[carnationlilyrose]

(Original post by punctuation)
Hi, this is a question that's a bit off-topic but I don't think it really warranted a new thread, so:

When can I submit my personal statement to be viewed (as an example) on the wiki? That is, I want to submit my PS to the wiki so others can view it, not so it can be edited by the helpers.

Thanks.

Have you completed the admissions cycle? If not, don't do this yet, in case you need it for Clearing or something else.

[punctuation]

(Original post by toronto353)
Hi,
You will need to post in Ask a PS Help Moderator in the PS Help subforum and ask them really. I don't think that you will be able to submit it until the end of this cycle though, but I would post in there as they will be able to offer you more in-depth advice on this issue. You are aware that a PS Helper may review it on the wiki pointing out the positive and negative aspects of your statement?

toronto353

(Original post by carnationlilyrose)
Have you completed the admissions cycle? If not, don't do this yet, in case you need it for Clearing or something else.

Okay, I see. Thank you. So by the end of the admissions cycle, do you mean after I've firmed a university? Or until I've received my results?

[toronto353]

(Original post by punctuation)
Okay, I see. Thank you. So by the end of the admissions cycle, do you mean after I've firmed a university? Or until I've received my results?

When you start university, then I would offer it for use in the wiki. Before then, I wouldn't post it in case, as carnationlilyrose says, you need it.

[carnationlilyrose]

(Original post by punctuation)
Okay, I see. Thank you. So by the end of the admissions cycle, do you mean after I've firmed a university? Or until I've received my results?

I mean when you've got your results and your place is confirmed. There's many a slip, as they say, and you don't want to put yourself at risk of an accusation of plagiarism of your own statement.

[*Interrobang*]

(Original post by punctuation)
Hi, this is a question that's a bit off-topic but I don't think it really warranted a new thread, so:

When can I submit my personal statement to be viewed (as an example) on the wiki? That is, I want to submit my PS to the wiki so others can view it, not so it can be edited by the helpers.

Thanks.

Just to reiterate what toronto has said. We are trying (as much as we can) to have all the PSs on the wiki reviewed, so that applicants can see what is good and bad about the PSs on there (as many of them aren't good quality!). Are you still happy for your PS to be on the wiki with that in mind? If you change your mind later, you can still ask for it to be taken down

[punctuation]

(Original post by *Interrobang*)
Just to reiterate what toronto has said. We are trying (as much as we can) to have all the PSs on the wiki reviewed, so that applicants can see what is good and bad about the PSs on there (as many of them aren't good quality!). Are you still happy for your PS to be on the wiki with that in mind? If you change your mind later, you can still ask for it to be taken down

Yeah, that's fine with me. I'll wait until the end of the admissions cycle, then.

[*Interrobang*]

(Original post by punctuation)
Yeah, that's fine with me. I'll wait until the end of the admissions cycle, then.

OK cool With that in mind, when the time comes, there's a thread here where you can post your PS for someone to upload it, if you can't work it out yourself

[Rim.b]

Hello everyone, I was wondering about international sudent's fees, I'm from Morocco . I didn't know where I can post my question, so I've posted it here . Any requests for universities ? Or scolarships ? Thank youu

[da_comeback]

For any course? What should I include? etc

[Ronny7]

I have applied for only one University, choosing a couple of different business degrees. I made it very specific in my personal statement that I was only applying for this university, and mentioned the name of it several times and why I want to go there so they know I'm only applying to them. Is this a good idea and will it work for or against me?

[toronto353]

(Original post by Ronny7)
I have applied for only one University, choosing a couple of different business degrees. I made it very specific in my personal statement that I was only applying for this university, and mentioned the name of it several times and why I want to go there so they know I'm only applying to them. Is this a good idea and will it work for or against me?

In theory it could show them that you are keen to go there. The issue is that, since you have applied for many courses at this one university, it may look like you are applying to the university because of the university rather than because of the course which could look bad. In reality, there are many advantages and disadvantages, but that is one potential problem. The advantage is that looking keen to go there may also work in your favour, but it will depend how the admissions tutors looks at it.

[TaraBelle]

would you guys say starting a personal statement with a qoute is too cliche? or would it work if it was a good one?

[ohdrama]

i think there a rarely quotes that are actually good/suitable/whatever. if i want to read some fancy quotes, i can still google them. personally, i'd stick to my own words and ideas for a personal statement.

[erniiee]

(Original post by TaraBelle)
would you guys say starting a personal statement with a qoute is too cliche? or would it work if it was a good one?

Hell no.

[TaraBelle]

(Original post by ohdrama)
i think there a rarely quotes that are actually good/suitable/whatever. if i want to read some fancy quotes, i can still google them. personally, i'd stick to my own words and ideas for a personal statement.

(Original post by erniiee)


Hell no.

okay maybe not then :L

edit: hey why the neg?

[toronto353]

(Original post by TaraBelle)
would you guys say starting a personal statement with a qoute is too cliche? or would it work if it was a good one?

I would tend to say yes. Furthermore, the admissions tutors are looking for your opinions and your thoughts and you should express your ideas in your words. No-one else's words can really express what you think so I'd tend to avoid using quotes.

[Maixiu]

I'm hoping to study either an Oriental language or European languages at uni, hopefully Oxford. Does anyone know what kind of things I should put on my Personal Statement?

[oxymoronic]

(Original post by Maixiu)
I'm hoping to study either an Oriental language or European languages at uni, hopefully Oxford. Does anyone know what kind of things I should put on my Personal Statement?

See the first post of this thread.

Discussing where your interest in the language came from is fundamental, as is discussing what you've already done to develop your skills/interest in the language. You also need to talk about why you now want to take this further at university.

However, you can't actually apply until September so spend the next 8 months deciding which course to study then you can consider university choices.

[lizolove]

Personal Statements: How to write an amazing personal statement for entry to university.

Ok. Since I've been through the whole UCAS process myself (last year), I decided that since I've had a lot of people ask me for personal statement help, I'd attempt to explain how I managed to get 5 offers from universities, by writing a guideline to what to include in your statement. If you follow this guide, you will most likely be more likely to receive an offer, but obviously, there will be no guarantees, because I can't predict the future, and offers are based on numerous aspects.

Having read successful applications, I'm going to attempt to help explain how to write a good personal statement. I am not suggesting you use this thread as a sole way to write your statement, but more as a guideline.




Personal statements:

You need to include various aspects into your personal statement to make it stand out from the rest. The key to being noticed is to be separate from other applicants. If you can write a different and interesting statement, universities will favour you. Obviously, this means you'll probably end up sitting down for a while trying to figure out the eternal question 'what makes me special?' but in essence, this is what the statement is about. You are basically being asked to write a statement about you. This means that you need to sell yourself through your piece of writing. You must state various aspects about yourself, of which, we will explore later. The statement (as I am aware - please correct me if it has changed) has a maximum of 4000 characters, to which I recommend you use AS many as possible. At the start, you may be lost for words, and be stuck on 1000 characters (NOTE: NOT WORDS), but by the end, you'll feel you need more, I guarantee. You must create your OWN work, as the UCAS system does have a copy detection, so any replicating of statements from previous years will mean you will be detected and your application terminated. Do not make the naive mistake that some do and think that you can even copy and paste 4 words, because they all add up. If you like an idea from a previous applicant's statement, rephrase it and make it your own.


What to include:

You can include a number of things in the statement, but here's a rough guide as to what I've read that successful applicants have included in the past:

- Why you got into the subject - include a reason for your interest. E.g. I mentioned my family's legal background encouraging me to study Law. I watched a video regarding this, as I wanted to know what tutors wanted to see, and a lecturer who was admitting students for the University of Birmingham or Bristol mentioned how the 'best' application he ever saw was one depicting the truth. He said that one applicant had mentioned how he got into history when he was sitting with his grandfather one day and drinking whisky whilst listening to old stories about the war. - You don't need something to make you stand out, but if you have something, use it to your advantage. You have the opportunity to make this about you and make the admissions department remember you, which is obviously a good thing when they have 100 places and thousands of applicants.

- What experience you have in relation to your subject - granted, some subjects really do not have any relevance to what you may have done in real life, but try and find ways to make the admissions people see you are passionate about the subject and have found ways to be involved in your subject, and are therefore very set on the subject. At the end of the day, a student with more passion with one grade below the asked grades required is probably more likely to be considered/accepted than one who has no passion, but has the grades. Ways to indicate you are involved can be through projects (e.g. At A-Level you may have the option to do an extended project), written pieces (that you may have written for the subject, done well in and are proud of - and can thus show off if you have an interview), work experience (e.g. for Medicine, hospital work, for Law, working in the courts etc.), or even display how your subjects relate to the course you want to do (e.g. I studied Geography and mentioned how I have aspired to study environmental Law, and how I studied ethics, something greatly involved in areas in Law).

- Attributes that make you amazing - what makes you, you? You need to aim to sell yourself the most throughout this, and to do so, you need to ignore being modest, and praise yourself like the most modest person on this planet. Any achievement you have had that may be relevant, mention it. Any personal skills that you find relevant, include them. You literally need to be proud in this part. Being proud in a personal statement shows confidence and your ability to convince the reader alongside a huge passion for the subject and individuality from the other applicants. Examples: "My ability to debate compliments my passion for the subject of Law, and has meant that I am a particularly confident person" and "My attention to detail and perfectionist attitude has also meant that my work is to an impeccable standard" NB, I wouldn't copy this if I were you, because of the scan UCAS use (also used online to check for copying) and these examples having been used in my personal statement.

- Personality - the university want to get a greater insight into YOU. When I wrote my statement, I was so nervous that the universities would be so into the academics, that I failed to show in my statement the real me. I showed my tutor the statement and they told me it could be about anyone! Personality, hobbies and so on are what it is about. The university does not just want to know that you are academic capability (as they will learn from your grades on the application), but they want to know you. You need to dedicate a section (whether it be 2 sentences or a paragraph) to your hobbies, interests and so on. Whether your interest is unusual like sky diving, or usual like reading, let them know what you are about! If it is reading, try and make it specific to you, let them know the genre of books you prefer, e.g. horror, or a title of a book. Give the university a brief insight into what you're about rather than a general pure academic report that could have been about anyone. They want to know you will be involved in the university, and join societies within it, so include any sports you like, hobbies, experience you've had in areas (e.g. DJing in a local club) etc.



Helpful Hints:

I'm going to update this section whenever I remember these hints, because I have so many, so please keep checking back, however, here's the list for now.

- Do not plagiarise. - As mentioned above, it is so easy to detect. UCAS have a system that searches the internet and other applications to see 'how plagiarised' work is (e.g. 40% would show a clear copy) so you will be removed from the application process in this circumstance, and may not be able to reapply.
- Do not rely on Microsoft word to count characters - I did this, and for some reason, when I got bang on 4000, I moved it to the UCAS site and it was 20 characters over or so, so ensure you either have 20 characters spare on word, or regularly copy it onto the site to check your character count.
- Do not apply to 2 courses that are completely different - you will put yourself in a vulnerable position. E.g. Law and Geography for example do not go together much, so you will have to write about BOTH subjects in the one piece of work, so obviously will be limited to writing as much as applicants applying to one, so you may be at a huge disadvantage.
- Get the work checked - I cannot stress enough how important this is, ensure your tutor checks over your work and criticises it a lot. Whether they think you have phrased something weirdly or just think your layout is awful, the more you pick up on in drafts (Yes, you should do drafts of the work - e.g. you should literally change it about 13 odd times), the fewer mistakes will be in the final copy.
- Try and get a head start. With this guide being published in February, I am not suggesting you go crazy and start writing now, but certainly think about the subject you wish to do, and over summer, jot some ideas down. Students who get on the ball about it will finish a lot sooner and have offers a lot sooner, and will be able to focus on exams and be motivated to do well by the offers they receive. Students who apply later will feel rushed and nervous, especially if it is around exam season!
- Think about your subject and ensure you want to do it - think about whether you actually want to do it. You may change your mind in university, and you will most likely be able to change, but if you apply to a university great for Business, and change to Geography, their department may not be as great, and you may miss out on one of your other choices, because you didn't think about what you wanted to do.




I hope I've helped you with this, I realise the publishing of this is early, but I am extremely bored right now, and promised someone I'd write this for them, so here you go! I will post on this thread again near September to hopefully let more people know it is here.
If you have any questions, please post them on here by quoting me, and I will reply. (Please do not post on my wall, as others with the same problem will not be able to see the resolution to the problem or anything that need clarifying).

Thanks!


NB: It is essential that this is used as a guide and it is not at all guaranteed that all universities will follow this procedure, but this is what I used personally, so I can recommend if you apply to the University of Sheffield for example or similar universities, it will be beneficial to use as a guide, or for anyone struggling with what to write, this can also be used. This should also be used for UNDERGRADUATE entry, as an editor did say, not for MA, Ph.D. degrees and so on.

[hasan4life]

u typed all this?