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Personal Statement - need help!

Hello everyone :smile:

Bit of background - I am 33 and have recently started my Access to Medicine, Pharmacy and Medical Sciences course whilst also retaking my Maths GCSE. I would like to study physiology at University, and have seen interesting courses at Bristol, MMU, Manchester and KCL.

I have started planning my personal statement, but I am unsure as to how "personal" to get! My reasons for studying physiology (I am particularly interested in cardiac physiology) is due to my family's history with heart disease and one of the main reasons for changing careers now is because a family member passed away so suddenly - life is too short! This isn't a rash decision, I have been unhappy in my marketing career for some years now but that experience was the kick I needed.

I understand how my background in marketing can be transferred to a science degree so I'm all set there, I'm just a little concerned about my Maths GCSE and the reasons "why".

Are Unis put off with students retaking their GCSE alongside other study? Do I need to make a big deal of this in my PS?

Any advice would be very much appreciated!
Reply 1
Avatar for DCDCo
DCDCo
13
Original post by jenbleep
Hello everyone :smile:

Bit of background - I am 33 and have recently started my Access to Medicine, Pharmacy and Medical Sciences course whilst also retaking my Maths GCSE. I would like to study physiology at University, and have seen interesting courses at Bristol, MMU, Manchester and KCL.

I have started planning my personal statement, but I am unsure as to how "personal" to get! My reasons for studying physiology (I am particularly interested in cardiac physiology) is due to my family's history with heart disease and one of the main reasons for changing careers now is because a family member passed away so suddenly - life is too short! This isn't a rash decision, I have been unhappy in my marketing career for some years now but that experience was the kick I needed.

I understand how my background in marketing can be transferred to a science degree so I'm all set there, I'm just a little concerned about my Maths GCSE and the reasons "why".

Are Unis put off with students retaking their GCSE alongside other study? Do I need to make a big deal of this in my PS?

Any advice would be very much appreciated!


I think the key to writing a PS as a mature student as opposed to a conventional student, is using the skills we have acquired in our professional lives to our advantage. A very simply structure you can take in your PS:

Why X Subject

How have you engaged with X subject

What makes you great at X subject

What else makes you great

Summarise why you are great for the course

I treated my PS almost like a story, which talked through my connections with the subject, why I wanted to pursue it academically and why I would be great at it.

Whilst i'm not the absolute authority on PS's, I did secure a spot at a notoriously tough University when it comes to the statement, for a course that has an incredibly low offer rate :smile:
Reply 2
Avatar for jenbleep
jenbleep
OP
6
Original post by DCDCo
I think the key to writing a PS as a mature student as opposed to a conventional student, is using the skills we have acquired in our professional lives to our advantage. A very simply structure you can take in your PS:

Why X Subject

How have you engaged with X subject

What makes you great at X subject

What else makes you great

Summarise why you are great for the course

I treated my PS almost like a story, which talked through my connections with the subject, why I wanted to pursue it academically and why I would be great at it.

Whilst i'm not the absolute authority on PS's, I did secure a spot at a notoriously tough University when it comes to the statement, for a course that has an incredibly low offer rate :smile:


This is really helpful, thank you for your reply! It's quite hard to look back through the past ten years and pick out relevant information and successes...! I know it's there though!
When I wrote my personal statement for Anthropology and History (I know every different subjects!) I wrote about what first got me interested in the subject, in my case it was the fall of the Berlin wall, I was in primary school at the time in Northern Ireland and it really opened my eyes to the rest of the world. I also mentioned how fascinated with people I was and activities/hobbies I did in regards to this for example i attended history talks at my local library and Public records office, watched factual TV shows and read books on the subject. You can be personal just don't be too personal about it, like talking with somebody you want to impress, tell them enough but don't elaborate on the really personal stuff, it can make for uncomfortable reading and may give the wrong impression of why you want to do the subject.

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