Writing a personal statement.docx

Writing a personal statement.docx

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Writingapersonalstatement

Writingapersonalstatement

Home»Applyingtouniversity»Personalstatements

WritingapersonalstatementisprobablyoneofthemostdifficultpartsoftheUCASform.Manystudentswon'thavedonemuchcreativewritingsinceGCSEandevenifyouhave,it'sstillveryhardtowriteaboutyourself.

We'veproducedthisshortguidetotryandhelpyouwriteapersonalstatement.Justreadthroughit,followthesteps,andyoushouldbeok.

Wesuggestyouhaveaprettygoodideaofwhatcourseyouwanttostudybeforecontinuingmuchfurtherwithyourpersonalstatement.Generallypersonalstatementsarequitespecificsoifyoudecidetochangethecourseyouareapplyingforyouwouldneedtorewriteyourpersonalstatement.

Beforeyoustartrememberthisisa"personal"statement-i.e.it'saboutyou,andthereisnorealrightorwrongwaytodoit.Whatwe'vewrittenbelowisjustaguide,andshouldnotbestucktorigidly.Youmayfindbychoosingyourownstructure,andwritingwhatyouwanttowriteabout,givesabetterpictureofyourselftothereaderthananyoneelsecan.

UCASadvice-readwhatUCAStellyoufirsttogetageneraloverview

Aimsofthestatement-Whywriteapersonalstatement,whatareyouaimingtodo

Notesaboutyourself-Makenotesaboutwhattoputinyourstatementbeforeyoustart

Youandyoursubject-Whydoyouwanttotakethissubject?

Readexamplestatements-Readotherpeoplesstatementstogiveyousomeideas

Personalgoalsofyourstatement-Whatdoyouthinkwillworkwellinyourstatement

Languageofthestatement-Howareyougoingtomakeyourstatementsound

Structureofthestatement-Howareyougoingtolayoutandwriteyourstatement

Writingthestatement-Afewlastminutetipsbeforeyoubegin

Afterwritingthestatement-Afteryoufirstdraftiscompletewhat'slefttodo

Formattingthestatement-Nowyourstatementisperfectyou'vegottoformatit

UCASadvice

Intheadviceforapplicantsbook,UCASgiveyouashortoverviewofthepersonalstatement.Thisdoesn'treallytellyoumuch,butshouldtellyouenoughtogetyoustarted.Yougetadescriptionofthepersonalstatement,alistofbulletpointsofinformationyouwanttoincludeandsomeinformationaboutprintingit.Youmayalsofindyoucollegeorschoolgivesyousomeadditionalinformation.Ifyouthinkthisinformationisenoughtogoon,andyourstatementisalreadyforminginyourmindthenyoucanstopreadinghereandgetonwithyourstatement!

AimsofthePersonalstatement

Manyuniversitiesdon'tinterviewapplicants,sotheonlyinformationtheyhaveaboutyouisyourUCASform.MostoftheUCASformonlycontainsyourdetails,thebitstheuniversitiesareinterestedinisyourgrades,yourreferencesandyourpersonalstatement.Thepersonalstatementistheonlybityoureallyhavecontrolover,sothisisyourchancetopresentagoodimagetotheadmissionstutor,evenifyourgradesdon'treallyreflectthatimage.

Ifyouareapplyingtoanoversubscribeduniversitycourse,andeveryoneapplyingislikelytohavegoodgrades,thepersonalstatementistheonlythingthattellsyouapartfromotherapplicants,soyouwanttotryandmakeyoursasgoodaspossible.

Whentheadmissionsandsubjecttutorslookatyourpersonalstatement,theyarelikelytobeaskingtwomainquestions:

1.Dowewantthisstudentonthiscourse?

2.Dowewantthisstudentatthisuniversity?

Thesecanbebrokendownintoanumberofeasiertoanswerquestions:

∙Isthestudentsuitedtothecoursethattheyareapplyingfor?

∙Doesthestudenthavethenecessaryqualificationsandqualitiesforthecourse?

∙Isthestudentconscientious,hardworkingandunlikelytodropout?

∙Willthestudentdotheirbestandcopewiththedemandsofthecourse?

∙Canthestudentworkunderpressure?

∙Willthestudentbeabletoadjusttotheirnewenvironmentatuniversity?

∙Whataretheircommunicationskillslike?

∙Aretheydedicatedtothiscourseandhaveresearcheditwell?

∙Dotheyhaveagenuineinterestinthesubjectandadesiretolearnmoreaboutit?

Thesearethesortofquestionsyouneedtoanswerinyourpersonalstatement.Unfortunatelyyoucannotanswerthemdirectly,youneedtoprovideevidenceandmakeitsoundbelievable.

Ultimately,admissionstutorsarehumantoo,andmaywellhavehundredsofpersonalstatementstoshiftthrough,soevenifyouthinkyou'veansweredallthesequestionsreallywellyoumaystillbeunlucky.Thereareothertechniquesyoucanusetomakeyourstatementstandoutandappealtoadmissionstutors,butremembertheyarealldifferentandmayhavedifferentideasaboutwhattheylookforinaprospectivestudent.Someofthesetechniquesarediscussedinthepersonalgoalssection.

Notesaboutyourself

Nowyouhavesomeideaofwhyyou'rewritingapersonalstatementyouneedtothinkaboutwhatyou'regoingtowriteinit.Youdon'tneedtostartthinkingaboutthewordingorstructureyet,justgetdownsomeideasofthethingsyouthinkyoucouldputdown.

Thebestwaytodothisistouseasetofheadingsandwritebulletpointsabouthowyourelatetotheseheadings.Herearesomeheadingstothinkabout.

Whatyouwanttostudyatuniversityandwhy

∙Specificaspectsofthecoursesthatinterestyou

∙Examplesofcourseworkyouhavecompleted

∙Practicalworkyouhaveenjoyed

∙Thingsyouhavereadrelatedtothesubjectarea

∙Workexperienceorvoluntaryworkinthisarea

∙Conferencesyouhaveattended

∙Personalexperienceswhichleadtothedecisiontotakethissubject

∙Whereyouhopeadegreeinthissubjectwilllead

Experiencesthatshowyouareareliableandresponsibleperson

∙Part-timejob

∙Businessenterprise

∙Communityandcharitywork

∙Sixthformcommittee

∙Helpingoutatschooleventsandopendays

∙YoungEnterprise,WorldChallenge,DukeofEdinburghaward,AsdanAwardDebatingsocietiesandwhatyou'vegainedfromtheseexperiences.

Yourinterestsandskills

∙Whatyouliketodoinyourfreetime

∙Sportandleisureactivities

∙Subjectsyoustudywhicharenotexamined

∙Musicalinstrumentwhichyouplay

∙Languageswhichyouspeak

∙Prizesyouhavewonorpositionsachievedinyourinterests

Gapyear

∙Whyyou'retakingaGapyear（ifyouare）

∙Whyyouwanttotakeagapyear

∙Whatyouplantodo

∙Howthismayrelatetoyourcourse

Ifyou'renottakingagapyearavoidthissection.Ifyouareitcouldstillbeleftout,butyoumaybeaskedwhyyou'retakingitataninterview.

Youshouldnowhavelotsofbulletpointsaboutyourself,allofwhichwillbeusefulinpreparingyourpersonalstatement.Don'tworrytoomuchifyoudon'tseemtohavedonemuchoffthelist,justthinkaboutthingsyou'vedonewhichshowallyourgoodqualities,orcouldbewrittenastoshowyourgoodqualities.

Theimportantthingisthatyouhaveagoodreasonforwhyyouwanttostudythecourse,itdoesn'tmatterifthereasonsoundsstupidatthemoment-youcanworkonthelanguagelater.Alladmissionstutorswillbelookingforpeoplewhoareenthusiasticandpassionateaboutthesubjectstheywanttostudy,somakesureyoureallyare.Ifyou'rechoosingthiscoursejustbecauseyoucan'tthinkofanythingbettertodo,that'snotagoodenoughreason,andmaybeyoushouldconsiderlookingforacourseyouenjoymore.

Nowyou'vegotsomeideastogether,it'stimetothinkaboutturningthemintoapersonalstatement-almost.

Youandyoursubject

Sayingwhyyouwanttotakeyourcourseispossiblythemostimportantpartofyourpersonalstatement.Youcanhaveperfectgrades,greatextracurricularactivitiesandbeareallygreatperson,butifadmissionstutorsfeelyouaren'tcommittedtoyourcourse,youwon'tgetaplace.

Hopefullythenotesyouhavewrittenforthesectionabovehavealreadygivenyouagoodideaofwhattowriteaboutwhyyouwanttotakeyourcourse.Ifnotthenyoushouldatleastbesureyouwanttotakethatsubject-writingapersonalstatementisalotofwork,andyoudon'treallywanttogettotheendofitanddecideyouwanttostudyadifferentsubject,sobeforeyougomuchfurtherbesureyouhavechosentherightsubjectforyou.Rememberyoudon'tactuallyhavetochoosethecourseyouwanttotakeyet,justhavearoughideaofthesubjectareaorareasyoumightbeinterestedin.

Nowyouneedtothinkaboutexactlywhyyouwanttotakethissubject.Evenifyouare100%surethatthisisthecourseforyou,youstillneedtogetthisideaacrosstotheadmissionstutors.Iftheyacceptyou,youaregoingtobestudyingthiscourseforatleastthenextthreeyears,andyouneedtoconvincethemthatyouarecommittedtoit.Haveathinkaboutexactlywhythesubjectappealstoyou,andwritedownasmuchasyoucanaboutit.Itdoesn'tmatterifyouonlyscribbleafewnotes,youcanmodifythembeforeyouwritethestatement,theimportantthingisyoucanbesureofthekeyreasonswhyyouwanttotakethesubject.Writedownasmanyasyoucan,ifyouhavetoomanyyoucanalwaysjustpickthebest.OtherthanthatIcan'tgiveyoumuchmoreadvice-onlyyouknowexactlywhyyouwanttotakeyourchosencourse,butbearinmind,ifyoucan'tthinkofanygoodreasons-shouldyoureallybetakingthatsubject?

WhatifIwanttodoajointdegree?

Therearetwooptionsyoucanusetotailoryourpersonalstatementtojointdegrees（oneswhereyoutaketwosubjectse.g.economicsandpolitics）.Youcantalkaboutjustonesubjectwhichyoufeelismostimportant,andnotmentiontheother.Thishastheadvantagethatyoucanapplyfortwodifferentjointdegreesandonlytalkaboutthecommonelemente.g.foreconomicsandpoliticsand