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Do Universities actually look at personal statements?

Considering the thousands of applications an average Uni may get, surely they don’t read through every personal statement. Why are they even needed?

Reply 1

super_kawaii

Original post by Annzpie

Considering the thousands of applications an average Uni may get, surely they don’t read through every personal statement. Why are they even needed?

Yes, they do read every single one of them. Uni applications are handled by individual departments (so the School of Law will only ever see law personal statements for example) and they are essential as it lets the uni know how invested you are in the course and whether you are applying for the right reasons. Uni's won't want to take on people who don't care for the subject they're applying for as said students are more likely to fail or drop out before completion, which doesn't look good stats wise for unis.

Reply 2

SarcAndSpark

Original post by Annzpie

Considering the thousands of applications an average Uni may get, surely they don’t read through every personal statement. Why are they even needed?

Some unis put more emphasis on them than others but most will at least be skimmed over. It's the only chance unis have to see that you can write well in English which can be important. It may also be checked for other red flags such as applying for multiple very different courses.

Personal statements are really important when unis are trying to decide between lots of students with a similar academic profile and they can't give offers to all of them. You can't know before applying if your application will be in this situation so you do need to write the best one you can.

If someone applies lacking the essential entrance requirements then it's likely your PS wouldn't be read.