Personal Statement Help Question Thread

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  1. Potally_Tissed's Avatar
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    Re: Include this in a personal statement?
    (Original post by Annie2129)
    Ask the person who will do your reference if they are going to include that. I've mentioned I came top in the exam board so I left about GCSE results to my referee. So might want to mention the most impressive of your achievements yourself.
    Although my course is academically demanding so that's how I tied it in.
    It would have been better for your referee to mention those things.
  2. pippy123's Avatar
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    completely clueless about personal statement
    .
    ..
    Last edited by pippy123; 25-01-2013 at 13:32.
  3. TenOfThem's Avatar
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    Re: completely clueless about personal statement
    (Original post by pippy123)
    I am hoping to get onto an animal based degree in 2013. I will be 23 and hopefully have passed an access course to meet their entry requirements. I'm totally clueless what to write on my personal statement or how to start! I don't have any professional work experience with animals (other than school work experience but i don't think that will count!) I have been a full time mother for most my adult life and my jobs have been either retail or office so I'm worried my lack of experience will ruin my chances. Any advice on what to write? I'm desperate to gain a place for 2013. I'm hoping to do some voluntary work over the next year but by then my ucas application will already be sent.
    Thank you x
    Have you looked in the PS section on here (look at the tabs at the top of the page)

    There are exemplar ones
  4. smd4std's Avatar
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    Re: completely clueless about personal statement
    just say you enjoy eating meat or something? or u have pets etc etc
  5. TheSownRose's Avatar
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    Re: completely clueless about personal statement
    (Original post by smd4std)
    just say you enjoy eating meat or something? or u have pets etc etc
    I laughed ... but it's not the best advice. :lol:


    OP: Any way of getting some relevant experience in before you apply?
  6. pippy123's Avatar
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    Re: completely clueless about personal statement
    ..
    Last edited by pippy123; 25-01-2013 at 13:31.
  7. Shelly_x's Avatar
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    Re: completely clueless about personal statement
    If your school work experience is to do with animals then that will count. Most of your PS will be about why you want to do the course anyway.
  8. *Interrobang*'s Avatar
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    Re: Personal Statement Help Question Thread
    (Original post by pippy123)
    Thank you i will look in the PS section.
    I have sent letters pretty much everywhere with no luck, at the moment it looks unlikely i will find any work experience before i put my application in x
    School work experience will be fine to mention, altho if you can get some shadowing with someone else that would look really good. Why not ring up as a follow up to your letter? Sometimes (unfortunately) these things get forgotten about, with everything else going on in a work place
  9. poopnoddy's Avatar
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    I'm applying to leeds and ucl for chemistry and mathematics, and using the other 3 to apply for maths OR chemistry ONLY, will i just have to focus on the subject that i'm usin my other 3 applications with?


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  10. *Interrobang*'s Avatar
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    Re: Personal Statement Help Question Thread
    (Original post by poopnoddy)
    I'm applying to leeds and ucl for chemistry and mathematics, and using the other 3 to apply for maths OR chemistry ONLY, will i just have to focus on the subject that i'm usin my other 3 applications with?


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    In short, you can't. The other unis will wonder why you're talking about the other subject, and question your dedication to their course. You need to make a decision at some point, so you need to give yourself the best chance. Can you apply to other unis for combined courses, or look for unis that allow you to take electives, and choose one subject to apply for instead?
  11. poopnoddy's Avatar
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    (Original post by *Interrobang*)
    In short, you can't. The other unis will wonder why you're talking about the other subject, and question your dedication to their course. You need to make a decision at some point, so you need to give yourself the best chance. Can you apply to other unis for combined courses, or look for unis that allow you to take electives, and choose one subject to apply for instead?
    Well i'll be talking about maths in my chemistry and mathematics applications, and my other 3 applications are for just chemistry, so i'm sure they wont mind me talking a little about maths as there is quite a lot of maths involved in chemistry, but on the whole i'll just focus on chemistry i think


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  12. *Interrobang*'s Avatar
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    Re: Personal Statement Help Question Thread
    (Original post by poopnoddy)
    Well i'll be talking about maths in my chemistry and mathematics applications, and my other 3 applications are for just chemistry, so i'm sure they wont mind me talking a little about maths as there is quite a lot of maths involved in chemistry, but on the whole i'll just focus on chemistry i think


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    But the maths involved in a chemistry degree will be focused on chemical processes etc. That's not the sort of maths that you would cover so specifically like that in a maths degree. We've seen many PSs trying to cover two subjects (even relatively closely related ones) and it very rarely works. The chemistry-only admissions tutors will be looking for books etc about different chemical reactions, processes, experiments - not necessarily very maths orientated. However, in contrast, for the joint degree, you should be interested in the core 'pure' (as in not specifically related to chemistry) mathematics areas, which is what you would cover, while also saying why you want to study them together.

    From what I can see, you seem more focused on chemistry - so why not apply for unis where you can choose electives, and choose maths ones? Or natural sciences?
  13. poopnoddy's Avatar
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    (Original post by *Interrobang*)
    But the maths involved in a chemistry degree will be focused on chemical processes etc. That's not the sort of maths that you would cover so specifically like that in a maths degree. We've seen many PSs trying to cover two subjects (even relatively closely related ones) and it very rarely works. The chemistry-only admissions tutors will be looking for books etc about different chemical reactions, processes, experiments - not necessarily very maths orientated. However, in contrast, for the joint degree, you should be interested in the core 'pure' (as in not specifically related to chemistry) mathematics areas, which is what you would cover, while also saying why you want to study them together.

    From what I can see, you seem more focused on chemistry - so why not apply for unis where you can choose electives, and choose maths ones? Or natural sciences?
    A few people have mentioned electives, is it a stupid question to ask what they are?


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  14. Good bloke's Avatar
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    Re: Personal Statement Help Question Thread
    (Original post by poopnoddy)
    A few people have mentioned electives, is it a stupid question to ask what they are?


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    They are exactly what the word means: options. In many places you can take courses outside the core subject. It is being suggested that you find chemistry degrees that give you the opportunity to take maths modules to satisfy your desire to some maths without needing to go as far as taking joint honours.
  15. *Interrobang*'s Avatar
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    Re: Personal Statement Help Question Thread
    (Original post by poopnoddy)
    A few people have mentioned electives, is it a stupid question to ask what they are?


    This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App
    For example, you do a straight chemistry degree, but each semester you can choose one module outside of chemistry to take. It doesn't change your degree title (it would still be 'BSc Chemistry), but gives you a bit of a change. The exact structure may differ between unis. I suggest you at least look into natural sciences degrees too, as you can study both chemistry and maths in those too
  16. poopnoddy's Avatar
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    (Original post by *Interrobang*)
    For example, you do a straight chemistry degree, but each semester you can choose one module outside of chemistry to take. It doesn't change your degree title (it would still be 'BSc Chemistry), but gives you a bit of a change. The exact structure may differ between unis. I suggest you at least look into natural sciences degrees too, as you can study both chemistry and maths in those too
    Okay thanks, i'll look into it


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  17. ippu's Avatar
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    Re: Personal Statement Help Question Thread
    Hey guys, I got a newbie question. What if I'm applying to different programs, how do I make my statement relevant? For example, I am applying to computer animation in one place and product design in another. What then?
  18. Potally_Tissed's Avatar
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    Re: Personal Statement Help Question Thread
    (Original post by ippu)
    Hey guys, I got a newbie question. What if I'm applying to different programs, how do I make my statement relevant? For example, I am applying to computer animation in one place and product design in another. What then?
    The short answer is you can't, those subjects are too different. From the first post in this thread:

    If you are applying to very different subjects because you can't decide which you want to do then you may be better off narrowing down your options before you apply and forcing yourself to make the inevitable decsion whilst you can still control the outcome of your application. Spreading yourself thinly across many disciplines can actually harm your application. For example if you apply to veterinary science and history, it will be no surprise if neither the vets or the historians are particularly impressed by your lack of commitment to their course.
  19. Nady94's Avatar
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    Re: Personal Statement Help Question Thread
    I‘m applying for different courses, which i know isn‘t ideal. i‘m applying for hsps at cambridge,* anthropology bsc at exeter, bio anth at kent, palaeontology and evolution msci at bristol and im not sure for my last option. so basically, my main interest is human origins and these are the courses which i think are probably most relevant. how can i write a personal statement when i can‘t really be specific about any of them because they are slightly different? All my teachers tell us to be specific but i cant, unless i apply for one course everywhere like evolutionary bio. How can i mention social anth, a part of exeter and cambridge, when im applying for an earh science course at bristol? Thanks
  20. PQ's Avatar
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    Re: Personal Statement Help Question Thread
    (Original post by Nady94)
    I‘m applying for different courses, which i know isn‘t ideal. i‘m applying for hsps at cambridge,* anthropology bsc at exeter, bio anth at kent, palaeontology and evolution msci at bristol and im not sure for my last option. so basically, my main interest is human origins and these are the courses which i think are probably most relevant. how can i write a personal statement when i can‘t really be specific about any of them because they are slightly different? All my teachers tell us to be specific but i cant, unless i apply for one course everywhere like evolutionary bio. How can i mention social anth, a part of exeter and cambridge, when im applying for an earh science course at bristol? Thanks
    Focus in on the unifying topic around human origins. Don't worry overly about namechecking each different label for looking at a similar topic from different points of view. In fact use your PS to explain the merits/interest you find in looking at that one topic using the tools/techniques/perspectives of different disciplines.

    As with any PS write about what interests you about what you want to stduy and why
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