personal statement editing services

[Rocco Reed]

Has anyone used any of these personal statement editing services like residencystatement.com? are they any good? is it worth shelling out the $150 for them to revamp your essay? any feedback would be appreciated.

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[MagnetoInTx]

Errr, I think you come dangerously close to academic dishonesty to have a professional service "revise" or "develop" your personal statement. I think the best thing to do is just have several people you know go over it. These are some of the people I had review my PS and give feedback: 1) two friends who are good at grammar, 2) a friend who is a current resident, 3) a practicing clinical faculty, 4) and most importantly, the program director of my home program.
They may not be as reliable as a professional service, but it's free and you don't run the risk of possibly being accused of unprofessional conduct.

 

[medicinesux]

completely unnecessary for applying to residency unless you are borderline illiterate.

 

[Tone2002]

Dude, it's not that serious.

 

[fidelity]

Don't underestimate your PS. I read that most program directors score your ERAS appl based on the following "33 Score Formula":


1. USMLE Score from Score 1---> 5
5 points for over 220 first attempt (for competitive specialitys-derm, rad)
4 points for over 200 first attempt
3 points for pass first attempt
2 points for pass 2nd attempt
1 points for pass over or 3 attempts

Step 1 = 1 to 5
Step 2CK = 1 to 5
Step 2CS = 1 to 3
MAX Score = 13 and MIN Score = 3

2. Years After Graduation: Score 1 to 5 (MD Diploma)
5 points for recent graduate
and every year after deduct a point, if 5 years or over after your MD it is 1 point
Max = 5 points, Min= 1 point


3. Letter of Recommendations & Rotations (LOR)
5 points = Strong LOR
3 Points = Average LOR
1 Point = LOR Not Rated


4. Dean's Letter and Medical School's Performance (Transcripts)
Most MD programs these days go with GPA or with Pass, Fail, High Pass, and Honors system
5 points: Strong Performance, Strong Dean's Letter
3 Points: Average performance / Dean's Letter
1 Point: Poor Performance / Passing


5. Personal Statement (PS)
Again, this is rated from 1 to 5
5 = Strong PS
3 = Average
1 = Poor

 

[Frugal Traveler]

I think friends and family are probably the best resources... and free!

A professional writer can only do so much with a marginal statement anyways.

Overall, I thought the PS was the hardest thing for ERAS... took me a good two months, several drafts, and some honest family members and friends.

Best wishes

Frugal Traveler

 

[tuflife]

I need to know a good PS editing or writing service , I am not a native english speaker so need help in this regard to be confident what I am writing.
Can anyone suggest any service that one has personally used. Thanks

 

[imgtointern]

You can try odesk.com. It's a website for all kinds of freelance services. You can post your requirements and how much you are willing to pay and professionals with varying degrees of experience will get in touch with you. You can check their profiles, ratings, etc. I haven't used it for personal statements so I don't know how it will go for you but this is a suggestion for you to try.

P.S. Just a piece of advice, don't let any service edit your statement so much that it starts sounding like someone else. It should still be your statement and other's should just help with errors, flow, readability etc. but the content should come from you.

 

[Hiliblaw]

I have used several, unfortunately I had to use several because I was not very happy with the first one. I think that the people who are saying that this is coming close to academic dishonesty really are not grasping the situation, but that is just my personal opinion about that.