Gold Duke of Edinburgh

I've just finished by bronze award, and I'm going to sixth form college in September where I think I will do my Gold, as that is what they offer.

In the future I hope to apply to oxbridge/ top uni/ possibly medicine; so is it really worth it? Does is really look good on your application, or is it a waste of time? I mean I do alot of charitable and drama/musical stuff, but very little sporty things in extra curricaulr time, and i only want to spend lots of time sdoing it if it;s worthwhile/ valued.

Also, I am going on a camp in 2 weeks, which can be used for my service. This camp is free, as i'm being sponsored to go... do you reckon that if i contacted my college on monday, they would sign me on now, so i can use it? Or could I just put it on later and change the date of my start time???

What d'you all think?

OP

........

I don't know about the expedition but with the other aspects anything you do in the 3 months before can count. Try asking them.

If I was you I would just sign up anyway, its not exactly hard to do.

Reply 3

scaryhair

12

If you're doing half the things that gold requires anyway, then in my opinion there is no harm for going for it.
You'll get some people on here who will say that its worthless and not worth doing, but to be honest I reckon they're either jealous, bitter or haven't actually done D of E of anyone who is capable of doing it, not specifically myself*.
The way I see it, if you have two identical applicants, except one has D of E at Gold level, the employer will pick the one with D of E.
Besides, if you're planning on doing medicine you need to be doing some voluntary work and have a reasonable amount of extracurricular stuff which will fit nicely in with Duke of Edinburgh.

On the point of expeditions though, make sure you train a lot. Silver seems to be a big jump from Bronze, so going from Bronze to Gold might be difficult for you, especially as you do no sport!

*Sorry, had to edit because some moron can't read properly. Exactly the type of person I was talking about!

Reply 4

OllyThePhilosopher

11

It is worth it as it doesn't really take up a lot of your time and you get some great memories from it. Employers care more about it than universities but it still may be worth adding to your application.

Reply 5

hazzypants

OP

16

callum9999

I don't know about the expedition but with the other aspects anything you do in the 3 months before can count. Try asking them.

If I was you I would just sign up anyway, its not exactly hard to do.

Can you? Did you do that? I never heard that 3 month rule.. i'm trawling the website now; where did you hear that?

Reply 6

scaryhair

12

hazzypants

Can you? Did you do that? I never heard that 3 month rule.. i'm trawling the website now; where did you hear that?

Yes you can. It's in the handbook somewhere, but you can backdate stuff up to three months before you started the award. Quite helpful with the longer time length stuff!

Reply 7

mother_eve3088

3

Gold Duke of Edinburg is considered - don't ask me why, but it is - as an A level qualification, due to the amount of work and effort that gets put into it.
Also shows you're hardworking, motivated and certainly capable!
I'd say go for it!

Reply 8

gravityisamyth

mother_eve3088

Gold Duke of Edinburg is considered - don't ask me why, but it is - as an A level qualification, due to the amount of work and effort that gets put into it.

Really?

OP, I would say that it's worth it. It definitely shows commitment, I'm still finishing off my sections and I did my expedition ages ago!

Reply 9

kcfch

14

to be honest oxbridge/ other top unis dont care about it that much...the grades you get at AS are far more significant. if you do do it, its just an added bonus really.

Reply 10

username144728

hazzypants

Also, I am going on a camp in 2 weeks, which can be used for my service. This camp is free, as i'm being sponsored to go...

Are you sure you could use it as your service? At gold you have to do service over a 12 month period (18 months for direct entry I think), I don't think you can bundle the hours in to two weeks, I may be wrong, but my DofE co-ordinators definitely said I couldn't do that.

Camp would count as your residential project though!

Reply 11

Alcohol5%

2

scaryhair

The way I see it, if you have two identical applicants, except one has D of E at Gold level, the employer will pick the one with D of E.

Yer, this is what you get told when you start doing D of E, so you are convinced it practically like having another qualification.

Of course the one with D of E will get the job because they have something extra, it would be stupid for them not to get it because they would have a better CV. But the situation would never arise, you would never find two people with exactly the same qualifications, out of school interests, personality, gender and race for it ever to the case. D of E is good to have, especially a gold one, but it's not important enough for a job to hang on it.

Reply 12

εїз pinga εїз

8

It is worth it, but not for uni purposes. It's worth it as it'll be good for you, especially the expedition.

I miss D of E :frown:

Reply 13

snorty_swirl

11

I think it looks amazing, both as a usefu thing to put on a CV and as being really fun and a real experiance.. my brother is in tanaznia on his expitdition at the moment, i wish i could go next year but physically cant. I feel like i have really missed out as havent done bronze or silver either

GO for it

Reply 14

username163092

19

If you think you'll enjoy it and will get something out of it, then do it. Like you, I'd love to study medicine at a top uni and would like to do D of E, but not for medicine, just because I want to try different things and see if I enjoy them.

Reply 15

scaryhair

12

Alcohol5%

Yer, this is what you get told when you start doing D of E, so you are convinced it practically like having another qualification.

Of course the one with D of E will get the job because they have something extra, it would be stupid for them not to get it because they would have a better CV. But the situation would never arise, you would never find two people with exactly the same qualifications, out of school interests, personality, gender and race for it ever to the case. D of E is good to have, especially a gold one, but it's not important enough for a job to hang on it.

You're missing the point here. It's not the actual award that employers and universities like - its the skills demonstrated by the award. It shows a lot of determination, commitment, perserverance and teamwork, and its also a pretty self-fulfilling way of having fun and learning more about yourself!
Of course that situation won't arise in real life - I was using it as a hypothetical one. But the point of the example rings true - it is a good thing to have, and some employers look very highly upon it. Obviously some value it more than others, but thats the same as anything really.

Reply 16

Alcohol5%

2

scaryhair

You're missing the point here. It's not the actual award that employers and universities like - its the skills demonstrated by the award. It shows a lot of determination, commitment, perserverance and teamwork, and its also a pretty self-fulfilling way of having fun and learning more about yourself!
Of course that situation won't arise in real life - I was using it as a hypothetical one. But the point of the example rings true - it is a good thing to have, and some employers look very highly upon it. Obviously some value it more than others, but thats the same as anything really.

No, I don't think I am missing the point. I agreed with you that the D of E applicant would get employed, as it is something extra and the employer would be stupid not to employ them, unless there was some sort of hidden agenda.

However, there are other things apart from D of E which give the same sort of qualities that an employer would like, for example, if you were good at swimming and you worked hard at it, you would get prizes and awards. If you worked exceptionally well at university you would get an award to say so. If you did some martial art, and trained for gradings etcs you would get certificates to say so.

There are lots of other things apart from D of E that can show good qualities about a person that employers would like to see. D of E doesn't necessarily have more sway with employers. People shouldn't be putting themselves through D of E just because they think it will give them one up on people in the future when it comes to university and job applications, because to be honest, it just won't.

Reply 17

Magickal_Faerie

1

ging.ninj.

Are you sure you could use it as your service? At gold you have to do service over a 12 month period (18 months for direct entry I think), I don't think you can bundle the hours in to two weeks, I may be wrong, but my DofE co-ordinators definitely said I couldn't do that.

Camp would count as your residential project though!

I think the OP meant that the camp could be residential.

It wouldnt count for service, you have to do those three over a certain time period to show commitment :smile:

I did all three awards and I really miss doing it now, and all of the things that I did then :frown:

Moving to Uni really shook up my social life of doing volunteering stuff!! Now I just cant really be bothered cause I dont see the point in it when I'm leaving the city after next may.

Anyway....yes. Its worthwhile and will look good on your university applications.

Reply 18

hazzypants

OP

16

ging.ninj.

Are you sure you could use it as your service? At gold you have to do service over a 12 month period (18 months for direct entry I think), I don't think you can bundle the hours in to two weeks, I may be wrong, but my DofE co-ordinators definitely said I couldn't do that.

Camp would count as your residential project though!

that's what i meant! sorry, yeh the residential .. :smile:

Reply 19

crazylemon

20

I do it and so think you should go for it its great fun (though every expedition ive done since bronze has been int the rain :mad:

)
Leaving for my Final gold exped tommorrow morning. Hopping my group remeber everything; one of them turned up to the kit check without a water bottle >.< . If are going to do it make sure your in a good group though otherwise it aint as much fun.

Gold Duke of Edinburgh

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