[benten17]

Coming from a Scottish point-of-view, with highers, if I say were to be lucky and get 5 A's, in most Unis, would my personal statement have any impact on my chance of being accepted?

[TheSownRose]

Some places won't even read it, some places put a lot of store by it. Seeing as you don't know what the admissions tutor will do, it makes sense to put maximum effort to make it as good as you can.

[PhilipMiti]

I'd say it REALLY DOES MATTER. Although it really does depend on the course you're applying to. But I do believe it help the Uni decide between two or more people of similar mettle. the Personal Statement is what makes the difference. I know for my offer it made all the difference. I emailed the admissions tutor to ask about grades and she said that they tend not to look at the AS results. They put main emphasis on the the personal statement and predicted grades as long as you've met the requirements. I think it depends on the course you're applying to. The course i refer to above was Neuroscience- University of Leeds.

[Alina2793]

(Original post by benten17)
would my personal statement have any impact on my chance of being accepted?

I think it does. I recieved an offer from universities I never had a shot at. And I'm sure it was because of my ps. But then again, it could differ from uni to uni. I believe the top unis read it and the rest not so much. Good luck anyways!

[Pfefferminze]

it does. In one of my rejections was clearly stated that they didn't like my ps as much as the other applicants. and it was a Scottish uni.

[SpicyStrawberry]

It does, if you leave it out completely you're risking not getting offers because it's not a complete application, or if you write it poorly you're also putting yourself at risk of rejection. Some people have gotten offers because their PS was written so well, even if their grades were one lower than the course required.

Thousands of people apply for university, so I doubt every statement gets read for each application, but it's not worth the risk if you're thinking of skipping that part out.

[twinlensreflex]

I think it's hugely important - I'm convinced I got all my interviews/offers because my personal statement was quite...different (it started with an art manifesto ), so if you can make it as interesting and unusual as possible I think you'll do well...

[aspirinpharmacist]

YES.

I got 5 A's last year but I don't think it would've meant a thing if I hadn't put so much time into my personal statement. I come across as the world's biggest pharmacy nerd but hey, it worked! Also, even if you're one of a few people at your school in your year who does have 5 A's, at other schools there could be loads of people with straight A's. I know it's like that for one of the private schools near me, they had a hell of a lot more people with 5 A's and that was before the appeals came through.

[ifstatement]

I think top tier uni's tend to read personal statements more. I got an offer from a top 10 Uni since I'm guessing they took a while to respond and read through my PS thoroughly while another University which I originally wanted to go to (my first choice) which was a middle tier university gave me a straight blank denial.

[LSD]

(Original post by benten17)
Coming from a Scottish point-of-view, with highers, if I say were to be lucky and get 5 A's, in most Unis, would my personal statement have any impact on my chance of being accepted?

Depends on your grades I think. It has less if an impact when you already have the necessary grades. More of an impact if you're sort of on the edge/lower, it could swing it for you. Good to have a decent one any way.

Edit: Just read you're applying in scotland. I have reason to believe Glasgow did not read my personal statement (I already had the grades for entry and they replied to my ucas in less than 2 days with two unconditionals) on another thread someone who worked for admissions in a Russell Group uni (possibly glasgow?) gave some insight into how it's done.

See here

(Original post by 0404343m)
It's not all that unusual. If you hunt around on websites, some will say that getting AAA = unconditional offer, and those predicted to get that will be made an offer on that basis. Those might come back pretty quickly so the university can sit down and see how many offers it has made and then decide what to do with those predicted to get AAB. I'm sure, depending on the university, you would be told as much at an open day. I worked in admissions for a Russell Group university and those that had achieved or were predicted to exceed the entry requirements were made an offer, the personal statement wasn't part of it. Once we had those out of the way, those predicted to get close to or just on the entry we read more thoroughly. If there were any spaces after that (usually some weeks later) we'd make a few offers to those whose extracurriculars or PS seemed particularly good, even if they were predicted to be a couple of grades lower (like BBB rather than AAB). They'd still be asked to achieve AAB though. For most places with significantly more apps than places, it doesn't make sense to wade through how an A*AA student also volunteered in a bookclub, as there's next to no chance (esp if they already had those grades) that they wouldn't be made an offer unless they wanted to do engineering or something with the wrong subjects at school.

[laura1234]

Of course your personal statement matters. Especially for unis/courses which don't have interviews, and for those that do interview they are pretty likely to talk to you about what you have written in your personal statement

[kaypc]

(Original post by aspirinpharmacist)
YES.

I got 5 A's last year but I don't think it would've meant a thing if I hadn't put so much time into my personal statement. I come across as the world's biggest pharmacy nerd but hey, it worked! Also, even if you're one of a few people at your school in your year who does have 5 A's, at other schools there could be loads of people with straight A's. I know it's like that for one of the private schools near me, they had a hell of a lot more people with 5 A's and that was before the appeals came through.

how much work experience do you need for pharmacy?

[amylea_94]

Yeah its one of the most important things related to your application as this will sum you up as a stranger is trying to get an idea of who you are and your knowledge and experience in 47 lines so yeah very important

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my HTC Wildfire S A510e

[GreenLantern1]

(Original post by Pfefferminze)
it does. In one of my rejections was clearly stated that they didn't like my ps as much as the other applicants. and it was a Scottish uni.

Yo Peppermint are you German. Kommst du aus Deutschland?

[aspirinpharmacist]

(Original post by kaypc)
how much work experience do you need for pharmacy?

I had 4 days in a community pharmacy and spent an afternoon shadowing a practice/primary care pharmacist, so you really don't need much. As long as you do a decent job of explaining what you learned from it, that's fine. But if you can get more, definitely get it!

[amyelizabeth2681]

I think it's hugely important to be honest. I managed to get into UCL for law with fairly average grades compared to other people I knew applied and my LNAT score was also decent. According to the head of the English department at my college though, my personal statement was very well written and I personally think that had to be it. Grades and scores only say so much about you, your personal statement is what will make you unique and can mean a world of difference if the tutor that reads it really likes it.