Redditor copied parts of my personal statement

[hemedream]

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[NickNaylor]

Rewrite your entire personal statement because someone - a completely random person that may not even be applying to the same school as you - has three sentences that sound vaguely similar to yours?

Do you think every PS is truly unique - that there is zero chance one PS might sound somewhat similar to another?

Up to you, I guess...

 

[bbbcccppp]

I wouldn't sweat this situation. Maybe just google the exact sentences and see if they show up anywhere you wouldn't expect. LOR writers Will write the exact same letter for applicants in different years without issue.


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[Suffer]

@gonnif say worst case scenario you send your app to a reader (although I've been messaging people w/ high post counts here) and it gets in the hands of someone who copies your PS entirely. Is there a way to prove your innocence in that situation (ie what pieces of proof should I hold on to so I can clear my name)?

 

[Seihai]

@gonnif say worst case scenario you send your app to a reader (although I've been messaging people w/ high post counts here) and it gets in the hands of someone who copies your PS entirely. Is there a way to prove your innocence in that situation (ie what pieces of proof should I hold on to so I can clear my name)?

From what I've heard (someone more experienced may want to chime in on this), your PS should be unique enough that if someone else copied it, it wouldn't make much sense given their own background.

I'm pretty sure that it's really not something to worry about, regardless. This is probably one of the things that is fairly similar even among people that don't even know each other, just because of how premeds tend to think.

 

[longhaul3]

The good news for you is that if you think one sentence will make your application, unless Nabokov wrote it for you, you're mistaken. Keep what you wrote and don't worry about it.

 

[P0ke]

Do adcoms actually check PS's for plagiarism? Like say your stated childhood motivations for pursuing medicine were actually just the plotline to Doogie Howser. Could they find out/do anything about it?

 

[El-Rami]

They might cross-reference your personal statement with the countless others they read, see the similarity, and then reject your application on the grounds of plagiarism.

Adcoms have nothing else to do all day. It's not like they have any families or the desire to have sex or anything.

 

[Goro]

Do adcoms actually check PS's for plagiarism? Like say your stated childhood motivations for pursuing medicine were actually just the plotline to Doogie Howser. Could they find out/do anything about it?

We have better things to do with our time.

 

[WheezyBaby]

Like we're even going to read the thing. Scoff

 

[WheezyBaby]

Some schools have used software to check for plagiarism. However, if I recall, they came up with so many false positives, similarities, or other commonalities, I doubt any school still tries to do it. In short, no one will care unless you try to pass off something from Albert Schwertizer or Voltaire

"Mbuto."

 

[Turkishking]

I think you're being a bit paranoid. I had an individual who was also pre-med, found out my name, and I was very paranoid. I actually sent him a youtube video, and he saw my name and my favorite videos, which I thought was private. So I wouldn't blame you for being paranoid, just relax

 

[boogiecousins94]

Also realize this, the person who would be copying a PS would also risk the chance of sounding the same as who they took it from. As in the person who took your 3 sentences is hopefully smart enough to not take your whole PS knowing that they would run the risk of applying to the same schools as you and maybe get caught and be rejected as well. I would like to think someone isn't dumb enough to copy a whole PS since they can be caught also but who knows