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Importance of personal statement

Going to be applying for physics at a few universities this year. First choice is oxford which i understand doesn't place much importance on the personal statement because of interviews and exams.

I have heard sort of rumours that other good universities like Warwick say they don't really care about your personal statement that much which surprised me. How much is the personal statement considered at other universities? (The grades on my UCAS will be maxxed out by the way, A level predicted and GCSEs, so idk how much time is actually worth putting into my personal statement)

Reply 1

CCCU Official

Official Rep

Original post by sound-famous-

Going to be applying for physics at a few universities this year. First choice is oxford which i understand doesn't place much importance on the personal statement because of interviews and exams.
I have heard sort of rumours that other good universities like Warwick say they don't really care about your personal statement that much which surprised me. How much is the personal statement considered at other universities? (The grades on my UCAS will be maxxed out by the way, A level predicted and GCSEs, so idk how much time is actually worth putting into my personal statement)

It will be worth writing a personal statement; admissions teams do read them and you never know, a place on a course (or interview) may be decided on the personal statements. You can never tell. Best not to listen to rumours.

Liz

Reply 2

LittleFire10

Original post by sound-famous-

Going to be applying for physics at a few universities this year. First choice is oxford which i understand doesn't place much importance on the personal statement because of interviews and exams.
I have heard sort of rumours that other good universities like Warwick say they don't really care about your personal statement that much which surprised me. How much is the personal statement considered at other universities? (The grades on my UCAS will be maxxed out by the way, A level predicted and GCSEs, so idk how much time is actually worth putting into my personal statement)

I was at the University of Southampton open day and, according to an admissions tutor, personal statements don’t mean much unless you’re applying to a top 5 uni or medicine/dentistry/education. They said they never reject someone based on their personal statement and schools place unnecessary pressure on it. But if I’m honest I doubt that this is applicable for all universities.