[tidbury1415]

(Original post by geekay1)
You seem clued up on the whole ps situation so if you wouldn't mind easing my worry a bit it would really help

I have nothing to put on mine I didn't really pay that much attention in school and since then have been a carpenter so have done absolutely nothing to put towards my degree

Ahh, lol geeky, I'm not totally clued up on the Personal Statement. Since you told me to check out UCAS, I've literally spent day and night on that site, trying to cram every piece of text i can into my head!

Am i right in thinking your starting an Access Course? I swear that's what you said earlier... (I'm to lazy to scroll up the page) lol

Let's see what we can do with you and your PS!

[geekay1]

(Original post by tidbury1415)
Ahh, lol geeky, I'm not totally clued up on the Personal Statement. Since you told me to check out UCAS, I've literally spent day and night on that site, trying to cram every piece of text i can into my head!

Am i right in thinking your starting an Access Course? I swear that's what you said earlier... (I'm to lazy to scroll up the page) lol

Let's see what we can do with you and your PS!

Yup access

[jeffercake]

(Original post by acat)
Religion and Theology.

If anyone has any questions regarding thing about the course feel free to ask. My tips are -
1/ Get your UCAS done early, probably start looking at uni courses and writing your PS now.
2/ Make a great first impression on your tutor who will be writing your reference.
3/ I don't know if it'll be different applying in 2012, but don't be too unambitious in your uni choice, obviously make sure you have insurances but put if you're academically strong, put a few top 10's in.

Most uni's love mature students, but there are a few I noticed (Leeds Uni actually) that no one I know got accepted too despite being accepted to better universities.

I got into Leeds it was my top choice.
If anyone needs any help or advice with Access courses, feel free to quote me, I've just finished mine with 54/60 level 3 credits at distinction (the remaining six at merit).

[tidbury1415]

(Original post by geekay1)
Yup access

Well there we go man. That's one solid chunk of word filler you can clam into your PS.

That's what I'm doing to do anyway. As you said, i could talk about how I've done a few level 3 courses before, but to be honest, the majority of my PS is going to be about the Access course and how even before i started the Access, i was influenced into this subject because of the everyday task's and motivation i got from that area. Also hence why i chose the course and want to pursue this further into a degree to help me gain a better understanding in this particular career.

That's literally a huge chunk of **** that I'm hoping they'll buy into. Obviously tidied up a lot.
As i said, talk about how everyday life has influenced you into perusing this fascination.

It's not all about what you have recorded on paper and spent years studying. Hence why people such as me, you and other take such a course. You need to over emphasize on how motivated and passionate you are.

I maybe talking absolute sh*t. But that's why we will have our tutor's once we start. As you know, they will be helping us A LOT with our PS anyway.

Haha not the best advice i know! It's all i have right now! lol

[acat]

(Original post by jeffercake)
I got into Leeds it was my top choice.
If anyone needs any help or advice with Access courses, feel free to quote me, I've just finished mine with 54/60 level 3 credits at distinction (the remaining six at merit).

Lol what the hell. Ignore what I wrote good peoples, it's obviously my problem and not Leeds' . Straight ****ing distinctions isn't good enough for them

[girlwithsharpteeth]

There are a whole load of past personal statements available to view on this site for inspiration (some are good, some not so good but just look for bits that you think are good and then re-write them for yourself). You can find them here: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki...tement_Library There are also helpers on these forums who will tell you how to improve your PS and plenty of guides to tell you what you should be including.

[tidbury1415]

(Original post by acat)
Lol what the hell. Ignore what I wrote good peoples, it's obviously my problem and not Leeds' . Straight ****ing distinctions isn't good enough for them

They didn't accept you even though you got straight distinctions? And they accepted him without?

That sounds a bit Irish... Maybe there's a differnce in age betwen you both? Or it could of been your personal statements?! That's very strange...

[jeffercake]

(Original post by tidbury1415)
They didn't accept you even though you got straight distinctions? And they accepted him without?

That sounds a bit Irish... Maybe there's a differnce in age betwen you both? Or it could of been your personal statements?! That's very strange...

I'm a her.
Leeds tends to go mainly on the PS anyway, however, acat and myself would have been rejected and accepted respectively before the uni knew many of our grades.
Also, chances are that we were applying for different courses with different departments.
Finally, I met my conditions (majority of distinctions in each module) so I don't see any wrong doing there.

[girlwithsharpteeth]

(Original post by tidbury1415)
They didn't accept you even though you got straight distinctions? And they accepted him without?

That sounds a bit Irish... Maybe there's a differnce in age betwen you both? Or it could of been your personal statements?! That's very strange...

As Jeffercake says, it's likely they both applied for different courses. If I had applied for medicine and got refused even with straight distinctions but someone else was accepted for nursing with only merits, would you find that strange?

[acat]

(Original post by tidbury1415)
They didn't accept you even though you got straight distinctions? And they accepted him without?

That sounds a bit Irish... Maybe there's a differnce in age betwen you both? Or it could of been your personal statements?! That's very strange...

I got accepted to 2 top 10 uni's and another that ranks higher than Leeds (guardian uni guide), which is what led me to think it was a mature student prejudice rather than anything else, but from the testimony of other people on here I guess that's not the case.

[jeffercake]

(Original post by acat)
I got accepted to 2 top 10 uni's and another that ranks higher than Leeds (guardian uni guide), which is what led me to think it was a mature student prejudice rather than anything else, but from the testimony of other people on here I guess that's not the case.

What course did you apply for and where did you get accepted? Just out of interest now!

[RinniieX]

im loving this thread so far. i love what its turning into lots of like minded people doing similar things! i personaly cannot wait to start my access course!

does anyone know if psychology alevel and access are taught in the same way? have to do essays in the same way etc?

[girlwithsharpteeth]

(Original post by RinniieX)
im loving this thread so far. i love what its turning into lots of like minded people doing similar things! i personaly cannot wait to start my access course!

does anyone know if psychology alevel and access are taught in the same way? have to do essays in the same way etc?

I did psychology on my Access course this year. We did a seen test on obedience and conformity, a written asignment on attachent theory (specifically cognitive theory but mostly to do with Kohlbergs theory of gender development) and that was Unit 1. Unit 2 was memory (we had to do a research project to collect data and do a written assignment/report on our findings - we chose levels of processing theory) and our final exam was on mental abnormalities (depression and schizophrenia) and the evolution of intelligence and brain size.

So 2 exams (1 seen test) and 2 written assignments (1 a research report project) - 1 of each for each module.

However, different colleges may teach it slightly differently.

[RinniieX]

(Original post by girlwithsharpteeth)
I did psychology on my Access course this year. We did a seen test on obedience and conformity, a written asignment on attachent theory (specifically cognitive theory but mostly to do with Kohlbergs theory of gender development) and that was Unit 1. Unit 2 was memory (we had to do a research project to collect data and do a written assignment/report on our findings - we chose levels of processing theory) and our final exam was on mental abnormalities (depression and schizophrenia) and the evolution of intelligence and brain size.

So 2 exams (1 seen test) and 2 written assignments (1 a research report project) - 1 of each for each module.

However, different colleges may teach it slightly differently.

fabfabfab! did you enjoy it? find it difficult etc? i dont it for 6 months as level back in 2006 but thanks to a teacher who hated me i didnt enjoy it very much but love psychology itself! when did you do your exams aswell? if you dont mind me asking that is

[geekay1]

(Original post by tidbury1415)
Well there we go man. That's one solid chunk of word filler you can clam into your PS.

That's what I'm doing to do anyway. As you said, i could talk about how I've done a few level 3 courses before, but to be honest, the majority of my PS is going to be about the Access course and how even before i started the Access, i was influenced into this subject because of the everyday task's and motivation i got from that area. Also hence why i chose the course and want to pursue this further into a degree to help me gain a better understanding in this particular career.

That's literally a huge chunk of **** that I'm hoping they'll buy into. Obviously tidied up a lot.
As i said, talk about how everyday life has influenced you into perusing this fascination.

It's not all about what you have recorded on paper and spent years studying. Hence why people such as me, you and other take such a course. You need to over emphasize on how motivated and passionate you are.

I maybe talking absolute sh*t. But that's why we will have our tutor's once we start. As you know, they will be helping us A LOT with our PS anyway.

Haha not the best advice i know! It's all i have right now! lol

Hey sorry I took so long to reply and thanks for the advice (lets just hope no uni admissions peoples come to have a look round tsr ), have you made a start on ps yet ? perhaps when we start we can compare and give opinions ans pointers all that sort of thing.

[girlwithsharpteeth]

(Original post by RinniieX)
fabfabfab! did you enjoy it? find it difficult etc? i dont it for 6 months as level back in 2006 but thanks to a teacher who hated me i didnt enjoy it very much but love psychology itself! when did you do your exams aswell? if you dont mind me asking that is

I did quite enjoy it though some parts more than others. I found that it was largely a lot of different studies to remember - the psychologists involved, the dates, the findings and support/criticisms for evaluation. It was brand new to me though so you might not find it that way. We had our seen test just after christmas and our final exam on 7th June but again, this is all likely to vary depending on where you study

[tidbury1415]

(Original post by geekay1)
Hey sorry I took so long to reply and thanks for the advice (lets just hope no uni admissions peoples come to have a look round tsr ), have you made a start on ps yet ? perhaps when we start we can compare and give opinions ans pointers all that sort of thing.

ahhh no i haven't started on my PS yet, have you? i wouldn't know where to start yet!

Should i be? you've got me worried now! i'm still worrying about my interview at the two colleges i've applied at.

yep, ill show you mine if you show me yours HA!

[LewisH]

If you have the flexibility to move around the country I would recommend you do your research throughly and go to a Uni that ticks all your boxes. I put hours into simply sitting on my fat botty checking what the various places offered compared to what I wanted from them.

By the time I was sat in front of my interviewer in first choice Uni I knew what options I wanted in years two and three, who was teaching in those areas and so forth. I didn't sound like a stalker, but showing focus and a genuine desire to go there is going to come through.

Make sure you get some solid advice from good tutors in your college as I felt this was crucial on your personal statement. There's a fine line between sounding like you're desperate to go everywhere and sounding like you are committed to one institution.

It's like being 15 at your school disco. In principle you prolly want to get off with someone specific, but in reality you'd settle for a snog from anyone. However, look too desperate and no-one will snog you

[accesstohe]

I've just finished my access course and ended up with Distinctions in every level three unit! If any of you guys need any advice then feel free to message/quote me.

One thing I would advise before choosing what degree to apply for and where, take a look on www.unistats.com; you simply type in the degree name and the university you're interested in, and it gives you statistics on what degree class students get, what jobs they end up doing, what percentage are in graduate jobs etc - that type of information is vital to know IMO.

I hope you all do well

[geekay1]

(Original post by tidbury1415)
ahhh no i haven't started on my PS yet, have you? i wouldn't know where to start yet!

Should i be? you've got me worried now! i'm still worrying about my interview at the two colleges i've applied at.

yep, ill show you mine if you show me yours HA!

I have had a few people tell me that its worth getting some drafts of your ps done now but sounds way to early in my opinion.

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