Well yeah. We clearly know what's best for these people; they'll thank us eventually.

You'll start wanting payment,

That's a point, they really should pay us... *goes off into money-making daydream*

Our college is rubbish at PSs, I have to show it to my tutor, who isn't really the kind of person you'd show your personal statement to. We've just had photocopied sheets about how to write it, and no extra help if you're going to apply for Oxbridge.

I've just managed to persuade one of my friend to drop the idea of medicine as a career choice as she openly admitted it was just for the money and prospect of meeting a nice doctor to marry... She's now going to do politics and be a modern studies teacher which she is waaaayyy more suited to and more passionate about. The problem is, she has parents of the view that "those who can't, teach".

She'll thank me one day

In which case advise her to go to a university that does medicine, but study what she wants to do . At this point I'd normally recommend Durham, but their medicine course is a little half-baked....

For Oxbridge (or at least this is what the people who came to my school said), the personal statement isn't as important as it's often made out to be. Within reason, there's not a lot you can say that would stop them giving you an interview, providing you've got good predictions for your grades. They judge it more from the interview (and written work if they ask for it to be submitted) than the personal statement. Just make a list of everything you want to say, then try to fit it all in. After you've done that you can work more on introduction, phrasing, style (which, I admit, will be more important if you're applying for an essay subject than a Science). Don't get too hung up on it all. Our school does give us plenty of advice and help though (wanted or otherwise ), so you can run things by me if you want a second opinion

Well, I know at the moment, my attempts are awful!

I know what I want to say, but can't get it coherently, and can't think why I first wanted to do History, which is annoying me a bit.

I think our college blissfully ignore the UCAS process..