Adding Volunteering, DofE and World Challenge Info in PS

Hi there,

I'm writing my personal statement for Computer Science, but I am unsure about how much I should write about my experiences with volunteering, DofE and World Challenge to my personal statement.

It is hard to relate it back to Computer Science, but I do know that it is nice to add volunteering experiences to a personal statement.

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks
- Toy

Hi,

Where are you thinking of applying to? Some universities love that kind of stuff whilst others couldn't care less!

Oscar

Sorry I don't know much about any of your choices! All I can say that is useful is the fact that only Oxbridge are so negative about non academic items within a personal statement and also no matter where you apply you should aim to have a personal statement that is 80% academic.

It only needs to be a short bit (4 lines in total) and you don't need to make tenuous links to your course

It's fine. Thanks for telling me that it should be 80% academic. Seems I've added a bit too much, maybe because of the fact that I've done loads. Shame it all cannot be on there though.



Thanks for the information. I didn't know that it would be that small, and it's even harder to make the personal statement even more academic. It's good that I don't need to make tenuous links but I guess it's good to have it as I've said that, for example, DofE has improved teamwork, therefore it can perform well in terms of practical projects.

Sorry I don't know much about any of your choices! All I can say that is useful is the fact that only Oxbridge are so negative about non academic items within a personal statement and also no matter where you apply you should aim to have a personal statement that is 80% academic.

Yeah you really don't want it anymore than that as it should be obvious that the main reason you are applying to the uni is study something you love doing.

Actually, Cambridge say:

"Applicants should write first about their interest in their subject,
their wider reading and other ways in which they have explored
their subject (~70%), and secondly about extra-curricular
activities and positions of responsibility (~30%)"

http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/teachers/presentations/supporting_applicants_v2.pdf