The young man from Klaipėda started university twice but later quit. He has also suspended his studies in a college. All the theses he has written were for other people who paid him.
“I would have about six or seven undergraduate degrees in psychology, about 18 in educology, also history and theology. I've even done a final BA thesis in choreography, even cosmetology, physical education, veterinary. All successfully passed. The lowest mark I got was 7 (out of 10),” Andrius told 15min, insisting on not being identified.
A real student
During the last six years, when he was working on academic essays, course papers, undergrad and master theses, this was his main source of income. When orders started pouring in, Andrius was forced to quit his day job. “It just so happened that I had two months and six theses to write. I therefore sacrificed my main job,” Andrius recalls.
Andrius does not advertise his services, he posts no on-line ads. The only way to contact him is through referral. He has had several dozen clients over six years. There were some that could not have passed their first year without Andrius' help. He wrote essays for them, course works and final theses.
None of the clients have ever inquired about Andrius' own education. He says it is not necessary to spend four years in lecture halls in order to write a final dissertation. One must simply know how to analyse information, handle it in a structured manner, and reason consistently.
“I would be writing four or five final dissertations at any given point, seven or eight course papers. I don't even count ordinary essays, since one takes about four or five hours to finish,” Andrius claims.
Client list complete with managers and teachers
Andrius' clientèle is varied. It usually consists of people who cannot afford to spend several months on a dissertation and pull back from their work or family.
“As an example, take a management student in some small-town college. He has a business of his own, he is a great leader and administrator. However, for some reason, he also needs a diploma. So he looks for someone to help him, since during the time that he might otherwise spend on writing essays and dissertations, he earns more money in his business than he pays me,” speculates Andrius.
He has been approached by several teachers with considerable work experience in their fields. After the country changed qualification requirements for public school teachers – requiring them to have a university diploma in educology – many of them found themselves in want of a diploma in order to continue in their jobs.
“They are usually great teachers, loved by their pupils, bringing up children of their own, with a lot of other work on their hands. And suddenly their experience is not enough, a diploma is required. University professors tend to close their eyes, they understand the situation and are usually more lenient towards such students. However, the final dissertation is evaluated by a panel and according to all requirements. Doubtlessly, for some it is easier to part with three-month savings than dedicate all this time to writing a thesis, thus neglecting one's work, children, spouses, not to mention housework and cooking,” Andrius tries stepping into his clients' shoes.
Lazy people, according to him, must be really wealthy to be able to pay someone else to do their work while they lay in bed staring at the ceiling.
Andrius makes no secret of his pricing. An ordinary essay sets a student back about 15 to 20 litas a page, while rates for a final dissertation are double. College students usually have to pay 1.5 to 2 thousand litas for their theses, university students – over 2 thousand (0.6 thousand euros).
Direct communication with supervisors
Andrius usually interacts with students via email, occasionally organizing face-to-face meetings. They forward him any comments from their thesis supervisors.
He can recall one case when he was hired by a female student who was hopelessly incapable to write her work herself and told Andrius to communicate directly with her supervisor.
“I felt that it wasn't something he [the supervisor] was used to, but he didn't seem awkward or uncomfortable. We both could see that the student was downright hopeless. Paradoxically, she had already been working in the field she was studying and after she got her degree, she was successfully advancing her career. It's just that theory is one thing and practice – something entirely different,” Andrius thinks.
He has written dissertations for students of most Lithuanian universities. He says he is surprised that to some of them, he had to explain basic things: how to compile a proper questionnaire, how to organize statistical data. “Someone asked me once what natural distribution was. In that case, you have fifteen minutes to explain something they've been taught for six months. If you don't, they might fail to defend the work in front of the panel. Sometimes coaching a student would take more time than writing a dissertation. So I adopted a new policy – my work is done after examination in departments. The thesis is written properly, it can withstand examination, so be kind enough to read it through and defend it in front of the panel yourself,” Andrius says.
He admits he is particularly proud of one of his works that, unfortunately, did not bear his name. The BA thesis in history was awarded the highest mark, 10. A know history professor heaped it with praise – which greatly flattered its author who has never studied history.
Diploma but a piece of paper
Andrius, who feels no shortage of clients, is rather critical of Lithuania's education system. According to him, when employers can choose from so many candidates with degrees, they do not even look at those without one. As a result, everyone now desperately seeks higher education and new universities and colleges have mushroomed as a result.
Andrius remembers an incident at a café where he was working. A young girl came in with her mother. The latter inquired if perhaps there might be a waitress job for her daughter who had just graduated from a business management course. The “business manager” was meanwhile staring at the floor uncomfortably.
“The problem is that everyone's convinced that once they get the piece of paper – and there's no other word for a diploma – everything will be all right. And so they go and study. New universities, colleges, lecturers have mushroomed. A secondary school economics teacher gets a master's degree and goes to college to lecture. No wonder then that teachers make grammar mistakes in their comments reproaching students for bad spelling,” he says.
Andrius, who has written numerous dissertations and observed many oral examinations, is convinced that higher education in Lithuania is going downhill. Similar thesis topics crop up every year, undergraduate dissertations – that are supposed to involve academic research – are often nothing more that slightly touched-up previously written essays. Theoretical overviews are products of copy-pasting, statistical data are often invented, while there is hardly any hint of scientific discovery or new insights into the topic.
“It is all a farce. What supervisors say is usually “correct your bibliography, change the font, oh, your pages are numbered incorrectly, and review your quotes.” You get five minutes in front of the panel where you talk about your work. You show slides that you've made from clichéd templates, the panels gives you cliché nods, the reviewer gives cliché questions. And after that they issue one more cliché diploma.”
Andrius has decided to quit the job that has supported him for the last six years. He says it was a torture and burdened him with huge responsibility: “I'm simply tired of living other people's lives, building others' future. I want to live my own life.”
