Writing Personal Statement

[Wiltingflowers]

DC just let drop that, within his year, a good quarter of students got (ie. purchased) professional help in writing their Personal Statement! That help ranged from proofreading - all the way up to hiring someone to write the whole thing for them from scratch on the basis of answering a questionnaire. None of those who did it had their statements flagged by UCAS - which is what he/I would have been terrified of - and all proceeded to uni.

DD in Year 12 is applying this autumn and has started thinking about her PS. Her friends in the year above advised going on Fiverr as they had done and finding a writer - only costs about £60 apparently and loads of them did it (and all are now receiving offers).

what are your thoughts?

Shocking but not surprising. My DC did their own 7 and 9 years ago. I partially attribute DS's success in getting into Cambridge to study english to the fact he wrote his own PS. It was authentically his, in his own voice and with his own ideas. He went totally off piste (IMO which turned out to be wrong) and analysed his love of Gerry Pratchett's world-building.
I honestly don't think it would have occurred to many DC at their school to have paid - and nor would parents have forked out!

Really? I didn't think most unis even cared, many don't even read them. Ds1 went to a lot of trouble for his. I read it, Dh, my mum. He adjusted a few words. Submitted. Why make such a drama out of it.

Oxbridge make something of them. Interview questions are often based on PS content.

I work for a London uni. Not in admissions. The admissions team can spot a professionally written one a Mile off.

It's a tricky area isn't it. My gut feeling is that paying for it to be professionally written is completely wrong. But then I was hugely involved in DS's personal statement. He wrote a rough draft and I edited it. And although I'm not a professional writer, I am educated, so I guess it almost amounts to the same thing.
The UCAS form has other boxes to tick, like free school meals, being a young career, being from a low income family (I think), so I assume these factors are taken into consideration.
I think the group that would be most disadvantaged would be the ones whose parents were not educated enough to help with the PS, but earned enough to not put them in any of the deprivation categories.

@Sarahcoggles
Why could your Dc not write it themselves? No parent needs to help a Dc that’s bright enough for university to write a few hundred words surely? If they cannot do that it’s a very poor reflection on their education and ability. Poor, with under educated parents or even uncaring ones doesn’t mean they cannot write a ps. As I said, I didn’t even see DD1s PS. She got into Oxford too. Also I know other DDs PS was read as it accompanied her portfolio and it was mentioned in interviews. Some PSs are a tie breaker too.

English admissions at Cambridge love quirky PS references. Even Terry Pratchett.

@TizerorFizz your children are obviously exceptionally clever. There are plenty of kids who are capable of A levels and a degree, but can't write a personal statement as well as one written by a professional writer, or an educated parent. So they are disadvantaged when they're up against those with that extra help.

My DS is bright but like many teens, he's a bit slack with punctuation and syntax, repeating words, and omitting relevant details. I helped him out with ideas and smartened up the wording.

I'm afraid with your super clever Oxbridge kids you're slightly deluded about the abilities of others.

Depends on subject. DS was applying for English. It would have been a bit poor if he'd needed help! Particularly since his sights were set so high. Nothing wrong with him having shown me what he'd done, mind. I am interested! But a good thing he ignored my scepticism of his talking shout Terry Pratchett!

My DD2 did an art based degree. Not academically clever. If Dc cannot write a few paras on why they are suited to a particular course I think it’s a very poor reflection on them and the quality of our education and grads. My DH is fed up with correcting grammar and spelling in technical reports written by grads in his organisation. Some are documents for expert witness work. No one will think you are an expert at anything with poor written English. They have a degree but they are poor at English and no one cared enough to say they needed to improve. Mum helped them out presumably. No doubt others wrote their cv for them. Why do we accept that being unable to spell, punctuate or even write decent sentences is ok for young people and grads? It’s not.

I think one reason why 6th formers get assistance from parents when writing their personal statements is that the majority of examples available online are written so professionally, using vocabulary and constructs that are alien to a lot of 17/18 year old's.

Consequently, they believe that this is the standard they have to aspire to and, given that applying to UCAS is generally a one-time event, they ask for assistance.

For a lot of them, it's also their first experience of completing an application form of any seriousness and therefore, if done collaboratively with a parent, is a learning opportunity, e.g. things not/never to include in an application form.

I suspect I'll also help my DS with his first cover letter for a Graduate Job (as will many other parents no doubt) and hopefully endow him with the various characteristics and criteria that graduate recruiters wish to see/not see.

However, it won't be written for him and once he's done one, I'll expect him to do others himself.

Ii think it all depends too what help the students get from their school. our kids had none, apart from reminders to get it done. i do know of schools where there is so much help and guidance that the finished products bear little resemblance to the starting point!
But yes, in essence they should be doing it themselves. And I'm glad the PS is disappearing.

All universities are different. Some will read PS, many won't, just basing offers on grades. Some will read a PS only for borderline students. Some academics are keen and may insist on reading them, others are completely centralised.. Processing may well be manual. Delays may be due to staffing levels in Admissions or other scenarios, and you shouldn'tworry about this. A few may wait till the deadline, then process all applications at once. Most PSs seem over the top, everyone is a headboy, captain of the football team, volunteered iin Africa etc. To summarise, it is very unpredictable, so best to write a decent authentic statement with no errors, and definitely not going OTT.

I used to do admissions for a RG university. we didn't read the PS in 95% of cases. offers were based on grades & the rest of the form.

we only read the PS for widening participation / medical issues / unusual circumstances. For example, a PS saying "I got poor grades in some GSCEs because I was in hospital ... " and it was useful to have that info.

Otherwise, don't stress over them. it really doesn't matter.

Perhaps I'm mistaken but I'm sure you post on a very regular basis about your DD's time at Bristol, not Oxford?

@Silverribbons
I do. Because that’s where she went. She was offered a place at Oxford too but had a (relative) disaster in an A level. Both DDs wrote their own PSs though and could answer questions on them if asked. I have also written about DD1 in the “Oxford reject” threads. Although she wasn’t rejected initially in effect she was on results day. The main thing is I don’t believe it’s made any difference to her career, she’s been happy and she’s achieved everything herself.

Most PSs seem over the top, everyone is a headboy, captain of the football team, volunteered iin Africa etc. To summarise, it is very unpredictable, so best to write a decent authentic statement with no errors, and definitely not going OTT.

I had one who exaggerated his role so much I nearly had to trigger a safeguarding investigation because he claimed to have taken on roles he could not have done legally as an under-18.

I've yet to come across an applicant who has done the Duke of Edinburgh gold award without being the expedition leader.

@NoNotHimTheOtherOne You are proving you read them though. I don’t think most 17 year olds, left to their own devices, big themselves up like that. That type of over embellished PS is almost certainly down to adult intervention.

@TizerorFizz perhaps I'm mistaken but I thought you posted on a regular basis about your DDs attending private boarding schools. It is usual for such schools to give guidance and support with personal statements. After all their calling card is to a great extent their destinations list. In a broader context, do you really believe that her school experience really didn't confer any advantage at all along the way?

They really, really don’t need to outsource. They can be tricky to start, but they all get there in the end. In terms of school, I think they need to actually be proactive and ask for guidance if it’s not routinely offered.

@TwisterTimeAgain
Goodness me. They had advice on length of ps. What it should and shouldn’t have in it. Relatives in state schools had identical advice and wrote their own too. It really is something Dc can do because it doesn’t have to be a great literary tome. Just accurate English saying why you want the course with evidence to support what you say.

I think dd would have done well anywhere. The “advantage” she has is enthusiasm and reasonable intelligence. She has way more drive to succeed than many of her old school friends. DD went to state primary schools and never did a word of MFL until secondary school. The advantage of a private school can be over stated. But: she’s done it all herself. No hovering from us. She’s organised snd competent. DH and me don’t know any MFL. We didn’t know anyone to help her in her career. Lots of her work friends are state educated and Oxbridge. They are amazing young people too and you cannot split them on the basis of schools.

I'm sure your DD has lots of qualities @TizerorFizz but I imagine that like my DC she had lots of 'help'. I would say that I have never hovered either but that doesn't mean that my DC haven't had lots of help along the way. Yes they wrote their own personal statements but so what. They have had help from the stable,educated and financially secure family they were born into, where they lived, the books we read with them from an early age, the nutritious food they always received, the friends they made, the friends we have, the schools they went to, their teachers' interest in their education and wellbeing, our interest in their education and wellbeing. Where do I stop? Yes they are successful but the odds were massively stacked in their favour. If a DC from a very different background and a school at the opposite end of the spectrum gets a bit of help by having someone writing their personal statements, I really can't get on my moral high horse about it. In any case most admissions reps take them with a very large pinch of salt.

You have characterized all poorer/disadvantaged Dc as being incapable. They are not.

I totally get this @Skiingnut. DD's state school is very poor too (requires improvement). I think I will end up paying for a writer to look at her first draft.

@TwisterTimeAgain Thanks for your post - I agree with every single word.

All of my DC’s personal statements were entirely their own work