E-Sport Personal Statement

Original post by Nameless Ghoul

Who suggested that OP should write more than that?

Anyone who advises that a positive spin can be put on it.

Reply 23

999tigger

Original post by Nameless Ghoul

Who suggested that OP should write more than that?

Exactly it's just good bloke assuming the OP was a moron and was going to make the hobby a major piece of his PS, thats why it is so ridiculous.

Reply 24

Original post by 999tigger

Exactly it's just good bloke assuming the OP was a moron and was going to make the hobby a major piece of his PS, thats why it is so ridiculous.

I have assumed nothing about the OP, other than that he is in need of sensible advice concerning his OP and has little idea of what should go into it. He should read the advice in my profile, and the TSR wiki on the subject.

To write about a hobby in such a way as to create something positive from something so irrelevant would take quite a bit of space, and anyone doing that falls into the trap I mentioned earlier, demonstrating several negative attributes.

Reply 25

Original post by ayyylmao69

Hi, this is a very stupid question but I'm writing my personal statement for uni and I don't know if I should put my e-sport experience. I do play CS:GO as a half pro and I have made some money from tournaments in the past (small amounts of money and pc equipment) but is this worth mentioning? I don't have a lot to go on but I don't want them to think that I'm some sort of a typical basement dweller gamer.

Original post by Student403

I don't think e-sports are appreciated so much by people outside the gaming community - at least not from the people I know irl :tongue:

Might be better to give it a miss

I have a friend who applied for computer science at Oxford and mentioned his CS:GO experience, especially as he noticed Oxford have there own team or something but they didnt mention it at interview at all, even with a more relevant subject like computer science so Id have to agree with Student403. I cant say it caused him to be rejected though, but Im not convinced it helped too much.

Reply 26

ByronicHero

20

It is better not to include it, but people are often hard to persuade in this regard so if you must mention it, do so very briefly. I have tended to suggest that around a fifth of a statement is the absolute maximum that should be dedicated to irrelevant hobbies, awards, conclusions and the like and anything less than that is likely to serve you well. Schools are really to blame here. So many give lazy advice that has students, to pick an example from above, inexplicably thinking that leadership skills are in the least bit relevant to an application. Mentioning that you play games is fairly unlikely to have any effect on your application at all, so is broadly harmless, but engaging meaningfully with the subject you hope to study is exactly what might secure you an offer so if it were me, I would choose to use the space for the latter content.

Reply 27

Student403

Original post by EnglishMuon

I have a friend who applied for computer science at Oxford and mentioned his CS:GO experience, especially as he noticed Oxford have there own team or something but they didnt mention it at interview at all, even with a more relevant subject like computer science so Id have to agree with Student403. I cant say it caused him to be rejected though, but Im not convinced it helped too much.

Ooh hard luck for your friend :/

It's definitely not something Cambridge would appreciate - can't say the same for Oxford

Reply 28

999tigger

Original post by Good bloke

I hold no views whatever about his hobby. What I have said applies to all irrelevant hobbies.

People should always think twice about even mentioning unusual or controversial activities, or those that can evoke unwanted images. The PS is not the place to make a stand and campaign in favour of train-spotting's image.

Hitting the wrong note, for any reason, with an admissions tutor you have no knowledge of is a major gaffe to be avoided.

As i dont know what course he is applying for or what he intends to say, then I wouldnt know. You are making all sorts of presumptions you arent in a position to make.

I have no problem complying with the guidance I posted at #14.

I found your post# 11 to be pretty snotty.

Reply 29

Original post by Student403

Ooh hard luck for your friend :/

It's definitely not something Cambridge would appreciate - can't say the same for Oxford

Yeah I agree. Unless oneday they release a CS:GO course :wink:

Reply 30

Original post by EnglishMuon

I have a friend who applied for computer science at Oxford and mentioned his CS:GO experience, especially as he noticed Oxford have there own team or something but they didnt mention it at interview

No surprise there, then. Oxford and Cambridge both make a point of telling applicants they will assign no importance whatever to anything that is non-academic. Hobbies are utterly irrelevant to both. They don't care whether he might attend one of their student societies; they only care about studying.

The general rule is that the more academic prestige the university has, the less interest it will have in non-academic matters when it comes to admissions.

Reply 31

Student403

Original post by EnglishMuon

Yeah I agree. Unless oneday they release a CS:GO course :wink:

That'll be the day :rofl:

Reply 32

Original post by Good bloke

No surprise there, then. Oxford and Cambridge both make a point of telling applicants they will assign no importance whatever to anything that is non-academic. Hobbies are utterly irrelevant to both. They don't care whether he might attend one of their student societies; they only care about studying.

The general rule is that the more academic prestige the university has, the less interest it will have in non-academic matters when it comes to admissions.

Yep. I think that's the only sensible thing to do, I find it strange how some unis say "Oh wow, you hiked across a field for 2 days so have a place on our Chemistry course". Im not saying other things dont require effort, it just shouldnt allow you to study an unrelated subject :smile:

Reply 33

Original post by Student403

That'll be the day :rofl:

haha yep. But if they are planning that we can take it down from the inside :wink:

Reply 34

999tigger

Original post by ByronicHero

It is better not to include it, but people are often hard to persuade in this regard so if you must mention it, do so very briefly. I have tended to suggest that around a fifth of a statement is the absolute maximum that should be dedicated to irrelevant hobbies, awards, conclusions and the like and anything less than that is likely to serve you well. Schools are really to blame here. So many give lazy advice that has students, to pick an example from above, inexplicably thinking that leadership skills are in the least bit relevant to an application. Mentioning that you play games is fairly unlikely to have any effect on your application at all, so is broadly harmless, but engaging meaningfully with the subject you hope to study is exactly what might secure you an offer so if it were me, I would choose to use the space for the latter content.

Am fine with that. Probably less. I'd use it if I felt it was relevant and could further my case. In some situations it might be, in other places much less so.

Reply 35

ByronicHero

20

Original post by Student403

That'll be the day :rofl:

It is an incredibly boring game to watch to be fair. Even Joe just call me Joe Miller couldn't make it watchable.

Reply 36

Original post by 999tigger

You are making all sorts of presumptions you arent in a position to make.

I'm making none at all; my advice about irrelevant hobbies, as I have made clear, is general. The only circumstance in which it wouldn't apply is if the OP is applying to study e-sports at university, in which case the hobby would be relevant.

Thank you for the feedback, which is as useful to me as having a paragraph devoted to irrelevant hobbies in a PS.

Reply 37

Student403