Can I only send the same personal statement to all my unis?

OP

Original post by Pearlfection1

You can apply to two different degrees but you can only submit one personal statement. Hence, you can make your personal statement discussing the link and perhaps making it generic even.

I applied to a variation of degrees with one personal statement but my personal statement was written strategically to be generic covering all aspects of language development, speech development, audiology, psychology and education.

Ah okay, thank you. Would Oxford accept a generic statement? Or should I just put all of my efforts to get into Oxford with a specific statement, and If I don't, just take a gap year

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 3

username3783458

Tough question - have you tried emailing the universities to see if they will accept an alternative personal statement?

Reply 4

RuthieG101

20

if you're studying one after the other, then isn't it logical to tailor your ps to the degree you want to do first and then write a new ps for the second degree when you apply for it in a few years?
or is this the way it's done?

Reply 5

OP

Original post by HappinessInSide

Tough question - have you tried emailing the universities to see if they will accept an alternative personal statement?

I've seen that Oxford accepts an alternative one but I'm scared that they wouldn't accept me if my main personal statement was too vague.
The alternative one you send them is to talk about why you want to study at Oxford
and the main one you also send to other unis is about why you want to study that degree

Reply 6

OP

Original post by RuthieG101

if you're studying one after the other, then isn't it logical to tailor your ps to the degree you want to do first and then write a new ps for the second degree when you apply for it in a few years?
or is this the way it's done?

Yes, I know what you mean, but for example: for someone else, as you say, if they didn't get into the uni they wanted to, they would go to another uni and study the same degree but somewhere else.

My problem is that If I don't get into my uni to study (A), I would like to study another degree(B) and reaply to A after finishing B

A=Art history
B=Branding

i see.

Original post by dowell1475

My "plan" is to study two degrees; art history in Oxford and after that study Branding in ual. I want to study both degrees, I love both of them and I love both of the universities but I thought it would be more useful to study art history first.

I've understood that you can only send the same personal statement to the diferent Universities you're applying to, and that Oxford is especially strict about wanting students with tunnel vision toward one degree. I have a great passion for both, I wish to study both of them but if I send one personal statement about two diferent degrees I'm not going to get into any. I really don't want to consider other unis to study art history, if I don't get into Oxford I would study branding and apply to Oxford again after I finish branding.

Can I apply to two diferent degrees? Or are Oxford and ual going to throw my statement out after they find out I like both of them. What are my options?

( Also, I'm from Spain)

You would be better advised to apply for History of Art at 5 universities (including Oxford*) and then later study Branding as a postgrad MA.

One reason is you won't get funding to study 2 undergraduate arts degrees. ONly your first degree is covered by the tuition fee loan. And also it's generally best to study a broad first degree, and then a more specialised masters.

*The offer rate at Oxford is very low for HoA - approx 12%. So it's always going to be a relatively long shot.

Reply 9

OP

Original post by Doonesbury

You would be better advised to apply for History of Art at 5 universities (including Oxford*) and then later study Branding as a postgrad MA.

One reason is you won't get funding to study 2 undergraduate arts degrees. ONly your first degree is covered by the tuition fee loan. And also it's generally best to study a broad first degree, and then a more specialised masters.

*The offer rate at Oxford is very low for HoA - approx 12%. So it's always going to be a relatively long shot.

What is HoA? Sorry I'm from Spain

Reply 10

howitoughttobe

20

Original post by dowell1475

What is HoA? Sorry I'm from Spain

History of Art

Reply 11

Original post by dowell1475

What is HoA? Sorry I'm from Spain

History of Art. You can also study it at UAL. Don't restrict yourself to Oxford.

For example have you considered Cambridge? Although, note you can't apply to both Oxford and Cambridge.

UEA is supposed to be good too for HoA, and they have the new Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.

Reply 12

OP

Original post by howitoughttobe

History of Art

Ah okay I understand now, I think I'll do that, I'll put all my eggs in one basket and go head on for art history then. Thank you for the help.

in Spain you can apply to many diferent degrees in the same uni so this kind of confused me

Thank You!

Reply 13

Original post by dowell1475

Ah okay I understand now, I think I'll do that, I'll put all my eggs in one basket and go head on for art history then. Thank you for the help.

Did you see my reply? I hope by "one basket" you mean one course, but at various different universities?

What qualifications are you studying in Spain? Is it IB or the Spanish Bachillerato? What grades do you expect to get?

Reply 14

OP

Original post by Doonesbury

History of Art. You can also study it at UAL. Don't restrict yourself to Oxford.

For example have you considered Cambridge? Although, note you can't apply to both Oxford and Cambridge.

UEA is supposed to be good too for HoA, and they have the new Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.

I have also looked into Cambridge, would it be better to study HoA is Cambridge or in Oxford?

HoA in UAL sounds good also. I'll look into UEA, it looks nice, although I would prefer to be closer to London to be able to attend acting and castings. Are there any good unis for HoA in Scotland? I've heard Edinburgh has great a theatre scene

Reply 15

Original post by dowell1475

I have also looked into Cambridge, would it be better to study HoA is Cambridge or in Oxford?

HoA in UAL sounds good also. I'll look into UEA, it looks nice, although I would prefer to be closer to London to be able to attend acting and castings. Are there any good unis for HoA in Scotland? I've heard Edinburgh has great a theatre scene

On what basis did you pick Oxford?

You can start by looking at university rankings for the subject but that should just be one criteria - for example, you still need to explore the courses in detail and see if they are a good fit for you.

And there's more than one ranking - each has a slightly different methodology so you get different outcomes:
https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=History+of+Art%2c+Architecture+%26+Design
https://www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2017/may/16/university-guide-2018-league-table-for-history-of-art
https://st.hitcreative.com/education/university_guide/active/UniversityGuide/index/year/2017/goto/tableSearchAnchor (you need to pick the subject for this one)

Reply 16

OP

Original post by Doonesbury

Did you see my reply? I hope by "one basket" you mean one course, but at various different universities?

What qualifications are you studying in Spain? Is it IB or the Spanish Bachillerato? What grades do you expect to get?

Yes, I've just seen it now. By one basket I mean to apply only to HoA in different universities.

I'm studying Spanish Bachillerato focused on art and design. For subjects we have: art history, history of the contemporary world, p.e., English, french, philosophy, Drawing, sculpture, Media(Wich is basically photography and visual media, like making comics, stop motions, photo portfolios etc...) Spanish and Spanish literature and ciudadanía(Basically an hour every friday to watch famous films)

I've only done my first trimester and I'm about to finish my second(in Spain we have three trimesters every schoolyear) I've got an average of 8'9 out of 10 and can easily make that a 9'3 out of ten by the end of the year. The only important marks are the ones at the end. So after I get those I should be applying to Oxbridge in October by the beginning of my next schoolyear.

In the subjects I think would Apply best to HoA: In history of art I've got a 10/10, philosophy a 9, history a 9. So A*AA that will probably be A*A*A if I can keep it up.

I¡ve also got plans to study in france this summer. Would it be good to mention that in my personal statement?

Reply 17

OP

Original post by Doonesbury

On what basis did you pick Oxford?

You can start by looking at university rankings for the subject but that should just be one criteria - for example, you still need to explore the courses in detail and see if they are a good fit for you.

And there's more than one ranking - each has a slightly different methodology so you get different outcomes:
https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=History+of+Art%2c+Architecture+%26+Design
https://www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2017/may/16/university-guide-2018-league-table-for-history-of-art
https://st.hitcreative.com/education/university_guide/active/UniversityGuide/index/year/2017/goto/tableSearchAnchor (you need to pick the subject for this one)

Oh I had never seen those pages. I just read that Cambridge was very old fashioned and that Oxford was better for HoA, apparently not! Thank you! You are so helpful :h:

Reply 18

Original post by dowell1475

Yes, I've just seen it now. By one basket I mean to apply only to HoA in different universities.

I'm studying Spanish Bachillerato focused on art and design. For subjects we have: art history, history of the contemporary world, p.e., English, french, philosophy, Drawing, sculpture, Media(Wich is basically photography and visual media, like making comics, stop motions, photo portfolios etc...) Spanish and Spanish literature and ciudadanía(Basically an hour every friday to watch famous films)

I've only done my first trimester and I'm about to finish my second(in Spain we have three trimesters every schoolyear) I've got an average of 8'9 out of 10 and can easily make that a 9'3 out of ten by the end of the year. The only important marks are the ones at the end. So after I get those I should be applying to Oxbridge in October by the beginning of my next schoolyear.

In the subjects I think would Apply best to HoA: In history of art I've got a 10/10, philosophy a 9, history a 9. So A*AA that will probably be A*A*A if I can keep it up.

I¡ve also got plans to study in france this summer. Would it be good to mention that in my personal statement?

Yes you can mention your study in France, especially if it makes you think differently about art (that's an important thing about personal statements, they aren't just a space to be filled up with lists of things you have done, it's so you can give a personal perspective on what you learned, etc.)

Another tip if you are applying to Oxbridge is you have the early deadline (15th Oct), but you don't have to apply to all your other choices at the same time. You can add the remaining choices at any stage, up until the main deadline on January. Indeed it can be a good strategy to keep at least one choice free until after you get your offer decision from Cambridge or Oxford in early January.

Reply 19