Can you link online gaming in your UCAS personal statement?

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Gaming is a hobby though? I don't really feel the OP is trying to justify anything, he's simply exploring his options. To be honest I have used far more teamwork playing videogames than I have most jobs, but as you demonstrate it doesn't have the best reputation and is something best avoiding in a professional context.

Totally agree. Better to leave it out. & When you play games like League & Dota, it becomes more than just a hobby. I think OP knows what my message was about

Reply 21

Elivercury

Original post by glebp

Totally agree. Better to leave it out. & When you play games like League & Dota, it becomes more than just a hobby. I think OP knows what my message was about

Very true, my second year housemate failed his mechanical engineering degree because of Lord of the Rings Online.

Incidentally I also know someone who did terribly because he spent all his time juggling, but I suspect they wouldn't have the same stigma. He was also pretty thick though, so it might just have been that.

I feel I'm getting off topic.

Reply 22

theguywhosaidhi

Original post by glebp

Totally agree. Better to leave it out. & When you play games like League & Dota, it becomes more than just a hobby. I think OP knows what my message was about

I understand what you meant, pretty rude to assume such though. sounds like you had a bad experience with it? I'm only 17, but I do play a lot I'll admit. I just don't have anything else worthwhile to do + it's easy to just play a few. seems like the general consensus is it's a good idea to leave it out though, better to ask I guess than not know

Reply 23

midgetspinner

Original post by theguywhosaidhi

Not particularly bad, but not the best experience either. Yeah, follow the general consensus and good luck with whatever you are trying to achieve.

Reply 24

theguywhosaidhi

Original post by glebp

Not particularly bad, but not the best experience either. Yeah, follow the general consensus and good luck with whatever you are trying to achieve.

thanks you too, have a good evening :smile:

Reply 25

jamestg

Original post by theguywhosaidhi

okay here me out, I feel some skills can be learned from gaming online which are useful, like: teamwork, dealing with all types of people, taking initiative, decision making, researching and gaining knowledge of the game, learning from peers + those better/more knowledgable than yourself, applying knowledge you've learned. I'm struggling as to what I should put on my statement when applying to study maths/physics at uni, and I don't have many hobbies aside from gaming. I'm on about 500 words and I know this isn't enough. any advice?

If you're considering putting gaming in your PS, I think it's a good indicator to get out and do something. Books, work experience, summer school, EPQ, online lectures, magazines - ANYTHING THAT'S NOT GAMING!!!

Reply 26

theguywhosaidhi

Original post by jamestg

just exploring options, but thanks for the advice

Reply 27

Fanatical Geek

Original post by glebp

Gaming is a waste of time and only NEETS play video games to that extent where they try leverage gaming above a hobby

This is belittling a huge chunk of the population, both young and increasingly older people - and is frankly a wrong and outdated view.

That being said OP, your hobbies paragraph should be a pretty short one - though there is nothing wrong with trying showing what you are passionate about, and what you learn from what you do.

You need to focus almost entirely on the subject, why you want to do it - and as others have said, wider reading or experiences that have showed you something about Maths and Physics.

Also I wrote about CERN in my PS too! Great place, and Geneva is a top notch city :smile:

Hope this helps,and feel free to ask questions.

Reply 28

jamestg

Original post by theguywhosaidhi

just exploring options, but thanks for the advice

No problem! Just try and do something! You could even prepare for STEP or AEA over the summer, by going through C3 and C4 - enabling you to prepare for either STEP or AEA later on in Y13.

Reply 29

Imperion

"To show that I am a leader, I am the strategic planner in my alliance (which is first), I also spot the largest army server wide and have been top raider for the past 4 weeks with an average income of 15 million resources"

:toofunny:

Reply 30

Anonymous #2

Lol you arent serious are you. Gamers are usually seen as people who dont take their education seriously and spend all their time gaming. And plus if thats the best thing you leant while living 17+ years on this earth then they are probably going to laugh at you no offence.

Reply 31

Melee

It depends how you're going about fitting it into your personal statement, if you're relying heavily on the skills that you get from gaming it might not be a good idea because like others have said, it's still deemed as "lazy" etc. etc.
I think it depends on what kind of games you play as well, if it sounds like you just waste time playing games then they're not going to want to hear about it but if you can legitimately say how video games improve your skills, why not?

I personally, did include video games in my personal statement but very briefly in a small paragraph about my hobbies. Although I applied for an IT-based course so in that sense the skills and stuff are more applicable. Actually, I even got asked what my favourite video game was at an interview.

TL;DR Maybe, if you can justify it, but don't write too much about it.

Reply 32

Elivercury

I find it interesting the number of people stating video gaming isn't a worthwhile hobby.

I suppose they are equally derisory of reading fiction novels and spend their entire time either working or studying with zero hobbies because they are of no value.

Reply 33

Tsrsarahhhh

Yeah go for it. Just word it in a way that doesn't make you seem like a lazy stereotypical gamer tho. I applied for English/ linguistics and I wrote that reading manga (along with other books) introduced me to a range of cultures/ styles of language (or something like that) :colondollar:

Reply 34

theguywhosaidhi

also, to clear it up I only meant to include like 1 line on the video games as I'm lacking in the hobbies section

Reply 35

fefssdf

If it isn't relevant don't bother including it.

Reply 36

Lazarus26

I would strongly recommend against it.
Even though gaming is a legitimate hobby, and teaches certain skills, you have to remember who's reading the PSs. They're people with little to no appreciation or understanding of gaming, who will simply interpret it as you won't work at uni because you'll be playing video games.

Reply 37

john2054

You COULD mention it, something like, 'i also enjoy playing online computer games in my spare time' but nothing more than this.

Reply 38

Doones

Original post by theguywhosaidhi

If you are applying for maths/physics focus almost entirely on that. Irrelevant extracurriculars are, er, irrelevant.

And sorry to break it to you but your PS isn't a huge factor for those courses anyway...

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 39

Music With Rocks

Your section on hobbies should only be a small paragraph in your personal statement (just to show the uni you are actually a real person and not just a maths and physics machine haha). So don't put too much emphasise on the hobby section and make it concise (mine was only 2-3 lines on hobbies and I managed to get an offer at Imperial so I think my personal statement was well received :smile:

).

As others have said reading books around your subject and discussing some of the ideas in them is a great way to pad out your statement, but generally you want your statement to be very to the point so make sure you can think of enough points and don't just drag it out to fill the word count!

Here you can read some examples of good and bad to help you out: https://www.studential.com/university/applying/UCAS-application-guide/personal-statement-examples