oxbridge summer schools.

Lol, three interviews wasn't too bad. One of the applicants at my college for entrance in 2009 had 5 interviews!

my school has just sent an email round saying a few of us will be able to go.

what are they and what is there purpose exactly?

are they of any benefit to your aplication etc?

is there a web page or something.

I applied via the suttontrust (google it) to oxford for physics. Got rejected! However, one of my mate got in (may be) because he gets EMA and i dont. He said he loved it and really enjoyed it as everything was paid for. He said that he met some very intellectually smart people who were highly motivated to do physics. It also helps you when you write ur personal statement as u can mention that having been to residential summerschools, you have learnt to live on a campus based uni, live independently etc etc (just buff it up!).

He did end up applying to Oxford and now has an offer!

There are other summer schools such as 'Headstart' as well which are quite informative and last for a longer duration. However, you have to pay for them.

o ok thanks mate, although i already live on my own so i dont think it would add much in that sence. still seems like a good thing to be doing tho =]

o ok thanks mate, although i already live on my own so i dont think it would add much in that sence. still seems like a good thing to be doing tho =]

Yea it is a very nice thing indeed to mention it on ur personal statement. I personally went to a Science and Engineering summer school at Surrey University. However, i used that and hyped it up so much (team working skills, leadership skills, communications , being able to talk to like minded people ....blah blah ) that it formed 2/3 of my personal statement.

Good luck with the application.

Summer schools are def a good thing to do and are worth mentioning, but do bear in mind that when it comes to personal statements, Oxford and Cambridge are more interested in academic stuff and academic-related extra-curriculars than summer school attendance and transferable/life skills. When I went on the Sutton Trust summer school myself, the admissions person giving us the PS talk actually said "don't talk about your transferable skills or extra-curricular activities: we don't care!"

well it makes sence tho.. .being good at hockey or helping out at a chippy wont help in a law degree or w.e

mitigating circumstances will hopefully be my friend lol

It makes sense to me (though it's a bit extreme. When that guy said that, us musicians pointed out that pretty much everything we do is extra-curricular and he didn't know how to advise us! ), but people can get caught out if they're not aware about that, hence why I mentioned it

When I went on the Sutton Trust summer school myself, the admissions person giving us the PS talk actually said "don't talk about your transferable skills or extra-curricular activities: we don't care!"

aye i know what you mean. although yours is usefull for your course.

what i think they mean is where other unis care what sports/charity work etc you have done... they couldnt care less. =]

That surely depends on what subject you are applying for . If it is something like History or English then fine. However Medicine or Engineering then i think u do need to mention this kinda stuff.

Well obviously for Medicine, you need the work ex and volunteer work, no idea bout Engineering. It is subject specific, but that's the general line of thought

Yeah, that's basically what they meant. The guy just got flustered coz he went on a bit of a rant and we were like "hellooooooo?!?!?!"

That surely depends on what subject you are applying for . If it is something like History or English then fine. However Medicine or Engineering then i think u do need to mention this kinda stuff.

Hi, If I am to list some of my Awards and extra curricular activities...can somebody please tell me if it is worth mentioning them. Thanks...

I play Chess and Cricket at Competitive Level for Wales and Cardiff, I have won numerous Maths awards, I am the team leader of an Engineering Project, I am hoping to go to the Sutton Summer School for Engineering at Cambridge. I am the chairman of the Charity Commitee at School. I did Work Experience at Natwest Bank. I am looking to apply for Maths/Engineering at University.

Is it worth me mentioning all of this in my personal statement? Is it worth mentioning any of it or will it all be ignored? Can you please advise me which ones to mention and which ones they will read and say who cares?

Thanks a lot in advance...

Yes! However u have to 'buff it up'. Moreover, try not to sound arrogant by constantly writing "i did this ; i did that" etc.

If u are applying for Engineering then this is how i would structure it :

1) Sutton trust summer school - Shows dedication and motivation and the fact that you got selected among so many people looks very good in the first place.

2) Team leader of the engg project - Talk about team working skills (emphasise on it) , communications, meeting deadlines etc

3) Chairman of charity thing - Shows organisation skills , the skill to get things done

If you are applying for Maths then do mention the work experience at NATWEST otherwise dont bother as the last thing that you would want to say in an Engineering interview is that you want to work in finance. They hate it lol! Although you would write it neatly by writing that Engineering is like a 'springboard' to different careers which allows you to (obviously) be a chartered engineer or work in finance.


Finally also have a look here: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Personal_Statement_Library

Hope that helps.