Anyone Interested in Peer-Editing Personal Statements?

[PanRoasted]

DISCLAIMER: Yes, I have been to the personal statement reader thread. Yes, I have used it and it has been helpful, but not as helpful as I would have hoped. No, this is not the same thing.

You are willingly putting your intellectual property at risk any time you share it with a stranger over the internet.

How it would work is you can post in this thread if you're interested in reading someone else's personal statement and are in the process of writing your own, and then we can all pair off and discuss each other's personal statements. The best way, I've found, is uploading your stuff onto a google doc and allowing both parties to edit the document. There's a chat window on the side where you can instant message each other (you can also do video chat, I think?). I'm thinking 10 minutes spent with both people reading the other person's statement, then 25 minutes talking about one person's statement, 25 minutes talking about the other person's statement. The specifics don't really matter, though, as long as you're both editing/reading/commenting at the same time.

I think it's a much more effective way to get your PS looked at in many ways. First of all, both parties have something to gain. You also get immediate feedback on your stuff. I can't tell you how many times I've sent something to someone, and by the time they've read it and given me feed back I've already rewritten the whole damn thing. Thirdly, and this is coming from working at a writing center, there's been a lot of literature written on the effectiveness of "synchronous" and "asynchronous" writing tutoring, where synchronous would be what I am suggesting, and asynchronous would be what is currently being done in the PS reader's thread. It overwhelmingly states that synchronous tutoring is more effective and produces a better outcome for the writer.

Again, this is NOT for people who want to just trade personal statements to be read at a later date and commented on. This is for people who want to have a live, 1:1 peer-editing session with another human being writing on the same topic as you.

Also, if it wasn't obvious, I am interested in participating myself.

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[Lya]

Can someone who submitted his primary already but doesn't mind reading a few PS here and there join in too? Maybe as a third person who can give extra comments?

 

[PanRoasted]

I think that'd be great 🙂. The only thing is that you would have to also conform to the "live editing" rule, so as to distinguish ourselves from the PS Reader thread.

 

[MedGrl@2022]

DISCLAIMER: Yes, I have been to the personal statement reader thread. Yes, I have used it and it has been helpful, but not as helpful as I would have hoped. No, this is not the same thing.

How it would work is you can post in this thread if you're interested in reading someone else's personal statement and are in the process of writing your own, and then we can all pair off and discuss each other's personal statements. The best way, I've found, is uploading your stuff onto a google doc and allowing both parties to edit the document. There's a chat window on the side where you can instant message each other (you can also do video chat, I think?). I'm thinking 10 minutes spent with both people reading the other person's statement, then 25 minutes talking about one person's statement, 25 minutes talking about the other person's statement. The specifics don't really matter, though, as long as you're both editing/reading/commenting at the same time.

I think it's a much more effective way to get your PS looked at in many ways. First of all, both parties have something to gain. You also get immediate feedback on your stuff. I can't tell you how many times I've sent something to someone, and by the time they've read it and given me feed back I've already rewritten the whole damn thing. Thirdly, and this is coming from working at a writing center, there's been a lot of literature written on the effectiveness of "synchronous" and "asynchronous" writing tutoring, where synchronous would be what I am suggesting, and asynchronous would be what is currently being done in the PS reader's thread. It overwhelmingly states that synchronous tutoring is more effective and produces a better outcome for the writer.

Again, this is NOT for people who want to just trade personal statements to be read at a later date and commented on. This is for people who want to have a live, 1:1 peer-editing session with another human being writing on the same topic as you.

Also, if it wasn't obvious, I am interested in participating myself.

I would like this too... I am thinking of incorporating some new ideas into my personal statement or meaningful essays about how I have grown and how I am a better candidate for medical school now... I just don't know how to do it without destroying my essays that I have worked so hard on

 

[MedGrl@2022]

I think that'd be great 🙂. The only thing is that you would have to also conform to the "live editing" rule, so as to distinguish ourselves from the PS Reader thread.

Can you rename the thread? PM me and we can swap e-mails and set up a time.

 

[MadRadLad]

I've already submitted mine but I wouldn't mind editing a couple through the Google Docs chat and stuff. No guarantees on time commitments but PM me the Google Docs link if you're interested and i'll see if I have a little bit of extra time to do it.

 

[BABSstudent]

Sounds like a good way to get your PS stolen.

The reason why the other reader thread works is that we are medical students or accepted students and won't be submitting an application. This could cause parts or your entire PS to get ripped off in someone else's.

 

[MedGrl@2022]

Sounds like a good way to get your PS stolen.

The reason why the other reader thread works is that we are medical students or accepted students and won't be submitting an application. This could cause parts or your entire PS to get ripped off in someone else's.

I don't understand how it would be useful to steal someone else's PS... I mean you might be a great liar... but you need the application and interview to match what the PS says...

 

[BABSstudent]

I don't understand how it would be useful to steal someone else's PS... I mean you might be a great liar... but you need the application and interview to match what the PS says...

True, but some people will do whatever they believe it takes to get to medical school. I have seen two people get parts of their personal statements stolen and had to rewrite those sections. Granted, that was out if 15 people so the odds are small, but I have seen it happen.

 

[Jepstein30]

I don't understand how it would be useful to steal someone else's PS... I mean you might be a great liar... but you need the application and interview to match what the PS says...

If some idiot decides to steal your PS, you both go down in flames.

It's a good idea but I would be very careful with who you share your PS with.. that's why the PS reader thread is a much better/safer idea (not to mention, they know what a good PS looks like considering they wrote a successful one).

 

[Strawberry7]

Seems too risky. Why not swap with close friend also applying this cycle? Edit hard copies for each others PS to avoid copy/pasting and such.

 

[PanRoasted]

True, but some people will do whatever they believe it takes to get to medical school. I have seen two people get parts of their personal statements stolen and had to rewrite those sections. Granted, that was out if 15 people so the odds are small, but I have seen it happen.

A.) how did they even know parts of their personal statements were stolen, B.) ANYONE can volunteer themselves in the personal statement reader thread (it's self regulated), so it's no different from this thread, C.) if you're really fiending for some personal statements to steal, they are all over the internet. No reason to steal my crappy PS.

I also think it doesn't really matter whether it's a fellow applicant reading your PS or a first year med student or whatever. I've gotten completely different feedback across the board from current medical students + matriculants (including those from the PS Reader thread), so it proves that there is no truly "correct" way to go about the PS. The most important thing I think us applicants can offer each other is feedback on how the statement reads, and whether it appears to be something that reveals why you want to go into medicine/why medical school should accept you.

 

[Narmerguy]

Can you rename the thread? PM me and we can swap e-mails and set up a time.

Seems like a good suggestion. A lot of people will be more interested if the difference in this idea was made clear. 👍

 

[BABSstudent]

A.) how did they even know parts of their personal statements were stolen, B.) ANYONE can volunteer themselves in the personal statement reader thread (it's self regulated), so it's no different from this thread, C.) if you're really fiending for some personal statements to steal, they are all over the internet. No reason to steal my crappy PS.

I also think it doesn't really matter whether it's a fellow applicant reading your PS or a first year med student or whatever. I've gotten completely different feedback across the board from current medical students + matriculants (including those from the PS Reader thread), so it proves that there is no truly "correct" way to go about the PS. The most important thing I think us applicants can offer each other is feedback on how the statement reads, and whether it appears to be something that reveals why you want to go into medicine/why medical school should accept you.

Calm down there! I just wanted to warn people about the dangers of sharing their PS with strangers on the Internet. I wasn't personally attacking you.

 

[mmmmd]

Yes please. I am down to work 1-on-1 with someone, or even get a small group together and we can go through each participant's statement collectively. I am hoping to submit by next weekend, and I have evenings free this week.

Request access here and then send me a PM if you are interested (include your email address and link to your PS google-doc in the PM).

Cheers! 😛

 

[PanRoasted]

Calm down there! I just wanted to warn people about the dangers of sharing their PS with strangers on the Internet. I wasn't personally attacking you.

Hmm... I didn't think any of what I said was particularly aggressive, so I'm sorry if I came off that way. I think we all understand that in any situation where you share your intellectual property with someone on the internet, you have put it at risk for being stolen.

I have changed the thread title, hopefully it generates a little more interest!

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

I believe it was Jesus who said, "Trust but verify." There's really no way to verify who is on the other end of the editing session. I think it is safer to stick with a writing center or trusted friends, relatives, etc.

 

[PanRoasted]

I believe it was Jesus who said, "Trust but verify." There's really no way to verify who is on the other end of the editing session. I think it is safer to stick with a writing center or trusted friends, relatives, etc.

In order to stem any more comments like this, I will put a disclaimer in the first post stating that you are putting your stuff at risk by sharing it with a stranger on the internet. The horse died a while ago, folks.

 

[MedGrl@2022]

I believe it was Jesus who said, "Trust but verify." There's really no way to verify who is on the other end of the editing session. I think it is safer to stick with a writing center or trusted friends, relatives, etc.

Yeah if you have access to those...

 

[PanRoasted]

Apparently, I only changed the title of my first post. Would a mod be able to change the title of this thread to "Personal Statement Peer-Edit Thread" or would someone direct me in how to change it myself? Thanks!

 

[Mr Avante]

So you trust strangers in the interwebz (Current applicants that want to get into med school as bad as you) to review your uniquely personalized statement that will define your immediate future but not your professors/family members/church members/writing department/UG classmates?

I pass.👎

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

So you trust strangers in the interwebz (Current applicants that want to get into med school as bad as you) to review your uniquely personalized statement that will define your immediate future but not your professors/family members/church members/writing department/UG classmates?

I pass.👎

Did not get the disclaimer up fast enough...

 

[PanRoasted]

Did not get the disclaimer up fast enough...

Oh, it was up. Reading comprehension is tough for some, I'm afraid.

🙄

 

[mmmmd]

These are valid concerns, but you can trust me, but don't feel compelled to if you don't want to, good luck.

 

[Lollygag]

If some idiot decides to steal your PS, you both go down in flames.

It's a good idea but I would be very careful with who you share your PS with.. that's why the PS reader thread is a much better/safer idea (not to mention, they know what a good PS looks like considering they wrote a successful one).

👍 completely agree. It's an awesome idea but if some loser really does steal your personal statement then you are both screwed 🙁 I mean yess it's unlikely that someone would actually steal your PS, but I think it's very easy to seek out the help of professors, your school writing center and friends. So it just seems a bit unnecessary to take that risk but that's just me.

 

[PanRoasted]

Had a really productive session with mmmmd this afternoon, so I'd really suggest people give it a try!

Please stop posting about the risk of getting your PS stolen and how sucky it would be if it happened to you. It's common sense and I posted a disclaimer in the OP. This thread is for people who want to participate, please do not post if you do not wish to participate.

 

[MedGrl@2022]

These are valid concerns, but you can trust me, but don't feel compelled to if you don't want to, good luck.

Hey mmmd, I am writing a personal statement for my pre-medical committee so they can give me an interview so they can write a committee letter for the medical schools. Are you still interested in doing some live editing?

 

[mmmmd]

Hey mmmd, I am writing a personal statement for my pre-medical committee so they can give me an interview so they can write a committee letter for the medical schools. Are you still interested in doing some live editing?

not sure if jealous of your having a pre-med committee, or thankful that i have none

at any rate, pm'd you 👍

 

[MedGrl@2022]

not sure if jealous of your having a pre-med committee, or thankful that i have none

at any rate, pm'd you 👍

I re-wrote a paragraph in my personal statement and now I need help. Anyone up for some live peer editing? PM me!!!