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Most Usefull thing on Personal statement (politics undergraduate)

Hi, I'm in year 12 and am hoping to study politics at uni following Alevels ( I haven't looked into Unis much yet but I was looking at Notingham or Durham), and have been bombarded with the 1000 things that 'will look good on your personal statement' and was just wondering what are the things that some of the things you put on your personal statements that where brought up in your interviews and seemed significant
Good grades are the main thing in any application. Beyond that, make sure your PS looks at why you want to study politics and why you would make a good politics student.

In terms of ECs, consider
-extra reading - make sure you reflect on it, rather than just saying "I read x"
- EPQ on a politics topic
- work experience (this is NOT compulsory)

Can you give us an idea of which opportunities are on offer to you? That way we can narrow things down a bit for you.

(from a politics graduate)

Posted from TSR Mobile
TSR Advice here on applying for Politics : http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Politics_Degree

Admissions statement from Bristol with advice about what they look for - http://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/media/undergraduate/admissions-statements/2015/spais.pdf

In particular a demonstrated interest in Politics (ie. not just reading) is something that top Unis look for. So go to relevant lectures, political meetings/council sittings, get involved with local politics/pressure groups etc, There is a General Election coming up - volunteer for your local party now, there will be lots of leaflet delivering and admin stuff to do and this get you involved. Contact your local Council (Democratic Services dept) and ask about working at the Vote Count in May - I think you have to be 18 - that would be wonderful experience in the reality of the political process.

This isnt because Unis are looking for explicit political views - but they are looking for people who understand the grass-roots nature of politics, that it isnt something that 'happens in London' or that you just read about and consider later. What happened at that Council Meeting that surprised you? What questions did you think of at that public lecture you went to (did you agree with what was said?). Do you hold passionate views about any aspect of Politics - feminism, prison reform, the recent debate over '3 parents babies' etc etc or anything else that 'gets you going'?
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by michael90cr
Hi, I'm in year 12 and am hoping to study politics at uni following Alevels ( I haven't looked into Unis much yet but I was looking at Notingham or Durham), and have been bombarded with the 1000 things that 'will look good on your personal statement' and was just wondering what are the things that some of the things you put on your personal statements that where brought up in your interviews and seemed significant


As Origami Bullets says, if you let us know what is on offer to you, people may be able to advise what is the most useful and what is a waste of time.

To start with, I would discount anything not directly related to politics- e.g. being a school prefect, doing DofE, that sort of thing. People often say these will look good on your personal statement, but as lots of students offer them, and they are fairly generic, they won't really help you stand out from the crowd. That's not to say you shouldn't do things that aren't politics related if you enjoy them- just don't expect them to be useful for uni admissions purposes.

I am sure you will write more formally in your personal statement than you would on a web-forum, but it is really important to remember that your personal statement is usually the only example of your written English that universities will see. Try to avoid long run on sentences that last for a whole paragraph :tongue:
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michael90cr
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My school offer generic things like: 'peer mentoring'(helping Y11 students); helping out in lower school lessons; Critical thinking; Debate society(doing this already); Young enterprise(setting up a business); Time of school to do voluntary work. Plus we are encouraged to do part time work if Then we get around 15 emails a week about apprenticeships and university 'enrichment' lectures/taster days/summer for Y12 students. I have just been to one at Aston University and am going to one at Leeds and Royal Holloway soon. We have been told it could be useful to look at Lecturers at the Unis we want to go to and read books by them and just read lots of books in the subject area we want to go into. I have been trying to get work placements on news desks at local papers/branches of national papers as well as broadcasters (BBC and ITN(ITV+channel 4+5 news provider), however everywhere I have looked require you to be 18, and in the case of most papers be doing a journalism degrees. I have done a one day placement at parliament, shadowing an MP, but that's all I've managed to get. I've applied for the Nottingham uni summer school programme (It falls in term time when I go back after my AS exams) and am planning to go to a public election debate by my politics teacher. It's figuring out how much you need to do and what's times better spent elsewhere

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