Is it ever worth it to pay for a Personal Statement revision?

[miss chievous]

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The university I graduated from 2 years ago is charging me a "$100 alumni fee" to have my personal statement checked for this current cycle. Is it worth it to pay, or to pay for any kind of service for that matter? Has anyone had success with any of them?

 

[wonderdog]

Sounds alot like extortion...$100 really?

 

[miss chievous]

Sounds alot like extortion...$100 really?

Dude, right? They justified it by telling me they'll be explaining the application process and will answer any questions I may have. Well that's what TMDSAS/AMCAS contact numbers are for! But anyway, do you not think it's worth it? They said I get two meetings - 1 for "brainstorming" and 1 for the revision. Well I already wrote mine so the brainstorming would be kind of useless....

Edit - I'm guessing you don't think any other online service would be worth it, either? lol @ Dr. Finkel from Harvard charging $950 for your personal statement. Absolutely ridiculous (Here's the link if you're curious - http://www.insidermedicaladmissions.com/applicants/medical-school-admissions/editing-services/)

 

[benzonase]

At my school the service was free to current students (I was alum so 60$ fee) so I had a friend that was still a student just put his name on it and he turned it in.

Saved 60$ and was REALLY worth it. Helps to have a pro look over your stuff.

 

[mimelim]

Sounds alot like extortion...$100 really?

That really doesn't sound like a lot. They are providing a service. It is a role that can be filled by family, friends, employers, professors etc. If you don't have that kind of support structure and/or contacts that you trust to walk you through this process and go over your things, then you either go at it on your own or pay someone to help you. Considering what is at stake $100 is not a ton of money considering the time and money invested in every other facet of this process.

 

[miss chievous]

That really doesn't sound like a lot. They are providing a service. It is a role that can be filled by family, friends, employers, professors etc. If you don't have that kind of support structure and/or contacts that you trust to walk you through this process and go over your things, then you either go at it on your own or pay someone to help you. Considering what is at stake $100 is not a ton of money considering the time and money invested in every other facet of this process.

Another university near my home town has a $50 charge for any pre-med (even if they're not associated with the university). I feel like Health Professions offices from different universities aren't all equal...and I'm not sure which one to actually go to, you know?

 

[mimelim]

Another university near my home town has a $50 charge for any pre-med (even if they're not associated with the university). I feel like Health Professions offices from different universities aren't all equal...and I'm not sure which one to actually go to, you know?

You have to ask people for feedback about those specific services or simply be prepared to go with another service later on if they turn out to be crap. Or you can hook up with someone on SDN or whatever. I've read a couple personal statements from people on here and given feedback. There is even a formalized thread for this (almost every year?).

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

The university I graduated from 2 years ago is charging me a "$100 alumni fee" to have my personal statement checked for this current cycle. Is it worth it to pay, or to pay for any kind of service for that matter? Has anyone had success with any of them?

I don't think it's ever worth $100.

 

[miss chievous]

You have to ask people for feedback about those specific services or simply be prepared to go with another service later on if they turn out to be crap. Or you can hook up with someone on SDN or whatever. I've read a couple personal statements from people on here and given feedback. There is even a formalized thread for this (almost every year?).

That was my first choice, actually. I messaged everyone on the list about a week ago and have only heard back from one person (most are med students, so I don't blame them). I wasn't a pre-med in undergrad, so I don't have many pre-med friends that I can get it checked from. I guess the school's service will be good enough, though.

I don't think it's ever worth $100.

I know...especially for an essay that's ONE page long! 🙁

 

[rudziutki]

I would gladly pay $100 if I could be guaranteed a high quality edit. Unfortunately, a lot of these professional services receive a lot of negative feedback, so it feels like a guessing game choosing the correct one.

 

[miss chievous]

I would gladly pay $100 if I could be guaranteed a high quality edit. Unfortunately, a lot of these professional services receive a lot of negative feedback, so it feels like a guessing game choosing the correct one.

I completely agree. That's what I was saying earlier - the doctor that charges $950 obviously has amazing credentials, but I just don't think it's worth it to pay more than 100. I could pay my university that much, but like you said, they often receive a ton of negative feedback

 

[mimelim]

I completely agree. That's what I was saying earlier - the doctor that charges $950 obviously has amazing credentials, but I just don't think it's worth it to pay more than 100. I could pay my university that much, but like you said, they often receive a ton of negative feedback

I got two PS by PM after I made my last post in this thread. That was rather unintentional, but since I replied to them, might as well try to help out 😛. PM me your PS and I'll try to give you some basic feedback. I'm not going to edit/revise, takes too much time and not something I am very good at. But, I've read a couple hundred medical student PS as part of an admissions committee, so I can probably give you some pointers prior to whatever you end up doing with it.

I'd look for family/friends/colleagues from work who can read it over. If not, then bite the bullet and go with your old school.

Edit: Okay, I got another PS from someone else and another PM from another asking if I'll read theirs. This is obviously something that needs to be done again, but I'm not going to read anymore, at least not today. Don't have that much time!

 

[miss chievous]

I got two PS by PM after I made my last post in this thread. That was rather unintentional, but since I replied to them, might as well try to help out 😛. PM me your PS and I'll try to give you some basic feedback. I'm not going to edit/revise, takes too much time and not something I am very good at. But, I've read a couple hundred medical student PS as part of an admissions committee, so I can probably give you some pointers prior to whatever you end up doing with it.

I'd look for family/friends/colleagues from work who can read it over. If not, then bite the bullet and go with your old school.

Edit: Okay, I got another PS from someone else and another PM from another asking if I'll read theirs. This is obviously something that needs to be done again, but I'm not going to read anymore, at least not today. Don't have that much time!

Haha oops, I just sent you mine after reading this, sorry! This is what you get for trying to be polite on an online forum!

Sorry to put you on the spot. If you don't want to be a volunteer reader, you may want to edit your previous post, or you'll probably keep getting more and more messages.

 

[mimelim]

Haha oops, I just sent you mine after reading this, sorry! This is what you get for trying to be polite on an online forum!

Sorry to put you on the spot. If you don't want to be a volunteer reader, you may want to edit your previous post, or you'll probably keep getting more and more messages.

I like reading personal statements. I find it enjoyable and helps me keep up with what others are up to. At the same time, I also found that my writing started to dramatically improve when I started collaborating with others and reading/editing other people's work. Hopefully someone can setup another PS readers list.

 

[dudewheresmymd]

Wow my university offers free PS consultations and I didn't even take advantage of them.... but yeah, I wouldn't do it. Just have a friend, your parents (will be biased), 1-2 med students, and perhaps a physician or PI read it and should be good to go. Advice of (2-3) non med people combined with advice from (2-3) med field people > advice of career services/school office etc.

 

[SmallBlock]

In the grand scheme of things, an extra hundred bucks on top of all of your other application expenditures is pretty nominal, especially if it helps you to create the best package possible.

That said, its bogus that they charge you, on principle. The writing service employees are likely paid out of student tuition, which you already paid in full. Since so many school advising offices encourage the glide-year, this really just stinks.

 

[lovemango]

That sounds like money that could be put to better use for something else, like secondary fees. I had two people look over my PS - my boyfriend, who is not premed, and my friend who is an MSI. That way, I got feedback from 2 different perspectives: one who knows about medicine and what adcoms might be looking for, and one who could me their impression of the story I was trying to tell without being biased by a premed perspective.

 

[TexasSurgeon]

The university I graduated from 2 years ago is charging me a "$100 alumni fee" to have my personal statement checked for this current cycle. Is it worth it to pay, or to pay for any kind of service for that matter? Has anyone had success with any of them?

Lol what? Just wait on SDN. There is usually a thread made for people who can help with PS.

 

[jeffs office]

The university I graduated from 2 years ago is charging me a "$100 alumni fee" to have my personal statement checked for this current cycle. Is it worth it to pay, or to pay for any kind of service for that matter? Has anyone had success with any of them?

Pay me, and then I'll review your essay.....oh wait.... 🙁

 

[NuttyEngDude]

If you are short on time and have no one else to do it then you have no choice. But if you can plan far out in advance then it is not worth it. YMMV depending on who you're paying, of course.

 

[hmockingbird]

If you are short on time and have no one else to do it then you have no choice. But if you can plan far out in advance then it is not worth it. YMMV depending on who you're paying, of course.

Agree.

Otherwise if you have time, I'd recommend just finding friends/contacts to read it. I had one of my English profs read mine for the pure grammar/style edit, a friend who is not in medicine but knew the story I was going for to make sure I got that across, and then a friend who was an incoming MS1 at the time to get the more specialised perspective.

ETA: I forgot, I also had it read as part of my pre-med class, but that was totally worthless. All the advisor said was that I was a good writer which wasn't helpful in terms of editing my statement. I felt like he probably only had time to skim people's statements since there were so many of us. I mean, hopefully the paid service would take more time and that's just my school. The English professor on the other had, seemed almost excited that I asked her because I don't think many people did that (I was an English major) and took a lot of time with my statement.

 

[tantacles]

Here's the problem that I found with having someone read over your personal statement:

Pre-med advisers are incredibly valuable, but their credentials, in terms of reading personal statements, just aren't there. They are no more qualified to read personal statements than a layperson, with one caveat: They read personal statements all the time and can thus give you some idea of cliches and trends that show up in statements that you might want to avoid. I applied thrice, and my first personal statement received very little critique from my pre-med committee.

Frankly, the best way to achieve a good personal statement is to write something, revise it, send it off to someone else who can give you feedback, look at that feedback with a critical eye, and repeat. No one person can give you perfect feedback, and since myriad admissions officers with different backgrounds but similar careers will be reading your personal statement, it's a good idea to get as many people to give you feedback as you can on your personal statement. In addition, if you are able, get one of each of these types of people to read your final draft and make sure there isn't anything potentially unsettling in your statement:

1. Medical doctor or clinical researcher (these are featured prominently on admissions committees)
2. Basic scientist (these are also featured prominently on admissions committees)

Paying your school is simply not necessary.

 

[imnamerican]

Pre-med advisers are incredibly valuable, but their credentials, in terms of reading personal statements, just aren't there.

I agree with the second part of this statement. 😛 I've had some iffy experiences with pre-med advisers, although I'm sure some are great.

I would only pay someone else to give me a second opinion if they're a reputable source and have a good history of editing experience, and I was very picky about who would be able to see my PS. Otherwise, free feedback from friends/family would probably be just as valuable.

 

[miss chievous]

I decided to not go with the university that's charging 100 dollars. Thanks for all the advice guys 🙂

 

[skiing]

The university I graduated from 2 years ago is charging me a "$100 alumni fee" to have my personal statement checked for this current cycle. Is it worth it to pay, or to pay for any kind of service for that matter? Has anyone had success with any of them?

.

 

[freshbagels]

I wanted to have at least a decent starting point for the wonderful people to edit from here on SDN, so after my first few drafts were not hitting the chord I wanted them to, I found a PS editing service that was cheap and they were a big help. I would never, ever pay more than $100 - particularly not the $800 or whatever mededits charges - but places like StudyBypass (which is new and only like $20) gave good feedback. Just don't take their 'free PS evaluation' at face value - they're going to tell you it sucks so you're guilted into buying the editing service!

 

[yehhhboiii]

I wanted to have at least a decent starting point for the wonderful people to edit from here on SDN, so after my first few drafts were not hitting the chord I wanted them to, I found a PS editing service that was cheap and they were a big help. I would never, ever pay more than $100 - particularly not the $800 or whatever mededits charges - but places like StudyBypass (which is new and only like $20) gave good feedback. Just don't take their 'free PS evaluation' at face value - they're going to tell you it sucks so you're guilted into buying the editing service!

Well to be fair it probably did need work. I don't know anyone who didn't go through at least half a dozen drafts before submitting.

 

[freshbagels]

Well to be fair it probably did need work. I don't know anyone who didn't go through at least half a dozen drafts before submitting.

Of course! I went through more than a dozen significant iterations before I was happy with my statement. But for those in the early stages of writing, who can't quite seem to articulate the proper points, a paid edit service can be an excellent starting point.

 

[Member 815911]

I used this consulting service called "Admissions Mentor" for my personal essay and couple other services they offer and it was the best thing I have ever done! I really struggle with writing, but they helped me to guide my essay to best show my accomplishments and my personality to the admissions committee. My "mentor" from the site have worked on the admissions side of the application process and just knew certain things that the admissions committees look for in candidates that I hadn't thought of before. I don't think that my essay was necessarily bad, but after working with my mentor I really understood how to write my essay to show off my accomplishments effectively. Also I don't consider myself a great writer, but my "mentor" really helped to make my essay sound more polished. You can see from the site that both of the "mentors" are really qualified, successful doctors! I definitely think they were valuable to my success in my acceptance to medical schools. Anyways if you're interested, their website is http://www.admissionsmentor.com/

And right now it looks like they're having a special to edit your essays for only $25! I think the service is definitely worth it