverage: approx. 40 million articles
• Export formats: APA, MLA, Chicago, BibTeX

Although Baidu Scholar's interface is in Chinese, its index contains research papers in English as well as Chinese.

• Coverage: no detailed statistics available, approx. 100 million articles
• Abstracts: only snippets of the abstract are available
• Export formats: APA, MLA, RIS, BibTeX

RefSeek searches more than one billion documents from academic and organizational websites. Its clean interface makes it especially easy to use for students and new researchers.

• Coverage: no detailed statistics available, approx. 1 billion documents
• Abstracts: only snippets of the article are available
• Export formats: not available

Consider using a reference manager like Paperpile to save, organize, and cite your references. Paperpile integrates with Google Scholar and many popular databases, so you can save references and PDFs directly to your library using the Paperpile buttons:

Google Scholar is an academic search engine, and it is the clear number one when it comes to academic search engines. It's the power of Google searches applied to research papers and patents. It not only let's you find research papers for all academic disciplines for free, but also often provides links to full text PDF file.

Semantic Scholar is a free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature developed at the Allen Institute for AI. Sematic Scholar was publicly released in 2015 and uses advances in natural language processing to provide summaries for scholarly papers.

BASE , as its name suggest is an academic search engine. It is hosted at Bielefeld University in Germany and that's where it name stems from (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine).

CORE is an academic search engine dedicated to open access research papers. For each search result a link to the full text PDF or full text web page is provided.

Science.gov is a fantastic resource as it bundles and offers free access to search results from more than 15 U.S. federal agencies. There is no need any more to query all those resources separately!

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College Admissions

Not sure where to begin your college research? There are tons of online resources to help students match up with the right schools. In this article, I'll outline ten of the best sites to conduct your college search and then explain how to get started researching colleges  using three of the best sites. Within each section, the sites are ordered from the absolute best to those that are still good but not #1.

Starting Out: The Best Data-Driven Sites to Begin Your College Search

If you've just begun researching colleges and need some help finding schools you might be interested in, check out these sites to help get you started.

College Board’s Big Future

This is a good place to find out about colleges if you’re just starting out in your search. It caters to students who might not know where to begin and guides you through the research process. There's a guide called  "College Search Step-by-Step" for students who are unsure of how to go about the search process.  It will ask specific questions about what you are looking for in a school and give you a "snapshot" of your preferences to help you decide where to apply.

On the main college search page,  you can find college matches based on different criteria that you’re interested in, or you can search for schools directly.  You can also compare schools, but the amount of data is less staggering than some other sites, so it may be easier to digest.

College InSight

If you’re a more scientifically minded person, this site will probably appeal to you. You have the option to start your search with  a specific college, a topic that interests you, or with building your own table of different variables   to compare schools  across any metric you choose. 

This site has a huge amount of data for each school that includes variables such as economic and racial diversity of the student body and extensive statistics on debt and financial aid.  This is a helpful resource for comparing colleges side by side based on hard data.  You can choose a “focus” school and a “comparison” school, and the site will list the data for each school in table format. It's a good way to get an objective viewpoint on what each school is like.

If you’re not as interested in looking at a bunch of data you may find this site to be overwhelming, but if you’re trying to find  an easy way to compare school stats without having to create a profile  this is the place to go.

This is just a screenshot of the top of the comparison charts - there are many more statistics that show up below this.

College Navigator

This site (put out by the National Center for Educational Statistics) doesn’t have the prettiest interface, but it’s useful for finding reliable data about any college in the country.  If you already know what school you want, you can search for it directly. You can also search by state or even area code. There are filters for degree level and type of college as well, so you can search for just public or private colleges or just 4-year colleges. 

Each college has a page that lists relevant data including information about cost and financial aid, admissions, programs offered, graduation rates, athletics, and other general statistics. 

The downside of this site is that the information can be overwhelming and difficult to digest because there is so much data. If you prefer something less dry and scientific you might want to look elsewhere, but if you’re just looking for the facts with no frills this is a good resource.

The Inside Scoop: Sites With the Best Student Feedback and College Matchmaking

This next section highlights sites that are best for when you already have an idea of which schools you're thinking about and are interested in comparing them and learning more about whether they're really a good fit.

This is a great site for comparing schools, calculating admissions chances, calculating financial aid, and just figuring out if a school is a good match for you in general.  You will be asked to create a profile, which then allows the site to figure out which schools might work best based on what matters most to you. There are also student reviews, so in addition to comparing hard data you will also be able to compare how people feel about the school. There’s even a feature that helps you plan campus visits!

This site has one of the best balances between comprehensive data and a user-friendly experience that tells you what you really want to know about colleges. It will even take you as far as your application! Each school that you put on your list of favorites has a link that takes you directly to the school's website where you can begin the application process.

On Chegg's college matchmaking site, you can create a profile and see which schools might be right for you. This site can be very helpful in your college search because it lets you keep a running list of schools that you’re interested in once you create a profile. 

Design-wise, it’s nice to look at, and  the statistics are presented in a very user-friendly, simple way that’s easy to understand.  You’ll also find grades based on student reviews for everything from campus dining to academics to the party scene, so you can get an inside look at what people really think about the school.

Based on these grades, the site has lists of schools that have the “best quality of life”, “best merit aid”, and many other categories that may help you narrow down your search.  There’s also a tool on each college page for you to enter your GPA and SAT/ACT scores and see your chances of admission.  One issue with student ratings is that they are very subjective and may not always reflect the truth about the school. Before you take these as fact, make sure you also check out the school’s main website and see what they have to say about themselves.

This site contains less hard data, but is relatively easy to use and makes the college search a little more fun (they even give grades for the attractiveness of the student body...very important in choosing your dream school).

This site gives you access to  tons of statistics as well as student reviews and letter grades for different aspects of student life  (this is actually where the college grades on Chegg, a site I recommend later, come from). You’ll also see lists of the best schools in different categories based on reviews.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive overview of what’s offered by colleges, this is a great resource. There are a lot of statistics to wade through, but you can also create a free profile and get matched up with colleges. This site is nice because  it can get really technical and specific,  but it also gives you the tools to search for schools without feeling too overwhelmed. You can keep a running list of schools that you’re interested in, and the site will help you notify representatives for these schools of your interest if you think any of them are especially good matches.

One aspect of Niche that I'm not so crazy about is the amount of  distracting promotions and ads for other related sites  that are involved. It makes things a bit more cluttered and confusing to navigate and kind of turned me off from using this site despite the fact that it presents a lot of great information. 

College Confidential

You might be familiar with College Confidential for its (sometimes less than trustworthy) discussion forums, but it also has a great college search feature.  You can fill out your preferences in over 20 different categories including location, majors, Greek life, party scene, and special services. Based on your answers and how important these factors are to you, you’ll get matched with schools that fit you best (out of a database of over 4,500 schools that includes schools outside of the US). 

You can also create a list of schools that you like by “pinning” your favorites.  To narrow down your search even further, you can compare your top choices in different areas to see how they measure up against each other. You can save and share your lists if you want as well!

I’d recommend this as a starting point if you're not sure which schools you’re interested in - it will help you figure out what’s most important to you and give you some initial ideas. It's super easy to pin and compare schools, although the information pages are a little confusing and not as nice to look at as the school matching interface. If you click on a school, you are linked out to another site called "College View" for the statistics, which makes things a bit harder to navigate compared to other sites where all information is internal.

Get it? Go to Uni? It sounds like the Brits are responsible for this one, which made me suspicious, but this site is pretty cool. It has a modern design and includes tons of reviews in written and video format from students at the colleges. Based on student feedback, schools are rated on a scale of 1-10 for a bunch of different factors including campus safety, political activity, arts culture, Greek life, intellectual life, and more. 

Each college page has financial aid and admissions statistics, a built in map of the surrounding area, and statistics on student life such as the number of campus organizations and Greek houses. You can also make a list of schools and compare them across different metrics like tuition and selectivity.  

It does seem like they’re still working on adding more statistics about academics, so this site is a bit light on data in some areas.  Still, it’s fun to use and will give you a different perspective than other sites with its multimedia format; there are lots of pictures of schools from students in addition to the video reviews. 

Taking Action: The Best Sites to Learn About Paying for and Applying to College

Once you have a pretty solid list of which colleges you want to apply to, you can use these sites to help you navigate college applications and paying for school.

This site is oriented towards helping students search for scholarships , but it will also help you find colleges that may interest you. You can set up an account for free that will allow you to locate colleges and scholarships that fit your specific needs. There are helpful blog articles on the site as well that have advice on scholarships and colleges.

You can also search for student loans on Fastweb - you just have to answer a few questions and you’ll get a list of all your loan choices.  This site is a nice user-friendly means of finding scholarships and loans that will help you to avoid getting too overwhelmed with your options. 

It’s also a good site to keep in mind going forward, since it has resources for career planning and finding internship opportunities as well. If you're practically-minded and are serious about finding scholarships, you should definitely try this site out. You may want to use another platform for the college search process because Fastweb doesn't have as much information or tools for finding colleges as it does for finding scholarships and loans. 

This site is good for learning about application timelines and getting yourself organized for college as well as searching for schools that meet your criteria. There are articles with helpful tips about choosing colleges, applying to college, and getting financial aid and scholarships. You'll get fast stats about colleges and suggestions about other schools that you may like based on your searches.

This isn’t my favorite site in terms of its presentation of college statistics.  However, it does provide advice in other areas that is more specific than other sites and may help answer questions you have about the application process and how to actually follow through on your college decision.

How to Start Your College Search

Your mind is probably reeling from all of these options, so to make it easier, below is how we recommend you get started. The three sites described in this section are the best ones for beginning your college search, and I'll explain exactly how to use them.

Step 1: Develop a Preliminarly List of Schools With Cappex

As we mentioned above, Cappex is an excellent site for helping you figure out which types of schools you're interested in and which fit you well. Below are the steps to get the most out of Cappex.

1. Create a profile - you'll answer a lot of questions about your college preferences including location, size, selectivity, and religious affiliation as well as questions about your GPA and scores. This gives the site an idea of what colleges may fit with your needs. You also have the opportunity to enter in schools that interest you if you already have options in mind. 

2. Play around with your Dashboard: this is where you'll see all the colleges that might fit your preferences. You'll be asked to select a region and a major so that the results are more tailored to you (don't worry - you can choose undecided if you aren't sure what you want to major in yet). You'll see a slider of different schools that looks like this:

If you hover over any of the schools, you'll get an at-a-glance stats panel that shows you whether the school is public or private, its tuition rates, and the number of students. The first row of schools is for colleges that you may be interested in, and the second row is for colleges that are interested in you based on your level of high school achievement. 

3. Click on the link inside the stats panel for any school that catches your interest. Once you get to the next page, you'll have a ton of information at your fingertips. One helpful feature that you probably want to check first is "Your Fit", which is the fourth button down on the left side panel. This gives you an easy way to tell if the college matches up well with the preferences you indicated in your profile.

4. Explore the college a little more. Think about other things that are important to you and whether they fit well with what the college offers. You'll notice that in each college profile you can comb through a huge database of information by clicking on the options on the left. Categories include everything from campus life to student reviews to application deadlines. Before you get too confused from all the information, try making a list of what you think will make you happy at college and target your browsing to the areas that matter most to you. 

5. If you're feeling really good about a school, you can add it to the running list of colleges that is a part of your Cappex profile. Just click the "yes" button at the top of the screen where it asks if you're interested in the school. This will also notify the school that you are interested. If you fill out your profile completely, Cappex will also give you your chances of admission to a college if you click on "yes & calculate my chances". Here's what your college list will look like:

Notice that you can rank colleges by how much you like them, and if you update your profile you'll see your chances of admission as well. The list also makes it easy to compare colleges. If you click on the "compare" tab you can compare colleges side by side in admissions, tuition, diversity, and campus life (this could be a good way to give your parents the hard facts about why you prefer one school over another that they think is better). 

6. After you're satisfied with your list, you can apply to schools by clicking on the "apply to college" link beneath every list entry. This will send you directly to the admissions site for the school and make it easy for you to get your application started. 

Step 2: Refine Your College List Using Chegg

Once you've made a preliminary list of colleges with Cappex, we recommend next using Chegg to refine your list and see if there are any schools you missed. Below are the steps for getting the most out of Chegg.

1. Login through Facebook or sign up manually for a profile. Make sure you fill out as much information as you can in your profile so that your college matches will be as accurate as possible. 

2. Click on the "Colleges" tab at the top of the screen, and you'll get to a page where you can search for schools by name or sort schools by your preferences. You can also look at lists of schools that are provided for you on the site based on student ratings for different things like "best food" or "most beautiful campus".

You should also look at your "Matches", which are colleges selected for you based on the preferences you indicated in your profile. Just switch to the matches tab by clicking on it at the top of the screen:

3. Once you see a college that looks promising, go to the page for the school and start exploring the statistics and ratings. You can even look at your chances of admission based on your GPA and scores. Again, I would recommend writing down some factors that are important to you for a college before you dive into the stats so that you have a more focused approach. I think a good thing about this site is that it doesn't go too heavy on the nitty gritty statistics. It boils it down to the basic things you probably want to know and also gives you perspective from real students. 

4. Add any college you think sounds good to your list of schools. Once you add a college to your list, you will have the option to fill out information that will allow colleges you are interested in to contact you.

You can then compare up to five schools side by side based on scores, admission requirements, tuition, and other basic facts. This should help you narrow your search down significantly. 

5. Take a look at other features of the site - you can also use Chegg to find scholarships and internships! 

Step 3: Search for Scholarships Using Fastweb

Fastweb is  the best way to find scholarships, which is a super important part of the college application process. You can also find colleges on Fastweb, but it's not as streamlined as the other options. We recommend using Fastweb after you've used Cappex and Chegg to get a list of colleges you're interested in applying to.

1. Fill out a free profile, providing as many details as possible about your interests and strengths as possible. This will help you get matched to scholarships that are appropriate for your specific talents. 

2. Click on "see my matches" in your profile to take a look at all the scholarships that are available to you:

You can sort scholarships by deadline, amount, and provider. This is an awesome resource - instead of traversing the internet, you can see all of your potential scholarships right here. 

3. If you click on the link for a scholarship and think you're interested, you can use the dropdown menu on the right to mark it as one that you "might apply" or "will apply" to;  this will add it to your list under one of those tabs. This will make it easy for you to keep track of which scholarships interest you and which ones you promised yourself you would apply for (because we all know how easy it is to say you're going to apply and how hard it is to actually follow through). 

4. You can also use this site to search for colleges (switch to the "colleges" tab at the top of the screen) and create a list of schools you're interested in. The list will look similar to the scholarship matches page:

As I mentioned, the college search features on this site aren't quite as comprehensive as the others because there's no way to compare schools and there aren't as many student reviews or user-friendly statistics. You CAN use it to make a list, but I'd say Fastweb is mostly for scholarships. 

5. If you want, start looking into your student loan options! This is a really daunting process that is made easier by the Student Lending Center feature under the Student Loans section of Fastweb.

You can also get help with navigating the financial aid process under the Financial Aid tab and finding internships under the Career Planning tab. Basically, for anything involving the practical concerns associated with college, Fastweb is the best place to go.  

The college search is a challenging, sometimes confusing process, especially when you're not sure where to start. I've given you the top ten sites I would recommend for finding colleges that fit your needs and a more detailed guide to the three sites that I think will be the most useful. Here are my overall rankings for the best sites to use in your college search:

1. Cappex 2. Chegg 3. Fastweb 4. Niche 5. College Confidential 6. Peterson's  7. College Board's Big Future 8. College InSight 9. Unigo 10. College Navigator

All of these sites will help you out in one way or another to narrow down your search, but I believe the top three have the best combination of user friendly format, solid information, and fun interactive features that are also very helpful to students. Remember to focus solely on what is most important to you in your search. You may have never heard of a school, but that doesn't mean it won't be a perfect fit. Be honest with yourself and you'll end up making a great choice!

What's Next?

Aiming high in your college search? Read this article on how to get into the top schools in the nation.  

If you're worried about your chances of getting into college period, check out this list of the easiest schools to get into.

Building a killer college application is hard work. Find out the how to create a versatile application and what not to do in your college essay.

The Common Application makes it easy to apply to a bunch of different schools but only fill out one application! Find out which schools accept the Common App.

Samantha is a blog content writer for PrepScholar. Her goal is to help students adopt a less stressful view of standardized testing and other academic challenges through her articles. Samantha is also passionate about art and graduated with honors from Dartmouth College as a Studio Art major in 2014. In high school, she earned a 2400 on the SAT, 5's on all seven of her AP tests, and was named a National Merit Scholar.

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Best essay writing websites according to A*Help

It’s easy to become overwhelmed with busy schedules and never-ending to-do lists, leaving no time for academic assignments. Thankfully, custom writing services are available to assist with a range of tasks, including essays and dissertations. However, finding a trustworthy provider can be challenging due to limited information and a lack of genuine reviews.

Our experts have conducted a real mystery shopping and compiled a list of the top essay writing services that can get the job done for you when you have a lot going on. To ensure transparency and consistency in our evaluations, we have developed our own rating system called A*Help score.

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Essay Writing Websites: Finding the Best One for Your Needs

Academic help for students.

High school graduates are usually inspired by these ageless uplifting words of wisdom on their graduation day: “The world is your oyster”, “The sky’s the limit”, and “You can do anything you set your mind to”. At first, many still have enough power and strength to overcome every hill and mountain they meet on their academic route. But long nights, endless lectures, piles of projects and essays, pressing deadlines, and high demands can easily drain any aspiring learners. The A*Help team understands that taking a breather is a must. Here, we present a list of websites that will write essays for you, take the stress away, and most importantly, provide help with any assignment on this long and exciting educational voyage.

Academic Help is a transparent platform where you can find relevant information and valid recommendations on what essay writing help website to choose for your personalized needs. With that being said, we review and work with all sorts of homework help companies, be they fast, expensive, or cheap essay services. This way we make sure that they can stand the pressure of demanding university and college lives. Should we give our trusted readers the most unbiased opinion, we work with every platform and assess all available features and the final task result. Then, our experts filter through our experience and grade the service based on value-for-money, overall experience, and paper quality criteria.

Through our background, we have reviewed many companies with an abundance of options and features that can be the ideal fit for every learner who is currently baffled with their academic life. Hence, the A*Help team wants to remind you to check out the list of the best essay writing service when you are wading through the stressful and overwhelming process of juggling multiple assignments and responsibilities, which can be made easier with the help of a reputable essay writing website.

Why Use Essay Writing Websites?

Education life is tough. It is filled with a plethora of extracurricular commitments and personal aspirations. Being overwhelmed with various tasks it is only natural for students to search for help from within. College essay writing platforms are the solution to their trouble with time management and meeting deadlines. Essay writing websites alleviate this stress by taking on the burden of writing, allowing students to prioritize other important tasks . Moreover, expert writers with extensive experience in academic writing, ensure the delivery of well-researched, high-quality content that meets university standards and essay requirements. Besides, such platforms are adept at creating customized essays that align perfectly with these specifications, ensuring that the final product meets the expectations of the professor or the admissions board.

The key features when selecting the best website for essay writing

Stress and anxiety can shift a student’s focus and impede the search for a credible homework-help website. That’s why our testing strategy is a perfect balance of analytical and practical approaches. We understand where learners’ worries come from and our goal is to take them away and facilitate academic life.

We are as strict and meticulous in our evaluations as every professor. Unquestionably, we pay most of our attention to the final result of the essay. But we tend not to forget about the whole process of interaction with the service. To put it mildly, we do judge a book by its cover. And we check all essential aspects of the user journey.

The Academic Help team does not stop there. We strive to find legit paper writing websites. Hence, for a more professional take on things A*Help collaborates with US professors who give us expert commentary and evaluation.

The best essay writing website: the legitimate factor

Nobody wants to get scammed. The A*Help team values students’ precious time and money. Hence, even before considering working with any essay writing company, we peruse and analyze the available information online. Every feedback and insight is valuable for our reviews. We sieve through many comments on trusted resources not only to find the most positive testimonials but also negative ones. This is one of the most fundamental ways to check each essay-writing website’s legitimacy. Our aim is to share with the readers only professional and trusted resources. So, by gathering real users’ feedback and ensuring that the service is indeed informative, welcoming, and user-friendly, we verify its professionalism.

Our experts believe that this approach shows a more genuine and transparent view of the essay writing platform. Such a comprehensive technique gives an extensive understanding to students.

Final words: How to choose a top essay writing website

Finding the best paper writing site can be considered hard. But with the right approach and mindset, every learner can certainly find a platform that can take their academic trouble away. Top essay writing websites comprehend the level of anxiety students have and the endless projects that are always left unfinished.

So, to find the platform that covers all educational needs and shows high-quality results there is one thing that is worth remembering – personal research. We highly recommend focusing on the quality of content and paper, adherence to university standards, and the ability to meet specific essay requirements. Additionally, various key features, such as revisions, affordable pricing, secure payment options, wide scope of services, efficient customer support, and the legitimacy of the website should also be considered. Besides, a service that really aspires to be that one flexible helping platform, offers customized essays, keeps up with deadlines, and provides reliable services such as free revisions, a money-back guarantee, and originality reports.

What website writes essays for you without plagiarizing?

When searching for an essay writing website students should not forget about checking the plagiarism feature. Since there is a pool of platforms that are not reliable and can produce low-quality paper, every student can reassure themselves by contacting support and asking if there is a plagiarism checker on their website. Or whether the writers themselves run the written pieces through the plagiarism detector before submitting the work.

Are there any legit essay writing sites?

Homework-help writing companies cater to students’ academic needs by crafting papers according to their requirements and preferences. Academic Help has interacted with and tested a lot of services and products available online, so our team can state that there are definitely many legit paper writing websites for different students with various needs.

Judging by personal experience, the search is long and tough. But what we certainly recommend doing to everyone, is personal verification. We believe that it is only safe for students to check the service’s reputation, policies, and overall reputation online. Our team does the same but helps with our more in-depth approach, we can also double-check the platform’s attitude toward cheating and plagiarism, as well as their position on academic misconduct. This way, every learner can make a conscientious decision when looking for extra help on the Internet.

Can I trust online essay writers?

When students are alone on the Internet they feel less protected. The same happens when they try to search for a homework-help website online. Learners may doubt their choice and keep pondering: “is Academized a scam?”, or “is Grademinders legit?” , and “are there professional writers in CustomWritings?”. Without proper research and analysis, it is going to be a long road. First thing first, it is recommended to opt for legit essay writing websites that have many trusted users online. Additionally, every learner can browse through the feedback and reviews from former clients. While on that, we advise focusing the attention not only on the transparency policy but only on the level of service. Available plagiarism and grammar checkers, skilled and experienced writers, and high-quality papers in the outcome are the telltale signs that this essay writing website can be trusted.

Writer-customer communication

The cream of the crop when it comes to essay writing websites are the ones that let you chat directly with the writer. Why is it essential for students? For starters, it means learners can tell them exactly what they need, straight from the very beginning. No more Chinese whispers, just clear instructions so the writer knows exactly what the student is after.

Besides, coordinated customer-writer communication goes far beyond that. Sometimes, students are willing to chip in with ideas or ask how things are going with the assignment. Writers, on the other hand, would need to clarify some details about whether they have to add extra tweaks here and there.

Moreover, such an open online conversation helps to build trust. Meaning, writers always keep the students in the loop. So, when a service offers this kind of chat feature, it’s a good sign that this platform is serious about making sure its clients are satisfied with an outcome.

The main criteria for top-notch paper writing websites

Regardless of the aim, whether to find a service to get help with an essay, research paper, or thesis writing, there are many details to keep in mind. Undoubtedly the final goal is to find trustworthy and reliable sites whose experienced writers can provide a high-quality paper . Whether a student chooses to surf the Internet to search for proof or they decide to trust their gut feeling and try the service on their own, there are essential moments to consider.

Paper quality

The fundamental part of our experiment is the quality of the final paper. There are numerous reasons why learners want and need to seek assistance in writing their essays. Therefore, they have to keep in mind that if they set out to find an essay writing company that produces exceptional papers, the search can be a long one. As practice shows, there are enough homework-help services available online, many of which provide substandard outcomes, and some fail to address your specific subject matter requirements. Moreover, others tend to have fishy rules and policies that are deliberately deceiving students.

When the final decision is made, and learners are waiting to receive the final paper, we advise focusing their attention on the following things. A satisfactory written piece that follows the American university standards should tick the following boxes, such as a wide range of language aspects, namely grammar, spelling, and word choice. Besides, the reasoning, logic, integrity, and objectivity of the written piece are also subject to detailed verification. If all the aspects are taken into account and the final result follows the initial instructions this shows that the chosen service does put in a lot of work to show outstanding results.

Revisions are a necessary aspect of every reliable essay writing website. While students can provide enough vital information and detailed instructions on the final paper, and writers can produce high-level work, still the possibility to polish the final result should be available. More reliable platforms offer revisions free of charge. Say, a writer misunderstands the introductions or does not cover a certain aspect of the paper or the student is not satisfied with certain details and asks to refine some aspects. The bottom line is that it is natural to ask for a revision since you are already paying for a quality service . However, please note that if you do choose to request a revision there are individual rules on essay writing websites. Meaning, the writer cannot improve the paper in split seconds but propose an extended deadline for enhancing the final result. With that said students have to bear in mind that there can be some bumps on the road so it is better to have some time to spare in case revisions are needed to achieve the desired outcome. It is important to understand that the process of improving the paper may require some time. Hence, having extra time available is beneficial to ensure a smooth revision process.

Pricing and discounts

The best paper writing site is not only the one that writes high-quality pieces but also the most budget-friendly. This ratio is hard to reach, yet possible. So, the next essential feature that all learners should keep an eye on is pricing. Many who seek assistance in any form or shape want to find something on the more affordable end since students are not ready to splurge on more extra things. But there is one thing to consider: no matter how hard you want to save, different papers with different urgency deadlines will have different pricing . Imagine a scenario where a student completely forgets about a deadline given by their professor. They suddenly realize they need a two-page essay written, and they only have three to four hours to do it. They don’t want to risk failing the class due to this oversight. Since there is an urgency factor, many platforms would ask for a higher price for all the hassle.

However, many essay writing websites try to be flexible and customer-oriented. That’s why learners can always take advantage of using the platform’s bonuses, order coupons, loyalty programs, and referral schemes. These can help students save money and indicate that the service values its customers.

Payment options

In today’s digital age, providing a variety of secure payment options is crucial for any online business, including essay writing websites. Users should have the freedom to choose a payment method that they’re most comfortable with. While plenty of transaction options like credit or debit cards, bank transfers, or digital wallets such as PayPal or Apple Pay are usually offered, having these options is just part of the story.

What’s equally, if not more important, is how safe your money is during these transactions. Students have to be certain that these essay writing platforms are taking every precaution to safeguard their financial details from any potential risks. Top-rated essay-writing companies invest in secure payment gateways that protect users’ financial information from potential online threats. Such services use encryption technology to securely process transactions and keep sensitive data safe.

Moreover, it’s worth checking if the website has a clear and fair payment policy, so that questions like “ is 123helpme legit in payments?”, or “is Paper Coach a fraud?” do not worry you. We always recommend looking for details on refunds, or possible additional charges, and how the service handles disputes about payments. Knowing these details can help avoid any unpleasant surprises down the line.

Available services

The scope of available services is an essential element to consider when choosing an essay writing website. Students who seek a helping hand come from various educational backgrounds. Obviously, they require assistance with different task types. Starting from basic high school essays to more complex university-level research papers and dissertations. Moreover, services should also include different types of writing such as argumentative essays, narrative essays, descriptive essays, and expository essays. Furthermore, they should be able to handle specific tasks like admission essays, scholarship essays, or term papers, along with proofreading and editing services.

The ability of a service to cover a wide array of subjects is another important factor. Additionally, the service should have qualified writers across different fields of study. This ensures that no matter the topic, the service can provide an expert to handle your specific needs. Not only does it provide a peace of mind to the students but shows that the service can be trusted to handle different types of work.

But a cry for help from students does not stop there. Especially, international students require more support in this situation. While for some studying in a foreign language is no trouble at all and they can cope with homework on their own. Others, on the other hand, experience an array of mixed feelings and cannot go about starting to write an essay not in their mother tongue to meet the expectations of their higher education establishment. Therefore, the availability of writers with different writing styles and skills is especially beneficial to such students.

A truly top-rated service would extend its support beyond just writing essays. Some homework-help platforms offer additional resources and guidance to aid students improve their language proficiency and writing skills. For instance, this could include providing language enhancement tools, offering one-on-one sessions with their expert writers, or providing feedback and suggestions to help students improve their writing style.

Customer support

More often than not, service is the key to a successful customer’s journey. It is, indeed, to reassure that learners are not dealing with their troubles alone and can always contact experts who have answers to their burning questions. With this regard, the support team should always show stellar results when it comes to assistance. First and foremost, all learners appreciate the availability. The round-the-clock helping team that is accessible through social media messengers, as well as the site messenger, ensures that all queries and concerns are addressed promptly, regardless of the time zone and time of the day.

Professional essay writing websites usually have well-trained customer support teams that can help resolve issues ranging from payment problems to inquiries about the services offered. They should also assist in tracking the progress of your orders and facilitate communication with your assigned writer.

The speed and quality of response are also crucial. Usually, students expect to receive speedy answers with clear and comprehensive instructions. Not only does the support aid in resolving issues but also contributes to a smoother, more satisfying customer experience.

Service’s Reputation

The reputation of the essay writing website is another vital factor to consider. The service’s reputation is a mix of timely high-quality work delivery and excellent customer service. A good reputation is usually built over time, so consider how long the service has been in operation. It never hurts to emphasize that checking reviews and testimonials from previous customers is a must. Such a practice can give you a clear idea of the quality of work the service provides.

A reputable service will be transparent about its policies and operations. It will have clear terms and conditions, a solid privacy policy to protect your personal information, and a transparent pricing structure with no hidden costs.

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Even the best student loans and other financial aid items don't always provide enough to cover all the costs of college. Scholarships are a great way to bridge the gap, with no obligation to repay the money. Finding scholarships you qualify for can be difficult. But there are several great scholarship websites that can help you do it.

Keep in mind, however, that many colleges deduct private scholarships from the amount of gift aid they provide, reducing how much "free money" you can get from the school. That would effectively negate the work you did in seeking out and applying for private scholarships. Therefore, you should consider looking at schools that offer merit-based scholarships or provide generous packages to students with financial need.

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Collegeboard, scholarshipowl, compare the best scholarship websites.

We've rounded up the best scholarship websites for students looking to save on the cost of college, with an emphasis on those that provide a wide breadth of opportunities. Most of the sites are free to use. Some offer basic features at no cost, with an option to pay for additional functionality. 

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Our experts for the best scholarship websites.

We consulted scholarship and financial experts to give their insights into finding the best scholarship websites — and when to avoid them altogether.

• Christopher Rim, founder and CEO at Command Education
• Jennifer Ledwith, owner at Scholar Ready
• Neeta Vallab, founder at MeritMore
• Ryan Wangman, former loans reporter at Personal Finance Insider

Best Scholarship Websites FAQs

There isn't a singular website that's the best to apply for scholarships. Instead, consider scholarships.com, Fastweb, Bold.org, Peterson's, College Board, Scholly, GoingMerry, Scholarship Owl, and ProFellow.

Do your due diligence when looking to apply for scholarships you find on aggregation websites. Confirm that the scholarship's sponsor is legitimate by looking at reviews of the company, and check its Better Business Bureau grade, if available. 

Most private scholarships won't completely cover the cost of your education. You're better off looking for merit scholarships from individual colleges that cover your costs completely or filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)  to see if you're eligible for a need-based full ride. 

Generally speaking, you shouldn't pay someone to search for scholarships for you, though there are exceptions to every rule. Many scholarship websites are free to use. They only "cost" the time you spend searching on them. 

The timing on when you should start filling out applications for scholarships varies depending on the specific scholarship you're applying for. Some scholarships are even available to high school students, so it's never too early to start your search.

The GPA requirement varies from scholarship to scholarship, but the lowest GPA is usually around 2.0. In general, you'll have a better chance of success with a higher GPA. 

Some of the most common scholarship types include academic scholarships, athletic scholarships, identity-based scholarships, and first-generation student scholarships.

Our Experts' Advice for Choosing the Best Scholarship Websites

What are the advantages of private scholarships versus scholarships or grants from schools.

Neeta Vallab: 

"Honestly, there are very limited advantages to using private scholarships over grants directly from schools. Unlike private scholarships, most grants from schools do not require a separate application and are renewable for four years. Additionally, many colleges will deduct the value of a private scholarship from any award they give you. This is called 'displacement.' And because this practice is so prevalent, it often leaves students with no net financial benefit, despite the effort they invested in submitting an application."

Jennifer Ledwith:

"Unlike scholarships from schools, private scholarships can be used at multiple universities. Furthermore, unlike grants from schools, private scholarships don't have to follow federal or institutional financial aid methodology. Consequently, students can receive private scholarships without regard to other financial aid awards. Furthermore, some private scholarships send the money directly to the student, allowing greater flexibility in using the funds."

Should you always consider scholarships before loans? Are there any scenarios you should pick a loan?

Christopher Rim: 

"No, you should never pick a loan over a scholarship! You always have to pay back loans. Students should bear in mind that they may have their scholarship rescinded if they don't meet the terms and conditions. They should be absolutely sure to read the terms of their scholarship thoroughly to understand the possible consequences if they fail to meet the set conditions."

Ryan Wangman:

"You'll need to repay the money you borrow from any lender, so it's never a good idea to choose a loan over a scholarship, which is money you don't have to pay back. There aren't any scenarios I can think of where it is better to pick a loan than a scholarship. 

How do you know what scholarships you're qualified for?

Rim : 

"Many websites will allow students to filter through their databases to find scholarships they are eligible for. Others ask students to create a profile and then match them based on demographic information. Once students find the scholarships on databases, they should be sure to cross check eligibility requirements on the sponsoring organization's website."

Vallab : 

"Private scholarships will usually have a qualifications section in their description. Some colleges may publish a scholarship grid showing the GPA and test scores required for certain levels of eligibility. Not all merit scholarship information is published however."

What's the best way to track what scholarships you've applied for and are waiting to hear back from?

"Students should keep a spreadsheet to track their scholarship application status."

"Like Jennifer mentioned, a spreadsheet is usually the best way to track application status. Make sure you note how far along you are in each process, as well as any awards you have received — both private and from the schools you've been accepted to.

Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews, or recommendations expressed in this article are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Read our editorial standards .

Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.

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