Personal statements

Hi so I'm in yr 12 rn and I do volunteering at a charity. I was just wondering, what is the best length of time to volunteering so that it looks good on your personal statement? I've already done 7 months now.

Original post by Replyplz

Hi so I'm in yr 12 rn and I do volunteering at a charity. I was just wondering, what is the best length of time to volunteering so that it looks good on your personal statement? I've already done 7 months now.

Hi! So when you write about your volunteering experience, its less about the time you spent on it but more about the experience you gained, what you learnt from it and how much you can apply it to the course. It's best to think about what skills you've gained and how much it relates to the course you're applying to. 7 months is already fantastic!

That being said, working long term on a volunteering role can show to the universities qualities such as resilience and commitment. I would say what is the longest amount of time you will be able to continue doing so without compromising your grades. I would also consider if you do enjoy volunteering there, would you rather continue or focus on your academics?

Hope that helped,

~ Fatiha, Cardiff University Student Rep

Reply 2

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by Replyplz

Hi so I'm in yr 12 rn and I do volunteering at a charity. I was just wondering, what is the best length of time to volunteering so that it looks good on your personal statement? I've already done 7 months now.

What subject are you applying to?

Most unis don't care about unrelated extra-curriculars, so from an admissions POV this is going to be a bit of a waste for the majority.

Reply 3

Replyplz

OP

8

Original post by Admit-One

What subject are you applying to?

Most unis don't care about unrelated extra-curriculars, so from an admissions POV this is going to be a bit of a waste for the majority.

Hi so for uni I was thinking to do maybe something in finance. The charity I've been working at I've kinda just been doing retail work like stocking up clothes, cashier job ect so tbh I don't know if its anything related to finance.

Reply 4

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by Replyplz

Hi so for uni I was thinking to do maybe something in finance. The charity I've been working at I've kinda just been doing retail work like stocking up clothes, cashier job ect so tbh I don't know if its anything related to finance.

Unless you're involved with doing the books in some way then it's not really relevant. I'd either get your referee to cover it, or mention it in passing in your PS. Whether you do 7, 12, or 18 months isn't going to make any difference from an admissions POV, (but that doesn't mean it's not a worthwhile endeavour in of itself).

Reply 5

Replyplz

OP

8

Original post by CardiffUni Rep 2

Hi! So when you write about your volunteering experience, its less about the time you spent on it but more about the experience you gained, what you learnt from it and how much you can apply it to the course. It's best to think about what skills you've gained and how much it relates to the course you're applying to. 7 months is already fantastic!

That being said, working long term on a volunteering role can show to the universities qualities such as resilience and commitment. I would say what is the longest amount of time you will be able to continue doing so without compromising your grades. I would also consider if you do enjoy volunteering there, would you rather continue or focus on your academics?

Hope that helped,

~ Fatiha, Cardiff University Student Rep

Hii thank you so much this was rlly useful 💗xx. But also, from volunteering at the charity, I've kind of just been doing retail work like doing the cashier, helping customers, listing items on ebay or stocking up clothes. For uni I was thinking of going into maybe the finance/ econ/ accounting sector but I don't really know how I can my relate my volunteering work to my personal statement 😅. I have improved other new skills like working in a team, speaking to customers and stuff but I don't think those would really relate to a personal statement and is more for a CV 😅😅

Reply 6

PQ

Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

Original post by Replyplz

Hii thank you so much this was rlly useful 💗xx. But also, from volunteering at the charity, I've kind of just been doing retail work like doing the cashier, helping customers, listing items on ebay or stocking up clothes. For uni I was thinking of going into maybe the finance/ econ/ accounting sector but I don't really know how I can my relate my volunteering work to my personal statement 😅. I have improved other new skills like working in a team, speaking to customers and stuff but I don't think those would really relate to a personal statement and is more for a CV 😅😅

As explained above - for a finance degree it really isn't worthwhile devoting any space to volunteering like this in your PS. Your PS is about your reasons and interests in your chosen degree subject not why you're a good person.

If you're enjoying your volunteering and/or think it will help with finding part time paid employment then stick with it. If you're only doing it to have something to put on your PS and you aren't enjoying it then it's not worth carrying on with.

Reply 7

vnayak

16

Original post by Replyplz

Hi so I'm in yr 12 rn and I do volunteering at a charity. I was just wondering, what is the best length of time to volunteering so that it looks good on your personal statement? I've already done 7 months now.

Given you are going for finance, I don't think it will be the make or break. I did 60 hours of volunteering in my free time and I only mentioned this in passing on my personal statement and the soft skills I gained from this. I applied for CS so again, there isn't any direct link between the two - I was teaching Maths and English at an orphanage and I tutored a GCSE pupil to get from a grade 4 in Maths to a grade 8 in the span of around 8 weeks with each week being 2 hours of work.

Original post by Replyplz

Hii thank you so much this was rlly useful 💗xx. But also, from volunteering at the charity, I've kind of just been doing retail work like doing the cashier, helping customers, listing items on ebay or stocking up clothes. For uni I was thinking of going into maybe the finance/ econ/ accounting sector but I don't really know how I can my relate my volunteering work to my personal statement 😅. I have improved other new skills like working in a team, speaking to customers and stuff but I don't think those would really relate to a personal statement and is more for a CV 😅😅

Hmm I would agree with the other comments above 🙂 But I would also say that your work experiences can be written to relate to academic skills as well as being related to your subject. Talking about academic skills is quite important as universities want to know if you'll be a good fit for their course! For example in my PS, I talked about how the skills I developed can be useful for my course. You could link the team work stuff to doing group assignments possibly? If you are going to talk about academic skills in your personal statement, it's helpful to research specific courses you're interested in. Then look at the learning/assessment section (most course websites do), and that would give you an idea on the kind of academic skills they expect on this course :smile:

If you're not enjoying it, more helpful things you could do for your PS instead might be further reading or taking some MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) in finance. But if you're enjoying it, by all means carry on 🙂

~ Fatiha, Cardiff University Student Rep

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