Gap Year - Personal Statement :(

what are you applying for at uni?

Hey guys, well as you guessed it from the title. I'm taking a gap year and currently struggling with my personal statement. A little bit of background information - currently on a gap year due to not receiving any offers from my firm or insurance and I wasn't too keen on going to a university from clearing as no option on there seemed appealing to me. So I decided to take a year out, get some experience, resit some modules and reapply for UCAS.

Well anyways, back to the main topic. Personal statements. As much as I hate this whole UCAS process have to do it again. Only... this year I'm finding it much much more difficult being on my own, without any sort of support from a teacher. I'm struggling with making myself sound good with the experience I've got so far from this gap year and the experience I potentially look to gain.

Here's what I've done so far...I've volunteered in a charity shop and raised money for a charity event, I've just got a part-time job as a Sales Assistant and I've just done some travelling. I'm still looking on things to do, but I doubt I will get much time to do so as I am sitting 8 exams in May/June.

Also, I don't understand what tense to write the gap year section on my personal statement. I've read a few and one of them wrote in future and past tense which made it sound weird. So is there any examples anyone got for me to include in my personal statement?

And does anyone know what else I can do throughout my gap year that can make me stand out?

If you're in the sameish situation as me or even on a gap year feel free to message me, would love to have a chat!

Thanks in advance

Hi! Any progress yet? I left university during first year, reapplying now but struggling as well.

Might not be of use now, considering this thread's a week old, but...
- list down what you have done (events/activities you've taken part in, work etc. etc.)
- then write out how you've benefited from it.
- then cut out what's not necessary or useless (easier if you've written too much). When you do this you find you've taken out all the crap by accident.

edit: forgot to say...

Maybe soemthing along these lines for gap year part?

In my gap year I... (somehting you've done, won't say in cas eit limits ur opportunities.)(either add directly onto the sentence or just start a new one, about how you've benefitted from it. Something interesting you've learnt abiut? skills?> [search online for better wording], don't be too heavy by listing like 6 skills at once.)]

then carry on listing.

I'm in the same situation. I kept it standard aside from a few lines talking about what I have achieved/ my plans for the rest of the year. Don't talk about the gap year too much, unless what you've done/ plan to do looks good.

I was thinking about not even using the word gap year, but only explaining the experiences I've had and the skills I have learnt, pretty much like someone would do if they didn't take a gap year. Thanks for your advice!

Yeah sure, that works. "This summer I did xyz", "this year I plan to complete x"

Hello!
Made some sort of progress but still struggling on how to write about my gap year.
Ahh, that's interesting. How comes you left it during your first year? What course was it and what are you looking to study now?

So have you got up to anything interesting since you left after your first year?

Also, what exactly are you struggling with?

Glad to hear it! How much are you writing about your gap year? I'm just writing a small paragraph at the end explaining how the experience will help me be a better student.

Due to health issues and some family issues that left me a bit stuck financially, I was quite disillusioned with the course and experience but they were the main two factors that caused me to leave. I was doing philosophy, reapplying to do sociology.

I left during March and have been working full time since. The job is quite tedious but I managed to go to a few festivals and will have enough money to have a good summer next year. In all honesty, I would have been able to if I was at uni but due to family issues, I've not been able to go on an amazing gap yah trip to Asia, South America or somewhere similar. Have you enjoyed yours?

I'm struggling with the content a little bit but it's mainly staying focused whilst writing it. It is so much harder to do without the support of a teacher!

I'm going to be summarising all of my experiences I have had over the last couple of years. I have gained quite a bit of experience, like some work experience in Human Resources and peer mentoring for Maths GCSE voluntarily at my school and I've also been a school Librarian. As I mentioned before I've done some volunteering to raise money for charity. But I don't think I will be specifically identifying what I done in my gap year. I'm still confused. Also, I plan to write about what I am planning to do for the next few months so it doesn't seem as if I haven't got much to do. I think it's a great idea to explain how these experiences would lead me to be a better student, I think I will do that too, I forgot to even link that back to why I should be accepted into university.

Ah well it's all for the best. I hope you enjoy your time doing Sociology (such a fun subject! I did it as an A Level). It's a good thing you got a full time job, it should help you a lot when you go to university, also you can apply for grants for extra support while you're there.

I don't think it's necessary for you to go to a gap year trip like almost every other gap year student does. As long as you got the skills - that's what matters! I didn't go with any sort of organisation that organises these gap year trips, I planned a trip to Dubai myself and had an amazing time, I regret for not travelling for longer.

I suggest you look to do some volunteering, that's if you get some time on your hands. Working full-time is definitely not easy. It would just make you sound a little more practical in your personal statement since writing about a paid job is not ideal. Maybe just do it as a one or two day thing?

Omg same! I've only just come to realise that teachers did actually help me quite a bit with my personal statement. If you need any sort of help feel free to PM me about it, I'll be glad to help!