Up-to-date Helper List

[Matt641]

Apologies for the cut and paste but you can add me to the list!

Hello all, I popped up around this time last year to help out with statements. I'm a 5th year at Imperial and have sat on interview panels here so I can try and help you guys out.

I must have looked at about 30 different statements last year so I've seen plenty good and bad. Happy to help.
You can email me at mattlkw@gmail.com

[Singh.Simran]

Ooerr... someone's impressive!


I'll update soonish

[Dr Noodle]

Oh man a fifth year...

*shrinks into the background*

[Dr Noodle]

How about changing the title to 'PS helpers list 2008' Sim and requesting it to be made a sticky?

[f_debelder]

I'll do it!

[Newcastlemedic1]

I hope that you all are aware that you are systematically increasing the entry bar for every prospective medical student by making this thread and indeed many other threads have done so. One of the reasons i got into medical school was because of this site - which i am very grateful for. But the negative aspect about such help is you could be helping a student that has no genuine interest in medicine. This is what worries me because if a lot of people use this site and use your help (which the amount of guests and first time posters present would lead me to believe) it will actually make it harder for everyone to gain a place at medical school. Dont get me wrong teachers, parents and doctors provide help with prospective students applications but this is on an individual basis. This sites contents are public thus having a much wider scope for use and abuse. So here you have the brightest students in the country who have gained places places at medical school coming together to basically help build an army of prospective medical students applications. Do you all not see the implications of this?
I am a huge fan of NMM however i believe that it is one of the reasons medicine has become harder to gain entry to.

[Dr Noodle]

It sure helped me too. But TSR has an entire section dedicated to PS help (for all courses). There are lots of other sites too offering help. I don't think shutting down this thread is going to make much of a difference tbh.

Personally I think if an applicant is disingenuous it will show in the PS they send. If I see this I'll refuse to help them, don't worry. I've met them before, I know what they look like... O_o I'm sure the others would do the same.

I see what you're saying but if applicants are making the effort to find out more and to get help then fair play I say.

Regarding the help being more public, it's not really. We're doing it through private messages and emails (for the PS anyway) so it's still as individual as asking for help from a doc at work.

[469er]

I'm willing to help anyone who wants to PM me. As a super-mature student, I would, to be honest, be more interested in, and more useful, helping out people from unorthodox backgrounds. I also think unorthodox medical students are good for medicine, so have no qualms about unfair advantage, etc. Affirmative action, and all that. Anyway, people helped me last year. Pay it forward, people.

About me: humanities grad with many, many years of weird, wonderful and chequered work history behind me, including some time writing & editing; mother of 3; first time applicant this year from an access course; got into Barts, King's and BSMS but bombed at Southampton.

Don't ask to see my PS, because there's no way it would be helpful to you, and don't ask me to write yours for you, because I don't know you as well as you do. But I can do detailed, constructive criticism and don't mind drowning in successive drafts while you get it just right.

[agneishd]

oh no sim, you're creating a monster army of uninterested medics!

we probably aren't helping that much really, and the number of people affected is probably negligible on the whole scale...

[dreaming_princess]

Newcastlemedic - I don't understand you're point - I know that I'm certainly not rewriting anyone's PS - the advise I'm giving is no different to that of a teacher except I'm available throughout this summer and easily contactable by PM, they're not and in september they will likely be bogged down by new teaching scedules Yr7s and new sylabuses for AS, I won't be - I'll hopefully be preparing to go to uni...I don't think anyone's is writing people's PS for them, just giving advise and we're volunteering to do this, some sites do the same but for money...