The Student Room Group

I just put my Personal Statement online

:frown:
I thought I was going to buy a Kaplan BMAT book of a seller that contacted me on TSR.
Now I find that his account is Permanently banned and not by request so I'm more and more wary of him.
He said he's look over my personal statement and I stupidly sent it thinking, well he got into Trinity College, Cambridge, he must be legit! :frown:
He said "The first paragraph is superb, changes have been made to the rest and didn't send me back the corrected version."
Now, I realised how dodgy he was being, i'm not buying anything off him.
But I think he has given my PS to his cousin that he kept mentioning, that is also applying for Medicine this year.
How will this affect my application?
My personal statement is obviously personal to me, so there is lots that he can't use, but he can copy my writing style and the words I used which and considering the security UCAS has with PS fraud, will I be penalised?
Will this affect my medical application?

Has anyone been contacted by the seller dan987m

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1
He also emailed me! How can you be so naive!?!?! I don't know what that means for you now, but that's terrible.
If you are still in application, you'd be stupid for showing it to anyone let alone some random person on the internet.
Narik
He also emailed me! How can you be so naive!?!?!

I know!!
I guess it was just because a Kaplan BMAT book seller cancelled on me on Amazon, so I was desperate to get the book.

How much will this affect my PS though.
I haven't sent any money or anything of value except for the PS and it was only in its first draft so it will change a lot by application time.
But still...I'm so worried!!
SirRamAlot
If you are still in application, you'd be stupid for showing it to anyone let alone some random person on the internet.

I know.
Should I just re-do my whole PS?
It was only the first draft, but still...what should I do now?
:facepalm2:
Reply 6
You don't exactly have much of a choice, otherwise you risk being picked up by their anti-plagiarism software if someone were to copy it.
Bax-man
You don't exactly have much of a choice, otherwise you risk being picked up by their anti-plagiarism software if someone were to copy it.

Oh okay, I'll start on that now.

I honestly can't believe I only realised now, how dodgy he was.
I'm actually furious at myself :stomp:
Reply 8
Hope you can prove it is yours because if you hand it in as it is after putting it on the internet they could do you for plagiarism.
Reply 9
hunter'sdaughter
I know.
Should I just re-do my whole PS?
It was only the first draft, but still...what should I do now?

Yes. Be safe and re-do it completely. It's not worth the risk now
tw68
Hope you can prove it is yours because if you hand it in as it is after putting it on the internet they could do you for plagiarism.

Yeah I have e-mails and dates and times so I can prove it's mine if it ever came to that, it's just the fact that since my PS is personal, surely he can't use a lot of it?
Reply 11
LOL. I'm sorry, I'm trying to be sensitive to your situation but that was a TERRIBLE idea. Re-do it completely and hope that it works!
Lacanos
Yes. Be safe and re-do it completely. It's not worth the risk now

Will do!
Oh the naivety of someone who is so academically talented is just overwhelming, how could you be so stupid? I'd contact UCAS once you have finished your PS and explain the whole situation to them, but you may have to re-do.
Reply 14
hunter'sdaughter
Oh okay, I'll start on that now.

I honestly can't believe I only realised now, how dodgy he was.
I'm actually furious at myself :stomp:


At least it's a mistake you won't make again.

(Also, a far more reputable place to get feedback on your statement would be TSR's Helper service.)
Reply 15
hunter'sdaughter
Yeah I have e-mails and dates and times so I can prove it's mine if it ever came to that, it's just the fact that since my PS is personal, surely he can't use a lot of it?


No you should be fine to go ahead and use the personal stuff e.g. voluntary work, hobbies etc.. However, I would rewrite the academic aspect of the application because it is not worth the risk of being accused of plagiarism.
Reply 16
It doesn't really matter, if you're dumb enough to do this you won't get into Uni anyway.
You lost the first draft of your personal statement, and your worried. :facepalm:

You will go through at least 10 drafts and the final statement wont even resemble the original.

No matter who you are the first draft of your personal statement will be beyond rubbish, it will be of absolutely no use to anyone.

and Use the PS helper service on TSR, at least thats bloody confidential.
I wish there was a combination of :rofl: and :facepalm2: for moments like these.
tw68
No you should be fine to go ahead and use the personal stuff e.g. voluntary work, hobbies etc.. However, I would rewrite the academic aspect of the application because it is not worth the risk of being accused of plagiarism.

I didn't really have an academic section.
Do you mean like I did X Y and Z at A-level which taught me A B and C?