Effective date: November 12, 2026
Plain English, like everything else we do. These are the terms for working with BadEssay.
BadEssay is a college essay coaching service based in Orange County, California. We coach students one on one on their college application essays. You can reach us at hello@badessay.com or 949-494-7957.
We coach. Your student writes. Our coaches interview, guide, suggest, and edit, and suggestions may range from a few words to a paragraph, but the essays are your student's own work. We do not write essays for students, and we do not guarantee admission to any college, any scholarship award, or any particular outcome. No one can honestly promise that.
Most of our students are under 18. For any student under 18, the parent or legal guardian is our client. The parent books the sessions, approves the engagement, makes payment, and consents to the student working with an essay coach by phone, Zoom, Teams, or in person.
Payment is due before coaching begins and is made through Venmo. All prices are flat per package, never hourly. All sales are final. We do not offer refunds, including for unused or partially used sessions. The one exception works in your favor: if you complete Story Coaching and continue into any package, the full $500 is credited toward that package's price.
Each college sets its own rules about outside help on application essays, and some ask students to confirm the essay is their own work. Our coaching is built so the essay always remains the student's own: their stories, their words, their final choices. It is the student's and family's responsibility to follow the application rules of each school they apply to.
Your student owns their essays, full stop. Anything we create for your family, such as story maps and written feedback, is for your personal use. We keep your drafts confidential, and we will never use your student's essay or story as an example or in marketing without written permission.
Our total responsibility to you for any claim related to our services is limited to the amount you paid us for those services. We are not responsible for admission decisions, scholarship decisions, missed deadlines caused by late starts or missed sessions, or outages of third party tools such as Zoom, Teams, or Venmo.
You agree not to dispute or reverse a payment for sessions that were delivered. If you believe there's a billing mistake, email us within 15 days and we'll sort it out directly.
Except for what these terms expressly promise, our services are provided as is. We promise honest, professional coaching; we do not promise any particular result, and we disclaim any implied warranties to the fullest extent the law allows.
If a claim is brought against BadEssay because you or your student broke these terms, submitted work falsely represented as the student's own, or violated a school's application rules, you agree to cover our reasonable costs of dealing with that claim.
Neither of us is responsible for delays caused by things outside reasonable control, such as illness, natural disasters, internet or power outages, or outages of tools like Zoom, Teams, or Venmo. We'll reschedule affected sessions as quickly as we can.
If a dispute arises, we both agree to first try in good faith to resolve it by talking, for at least 30 days. If that fails, any lawsuit must be brought in the state courts located in Orange County, California, and both of us consent to those courts. Either side may use small claims court for a qualifying claim.
We may update these terms from time to time, and the current version will always be on this page. These terms are governed by California law. Questions? Email hello@badessay.com.