About David Lombardino | DLA Editors — Editorial & Consulting
I’m David Lombardino, founder of DLA Editors & Proofers. Since 2008, I’ve worked one-on-one with authors, applicants, academics, and professionals on writing and communication where judgment, clarity, and outcomes matter.I collaborate with authors on books and screenplays, helping them strengthen structure, narrative focus, and voice.I work with applicants pursuing medical residency, fellowship, and other competitive programs on personal statements, interviews, and application strategy.And I help academics and professionals shape complex ideas into clear, effective writing.My approach is hands-on and collaborative, centered on careful analysis, specific feedback, and thoughtful decision-making.
David Lombardino | DLA Editors — Editorial & Consulting (dlaeditors.com) has 270 customer reviews on Five Star Index, with an average rating of 4.3 out of 5.
Also known as
dlaeditors.com
Website
dlaeditors.com
Category
Administration & Services
Listed on Five Star Index
2026
About these reviews
Replies
The company replied to 18% of reviews.
Latest
Most recent review: October 2026.
Edits
Reviews are shown as their authors wrote them. The company can reply, but cannot edit them.
Score
This company cannot pay to remove reviews or change its score.
I did not like that they did not completely rewrite my literature review for me. I will not be recommending this company.
Response from David Lombardino | DLA Editors — Editorial & ConsultingFeb 22, 2018
Thank you for expressing your concerns about the service we provided you. For academic projects we offer Proofreading, Editing and Editing & Feedback services only, and we aim to provide these services to the best of our abilities. We hold firmly to the limits of proofreading and editing, and do not extend these to include writing or rewriting, to avoid plagiarism, among other issues,
JS
Jack S.
Worse than before
I have used DLA Editors & Proffers now three times. I have come back because the work done on the first two occasions was good: timely, helpful, and with good service. This time, though, the document returned to me was worse than no help. 99% of the changes were changes to the formatting of the variables and technical sentences in the paper. Since the technical parts were formatted as I wanted them to be, I had to reject all of these changes, one by one, which took forever. I couldn't find the useful proofs since they were buried among the non-useful ones. The proofing of the rest of the document was also a tad bit inconsistent. I wished I had been asked whether I wanted the formatting to the variables in the document changed, since then I could have received a product that I could have used profitably. I don't think I will be using DLA a fourth time.
Response from David Lombardino | DLA Editors — Editorial & ConsultingMay 25, 2016
Thank you for this valuable feedback. Our approach for all academic documents is to italicize the variables, since this is what is required by the majority of institutions our clients work with. What we recommend to all of our clients is that if there are particular style conventions they are following, to mention them in the comments box of our submission form so we can make sure to follow them when proofreading or editing the document.
WK
Wai Ka C.
don't try for basic proofreading
Maybe I don’t fully understand what is the different between the Basic proofreading and complete Editing. To me, I’m bit disappointed that the basic editing (cost more than 240US) is only to add “the” or capitalization only. I find another one to help me to do the first twenty pages again and make a huge difference at all (you can take a look on the attached file).
So, would you mind to help me again for the remaining thirty pages (in the complete editing setting). I don’t mind to pay more but I just want to have my work edited in the proper way. This is only second chapter in my dissertation only. I want to find a reliable one to edit my whole project.
Wai-Ka Chan
Response from David Lombardino | DLA Editors — Editorial & ConsultingDec 9, 2015
Thank you, Wai-Ka, for sharing your experience. We are glad you mentioned it, since the question of what is covered under which service is one we have aimed to address by providing a clear description on our website but nonetheless still comes up with relative frequency. Will you let us know of any suggestion you have for improving the visibility of this information so we can implement a better solution?
Currently we have multiple ways to access the description of what is covered under which service. First is by clicking on SERVICES in the main menu. Next is that every mention of a specific service on our Pricing, Free Sample, Quick Quote Calculator and Document Submission Form pages is a link to a description of that service.
We strongly encourage all clients to review these service descriptions and to ask any questions about which service is most appropriate for what they are looking to accomlish before submitting a project. We are happy to answer any and all questions by phone, live chat or email, and endeavor to provide timely responses to all inquiries during our business hours.
MS
M . S.
proofread service was of no help.
No input is given as to the structure or content of the paper. Basically the free grammar check they provide is what basically you will receive for the lowest service charge they offer. Advice: have the paper completely done and then submit it in for lowest service they provide.
Response from David Lombardino | DLA Editors — Editorial & ConsultingSep 18, 2014
Thank you for your feedback. We have taken a look back at your project and found that you selected the PS Proofreading service, which includes proofreading and word choice only. It does not include advising changes to the content or in-depth editing, which is covered under PS Revision & Critique. You can see this described on our Expert Personal Statement Services page here: http://www.dlaeditors.com/personal_statements.html. If we can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to let us know.
SE
Sue E.
This is not worth the money, read below to find out why
So I sought ought these editors to review a personal statement for a fellowship program. My first editor made a lot of suggestions to make my personal statement "emotional and flowery." This editor thought that my initial personal statement, which discussed my research interests in detail, did not quite "cut it" for fellowship programs. I changed my personal statement around 180 degrees according to this editor's suggestions, which were honestly vague, and consisted mainly of saying, "show this, don't tell it." Yea, not helpful. I tried to incorporate this editor's changes and send it back for review, but this editor would NOT give me any other advice than the following, "you still have not incorporated a lot of my changes, but to get more specific feedback you will have to pay for a second edit." Stupidly, I paid for a second edit, and got a much better editor who was really able to work with me and give me helpful and very specific suggestions.
At the end, however, I was left with a very sappy personal statement, that almost read like an emotional novel. I had my research mentor look at it, who almost vomited because the statement was so flowery, like a beach novel. I agree with my mentor 100% when looking back on things. I went back to my original research-focused personal statement, doing basically everything that these editors had told me not to do. What was the result? I got 25 interviews, and many at top tier programs that I could not even imagine would consider me.
Moral of the story? While these editors may be excellent at English, remember one thing. They cannot see from the perspective of people in your own field. Remember, if you are a doctor, lawyer, engineer or other professional applying for a job or fellowship, remember that these editors cannot see from the eyes of other people in that profession.
The first editor ripped me off by saying I didn't incorporate enough of the initial suggestions, because I had actually done that (and the second editor agreed with me on this point).
I would advise you all, that, instead of using this service, go to your mentor or someone else in your field who actually knows what admissions committees are looking for, and ask them to edit your statement. I wasted several hundred dollars on this.
Response from David Lombardino | DLA Editors — Editorial & ConsultingSep 19, 2014
Thank you for expressing your concerns to us. We are certainly disappointed to hear of the experience you had with us but are also thrilled that you received so many invitations to interview. Ultimately that is what is important!
One of the improvements we have made recently is to adjust our personal statement services so that now they can be ordered with more than one round.
We are particularly concerned that you understood we wanted you to make your personal statement "emotional and flowery." We have many years of experience reviewing personal statements and know for certain that is not the way to achieve a successful one. We apologize for any misunderstanding there was about this.
With regard to our knowledge of your field, we have not only reviewed thousands of personal statements but also interviewed program directors and admission committee members in a variety of fields. We know from this experience what it takes to make a successful personal statement, and it is for this reason that clients following our advice are regularly accepted into the top programs in their fields. This includes fellowships in hematology oncology, for which you were applying. Every year our clients applying for this fellowship receive multiple interview offers.
We apologize again for any misunderstandings there may have been but are also happy to hear of your interviews. We wish you every success in securing a position!
PA
Pathology
does not worth the money
I choose the PS Revision & Critique services and the only thing I get is asking me to rewrite most of my statement with general advices and the rest of essay was barely edited you can't tell the difference from the draft. the editor was uncertain in some places "I do not know where it fits in, either before or after the research paragraph" ...who should know then?!!
I felt just that I wasted my money with them.
Response from David Lombardino | DLA Editors — Editorial & ConsultingSep 8, 2014
Thank you for sharing your review with us. We understand the challenges of writing a personal statement, as we have been guiding clients for over 10 years now. It is certainly not easy! In many cases clients send us personal statements in which they have already put a lot of effort, though also have more to go before arriving at a finished PS. With our PS Revision & Critique service, we first critique the PS to identify any content to be replaced or added (as noted on our website, we do not write new content for the PS), then we edit the rest of the content. While your PS had many good elements, the majority of the PS needed to be rewritten. In our review, we try as much as possible to provide specific and comprehensive advice on the content to be added. It can often happen that when substantial revisions are needed, we are unable to predict how exactly every piece will fit, since they are contingent on revisions that have yet to be made. For this reason, many clients elect to submit their personal statements for a follow-up review, to help ensure the final version before they include it in their applications.
NO
Notsogreat
Not great
Not as great as the hype- late returning edited paper by almost 2 days without any concession
Editions were minute but still a lot has to be done not to mention the formatting which is an extra charge
Response from David Lombardino | DLA Editors — Editorial & ConsultingSep 8, 2014
We have taken a look back at your project and believe there may have been some miscommunication. Our notes indicate that we returned the edited CV to you 2 hours after the original due date/time, per prior agreement with you. The CV was for the ERAS application and contained only the header information for the experiences, and not also the descriptions. There were few errors in the information provided. Though the CV still needed a lot to be done to it in terms of the descriptions being added, these were not provided to us for editing. There was therefore not more we could do than what we did in editing the CV. We would have been happy to format the CV but were not hired to do so.
BT
Bee.T
Not worth the money
I had great expectations for the services provided by DLA as a friend who had used it in the past had recommended it me. After submitting my personal statement for review and paying the $210 i got back edits that were surely rushed. The editor had looked over my PS a few hours before it was due and essentially deleted lines and changed around a few of the sentences structure. She recommended a few ideas but nothing concrete. I got better reviews and edits from my friends who had looked at it. Definitely not going to invest money with this company again.
Response from David Lombardino | DLA Editors — Editorial & ConsultingSep 1, 2014
We greatly appreciate your feedback, as it gives us a valuable opportunity to look for any ways to improve the experiences of our clients. We have taken a look back at the work we did on your personal statement and see that we provided both extensive edits and extensive feedback. Our editor in chief, David Lombardino, has reached out to you to address your concerns. Will you get in touch with us as soon as you get the chance so we can address these issues for you?
