House rules
Shamp works because people answer. Share what you know, ask what you do not, and say plainly when you are not sure. Everyone here started where somebody is now.
Some things here cost money and say so. A training, an event or a programme from a partner can have a fee, and it will be on the page with a named organisation behind it before you decide anything. What is never legitimate is being asked for money in private: a fee to process an application, to secure a place, to release a grant, or any payment sent to a person instead of an organisation. Scholarships and grants do not work that way. If someone asks you for money that way, it is a scam. Report it.
- 1
Nobody should ask you for money in private.
Some things here cost money and say so: a course fee, a ticket, a paid programme from an organisation you can look up. That is normal, and the price is on the page before you decide. What is never normal is somebody messaging you for a fee to "process", "secure" or "release" something, or asking you to pay a person rather than an organisation. Scholarships and grants do not work that way. Report it and we will remove it.
- 2
Add the official link.
An opportunity with a link to the official page can be checked. One without it cannot. Links to sites we do not know are shown as plain text until a moderator checks them.
- 3
Answer like someone once helped you.
The person asking whether IELTS is required is not lazy. They are new. Everyone here was new once, and Shamp only works because people answer.
- 4
Do not promise what you cannot deliver.
Saying you can get someone admission, a visa or a place is either a lie or a crime. Offering to read their essay is neither, and helps more.
- 5
One handle each.
Your level has to be earned. It means nothing if one person runs six accounts and agrees with themselves.
- 6
Argue with the point, not the person.
Everyone here is trying to do something hard. You can think someone is wrong about a programme without attacking them.
- 7
Do not post somebody else’s details.
Not their phone number, not their address, not their application. People who do not feel safe will not ask the question they came to ask.
- 8
Post it once.
The same opportunity posted in nine topics is not nine times more useful. It is why people stop reading.
- 9
If you got in, say so.
Someone applying this year wants to hear from the person who went through it. Marking yourself as an alum is the most useful thing you can do here.
- 10
Moderators can hold, hide and ban.
Usually we just hold. A held post is not deleted. You are told why it is waiting, and a person reads it.
What happens to what you post
- Most posts go up straight away.
- Anything that mentions a fee, a money offer or a phone number is held for a moderator, whoever posted it.
- A held post is saved and you are told why. It is not lost. Do not post it again.
- Your level counts only posts that stayed up, so posting a lot of junk gains you nothing.
In a Circle
- A Circle has its own rules, and they sit under these. A Circle can ask more of its members. It cannot allow what these rules forbid.
- A Circle is run by its owner and the admins and moderators they name. Their names are on its About tab. They can remove a post or reply from the Circle, close a post to replies, warn a member, pause their posting, or remove or ban them from that Circle. They give a reason, and it is recorded.
- Being removed from a Circle is not being removed from Shamp. If you think a decision was wrong, write to the people who run that Circle. If something there breaks these rules, report it to the Shamp team, who can act in any Circle.
- What is said in a Private or Secret Circle stays in it. Only its members can read it, and it cannot be reposted. The Shamp team can read it when it is reported, when our screening holds it, or when keeping Shamp safe needs it.
- The people who run a Circle cannot read your private messages, and nobody who runs a Circle is told who reported something.