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capitalising the subject name in ps?

Probably sounds like a stupid question but do I refer to 'geography' or 'Geography'?

I always capitalise subject names if you are referring to them as a subject. So fo example if you were saying I study Geography I'd capitalise it. However if you were talking about the geography of an area I would not. Hope that makes sense.

Reply 2

lucygettings

OP

I meant refering to the subject. Thanks :smile:

.

Reply 3

thefish_uk

14

If it is the name of your course then it deserves a proper noun so yes.

Unless you're applying for a degree in English Grammar I wouldn't see it as much of a thing to fret about anyway.

Reply 4

Juno

20

just make sure you stay consistant

Reply 5

saramk

Juno

just make sure you stay consistant

Juno

Its **consistent**[moderator re-re-edit]

Reply 6

mkgm1

As long as you stay consistent it doesn't matter. I capitalised subject titles like Mathematics and Physics, just to make them stand out.

Reply 7

The West Wing

18

When referring to subject field you shouldn't.

"I want to study politics at university"

If you are applying for a course called "Politics", then you should write "I want to study 'Politics' at university".

Reply 8

rhyscx

Technically it's only when you're referring directly to the title of your course that it should be in capitals - "I have always wanted to study Philosophy at university" would be correct, but "I have always wanted to study philosophy at university" would be correct too, so it's probably better to just leave it all in lower case: you should be consistent or it looks weird, and if you're consistently upper cast then you're bound to make mistakes. In the end though it's not going to make much difference at all so do whatever looks better for you.

Reply 9

city_chic

13

I would; it looks more professional, and just better.

Reply 10

M.A.H

17

capitalise if if you talk about the course not in general for e.g Economics as a course caps whereas economics as a science leave it lower caps

Reply 11

* Catrin *

14

i was told to do so...it looks nice if nothing else.

Reply 12

9mm

12

Yes, I capitalised all subjects.

Reply 13

Good bloke

19

Oh dear! The English grammar standards of undergraduates and candidates does not bode well for the future, does it? We had a thread about this a week or two ago.

Rhyscx got it right, among others.

Subject names should never be capitalised (unless you are writing in German, of course). Course names are, but you will nearly always be writing about the subject rather than the course in a PS, especially bearing in mind that you are applying to five different courses, each of which may have a different name longer that the obvious one (such as Geography with Geoscience). An exception arises in the case of a language, of course. But linguists have a special reason to make sure they do not make mistakes anyway.

You can argue that it makes no difference, or looks better, or is too pedantic to worry about, that no one will notice, or it makes the subject stand out, or emphasises its importance (all of which I have seen argued) but it is far better to just make sure everything in your PS is absolutely right and capitalising a subject is just plain wrong, grammatically. For most applicants it is the only thing that connects directly from you to the admissions tutor. Even science admissions tutors are interested in your precision and your PS may betray you.

I'm not saying that making the odd error is going to lose you an offer, but you may be making more errors (such as typos, spelling mistakes and missed words) than you are aware of and this is an easy one to get right. After all, none of you would write your PS liberally seeded with spelling errors, would you?

In the future, many of you will have reports or important selling documents to write which could well cost your employer money to have sub-edited to remove such indiscretions. In fact, part of my living is earned in doing just that. This will not endear you to them. It is much better to start getting it right early.

Reply 14

Rob 106

7

Hey I had the exact same thing!
I am gave my G(g)eography personal statement to my head of Sixth forma and they said it was all good apart from that I had "g"s for geography and not "G"s. So she said change that and your sorted.

My grammar skills are not amazing and I am sure the ^good bloke^ has the "proper" way of doing it. But I feel it does look better if you capitalize.

Good luck!

capitalising the subject name in ps?

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