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Original post by xxstace123xx
Veranda 11 I believe is what they use in the UCAS form.


Thanks! That means I just have to get rid of two lines!
Original post by xxstace123xx
Veranda 11 I believe is what they use in the UCAS form.


Ohhhh noooooo. You are the barer of bad news :tongue: changing it to veranda has made my lines go up by 13!!! Major panic now, I was struggling as it was.
Original post by kpwxx
In most cases yes- see the below. It's silly IMO, 25 is not the standard age to rely on your parents' money until, but it's what the government expects when giving money.



You have to show evidence of how you've supported yourself for those three years, e.g. payslips. Not sure if student loans would count for this, sorry, but I would imagine they wouldn't.

Xxx

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I have worked during my time at uni, for over a year. Do you know how much/what sort of evidence is required? Sorry for all the questions, if you have a link to something that talks about this stuff it would be good. :smile:
I think this may be the irrational part of me talking but I'm slightly worried about the entry requirements. I'm applying for Secondary English and I have a good degree in the subject but I am also expected to have a Standard Grade (GCSE I guess) Credit 2 but I only have a General 3. Will it matter? They do say it is a minimum requirement but surely I can't be judged on a qualification I did 7 years ago when I was 15? I'm only one grade out too...
Reply 1244
Original post by Airfairy
Argh bloody personal statement. I'm bang on 47 lines, sent it off to my careers service for them to have a look at. They generally said it was good but gave me quite a few things I need to include, but didn't tell what I could omit. So no idea what to cut out now. Once I've added in everything they've put, I'll probably end up on 60 lines...


Don't stress it. My PS was originally 38 lines and I got told off for basically writing a load of ****, doing it all wrong, not having wrote enough, etc. :redface:

So then I included all the stuff they told me I needed to add to it...

And it came to 60 lines. Seriously.

With some hard editing, and a bit of advice from them on what NEEDS to be in there, and what is "nice if you can fit it in, but otherwise it can go" I have now got it down to bang on...

47 lines :biggrin:

Also, there are many drawbacks to it being a maximum line count, rather than a word count. There are also some benefits - for me, I found I could literally remove one word or so from every line (sometimes I write things in a long drawn out way when it can really be said in 6 words - I'm a sociologist!) and literally just removing one or two words from every line managed to get it down a line or three.

So maybe focus a little less on content, just for an hour or so, and think "do I really need to use 2 lines to say that, or can I use 6 words and then BANG! make my point?" I found I could a lot of the time.

One example...

I originally wrote: "During my time at university, I was able to undertake four work experience placements..."

...I was able to shorten it to, "At university I undertook four work experience placements..." which is 8 words instead of 14! Do this three or four times and it can make a big difference and remove a handful of lines without sacrificing actual content.

Content wise, I think I only removed one thing - I tried so hard to include it but there was no short way of saying it and it NEEDED two lines minimum. So unfortunately it went, but I was told it was OK to cut it as it wasn't necessary, was just something fancy and extra :wink: The rest of getting down to the 47 line limit was just cutting out on unnecessary English!

Good luck! :smile:
Hello, sorry if this has been covered!!

I read in numerous places that the personal statements were to be around 47 lines but 4000 characters. Mine is over 47 lines in veranda 11 but less than 4000 characters? Please advise.
Reply 1246
Original post by kpwxx
I know my uni says to avoid applications to multiple age ranges, but I think they meant at the same uni. Basically they want to see commitment to your age range (which is not the same as never being willing/wanting to explore other ages). If you think you can demonstrate this for both then go for it if it's what you want, but I'd imagine it'd be more likely that you have one which suits you the most so if stick with that. Again, personal opinions!

Xxx

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I do see what you mean! I'd rather not take a risk actually so think I'll use my third option as either school direct or another university. I think I'm just used to the idea of Leeds uni as I'm studying here now. I might apply to Leeds met as my final option :smile: Thanks for your opinion - really helpful! x


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2 days folks :biggrin:
Original post by principessakl
Hello, sorry if this has been covered!!

I read in numerous places that the personal statements were to be around 47 lines but 4000 characters. Mine is over 47 lines in veranda 11 but less than 4000 characters? Please advise.


Hey. I've been thinking about this too because I'm the same. 61 lines but 4025 characters, so obviously it would be easier to cut 25 characters out. It says on the website lines OR characters, so we might be ok, I don't know.

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Original post by Airfairy
Hey. I've been thinking about this too because I'm the same. 61 lines but 4025 characters, so obviously it would be easier to cut 25 characters out. It says on the website lines OR characters, so we might be ok, I don't know.

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It would need to conform to both criteria. It has to be less than 47 lines AND less than 4000 (or whatever it is) characters.
Original post by jeffercake
It would need to conform to both criteria. It has to be less than 47 lines AND less than 4000 (or whatever it is) characters.


Damn. I was reading it last night and thought I read or, but I'm probably reading what I want to see!

Edit- just checked and it does say OR not AND, so might be ok?

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(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by Airfairy
Damn. I was reading it last night and thought I read or, but I'm probably reading what I want to see!

Edit- just checked and it does say OR not AND, so might be ok?

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It had to be less than both for the undergrad ps!
Original post by MelanieKR
I think this may be the irrational part of me talking but I'm slightly worried about the entry requirements. I'm applying for Secondary English and I have a good degree in the subject but I am also expected to have a Standard Grade (GCSE I guess) Credit 2 but I only have a General 3. Will it matter? They do say it is a minimum requirement but surely I can't be judged on a qualification I did 7 years ago when I was 15? I'm only one grade out too...


I think it might matter, sorry. In Scotland it's not the universities who set the entry requirements, it's the GTC.
Original post by jeffercake
It had to be less than both for the undergrad ps!


I accidentally clicked on the undergrad guide when I first looked, and that said or as well haha. Maybe they've changed it since :dontknow:
2 days and my personal statement is still miles longer than it should be, and there's way more I could put in! Anyone else having a hard time prioritising?
On placement today and the lady I usually work with is away sick. I wanted to ask her advice about things to mention and ask for a reference too so I'm a bit stuck.

I'm thinking of using my dissertation supervisor for my academic reference but I was wondering if it'd be better to use somebody that knows me well for my secondary reference. My uni disability mentor would probably be the best but then theres the issue of her being my _disability_ mentor. I could just wait for next week.

I could add a second academic mentor or the chairperson of the learning disability group I worked with over the summer.

Does anyone know if Keele is coming up for standard PGCE computer science? It's showing as accrediting local schools but their own course isn't there.

The school I'm observing is offering Teach First so I'm hoping that could work out but I'm starting to get really flustered about everything.

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Original post by Esmeralda4
2 days and my personal statement is still miles longer than it should be, and there's way more I could put in! Anyone else having a hard time prioritising?


Yes yes yes. I may end up being 10-20 lines over and that's after getting rid of 13 already! I'm going to get random other people to read it and tell me what comes across as unnecessary.
Reply 1257
Original post by Airfairy
Yes yes yes. I may end up being 10-20 lines over and that's after getting rid of 13 already! I'm going to get random other people to read it and tell me what comes across as unnecessary.


Same, I got it down to 4,000 characters and then realised it was 4,000 characters excluding spaces. Including spaces I'm still about 800 characters over and that's after deleting and editing to within an inch of my life!

How many lines are people devoting to their classroom experience para and what exactly are you saying in it? I've found that explaining just one thing I learnt or observed plus an example takes up 5-10 lines in itself. In other words I've only got room to talk about two aspects of my classroom exp when I could easily talk about 10!
I have given an overview of what I did and my role in the school then put 2 more detailed examples. I could easily talk all day about it but have tried to be more concise in thw hope that the examples are enough to display what I can so/what I got from the experience.
Reply 1259
Original post by Esmeralda4
I have given an overview of what I did and my role in the school then put 2 more detailed examples. I could easily talk all day about it but have tried to be more concise in thw hope that the examples are enough to display what I can so/what I got from the experience.


Ah this makes me feel a bit better then. I work in the admissions dept at a sixth form and I see applications come and go daily and I can tell you nobody even reads the Personal Statements! Hope this isn't all for nothing.