ucas teacher references
ok so im in yr12 and i was initially planning on doing medicine at the start of year 12 and i did work experience with medic mentor, did these live sessions with kcl. BUT about 2 months ago i decided medicine wasnt for me and changed my mind and decided i want to do something to do with finance/economics. now my chemistry teacher wants to do references for uni she literally told us on tuesday this week and needs it in by monday. im now worried because i have zero work experience for economics (i was really busy with end of year exams) .Also she wants us to answer this section on extracurriculars and ive done all this : dofe bronze,silver was a part of stem club at school and won jack petchey award but im confused as to if they count ? like do i say those or do i say my hobbies (all i do is read,watch movies and paint lol i dont think she wants those tbh) . howver she wants everything to be directed towards chemistry like ? this was one of the questions : What university course and profession are you interested in and how does it relate to you studying A-level Chemistry? like it doesnt ive changed my mind and when i talked to her about she said write about your secondary options (something not to do with economics) but all the other degrees i want to do are somewhat finance related and have nothing to do with chemistry. i understand that these references might be really important so someone help please.
Original post by li2
ok so im in yr12 and i was initially planning on doing medicine at the start of year 12 and i did work experience with medic mentor, did these live sessions with kcl. BUT about 2 months ago i decided medicine wasnt for me and changed my mind and decided i want to do something to do with finance/economics. now my chemistry teacher wants to do references for uni she literally told us on tuesday this week and needs it in by monday. im now worried because i have zero work experience for economics (i was really busy with end of year exams) .Also she wants us to answer this section on extracurriculars and ive done all this : dofe bronze,silver was a part of stem club at school and won jack petchey award but im confused as to if they count ? like do i say those or do i say my hobbies (all i do is read,watch movies and paint lol i dont think she wants those tbh) . howver she wants everything to be directed towards chemistry like ? this was one of the questions : What university course and profession are you interested in and how does it relate to you studying A-level Chemistry? like it doesnt ive changed my mind and when i talked to her about she said write about your secondary options (something not to do with economics) but all the other degrees i want to do are somewhat finance related and have nothing to do with chemistry. i understand that these references might be really important so someone help please.
She needs to have info on what you wanna do so she can link it. For example, you can say that studying chemistry helped you realise how important analysing and understanding data is, which is important when finding solutions for financial situations etc (something like that ygm).
In regards to your extracurricular, is there anything that you can find from the medical work experience & kcl med lectures, that would link to finance/ econ? You can also state in your PS that you have a work experience in a finance sector lined up, involving xyz. You need to use the skills from gcse English Language to find bits and bobs from your current experience yk? Like somehow make it all connect
I always start of my replies on TSR with a brief introduction for context. I just finished sixth form this month so just went through the UCAS process a year ago. I also applied for economics. Unfortunately I did only get two offers out of the five, but 3 of my choices are usually really competitive and even more so given the circumstances this year and last.
"my chemistry teacher wants to do references for uni she literally told us on tuesday this week and needs it in by monday. im now worried because i have zero work experience for economics"
just a question, why the rush? you have until October to submit your application for oxbridge/medicine and March for all other universities and courses? I'm not sure what the rush here is but you still have this summer? also there will likely be room for edits just before submission. i too had no work experience besides a virtual placement which had little value in all honesty because my actual placements got cancelled because of coronavirus. do you have any contacts you could ask for work experience over the holidays? like a family member or a friend - I get that coronavirus will restrict the opportunity of it but it might be worth asking. or even just looking on indeed. if you live in London you could become a candidate of the brokerage if you're eligible - they usually have placements available. you could even reach out to people on Linkedin and just ask whether they knew about any placements?
"dofe bronze,silver was a part of stem club at school and won jack petchey award but im confused as to if they count ? like do i say those or do i say my hobbies (all i do is read,watch movies and paint lol i dont think she wants those tbh)"
there's transferrable skills in everything. im not sure what type of volunteering you did for your dofe but one thing I wrote in my personal statement was that helping in a charity shop helped me see economic theories in the perspective of a small business owner, like revenue and profits.
also if you read books and watch documentaries related to the fields within economics/finance you're interested in this can form not only a chunk of your personal statement but also your reference.
"i understand that these references might be really important so someone help please."
I'm not a university admissions tutor so I don't know how important they really are but the truth is they look at your application holistically. so your reference is important, yes but it's not any more important than your personal statement and your grades.
not in reference to your message: have you also considered a degree apprenticeship in finance? somebody I know who also did the medicine subjects applied to some and actually got quite far in the application process as they tend to focus more on your potential as a possible member of the firm rather than your grades and subjects. or if you'd like to take a gap year you could have your teacher write about what you plan to do in it instead and have the offer deferred. however I know not everyone wants to go down either of these routes and that's totally ok - it's just an option I wanted to make you aware of if you weren't already. also, not sure how true this is but apparently with clearing they don't ask too many questions or read your personal statement and reference, so you could apply through clearing?
hope this helped even slightly.
"my chemistry teacher wants to do references for uni she literally told us on tuesday this week and needs it in by monday. im now worried because i have zero work experience for economics"
just a question, why the rush? you have until October to submit your application for oxbridge/medicine and March for all other universities and courses? I'm not sure what the rush here is but you still have this summer? also there will likely be room for edits just before submission. i too had no work experience besides a virtual placement which had little value in all honesty because my actual placements got cancelled because of coronavirus. do you have any contacts you could ask for work experience over the holidays? like a family member or a friend - I get that coronavirus will restrict the opportunity of it but it might be worth asking. or even just looking on indeed. if you live in London you could become a candidate of the brokerage if you're eligible - they usually have placements available. you could even reach out to people on Linkedin and just ask whether they knew about any placements?
"dofe bronze,silver was a part of stem club at school and won jack petchey award but im confused as to if they count ? like do i say those or do i say my hobbies (all i do is read,watch movies and paint lol i dont think she wants those tbh)"
there's transferrable skills in everything. im not sure what type of volunteering you did for your dofe but one thing I wrote in my personal statement was that helping in a charity shop helped me see economic theories in the perspective of a small business owner, like revenue and profits.
also if you read books and watch documentaries related to the fields within economics/finance you're interested in this can form not only a chunk of your personal statement but also your reference.
"i understand that these references might be really important so someone help please."
I'm not a university admissions tutor so I don't know how important they really are but the truth is they look at your application holistically. so your reference is important, yes but it's not any more important than your personal statement and your grades.
not in reference to your message: have you also considered a degree apprenticeship in finance? somebody I know who also did the medicine subjects applied to some and actually got quite far in the application process as they tend to focus more on your potential as a possible member of the firm rather than your grades and subjects. or if you'd like to take a gap year you could have your teacher write about what you plan to do in it instead and have the offer deferred. however I know not everyone wants to go down either of these routes and that's totally ok - it's just an option I wanted to make you aware of if you weren't already. also, not sure how true this is but apparently with clearing they don't ask too many questions or read your personal statement and reference, so you could apply through clearing?
hope this helped even slightly.
(edited 2 years ago)
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