Personal statement????? Please AdViSe

[maximus300]

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Hey everyone, I am applying to med school for the first time this cycle and had a question about the personal statement.
The main reason for me trying to pursue a career in medicine is because of my grandpa and how he has been blind for most of my life and this is what I wrote about in my p.s.

This, however, was also my cousin's motivation and he has just finished his 2nd yr. He gave me his p.s. to read and use as an example and our basic premise is the same since thats what he wrote about too 3 yrs ago.

The actual structure is different since we have had different research and extra curricular experiences and our essays our organized differently, but there were a couple of lines from his (like 2 - 3 sentences max) that I really wanted to use because there is really no other way to convey that point.
Do you think that would be ok?

I have heard of software like turnitin.com and am a little scared, but I dont know if its used by med school applications.

Any comments are appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[Jarudy]

Clearly adcoms have a bank of every personal statement ever written and clearly have the time to cross check said database. Chill out.

 

[maximus300]

well since its done on tmdsas and amcas they could have a database

 

[maximus300]

Clearly adcoms have a bank of every personal statement ever written and clearly have the time to cross check said database. Chill out.

sorry. I couldnt tell if you were being serious or not if they actually do have a database of every p.s. and reference it?
if so i'll have to change up my p.s...

 

[evanbaines]

sorry. I couldnt tell if you were being serious or not if they actually do have a database of every p.s. and reference it?
if so i'll have to change up my p.s...

I think that was sarcasm.

Here is what I'd say:
While the basic premises should be the same, you are two different people. If the concepts discussed are so impersonally developed that the statements are too similar, then you probably haven't created a very effective personal statement regardless....

This may actually be a good barometer for writing your PS: can you develop this idea well enough that it will not sound like a carbon copy of your relative's statement?

 

[AestheticGod]

sorry. I couldnt tell if you were being serious or not if they actually do have a database of every p.s. and reference it?
if so i'll have to change up my p.s...

Of course he wasn't being serious lol.
Med schools gets A CRAP LOAD of applicants every year. They don't have time to see if you plagiarized. And if they ask, tell them it's your cousin and not some guys paper you found online.

 

[Jarudy]

Care to say your VR score? Seriously curious.

 

[Ashley1989]

If its two to three sentences that accurately describe your story and why you want to be a doctor, then it would seem to be okay in my opinion. As long as your cousin is okay with it and you're not copying/pasting the whole thing and imputing your ECs. Your grandpa being blind impacted the both of you, and you both are pursing medicine. Points your cousin may have made could describe your feelings as well, and as long as the majority of your PS are thoughts drawn from your own head, I don't see major harm in using a few lines from his as well.

PS, may I add for the record that rephrasing it would of course be the best thing to do

 

[sunflower18]

I would say you should rephrase it. Maybe he captured the same sentiments that you are feeling, but I think you need to be able to explain those feelings yourself. Good luck!

 

[maximus300]

thanks for all the responses..just want to clarify that i was planning on writing about my grandpa's influence for my p.s. before i got my cousins p.s.. I am not just recycling his into mine I wrote mine first then got my cousin's statement. He is also fine with it but told me to be careful and also told me to see if they use plagiarizing software for the med school apps