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How important is your personal statement?

Ive been reading some conflicting information on personal statements I thought they were really important but ive seen some people saying they arent important. Any help?
Original post by BigManTing94
Ive been reading some conflicting information on personal statements I thought they were really important but ive seen some people saying they arent important. Any help?


They are important, universities will use this during interviews and in the application process.

Make your personal statement as good as possible, make sure you stand out from the average joe :biggrin: And include any necessary information!
For most universities, it's extremely important. If they don't do interviews, the only thing you can do to distinguish yourself from others with the same grades as you is the personal statement. If a uni has one place left and two students with the same grades competing, it may be what decides it.

Even for unis with interviews, the personal statement is often used for shortlisting candidates for interview, and they'll often ask you questions based on your statement in the interview.
as someone who spent a lot of time on their personal statement looking back it’s not as important as students/schools suggest.

Of course it’s good for a good first impression, but for most courses and most universities predicted grades are most important. Just use it to show that you are interested in the subject/have done reading.

When I was applying to Oxford about 2 years ago their website stated that they don’t reject/accept solely based on a personal statement. In the case of Oxford it was of course admissions test and interview that was most important.

Obviously there will be some caveats were PS is really important I imagine it’s much more important if you are applying for medicine
(edited 4 years ago)
Thanks for all the help :smile:
How long is a piece of string? Honestly it varies widely between universities and courses; some, like e.g. Oxbridge Maths, will probably barely look at your PS. Others, like LSE, scrutinise them a lot. Allied health professions courses often look carefully at personal statements to look for your understanding of and motivation for the profession in question. Ironically for the above example of medicine, it again varies a lot; some medical schools' shortlisting criteria include marks for the personal statement (i.e. how well they receive it), while some (such as Oxford) do not consider it at all while shortlisting.
Original post by artful_lounger
How long is a piece of string? Honestly it varies widely between universities and courses; some, like e.g. Oxbridge Maths, will probably barely look at your PS. Others, like LSE, scrutinise them a lot. Allied health professions courses often look carefully at personal statements to look for your understanding of and motivation for the profession in question. Ironically for the above example of medicine, it again varies a lot; some medical schools' shortlisting criteria include marks for the personal statement (i.e. how well they receive it), while some (such as Oxford) do not consider it at all while shortlisting.

That is very interesting to hear, I was aware that each uni may be a bit different but that level of difference is far greater than I expected!

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