Is it OK to use parts of another person’s personal statement that I found somewhere?

This is a question that a lot of students ask, and with good reason: studying for your A-Levels, applying to universities, and still having time for any other interests you most likely have can be really challenging. The short answer to this question is ‘no’, but let me explain why in a bit more detail. Firstly, UCAS—the site where you submit your application—has fairly advanced plagiarism software specifically to combat this! The last thing anyone would want is for their application to be rejected on the grounds of plagiarism. Also, plagiarism is a massive area when at university: upholding what universities call ‘academic integrity’—ensuring that everything you write is your own, and anything that is not yours is referenced correctly—is a crucial skill university teaches you. This leads me on to my main point nicely: it is called a PERSONAL statement, and that means that it needs to be personal to you rather than someone else. The university tutors who read your personal statement want to see YOUR passion for the subject YOU are applying for, and why they should give YOU an offer—not someone else. (Remember: these tutors are not looking for the ‘perfect’ personal statement—though do ensure everything is spelled and punctuated correctly!—but instead they are looking for a student who has a desire to study the subject they are applying for, and for a student who has the ability to learn and evolve with the help of tutors).Of course, personal statements are hugely important and can be quite daunting; however, this does not mean that you cannot look to see how other students have approached theirs. TheStudentRoom has a dedicated section on their website where you can filter personal statements via institution (Cambridge, Oxford, UCL, etc.) and/or subject (Medicine, Dentistry, Law, etc.). Some of these personal statements will show the candidate’s predicted/achieved grades, the universities they applied to (and whether they were given an offer/rejection from them), and some personal statements also show feedback it received.To summarise: the content of the personal statement should be yours, but this does not mean that you cannot listen to the suggestions that friends, teachers, and tutors provide. Sometimes structure can be harder than content when it comes to personal statements (do these sentences link well, should this paragraph go here or there, etc.), and looking at how others have structured theirs can be a massive help.