The Student Room Group
No. Surely it's in the name personal statement. How can somebody who doesn't know you write one as well as you could? Also, you should know it inside out and be passionate about it as you'll get grilled on it in your interview (assuming you get that far)
Reply 2
I wouldn't pay £150 to an Oxbridge graduate to suck me off.

Okay, that's a lie.

Anyway, erm. In this thread, everybody says no.
Reply 3
It was either Cambridge or LSE who said on their website that as they believe noone writes their own personal statement on their own and can't take everything to be 100% accurate, while a bad personal statement may disadvantage your chances, a good one has little positive effect on your application. So £150 for very little advantage? no thanks.
bubbles50
It was either Cambridge or LSE who said on their website that as they believe noone writes their own personal statement on their own and can't take everything to be 100% accurate, while a bad personal statement may disadvantage your chances, a good one has little positive effect on your application. So £150 for very little advantage? no thanks.


That sort of statement really frustrates me. I - like most other applicants - spent forever agonising over the precise wording of mine; for it to be almost ridiculed seems remarkably unfair.

That said, I did really enjoy writing my PS; I know that what I produced is far better than what anyone else could have written about me, let alone someone who I've never even met. I wouldn't have wanted some generic, run-of-the-mill statement, and it seems to me that anyone who does is doing themselves a disservice as much as anything else.

Let them pay for it, it really doesn't bother me.
Reply 5
Myoclonic Jerk
That sort of statement really frustrates me. I - like most other applicants - spent forever agonising over the precise wording of mine; for it to be almost ridiculed seems remarkably unfair.

That said, I did really enjoy writing my PS; I know that what I produced is far better than what anyone else could have written about me, let alone someone who I've never even met. I wouldn't have wanted some generic, run-of-the-mill statement, and it seems to me that anyone who does is doing themselves a disservice as much as anything else.

Let them pay for it, it really doesn't bother me.



What I said or what I was quoting? I didn't mean it offensively.
I spent absolutely ages on my personal statement, the amount of drafts I had was ridiculous and it was my 'project' for about a month. Everything on there was accurate and in the end I was finally happy with the wording I'd used, but it took a bloody long time.
That statement made me a bit annoyed too, not only for the time I'd spent on it but also for the emphasis that teachers, universities and UCAS place on it. To read that people were paying for their personal statements or not writing it themselves, lying etc was more annoying though, as thats why that comment/view from the uni would have come from.
For me, writing my personal statement actually gave me an advantage in seeing exactly what I wanted in a university course, helped me improve my CV and interview skills etc and I thought was a big part of getting into uni. I was quite surprised when I read that on the uni website.
I'm not ridiculing people for spending time on their statement, I probably spent as much time as you, just for paying for it. Sorry if it seemed the wrong way. :no:
bubbles50
What I said or what I was quoting? I didn't mean it offensively.
I spent absolutely ages on my personal statement, the amount of drafts I had was ridiculous and it was my 'project' for about a month. Everything on there was accurate and in the end I was finally happy with the wording I'd used, but it took a bloody long time.
That statement made me a bit annoyed too, not only for the time I'd spent on it but also for the emphasis that teachers, universities and UCAS place on it. To read that people were paying for their personal statements or not writing it themselves, lying etc was more annoying though, as thats why that comment/view from the uni would have come from.
For me, writing my personal statement actually gave me an advantage in seeing exactly what I wanted in a university course, helped me improve my CV and interview skills etc and I thought was a big part of getting into uni. I was quite surprised when I read that on the uni website.
I'm not ridiculing people for spending time on their statement, I probably spent as much time as you, just for paying for it. Sorry if it seemed the wrong way. :no:


Noooo, I wasn't having a moan at you at all - I was referring to what you quoted from LSE/Camb. It frustrates me that even after spending so long on it, a 'good' statement is worth little more than a mediocre one.

Should've made that clearer, please accept my humblest apologies :biggrin:
Reply 7
I wrote mine in 45 minutes, on my own, with no help. Granted, I didn't get into Cambridge, but they gave me an interview, and I'm pretty sure it was the maths interview which let me down.

I wouldn't pay for a Personal Statement for a few reasons. Firstly, it's not personal, so it defies the point and you're only "cheating" yourself. Second, Universities can probably see through it if they interview you. If you don't seem like your PS suggests you are, then they may just be able to figure it out. Thirdly, how can the PS writer know enough about you? It would've took me just as long to tell the PS writer everything I want putting in with my NVQ, work experience, Summer School, weekends playing with robots, museums visited, books read or whatever. Lastly, I don't like wasting money on rubbish things like that. I know a mate who went to buy his GCSE English coursework off the Internet, got it marked by the school and got a D for it, so ended up writing it again himself anyway.
I wouldn't use it because I like writing things myself.
Reply 9
bubbles50
It was either Cambridge or LSE who said on their website that as they believe noone writes their own personal statement on their own and can't take everything to be 100% accurate, while a bad personal statement may disadvantage your chances, a good one has little positive effect on your application. So £150 for very little advantage? no thanks.


I didn't realise this. It's a shame that because people choose to use these perfectly legal services to cheat the system without breaking any rules the efforts of everyone else who actually live, breath and sleep their PS throughout September, October and November are not recognised.
Reply 10
Noooo wayyy what a waste of money. The best person to write about yourself is yourself! Only you know what you like/ dislike and what your skills are.
Reply 11
Admissions tutors aren't stupid, its likely they know if its been written by you or someone from Oxbridge that writes CVs for a living because they cant get a job in their field.
Don't.Even.Bother. They use special scanning techniques now to see if your personal statement has been copied, so if the person who's writing it for you has used the same template before, you're screwed. Don't waste £150 and just write it yourself!
Reply 13
Myoclonic Jerk
Noooo, I wasn't having a moan at you at all - I was referring to what you quoted from LSE/Camb. It frustrates me that even after spending so long on it, a 'good' statement is worth little more than a mediocre one.

Should've made that clearer, please accept my humblest apologies :biggrin:


Lol no worries, I just read it wrong :smile:

Yeah its frustrating but its the 'the majority paying for the minority's actions' in that people who write a great personal statement are suspect because some people get theirs written for them. I suppose what the personal statement actually contains, as in what you've taken part in etc will still be advantageous.

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a realistic alternative so they have to go with what they've got: predicted grades, references and what they can pull out reliably from personal statements. :eyeball:


Found it, its Cambridge.
Geoff Parks (Director of Admissions for the Cambridge Colleges)

The advice about personal statement drafting is good, but the importance of the personal statement is seriously overstated. With the profusion of companies, such as Oxbridge Applications, offering to help draft applicants’ personal statements (for a fee) no admissions tutor believes them to be the sole work of the applicant any more, and they are therefore not given any significant weight in the selection process. Applicants who are not invited for interview are unsuccessful because their academic track record, admissions test performance (where appropriate) and school/college reference indicate that they have no realistic chance of winning a place, not because their personal statement let them down.

Its not as if he says its because they have interviews either, which is disappointing
Original post by Myoclonic Jerk
That sort of statement really frustrates me. I - like most other applicants - spent forever agonising over the precise wording of mine; for it to be almost ridiculed seems remarkably unfair.

That said, I did really enjoy writing my PS; I know that what I produced is far better than what anyone else could have written about me, let alone someone who I've never even met. I wouldn't have wanted some generic, run-of-the-mill statement, and it seems to me that anyone who does is doing themselves a disservice as much as anything else.

Let them pay for it, it really doesn't bother me.


Sorry for what i did.