CompSci/Maths Personal Statement

How can I write a personal statement that can go towards Computer Science/AI/Software Engineering and Mathematics/Finance courses?

Reply 1

JustSomeGuy:/

14

Original post by shyneeee

How can I write a personal statement that can go towards Computer Science/AI/Software Engineering and Mathematics/Finance courses?

Talk about any programming you do in your own spare time, for example if you've learnt any languages that are outside your course. If you only know the language you learnt during your course then talk about how you had a deep dive into the language and discovered loads of new functions of that programming language (give examples) (talk about how the language links to AI perhaps as well). You could refer to your own research you've done into AI and you could link that to finance by talking about how you found out about how machine learning has affected the financial industry and how much that amazed you/how much that incite has motivated you wanting to do the course (obviously do research I'm just giving you suggestions on what to say). Any books that you've read or any podcasts/lectures that you've watched will also contribute heavily to your personal statement if you want to look impressive. Obviously you can include any extra curriculars that you have (sports, competitions etc.) but only dedicate around 10% of your personal statement to extra curriculars. TLDR talk about why/how much you are motivated/passionate towards the subject you're applying for.

The one big problem here is you should really only focus on one particular subject. If you try fitting different subjects into 4000 characters while trying to appeal to the universities you'll just end up with a big mess. If you make a point about finance it might make sense if you're applying to a mathematical finance course but it won't make sense to the other university that you applied for to do computer science. Don't risk losing places because parts of your ps turn out to be irrelevant bcos yr trying to appeal to multiple audiences at once. Before you even do your personal statement I advise that you decide what degree you want to do specifically and apply to universities with only one course (more or less) in mind. What is influencing your degree choice? Do you intend on doing a degree in order to achieve a particularly career path or is it something else?

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 2

JustSomeGuy:/

14

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/university/personal-statements/personal-statements-by-subject

Here are some example personal statements that people have shared so you can go find some relevant ones.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 3

shyneeee

OP

10

Original post by JustSomeGuy:/

Talk about any programming you do in your own spare time, for example if you've learnt any languages that are outside your course. If you only know the language you learnt during your course then talk about how you had a deep dive into the language and discovered loads of new functions of that programming language (give examples) (talk about how the language links to AI perhaps as well). You could refer to your own research you've done into AI and you could link that to finance by talking about how you found out about how machine learning has affected the financial industry and how much that amazed you/how much that incite has motivated you wanting to do the course (obviously do research I'm just giving you suggestions on what to say). Any books that you've read or any podcasts/lectures that you've watched will also contribute heavily to your personal statement if you want to look impressive. Obviously you can include any extra curriculars that you have (sports, competitions etc.) but only dedicate around 10% of your personal statement to extra curriculars. TLDR talk about why/how much you are motivated/passionate towards the subject you're applying for.

The one big problem here is you should really only focus on one particular subject. If you try fitting different subjects into 4000 characters while trying to appeal to the universities you'll just end up with a big mess. If you make a point about finance it might make sense if you're applying to a mathematical finance course but it won't make sense to the other university that you applied for to do computer science. Don't risk losing places because parts of your ps turn out to be irrelevant bcos yr trying to appeal to multiple audiences at once. Before you even do your personal statement I advise that you decide what degree you want to do specifically and apply to universities with only one course (more or less) in mind. What is influencing your degree choice? Do you intend on doing a degree in order to achieve a particularly career path or is it something else?

Oh my goodness, thank you so much. That was all very useful advice and I will definitely take this all into consideration. I agree, I do need to hone in more specifically on what subject/course I want to do so that I can tailor my personal statement very well to that. Thank you for the link as well. This is all very helpful! :biggrin:

Reply 4

Interrobang

20

You can't write a decent PS for subjects like that - while maths is the overlapping subject, the courses themselves will be very different. You could ask if other unis will accept an alternative PS, but they will see your original one.