: Re: In a formal writing, does having a paragraph rewritten by another person make the style change noticablely? I am writing a personal statement to apply to a grad school. At first, I thought

@Bryan361

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Chris is right in saying that a formal tone/neutral voice minimizes individual stylistic differences, but I want to caution you that the difference between the writing of a native English speaker and a non-native speaker can sometimes be fairly obvious. It's in part because non-native speakers tend to have learned grammar and style in classes, whereas native speakers pick it up naturally. The result is a difference in fluidity and construction of the sentences.

Just to clarify, are you saying that your statement combines some sections that are totally rewritten by your friend with some sections that were not rewritten, but were edited for smaller errors?

You may be fine, but it is hard to say without looking at the whole thing. I used to proofread papers for non-native students, and I was careful to never rewrite sections of their papers because a) that's kind of plagiarism depending on how one looks at it but also b) my formal writing usually sounds different from their formal writing. I would recommend that you have a third party look at it.

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