The Student Room Group

TSR Personal Statement Advice

Hi everyone,

To keep you updated on developments with the PS Advice services we offer, I have written the below update about some exciting new changes.

As TSR continues to grow we have been looking to make key areas of our site more sustainable and the former PS Help service has been one of the areas to be put under the spotlight. In recent years it has grown quickly with more requests for reviews than we have been able to respond to.

To be able to cope with demand for 2014/15 and beyond we have:

1.

Introduced our new free Personal Statement writing tool, which has already been used in the last five days by almost 5,000 people this will give applicants everything they need to get started with writing the solid foundations of a personal statement, built by our PS Helpers with their wealth of experience.

2.

Introduced our new free Personal Statement Advice forum where applicants can receive advice in response to questions about writing a personal statement, particularly if you have questions on specific universities or courses. Some of our old PS Helper team have become ‘PS Advisors’ in a new role that lets members ask this experienced and extremely knowledgeable team about specifics around their application.

3.

Introduced a new premium feedback service for those who still require a full review which is accessed for a cost through an option at the end of the writing tool. It is run by a new team of application experts who work in schools and colleges and have collectively placed many hundreds of students at some of the UK’s top universities. Part of the reason for the new cost is because we have to pay this team for their time, which also allows this service to be scalable if required.

4.

Continued support for our guidance and library across the wiki.



All of these changes build on the stellar work the PS Helpers have done over the last five or so years and sets up TSR’s new PS Advice suite of tools to grow with our audience for the future. The writer tool and forum mean the new PS Advisors can help and respond to more applicants without the pressure of being overwhelmed by requests for reviews, while students who still do require a review still can for a cost.

This is just the beginning and we plan to continue to improve the PS Writing Tool and guidance pages in future in conjunction with our PS Advisor team. We are also looking into ways for students from a disadvantaged background to still receive a review at no cost.

In the meantime, every student in the UK can now use our free tool, guidance and advice forum for some of the best PS advice in the UK.

Jack
(edited 9 years ago)

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Original post by Captain Jack
This forum is for questions and advice about your personal statement - please don't post any part of your personal statement in here otherwise other people may use it.

If you need help writing your statement please use our new Personal Statement Builder and Review service.


Would it be worth having this post as a sticky? :smile:

Original post by *Stefan*
No... not at all!

If you go to the end of this new personal statement builder feature, it asks whether you'd like someone to review it -at the price of £75!!!!!!

And despite this absurd price, look at the conditions;


- This review is not a re-write service it's about helping you to improve your personal statement yourself

- We will not correct grammatical/spelling issues/poor use of English, but we will highlight any overall issues so that you can address them

- This is a one-off review there is no follow-up service offered.



TSR is going down places in my eyes. Wherever they see the possibility of profit, they will exploit it to the fullest! What money does...


Those conditions were how the old service worked, except that we could sometimes offer a follow-up review (it wasn't guaranteed however, as it depended on demand and availability)
Original post by *Stefan*
£75!!! Absolutely ridiculous!


do they not realise that most students don't have £75 to spend on PS help...
Does it really cost £75? What is the justification for such a high price? As far as I know, the people who actually do the helping are unpaid volunteers. Are they getting paid now? :confused:

I was very grateful for the PS advice I received, especially since I was a mature applicant and could not ask any teachers for help. I had hoped to repay the favour and help other people with their statements once I was at university... I guess that's off the cards now.

The best thing about TSR's PS service was that it was open to everyone, so that even the poorest students who attended the most deprived schools (where teacher often know nothing about applying to Oxbridge/other elite universities) could come and receive helpful and often excellent advice, for free. Where will people like that go now?
Original post by Samual
Does it really cost £75? What is the justification for such a high price? As far as I know, the people who actually do the helping are unpaid volunteers. Are they getting paid now? :confused:

I was very grateful for the PS advice I received, especially since I was a mature applicant and could not ask any teachers for help. I had hoped to repay the favour and help other people with their statements once I was at university... I guess that's off the cards now.

The best thing about TSR's PS service was that it was open to everyone, so that even the poorest students who attended the most deprived schools (where teacher often know nothing about applying to Oxbridge/other elite universities) could come and receive helpful and often excellent advice, for free. Where will people like that go now?


It's had a complete overhaul - it is now teachers with experience of advising students regarding admissions who will review the statements.

And there are plans to introduce widening participation, but it is still unclear how to identify these students appropriately
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by *Interrobang*
It's had a complete overhaul - it is now teachers with experience in admissions who will review the statements.

And there are plans to introduce widening participation, but it is still unclear how to identify these students appropriately


I think for the sake of clarity it's probably fairer to say they have experience of advising people. I don't think it's fair to say experience in admissions because (afaik) they haven't worked in a university admissions office.
Original post by *Interrobang*
It's had a complete overhaul - it is now teachers with experience in admissions who will review the statements.

And there are plans to introduce widening participation, but it is still unclear how to identify these students appropriately


So it is TSR's version of Oxbridge Applications but for all universities? :unimpressed: Why couldn't a volunteer, student-run, free PS service remain alongside this new service?

I would rather have a student review my PS than a teacher. I applied to a very niche course, luckily my PS helper had studied the same course and knew what the department was looking for - a teacher would not.
Original post by Samual
So it is TSR's version of Oxbridge Applications but for all universities? :unimpressed: Why couldn't a volunteer, student-run, free PS service remain alongside this new service?

I would rather have a student review my PS than a teacher. I applied to a very niche course, luckily my PS helper had studied the same course and knew what the department was looking for - a teacher would not.


It was a decision that the TSR group made. One of the reasons being that the service as it was was not able to keep up with the demand for reviews. Captain Jack can probably give a more detailed explanation though
Original post by *Interrobang*
It was a decision that the TSR group made. One of the reasons being that the service as it was was not able to keep up with the demand for reviews. Captain Jack can probably give a more detailed explanation though


I hope he does explain it, although I think I can guess what the motives for this change were. Bleh, this is quite depressing. I defended TSR through so many changes but I absolutely can't on this one. A real shame.
Original post by ThatPerson
Those conditions seem perfectly reasonable for a free service, but not for one charging £75.

Does all this money go to TSR or does any of it go to the helpers/advisors?


I believe they are paid, although I'm not fully aware of all the conditions of the new service I'm afraid.
Reply 10
Original post by TheTechN1304
do they not realise that most students don't have £75 to spend on PS help...


This is the main problem with the new feature.

As another poster said, the previous version was open to all people, regardless of whether they were poor or lived in deprived areas. Their teachers were probably not able to help at all and therefore this was an amazing opportunity to get some help.

Now? It's the "rich kid gets more" situation. Only students at very expensive colleges will be able to pay for this -and most already have professional assistance with their personal statements. They don't need this feature.

I would also like an explanation on this, because I certainly did not expect such a rip-off. When, out of interest, I went to check the price, I expected around £10 (£15 max). But I was straight in for a -rather unpleasant- surprise...
Original post by *Stefan*
This is the main problem with the new feature.

As another poster said, the previous version was open to all people, regardless of whether they were poor or lived in deprived areas. Their teachers were probably not able to help at all and therefore this was an amazing opportunity to get some help.

Now? It's the "rich kid gets more" situation. Only students at very expensive colleges will be able to pay for this -and most already have professional assistance with their personal statements. They don't need this feature.

I would also like an explanation on this, because I certainly did not expect such a rip-off. When, out of interest, I went to check the price, I expected around £10 (£15 max). But I was straight in for a -rather unpleasant- surprise...


I agree. I was expecting no more than £10-15 too. I've been lucky enough to get help at school, but still, it's pretty ridiculous that if I want external help it is going to cost £75...
Hello,
I've moved everyone's PS Advice questions into this announcement and discussion thread to keep everything in one place.
A few of your posts were made before this announcement, so I need to change their times but will add them back in later. I've quoted those of you whose posts were temporarily moved so you still see this.

Spoiler


Jack
Original post by Captain Jack



X





Would be a good idea for trainee teachers to run the free one for disadvantaged backgrounds? As it means students are still getting help from 'teachers' while the trainee teachers also gain experience
Original post by Captain Jack
All of these changes build on the stellar work the PS Helpers have done over the last five or so years and sets up TSR’s new PS Advice suite of tools to grow with our audience for the future. The writer tool and forum mean the new PS Advisors can help and respond to more applicants without the pressure of being overwhelmed by requests for reviews, while students who still do require a review still can for a cost.

This is just the beginning and we plan to continue to improve the PS Writing Tool and guidance pages in future in conjunction with our PS Advisor team. We are also looking into ways for students from a disadvantaged background to still receive a review at no cost.

In the meantime, every student in the UK can now use our free tool, guidance and advice forum for some of the best PS advice in the UK.

Jack


I still want to know why you're not offering the student volunteer service and the (paid for) teacher service simultaneously? I don't agree that teachers, even very experienced teachers, are always the best people to give advice. In schools teachers already do review their students' statements, so why would I pay £75 just to have another teacher (who probably has no expertise in the subject I'm applying for) review it again?

You say that the PS helpers were overstretched and I don't doubt that, but you could have taken steps to address that without removing the service entirely. For example, why didn't you introduce a system where only forum users who had at least 200 posts could have their statements reviewed - it wouldn't have been ideal but it would have been better than nothing.
£75!?

Did anyone do any research to see if people would be willing to pay £75 for this?
I'm on annual leave at the moment and will reply more next week but to start with...

Original post by TheTechN1304
I agree. I was expecting no more than £10-15 too.


It actually costs more than that to hire experts to feedback to students, and then there are the additional costs for running and developing such a large scale online service.

Original post by l'insegnante
Would be a good idea for trainee teachers to run the free one for disadvantaged backgrounds? As it means students are still getting help from 'teachers' while the trainee teachers also gain experience


Helping disadvantaged students is exactly what we want to do - the main hurdle is actually how to identify those students.

Original post by Samual
I still want to know why you're not offering the student volunteer service and the (paid for) teacher service simultaneously? I don't agree that teachers, even very experienced teachers, are always the best people to give advice. In schools teachers already do review their students' statements, so why would I pay £75 just to have another teacher (who probably has no expertise in the subject I'm applying for) review it again?


Not every school has such good advice, this is an optional service for those people who feel they need an additional layer of feedback and advice. We have a lot of free advice on the site, including the writing tool created by our PS Helpers. For the vast majority of students in the UK we believe this suite of free tools and the advice forum is enough. For people who do want more detailed feedback extremely quickly, there needs to be a charge to cover the cost and to make it scalable and sustainable.

You say that the PS helpers were overstretched and I don't doubt that, but you could have taken steps to address that without removing the service entirely. For example, why didn't you introduce a system where only forum users who had at least 200 posts could have their statements reviewed - it wouldn't have been ideal but it would have been better than nothing.


We want a service that is open to every single student, not a select few.

Original post by rayquaza17
£75!?

Did anyone do any research to see if people would be willing to pay £75 for this?


It is based on a market review of other services which range from £60 - £100, so the price was set toward the lower end of that and will be reviewed itself now it is live.
Original post by Captain Jack

It is based on a market review of other services which range from £60 - £100, so the price was set toward the lower end of that and will be reviewed itself now it is live.


In that case, I think the £75 is fair.


Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Captain Jack

We want a service that is open to every single student, not a select few.

Which is exactly what charging £75 for a once free (albeit slightly different) service doesn't ​achieve...
Original post by Law-Hopeful
Which is exactly what charging £75 for a once free (albeit slightly different) service doesn't ​achieve...


We have a range of free products in the guidance and tool which we will continue to develop alongside the new question forum so fewer people actually need feedback. Then for those who really do need fast, last minute feedback, they can for a cost. And in the future we will have a way of identifying and supplying the 13,000+ disadvantaged students who can't afford it with the service too. All of these services are now open to the 400,000+ students heading to uni every year - and we will now be proactively marketing this to them, including through posters in schools, emails to all students and teachers and other means - and none of this we can do without charging for the review service to cover some of this cost. Since we started marketing the free tool last week, it has been used by over 6,000 people. So, in the long run it will help us achieve exactly that.
(edited 9 years ago)

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