Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

What can I do to improve my personal statement for Computer Science course

I'm about to start working on my personal statement in a few weeks but I feel like I won't have enough to talk about in my application.
I have done some online work experiences related to tech and I have another one coming up soon.

Is there anything else I can do to improve my personal statement like coding courses, challenges or more online work experiences?

Reply 1

McGinger

Its an academic degree - and whilst the practical stuff you have done is good to mention, above all else they want to see that you are engaging with bigger ideas and topics than your A levels or 'school leaver level', and you are ready for degree level study.

There are some ideas here about extra reading/watching etc - useful for any Uni you apply to -
Oxford CS podcasts - https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/series/computer-science
Churchill College, Cambridge - https://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/study-us/undergraduates/offer-holders/subject-reading-lists/computer-science/
FutureLearn short courses - any of the short courses at the very bottom of this page - you can do them for free if you don't want the certificate - https://www.futurelearn.com/partners/institute-of-coding
Gresham Collee lectures from leading academics on a wide range of CS topics - https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch/?subject=&subcat=&files=&year=&search=computer

Reply 2

Clearing and Applications Advisor

Oxford's CS department has some excellent advice that applies to any comp sci application
https://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/why_oxford/what_do_tutors_look_for.html
https://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/why_oxford/background_reading.html
https://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/how_to_apply/personal_statement.html
https://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/how_to_apply/phrases_to_avoid.html

Reply 3

University of Portsmouth Student Rep

Official Rep

Original post by ametefe

Hi ametefe,

Showing your own passions and personal interests will benefit you massively. The links already shared in this thread are some fantastic resources.

If you want to get stuck in on the more practical/software engineering side, I'd strongly suggest setting up a GitHub profile and working on some personal projects or even contributing to the wider open source community. This will benefit you not only for your personal statement but also in future applications for placement years, part-time roles, graduate positions and beyond.

These projects don't have to be perfect: many of my repositories on GitHub are me fumbling my way through learning a new language (I picked up Go today, it's not going well :biggrin:

). They are however awesome as a learning tool and a way for you to differentiate yourself from other candidates.

Hope this helps!
~.Mikael, UoP Student Rep

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Articles for you

Artificial intelligence and robotics degree personal statement example (1a) with review and advice

What is an LLM and how could it benefit your career?

Powerful questions business students forget to ask their career advisers

Why I chose a law degree and what studying law was like