Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

What will make my computer science personal statement look good?

I am now starting to build up my portfolio but am lacking stuff relating to the course. Any advice?

Do your own projects. My friend got an interview for art and had to show about 3 projects that had nothing to do with the course

Reply 2

TommyWoo

Is there any courses I could take part in or any books you know of?

Reply 3

iisjman07

Programming experience always looks good as it shows an interest in the subject matter

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 4

Oxford Computer Science Dept

You might find these few links useful:

*Recommended reading and activities: http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/ugadmissions/why_oxford/background_reading.html
*Comp Sci personal statement guidance: http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/ugadmissions/how_to_apply/personal_statement.html and what not to write: http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/ugadmissions/how_to_apply/phrases_to_avoid.html

Reply 5

Damask-

If you can't code, start coding. If you're not doing a lot of maths-related problem solving, start doing some maths-related problem solving. If you haven't done any background reading, do some background reading.

Don't worry about work experience - universities know that any kind of experience in the industry at 17 won't be particularly rigorous. Make sure you focus on maths and problem-solving skills, as well as all the normal PS stuff like your achievements and what they demonstrate, and why you're passionate about the subject (if you haven't already, come up with a good non-clichéd answer to that in case you have to recall it at an interview.)