Is against AMCAS policy for MD applicants to use paid consulting services for apps?

[alphacat92]

I am wondering if it is against any rules if applicants use a paid consulting service to have people proofread and edit their medical school applications and provide them with advice and whatnot as they apply? It may be a nice way to earn some extra cash and help people with their applications...

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[Doctor Strange]

No, how would they even know?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using SDN mobile

 

[Catalystik]

I am wondering if it is against any rules if applicants use a paid consulting service to have people proofread and edit their medical school applications and provide them with advice and whatnot as they apply? It may be a nice way to earn some extra cash and help people with their applications...

Every applicant is required to Certify the following statement:

□ I certify that all written passages, such as the personal statement, essays required from MD-PhD applicants, and descriptions of work/activities, are my own and have not been written, in part or in whole, by a third party. Quotations are permitted if the source is cited.

 

[alphacat92]

Every applicant is required to Certify the following statement:

□ I certify that all written passages, such as the personal statement, essays required from MD-PhD applicants, and descriptions of work/activities, are my own and have not been written, in part or in whole, by a third party. Quotations are permitted if the source is cited.

That's interesting...how would edits fall under that? We've all had people edit our essays and advise us on revisions and changes. Surely that's different than having someone write our essays for us?

 

[Catalystik]

I agree that correcting punctuation, a homophone error, or pointing out that one shouldn't use the same descriptor three sentences in a row wouldn't constitute inappropriate input. But, when one is editing an essay and it's truly awful, it's very, very difficult to make suggestions/correct the matter without major rewriting, rearranging, and ideas for different subject matter or inclusions.

 

[Catalystik]

I think it's extremely difficult to get caught.

It won't end well for an applicant that has a sterling PS, but other Primary, and/or Secondary essays written in a completely different style.

 

[alphacat92]

I agree that correcting punctuation, a homophone error, or pointing out that one shouldn't use the same descriptor three sentences in a row wouldn't constitute inappropriate input. But, when one is editing an essay and it's truly awful, it's very, very difficult to make suggestions/correct the matter without major rewriting, rearranging, and ideas for different subject matter or inclusions.

That's a very good point. It may make it much harder to comply with the rule at that point, so it raises some ethical issues.

 

[alphacat92]

its perfectly legal and widespread. kaplan, TPR, and many other companies do so. Certainly there are hundreds of individuals who do so from AMCAS thru secondaries and intetviews. the question of what constitutes appropriate editing is impossible to judge or discover.

However as someone who has done both private and school advising, the vast majority of applicants dont need it. At most an initial consultation in guidance and perhaps a review of PS, both of which which you can find free here. I turn away the vast majority of people who request my services as all they need was 15 minutes of guidance and sent to SDN , OPM or MSHQ (shameless plug). I think the only ones where most paid services might make some sense are busy nontrads who have schools, lives, families and just are too tight on time. Even then just an hour or two.

I've gotten to this point in my career that an atypical nontrad or vet will get my help pro bono as their unusual stories need help

Thanks for your insight! When you did private advising, how much would you actually help students with their essays?
I agree that these services aren't really necessary except for nontrads who may need help getting started--is that where most of your work was focused? I found that the hardest part for me was just getting started and focusing my ideas,

 

[alphacat92]

That makes sense, and it certainly sounds more helpful than simply editing someone's drafts! Thanks for the tips!