Did you lie in your PS ?

Poll

Did you lie on your personal statement?

mary12k

5

So did you lie in your personal statement ?

Reply 1

Tanqueray91

22

Original post by mary12k

So did you lie in your personal statement ?

Nope! Not at all! I've heard that especially if the uni is renowned for doing interviews, don't lie about reading and stuff that you aren't clear about in case it comes up...

Reply 2

ThePhoenixLament

18

No- had 4 interviews and one of them completely picked apart my PS so I was extremely glad I didn't even exaggerate let alone make stuff up!

Reply 3

Interrobang

20

If you are found to be lying, the uni can withdraw an offer, so it's not worth the risk

Reply 4

PQ

Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

Nah - it's not worth it. I didn't want a place based on a fake version of me.

Reply 5

Little Tail Chaser

19

Nah, I kinda wanted to feel like I deserved my place? :tongue:

I'd genuinely worked hard to achieve everything I said I'd done and I was confident enough to not have to BS my way through.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 6

username1799509

11

Told the truth in mine, not sure what you would even lie about.

Reply 7

Pennyarcade

14

I severely bent the truth both in my PS and at my interviews.

Reply 8

yabbayabba

17

If you're not interviewed and what you're saying is plausible (not I became chief executive of Goldman Sachs at 12 etc.) then you can say what you want. Universities don't have the time or care enough to check if candidates are being truthful with background checks or whatever. Most people do though out of fear.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 9

SarahLund

9

I hadn't completed one of the books on my PS, so I used a general summary of what I'd thought about it so far. Also, I quoted a Mathematician and his book, but I hadn't read it, but I hadn't actually said this was a book that I'd read - I simply used it to support an argument (a habit I've picked up from English lit).

I was honest otherwise, and every other book, play, poet, article or author I had mentioned were all genuine interests and influences of mine.

Reply 10

Emily.97

21

I didn't lie at all. It was tricky trying to articulate why I'm so fascinated with the field, but I meant everything that I said.

Reply 11

Interrobang

20

Original post by yabbayabba

If you're not interviewed and what you're saying is plausible (not I became chief executive of Goldman Sachs at 12 etc.) then you can say what you want. Universities don't have the time or care enough to check if candidates are being truthful with background checks or whatever. Most people do though out of fear.

Posted from TSR Mobile

And what if your referee contradicts what you've said? I know that won't always be possible, but I'm just saying that it can be picked up

Reply 12

yabbayabba

17

Original post by *Interrobang*

And what if your referee contradicts what you've said? I know that won't always be possible, but I'm just saying that it can be picked up

Why would they? Schools want their pupils to get into uni, not prevent them. Referees won't know exactly what every pupil has done or the books they've read. It won't happen in 99.999% percent of cases.

Reply 13

SiminaM

15

I said I read a book but I only read half of it :colondollar:

Reply 14

Chicken.M.

20

Didn't need to. I had already done loads of noteworthy things related to the industry I wanted to work in lol.

I would have if I didn't have enough to write though. The courses I applied to didn't care about personal statements anyway.

Reply 15

RF_PineMarten

18

Original post by mobbsy91

Nope! Not at all! I've heard that especially if the uni is renowned for doing interviews, don't lie about reading and stuff that you aren't clear about in case it comes up...

This.

I didn't put anything in it that I wasn't prepared to talk about and back up if I was asked about it in an interview.

Reply 16

Interrobang

20

Original post by yabbayabba

Why would they? Schools want their pupils to get into uni, not prevent them. Referees won't know exactly what every pupil has done or the books they've read. It won't happen in 99.999% percent of cases.

I'm not saying that they would do it deliberately, but you can't rule it out.

The safest thing is not to lie, full stop.

Reply 17

yabbayabba

17

Original post by *Interrobang*

I'm not saying that they would do it deliberately, but you can't rule it out.

The safest thing is not to lie, full stop.

Referees would skim read a PS before writing a reference, so they're unlikely to write anything which would blatantly contradict it. Plus references don't have to mention extracurricular activities and are essentially a waste of time, as even if a student was terrible, the referee isn't going to say that. That's not how schools work. Plus, nobody is ever rejected from or accepted to a uni on the basis of their reference.

Well yeah of course it's safest not to lie, and I can see you're trying to be moral and tell teenagers not to lie, which is fine.

But realistically, if you're not going to be interviewed, you can easily get away with it. That's the reality, full stop.

Reply 18

Ndella

18

I exaggerated in the respect that I didn't read the whole of a book I referred to. I got the general idea so based my opinion on that section.

Reply 19

edgarcats

11

I didn't lie but one poet I discussed I wasn't especially knowledgeable about, rather I liked what I had read and she tied in nicely to a period of history I've studied. Apart from that implicit exaggeration, I didn't find it necessary to lie because I love literature and so it was easy to express this in my PS.

Did you lie in your PS ?

Did you lie on your personal statement?

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