My friend copied my personal statement.

BU Medical Sciences
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U Wot M8 said:
It really doesn't matter why the OP is pissed. I don't see how this is a thread. It should be common sense what to do

A) don't tell your friend and make a thread about it on an Internet forum
B) tell your friend how you feel
C) call 911 and tell the police
D) call up every med school in the US and tell them. that'll show him!


What do you think the right answer is?
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Is it really that unreasonable to make a thread about it for advice on how to best discuss it/approach it with his friend?

And obviously C.
 
Well, I'll be damned. So circulus vitios is a premed? I thought he was a med student because he regularly posts in the allopathic forum.
 
CityLights said:
Is it really that unreasonable to make a thread about it for advice on how to best discuss it/approach it with his friend?

And obviously C.
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Hehehe



And I guess...


I would just text him "hey man nice PS. I noticed that some portions are pretty similar to mine, do you mind putting those statements in your own worlds? Thanks brah"
 
Chemdude said:
Well, I'll be damned. So circulus vitios is a premed? I thought he was a med student because he regularly posts in the allopathic forum.
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He probably posts there because every thread in pre-allo has been created ten million times before and is therefore "bad."


















Actually that's pretty much true.
 
sinombre said:
He probably posts there because every thread in pre-allo has been asked ten million times before and is therefore "bad."

Actually that's pretty much true.
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I like reading allopathic because people are more down to earth and realistic, although there are a few wild and hilarious exceptions like the clown who started "doctors' muted income" thread.
 
sinombre said:
He probably posts there because every thread in pre-allo has been asked ten million times before and is therefore "bad."


















Actually that's pretty much true.
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Yeah I'm getting tired of pre allo as well.. Hmm I might start posting in allopathic
 
Just another sob story, all I hear on SDN these days is "wah wah wah".

If you think you have been wronged then why not approach that person and stop crying about it on SDN.
 
My earnest suggestion, assuming that you actually care about this person in any capacity, is that you give him some feedback about this. There are likely to be zero consequences for his behavior now, and while I understand that you're peeved about this person taking your personal statement, it's important that he receive the message now, clearly, that this isn't acceptable.

Medical schools absolutely do not tolerate plagiarism. In this year's class, someone forgot to cite a source for a small portion of a genetics paper, and that alone resulted in a failing grade for the entire group that submitted it. Your friend needs to know now that this won't fly in medical school and that he needs to start doing his own work immediately. You can't force him to change his personal statement, but you can get this message across.
 
tantacles said:
Medical schools absolutely do not tolerate plagiarism. In this year's class, someone forgot to cite a source for a small portion of a genetics paper, and that alone resulted in a failing grade for the entire group that submitted it. Your friend needs to know now that this won't fly in medical school and that he needs to start doing his own work immediately. You can't force him to change his personal statement, but you can get this message across.
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Wow. I was in a similar situation myself with a group project, but I was able to prove innocence on my end, and it was something that would have been nearly impossible for me or other group members to detect.

That seems rather unreasonable to fail all group members. I feel for them. Frankly, group projects really suck at a certain level.
 
CityLights said:
Wow. I was in a similar situation myself with a group project, but I was able to prove innocence on my end, and it was something that would have been nearly impossible for me or other group members to detect.

That seems rather unreasonable to fail all group members. I feel for them. Frankly, group projects really suck at a certain level.
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Fortunately, it was a project that didn't account for much of our grade, 5% tops. But I think it sent a very clear message.

And yes, group projects can be awful, but academic work must be your own. In this case, every single person had access to the paper. The responsible party was simply responsible for compiling everyone's information.
 
This thread kind of got out of control but I appreciate the serious answers.

CityLights said:
That's an unfortunate situation. Even if you confront him about it, people who copy (or "heavily borrow") from the work of others tend to be pretty set in their ways, from my experience. So it's likely that he will maintain your template in his final revision even if you ask him not to.

For me, it would depend on how much of a friend this person really is. If this has disappointed you to the extent that you no longer want to maintain a relationship with this person, by all means call him out on it. I would at least express your concern that it is too similar to your own and to encourage him to write something that better reflects him as a person. If he isn't open to that, I'd chew him out and not worry about the "friendship" anymore.
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@CityLights -- I do want to maintain friendship with him. Thanks for your sympathy!

hmockingbird said:
First of all I do want to say I'm sympathetic.

But I do want to say, it's not clear from your post whether he had already had anything written before you sent him your statement, or if the draft he sent you is his very first draft. If that is true, I think it's possible that maybe he doesn't feel comfortable in his writing skills, and was literally using your personal statement as a template to base his off of. That doesn't make it okay, but I think there's just the possibility that maybe he wasn't plagiarizing your statement with malicious intent, but because he literally had no ideas for where to start and maybe doesn't have a clear idea of what the PS is supposed to convey or what he wanted to say with his. I also think this might be true because if I was trying to copy someone, I wouldn't email my copied work back to them to edit! lol

Again, like others said it depends on how much you want to keep the friendship. If you think the above is the case I would maybe start off softer, not a full-on confrontation. Just point out that his statement is way too similar to yours and he needs to find his own story (conclusions to make in the statement) and style, otherwise his PS won't sound sincere (okay, yes, who knows if adcoms would really read close enough to tell, but that's probably what I would SAY to him - and also that might show through more in an interview if they were to ask about his PS as it is and he can't talk about it b/c he borrowed so much of it from you). Maybe direct him to some internet examples or a book with PS's so he has more styles/approaches to look at and draw from. You could also have him tell you about his decision to go to med school and you could help him find his own story/structure/conclusions from that story which he could then put in writing. And then if after that he comes back to you with a revision that is still basically your statement after this conversation, then that would maybe would be when I'd confront him more seriously/harshly.
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@hmockingbird -- your comment is right on. Thank you for your advice. Before I saw your post, I had drafted a really harsh, accusatory email. After reading your post, I changed the tone of my email. I also think my friend is not confident with himself and writing style; he hasn't found his "voice" yet. The one my friend sent me was his second draft -- so maybe he's developing ideas still. I told him what you suggested. I hope things work out... Thanks for your sympathy and understanding where I am coming from...=)

tantacles said:
Medical schools absolutely do not tolerate plagiarism. In this year's class, someone forgot to cite a source for a small portion of a genetics paper, and that alone resulted in a failing grade for the entire group that submitted it. Your friend needs to know now that this won't fly in medical school and that he needs to start doing his own work immediately. You can't force him to change his personal statement, but you can get this message across.
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@tantacles -- thanks. I have warned him about the possible consequences of plagiarism.
 
coffeesnob said:
@hmockingbird -- your comment is right on. Thank you for your advice. Before I saw your post, I had drafted a really harsh, accusatory email. After reading your post, I changed the tone of my email. I also think my friend is not confident with himself and writing style; he hasn't found his "voice" yet. The one my friend sent me was his second draft -- so maybe he's developing ideas still. I told him what you suggested. I hope things work out... Thanks for your sympathy and understanding where I am coming from...=)
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Make sure to keep us up to date on how this turns out!
 
Do people really take their Personal Statement that seriously?

He stole a part of your identity? seriously?

Unless you were planning on publishing your personal statement for everyone to read, or were so proud of it you were planning to pass it down to your grandchildren, I'm not sure why you would care.

Also I don't get why you couldn't have just mentioned to him that his personal statement sounded almost identical to yours and it would be better if he made it more of a reflection of himself.
 
def1 said:
Do people really take their Personal Statement that seriously?

He stole a part of your identity? seriously?

Unless you were planning on publishing your personal statement for everyone to read, or were so proud of it you were planning to pass it down to your grandchildren, I'm not sure why you would care.

Also I don't get why you couldn't have just mentioned to him that his personal statement sounded almost identical to yours and it would be better if he made it more of a reflection of himself.
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Then please share your personal statement on SDN, if you are so detached from it. You don't care, right?
 
coffeesnob said:
Then please share your personal statement on SDN, if you are so detached from it. You don't care, right?
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Some people do share their PS on medapps after their season is over because it doesn't matter so much anymore. I understand that it's no fun to be copied, but this has very little relevance other than making you feel weird about your friend. If you feel weird about it, tell your friend you feel weird about it. Done.
 
coffeesnob said:
Then please share your personal statement on SDN, if you are so detached from it. You don't care, right?
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Point is you could've just said that your friend copied from you. We can all empathize that sucks. Instead you made some melodramatic non-story about a 'piece of your identity' being stolen. That small detail made your story sound douchey, self-important, and whiny.
 
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coffeesnob said:
I have been helping a friend with his personal statement. I sent mine to him as an example. He sent me his draft to me so I can take a look and edit. His personal statement has the same structure, flow of ideas, some phrases (verbatim) and conclusion as my own.

I am actually very disappointed by this. I worked so hard on my personal statement; I really see it as a part of my identity and motives for pursuing medicine. My personal statement is part of my life and experience. I feel like he stole part of my identity.

What should I do?
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Your so-called friend is an idiot. Your should chastise him. If he is reluctant to amend the necessary changes to his personal statement, then you should get to writing. Period.
 
cookiemonsters said:
Point is you could've just said that your friend copied from you. We can all empathize that your sucks. Instead you made some melodramatic non-story about a 'piece of your identity' being stolen. That small detail made your story sound douchey, self-important, and whiny.
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People aren't always sure of what to do. That's why they come here to ask questions.
 
U Wot M8 said:
Yeah man, he like totally sounds a lot like bleargh. It's almost like they're the same poster or something.
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No, bleargh was a majestic raccoon.

This white girl is obviously a huge fan of my little pony.
 
I didn't read through the entire thread, so others may have already said this.

Why don't you just tell this person that you aren't comfortable with the amount of material / structure that they used from your PS? Tell him / her that your PS was meant to be used as an example but not a template. Communication is a good thing.
 
sinombre said:
Is that a superstitious thing? Or do you just stop caring during dedicated study time?
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Weird **** happens during dedicated Step 1 study. I hide my ugliness with a beard year-round, but my classmates are sporting a lot of scraggly, sad-hearted attempts at making up an extra 15 minutes of qbank time every 2-3 days. Cross between efficiency and transitional object creation.
 
If I already applied and got in, I don't think it would matter much. Tell him to change the sentences that were copied verbatim, but other than that I doubt anyone's PS flow is that original.
 
This is too much. Man up and tell your friend that he took too much from your personal statement. You sent it to him and if he took the "structure" and outline, there's not much you can do. I would just let it go. But if you don't want to do that, I guess you could just send a copy of your original statement to every school that he applied to.
 
sinombre said:
Is that a superstitious thing? Or do you just stop caring during dedicated study time?
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Technically it's a hockey thing.

Also I think I started a hockey thread on pre-allo sometime last year when the kings were in the stanley cup finals which believe it or not never got locked. 👍
 
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