Shmoop was founded in 2009. The agency provides help to more than 6 million students. You can find thousands of Shmoop schools that use solutions provided by the agency. Besides that, this company won 12 awards in the field of digital education.
What features and benefits can this agency bring to you? Is Shmoop reliable? Read our detailed review to find out.
Shmoop Website Interface
The agency features an informative yet minimalistic website. The site allows you to get around quickly. The platform is user-friendly with logical and well-organized sections.
You can easily find out what this company features and who can benefit from it the most. Moreover, you can get to know the free features, which saves your time significantly if you aim at no cost services.
The website lacks a price estimator on the homepage. Many educational companies feature cost calculators so that customers can evaluate their financial capabilities instantly.
Getting Started
To fully use the services, you have to create an account. Take these steps to set the Shmoop profile:
1. Go to the Shmoop website and press the Get Started button.
2. You will enter the sign-up menu. Here, you should select the subscription plan. Afterward, enter your email address and create a password. The agency displays what characters are applicable to passwords. Then, confirm that you are at least 13 years old. At this stage, you have to agree with the terms and conditions. Once you fill all the forms, press the continue button.
3. Fill in the payment means and start the free trial. You will have 24 hours to test the services.
4. Your sign up is complete, and now you can use the full range of educational services on the platform.
Your dashboard will look like this:
Here you have a settings menu and the list of study resources.
The Quality of Study Materials
Some of the materials are well-composed and structured on the platform. Shmoop’s study resources work well with something definitive. Namely, it touches math explanations where you can get a full understanding of the equations. Most of the online courses are well-developed as well. We have not found many Shmoop reviews complaining about learning programs.
Literature Guides
Literature, writing, and book summaries are also structured. However, not every review gives a detailed explanation of the plot, themes, and characters.
You should not rely on book summaries when you need to prepare for the test. You can only use them as auxiliary sources. The summaries’ writers leave lots of details untold, making these study materials incomplete.
You will have to read the books on your own anyway. You can use the book notes to get a broader understanding of the plot and themes. And even in this case, you should not limit yourself by sticking to this company only.
Shmoop Contributors and Certificates
This agency is not a freelance content mill. Shmoop in-house staff works within a corporate environment. Also, the candidates go through a complicated hiring procedure and multiple interviews. The candidates can apply to the career page only if their skills match the current job openings.
The company does not post job openings too often, which means there is no intense labor turnover.
Also, the agency states its writers and contributors have Ph.D. and Master’s degrees in the corresponding fields of study.
Shmoop guides are certified by major educational institutions, such as California State University. It means the learning courses are accredited, and you can count on them while enrolling in college or university.
Therefore, Shmoop materials are legit, and you can find the list of approved courses on the website.
Shmoop Services and Features
A wide variety of services makes Shmoop stand out from other online learning companies. Here you can find lots of materials and tools for students of school and college levels as well as teachers.
The good thing is that you can benefit from free features without setting up an account. It can be helpful for students who need quick help for the classes.
Here are the categories of services offered by the platform:
- Test Preparations
- Essay writing assistance
- Math assistance
- Online courses
- Teaching guides
Free services include:
- Study guides
- College preparation
- Life preparation
- Videos
- Shakespeare translator
Let us start with free-of-charge features first.
Study Guides
There are lots of guides on various subjects on the website. You can visit the corresponding page to discover resources on your subject. Shmoop features learning materials for the following subject areas:
- Literature, literary criticism, and poetry
- Science (biology, chemistry, physics)
- Math
- History and historical texts
- Civics
- Mythology
- Bible
You can also find biographies of famous people, including scientists, governors, musicians, etc. The exciting thing is that you can also read about popular songs, their meaning, and composition history, which is beneficial for a well-rounded education.
Let us exemplify one of the literature guides:
There is comfortable navigation available. In the introduction, you can read about the history of the book, the main themes, and motifs.
The summary section presents the sequence of events by chapters.
The exemplified book summary contains 29 chapters. Each of them is approximately 500 words long. Shmoop retellings are extensive. But it is not enough to cover all the aspects and details of the particular literary work.
Here you can see premium sections available for the registered customers.
If you want to get essay assistance concerning a particular book, you will have to become a paid member.
What about history guides? How do they differ from the schoolbooks?
They are conveniently structured so that students can get an understanding of the crucial personas and then proceed to the sequence of events. A logical and structured guideline template contributes to faster and more efficient learning.
College Preparation
If you ever wonder how you can prepare for the college the right way, you can use Shmoop to get the crucial aspects of college admission. This preparation page gives you information on majors studied in the US colleges. It is useful when you are not sure about your future career. This section can help you evaluate the specifics of each major discipline.
Also, you can clarify the financial aspects of studying. Shmoop presents statistics on each college, which includes educational costs, acceptance rate, and more.
The agency gathered statistics on tens of institutions, which is incredibly beneficial for school graduates too.
Life Preparation
Shmoop gives students suggestions and advice on after-studying life. The agency provides you with info about getting the job, spending money wisely, buying a car, and many more.
You can find tips on the gap year even. Why should you take a gap? What should you do to spend this time with the ultimate good? Shmoop can give you these pieces of advice. Although the article about this life period is generic, it can still give you helpful information.
We consider these sections useful since young people can get to know the basics of budgeting and financial planning. You can get the difference between your wishes and real needs.
It all can help you prepare for adulthood better.
Essay Lab
Can this company help you with essays? Yes, it can. However, there is nothing extraordinary about it.
The agency offers a paid Essay Lab feature, a set of tools to help you craft papers. To get to this section, you need to click on the Essay Lab link in your service menu.
What can you do with it? You will get to the list where you can select the necessary essay. There are 11 types of papers available.
Let us assume you are going to write an analysis paper. Click on the corresponding section. There you will have the paper writing plan and start by creating an essay. It is necessary to track your assignments on this platform. Also, all the created papers will be stored in the essay section of your profile.
The agency leads you through the essay writing steps. First, you should create a heading and rephrase your assignment prompt. You will not be able to use some kind of tool to generate a topic. You should go through all the sections on your own. This feature is nothing more than a template.
Starting from the title section, you can view the tips and examples concerning each stage of your writing. It is really helpful material.
The brainstorming section allows you to note the ideas. You will get suggestions as well.
At the outline stage, you will get an adjustable essay structure. You can add paragraphs too. However, you will not be able to delete them, which makes this interface extremely inconvenient.
Essay Lab inconveniences
This menu gets even worse afterward.
What is the purpose of these limitations? Making an essay is a creative process, and it is okay to rewrite/delete/add paragraphs while editing and proofreading. Normally, customers pay for the services not to face unnecessary limitations. More than that, you cannot jump from the beginning to the end.
The next step becomes accessible after you complete a current one. It is also inconvenient because students can craft an introduction or a thesis statement in the end.
All in all, Shmoop Essay Lab is not as good as it seems to be at first sight.
Besides, it does not give you anything unique. You can find all the tips and videos on making essays for free on the web. Why should you pay for the subscription in this case?
The service does not make papers for you. Other companies do it at a reasonable price. Moreover, dedicated writing agencies provide you with the thesis statement and citation generators, plagiarism checkers, and many other options.
Therefore, Essay Lab, as the only feature related to academic writing on this platform, cannot bring you real value, which is sad.
Shmoop Payment Methods
The agency permits debit and credit card transactions. PayPal and other e-wallets are not available. This limits your financial opportunities.
Are your payments safe? The agency processes transactions via the Stripe payment system. Your funds are secure this way. Stripe applies 256-byte encryption, which is pretty enough to get rid of any worries.
Shmoop Pricing Policy
The company offers students and teachers several subscription plans:
- Monthly for $14.99
- Yearly for $150 (in one billing)
- Monthly College Plus for $87.68
- Annual tutor package (+10 student invitations) for $300 (in a single payment)
With these plans, you get access to all the study materials on the platform. The College Plus plan allows you to get access to more than 50 exclusive accredited courses on various subjects. And since the materials are certified, you can deliver Shmoop credits to more than 2,000 universities and colleges in the US.
Shmoop Delivery and Deadlines
The agency does not provide deliverable options. The customers get access to all the materials instantly. Also, since Shmoop does not feature academic essays, no deadlines apply to any services.
Shmoop Refund Policy
There is no refund section in terms of use. It is because Shmoop does not provide compensation. Once you make a payment, you fully use all the services.
If you cancel your subscription before the end of the trial period, no funds will be transferred to Shmoop. After the 24-hour trial, you will be charged according to your membership plan. In any other case, no compensation is available.
Shmoop Customer Service
The agency does not offer reliable assistance to its customers. Once you get to your account, you can use the support chat window. But no real person will be contacting you. Instead, you will be dealing with the Shmoop bot.
It only refers to the FAQ page which may not be helpful in every possible situation. As a rule, users cannot solve their issues while addressing FAQ only.
Alternatively, you can contact the real support staff via email. It can take up to a business day to receive a response. Obviously, it will not allow you to solve urgent issues or get the necessary information quickly.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Shmoop
Advantages:
- Accredited study materials
- Extensive range of services from literature summaries to chemistry classes
- Secure payments
Disadvantages:
- No dedicated essay writing services
- Paid registration
- No refunds
- The average quality of study materials
- Limited Essay Lab functionality
The Сonclusion to Shmoop Review
Although this service can be helpful for homeschooling and online learning, we cannot recommend it to you. If you need someone to make an urgent essay for you, this agency is a waste of time. Shmoop essay-related tips and resources are too generic, and you can find the same info on the web for free much faster. So, it is better to find a dedicated paper writing company. This way, you will get professional help with your writing without hustle.
FAQ
What is Shmoop?
Shmoop is an e-learning agency providing school and college students with study materials.
Is Shmoop Legit?
The company is legit. It is legally registered. More than that, it offers accredited online courses.
How much does Shmoop Cost?
The prices start at $150 per year, which is $12.5 per month.
Is Shmoop Scam?
The company is reliable. We did not find scam records related to this company.
Is Shmoop Safe?
The agency conducts payments via Stripe system that ensures the highest level of digital security.
Are Shmoop Materials Well-made?
Some of the learning resources, like courses, are well-structured and informative. Other materials, such as free learning guides and essay-related services, cannot satisfy your educational needs.
Are there Shmoop Discounts?
Unfortunately, the company features no discounts.
Chief Editor
William Hill
William has been working in the essay writing industry for the last decade, helping high school and college students to find perfect writing companies that meet their needs. He is fond of content creation, web writing, and everything linked to digital marketing.
