Applying for Earth Sciences 2021

(Original post by EmSmife13)
Hi all!

Currently in year 12 and 100% certain that i want to study earth sciences/geology at university after sixth form. I'm a bit stuck with things to do that i might be able to put in my personal statement/ucas forms. I've done a relevant EPQ and I've always doing loads of reading around the subject but i worry that i'd be disadvantaged applying to more competitive universities (imperial, oxford) due to only taking three A-levels (maths, chem, geog). To people studying/studied earth sciences, are there any more things i could be doing to boost my application and do you think i stand a decent chance with these subjects? Thanks!

(Original post by WestLdnStudent)
Im about to start environmental geoscience in Rhul. It wasnt that hard to get in and I didnt really do much experience in the course but I had alot of knowledge in earth sciences so when I had an interview for it, I was really good at answering any questions. I reccomend always reading articles related to earth sciences (newer the better) in your free time. It helps especially for competitive unis like oxford. I was told by a professor, for earth sciences, info is always being updated so reading articles and new science discoveries will be helpful in keeping up to date.

My mate got into oxford doing another course but he did a btec (btec applied science) and 2 alevels (predicted distinction, A, A*). So i dont think you doing only 3 alevels is bad, you should be fine as long as you get good grades and well prepared for their interview day. Also i dont think earth science is that popular compared to medicine or engineering etc so there will be less competition (by less I dont mean none. There still will be alot for oxford).

I reccomend in your personal statement, talk about how you got interested in the course and relating to any personal experiences of yours. E.g. i talked about how my home country was very polluted but after returning in 10 years, new policies to recycle and clean pollution changed the country completely and this boosted me into wanting to learn earth sciences as I wanted to use my knowledge I learn to help tackle modern world problems and improve QOL.

For experience, get in touch with your local council. They have sectors relating to things you learn in earth science e.g. taclking pollution. You can ask them for work experience. I was unable to do this but one of my mates that actually contacted them got a week of work experience in seeing how the council sectors work in e.g. tackling pollution or other problems. Or You can do a study yourself researching a certain topic you are interested in. You can talk about this study you did in part of your personal statement (add statistics and facts you learnt within study). This helps as unis can see you are already engaged in the topic and doing independant research and learning (great for science based courses).

My personal statement may not be much of use as I applied to rhul but if you want to read it, I can always hook you up. I was told mine was a really good statement and I got accepted for all of my choices. I didnt apply for oxford though as its not my type of uni. I got offer for UCL too but for me, I fell in love with the rhul earth science department. I found them amazing and matched what I wanted perfectly.

Sorry for long reply 😂 but yeah, this some info I have of earth sciences and my experience. I am no expert tho as im only starting uni now.