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Book too babyish to be in personal statement according to teacher

I referenced Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman in my personal statement and my teacher said to take it out because that is a key stage 3 book.

If I take it out then I will have to change my whole paragraph which is so good (not to toot my own horn).

Should I listen to my teacher?

I am applying for an essay based subject but not English if that makes a difference and my paragraph is very relevant to the course I want to study.

Edit: thank you everyone. I have decided against referencing N&C. I'll somehow try to keep my paragraph without using this book.
(edited 9 years ago)

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Unis do not take personal statements that seriously. My guess is it's not a problem.
Why are you citing this book? Its aimed at teenagers and it is hardly a work of literary merit. What relevance does it have to studying at Uni?
Original post by Da Di Doo
I referenced Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman in my personal statement and my teacher said to take it out because that is a key stage 3 book.

If I take it out then I will have to change my whole paragraph which is so good (not to toot my own horn).

Should I listen to my teacher?

I am applying for an essay based subject but not English if that makes a difference and my paragraph is very relevant to the course I want to study.


I somewhat agree with your teacher. Why are you referencing this book? Is there anyway to remove the book and still maintain the paragraph? I'm a little confused as to why you have referenced a book anyway as your personal statement is about you. If you're discussing your academic studies and are taking literature, then I could understand the book reference, even then I would go for something more academic and less well know.
It depends on why you're including it. I've not read it but I don't think it's seen as a particularly high-brow book from a literary perspective. However, if you're including it because it's inspired you in some other aspect, maybe you are justified.
Reply 5
Original post by Chlorophile
It depends on why you're including it. I've not read it but I don't think it's seen as a particularly high-brow book from a literary perspective. However, if you're including it because it's inspired you in some other aspect, maybe you are justified.


That is exactly why I'm mentioning it.

Original post by EloiseStar
I somewhat agree with your teacher. Why are you referencing this book? Is there anyway to remove the book and still maintain the paragraph? I'm a little confused as to why you have referenced a book anyway as your personal statement is about you. If you're discussing your academic studies and are taking literature, then I could understand the book reference, even then I would go for something more academic and less well know.


It inspired me.

Original post by returnmigrant
Why are you citing this book? Its aimed at teenagers and it is hardly a work of literary merit. What relevance does it have to studying at Uni?


See above.

Original post by TheBigGeek
Unis do not take personal statements that seriously. My guess is it's not a problem.


I'm applying to top unis, for a competitive subject. I think they might care, even if it's a little, about my personal statement.
If i were an admissions tutor I wouldn't be impressed but if it's mixed in with loads of other "proper" books I doubt it'll be too big a problem.
Original post by Da Di Doo
I referenced Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman in my personal statement and my teacher said to take it out because that is a key stage 3 book.

If I take it out then I will have to change my whole paragraph which is so good (not to toot my own horn).

Should I listen to my teacher?

I am applying for an essay based subject but not English if that makes a difference and my paragraph is very relevant to the course I want to study.

It seems like an odd choice... but it's hard to tell if it's appropriate without reading it. What you've written about it will have to be very good to justify it.
Of course there's always a risk that you'll get a literary snob for an admissions tutor who thinks all YA books are meaningless drivel (which isn't by any means true but there's a lot of people who really can't see past the target age of a book).
When you say teacher, do you mean tutor? If so, maybe show it to your other teachers? See what they think...
Original post by Da Di Doo
That is exactly why I'm mentioning it.



It inspired me.



See above.



I'm applying to top unis, for a competitive subject. I think they might care, even if it's a little, about my personal statement.


I thought it might be the case. I would advise you remove it especially given you are applying for a competitive subject and a top institution. Valuable characters can be used elsewhere to better demonstrate your abilities.
Please don't use the word inspired, it's up their with passion for overuse in PS.

Don't see any issue though, they're only really going to sit up if you reference a particular law related book or something brutal like Tolstoy anyway, if they read it at all.
Reply 10
Original post by Da Di Doo
I referenced Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman in my personal statement and my teacher said to take it out because that is a key stage 3 book.

If I take it out then I will have to change my whole paragraph which is so good (not to toot my own horn).

Should I listen to my teacher?

I am applying for an essay based subject but not English if that makes a difference and my paragraph is very relevant to the course I want to study.

I agreed with your teacher when I first looked at which book it was.

But if it inspired you then maybe it is OK to leave it in. I think I'd need to read what you wrote to suggest whether it's the right decision.
Original post by Da Di Doo

I'm applying to top unis, for a competitive subject. I think they might care, even if it's a little, about my personal statement.


I went to Oxbridge. For Law. Our DoS openly admitted that he never read any of our PS, or those of our predecessors and successors.
Original post by Da Di Doo
I referenced Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman in my personal statement and my teacher said to take it out because that is a key stage 3 book.

If I take it out then I will have to change my whole paragraph which is so good (not to toot my own horn).

Should I listen to my teacher?

I am applying for an essay based subject but not English if that makes a difference and my paragraph is very relevant to the course I want to study.


When writing your PS, absolutely everything must be laser-focused on showing why you'd make an excellent student for them. If you can make that work for N&C, then do it, I'd be very interested in hearing what it is about that particular book that has you wanting to include it, though?
"It inspired me" simply isn't good enough, so if that's it I definitely would use your word count on more valuable material
Original post by Le Nombre
I went to Oxbridge. For Law. Our DoS openly admitted that he never read any of our PS, or those of our predecessors and successors.


But Oxbridge has a very rigorous interviewing procedure, not all universities do that. My university, Bath, doesn't conduct interviews for Architecture so the decision process is entirely based off of your personal statement, references and academic potential
Original post by Da Di Doo
That is exactly why I'm mentioning it.



It inspired me.



See above.



I'm applying to top unis, for a competitive subject. I think they might care, even if it's a little, about my personal statement.


The better the uni, the less they care. I'm at Cambridge and when I was applying my teachers told me that they didn't even read it, it was all about interview and grades.

Look, if the PS is total ****; poorly worded, grammar and spelling mistakes, no substance whatsoever etc then they would notice but if it's really good just with this one slight "young adult" book mentioned then I don't think they'll care.
Personal statement is about you, not the author of the book. Reference it only if it has to do with your course, and don't take too much space by putting it in. Also, this book is an YA read, YA has a poor reputation recently. Try giving a go at classics that can really influence you and your language.
Inspired you do what exactly? Unless you can articulate this, and make it relevant to 'Why I'm applying for this subject at University level', then take your teacher's advice.

Part of going to Uni is growing up and entering an adult world. Citing a children's book and not understanding why this isn't a smart idea does suggest you aren't quite ready for this yet.
You could mention this young person's book, perhaps including a sentence such as "when i began to read proper books i was excited by Noughts & Crosses...." to show you are aware of the issue.
Reply 18
Original post by returnmigrant
Inspired you do what exactly? Unless you can articulate this, and make it relevant to 'Why I'm applying for this subject at University level', then take your teacher's advice.

Part of going to Uni is growing up and entering an adult world. Citing a children's book and not understanding why this isn't a smart idea does suggest you aren't quite ready for this yet.


Because I referenced a child's book, I'm not old enough for uni?

The only reason I put it in my personal statement is because I thought of something brilliant and very relevant to say about my course by citing the book.

But yeah, I'm going to try and keep the paragraph and get rid of the book somehow so thank you.
Reply 19
Original post by TheBigGeek
The better the uni, the less they care. I'm at Cambridge and when I was applying my teachers told me that they didn't even read it, it was all about interview and grades.

Look, if the PS is total ****; poorly worded, grammar and spelling mistakes, no substance whatsoever etc then they would notice but if it's really good just with this one slight "young adult" book mentioned then I don't think they'll care.


Oh wow, that's surprising. I thought Oxbridge would be the most picky because they have so many amazing candidates so they need as many ways as possible to filter them out.

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