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personal statement help

i wish to apply for criminology and psychology at uni, and need to start my personal statement but cannot think of where to even start!!! i have things i can include but i have no idea in how to start it :frown: any help?
Reply 1
Original post by meganwd97
i wish to apply for criminology and psychology at uni, and need to start my personal statement but cannot think of where to even start!!! i have things i can include but i have no idea in how to start it :frown: any help?


Think of all the things you want to include and just jot it down in rough. Then you can start putting it together as it comes to you and starts forming in your mind.
Original post by meganwd97
i wish to apply for criminology and psychology at uni, and need to start my personal statement but cannot think of where to even start!!! i have things i can include but i have no idea in how to start it :frown: any help?


Hi Megan,

One thing to remember when writing your personal statement is to avoid starting it with a generic sentence which loads of people use, such as "I have been interested in (subject) from a young age" or "For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated with (subject)". Try to be a bit more imaginative so that you'll impress the admissions tutors from the outset.

Important things to include in your personal statement (just so you don't forget anything!) are:

- Why you want to study criminology and psychology
- How your interests in criminology and psychology have developed
- Ways in which your A Levels have helped prepare you for university study, e.g. doing powerpoint presentations has improved your public speaking skills.
- If you did A Levels which are related such as psychology, sociology etc, briefly mention which topics you enjoyed most and why
- Name and (if possible) demonstrate qualities you have which make you suitable for the course, e.g. patient, determined, flexible, hard-working, organised etc.
- Any relevant work experience / extra activities you take part in / EPQ
- What you hope to gain from attending university, e.g. enriching your knowledge of a certain subject, making yourself more attractive to employers by using your degree to develop useful skills etc.

As you have a limited number of characters, try to keep your statement concise and not ramble about things which aren't relevant. Remember, the goal is to tell your universities why they should choose you to be a student with them - it's easy to go off on a tangent and start listing lots of your accomplishments and other things which aren't actually relevant!

I hope these points help :smile:
Look at the PS builder tool, linked in my signature - it will talk you through the process :smile:
Reply 4
thank you so so so much!!!
Original post by Leviathan1741
Hi Megan,

One thing to remember when writing your personal statement is to avoid starting it with a generic sentence which loads of people use, such as "I have been interested in (subject) from a young age" or "For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated with (subject)". Try to be a bit more imaginative so that you'll impress the admissions tutors from the outset.

Important things to include in your personal statement (just so you don't forget anything!) are:

- Why you want to study criminology and psychology
- How your interests in criminology and psychology have developed
- Ways in which your A Levels have helped prepare you for university study, e.g. doing powerpoint presentations has improved your public speaking skills.
- If you did A Levels which are related such as psychology, sociology etc, briefly mention which topics you enjoyed most and why
- Name and (if possible) demonstrate qualities you have which make you suitable for the course, e.g. patient, determined, flexible, hard-working, organised etc.
- Any relevant work experience / extra activities you take part in / EPQ
- What you hope to gain from attending university, e.g. enriching your knowledge of a certain subject, making yourself more attractive to employers by using your degree to develop useful skills etc.

As you have a limited number of characters, try to keep your statement concise and not ramble about things which aren't relevant. Remember, the goal is to tell your universities why they should choose you to be a student with them - it's easy to go off on a tangent and start listing lots of your accomplishments and other things which aren't actually relevant!

I hope these points help :smile:
Hello,
I would recommend not trying to start with the first sentence as I know when I did my personal statement I got stuck on it. Just write out the other sections first and hopefully once you've done that it will be easier to know what your first sentence will be. I also would definitely focus on why you want to study Criminology and Psychology and only include work experience if you have the words free or if you feel it is really relevant. The main focus should be why you want to study those subjects :smile:

I currently study Psychology at the University of Essex so if you have any questions feel free to ask!
^Natalie.
Reply 6
i would suggest using tsr personal statement building or making a plan in bullet points (similar to what was suggested above or google what to include in a psychology ps to get ideas) and one you have that start adding information to the bullet points - adding information in bit by bit, then redraft it into more of a coherent piece (i use this for writing essays too)
also i would suggest showing it to as many people as you can - teacher, parents, family friends, friends, everybody you know! and using all their feedback to redraft and then show it to some people again

good luck!

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