Applying to Cambridge for a course different to my other applications

I am planning on applying to Cambridge for English however I also want to apply to law elsewhere (Durham, Edinburgh, Warwick) and am struggling with how to write my personal statement. Am I jeopardising my chances of getting into either a law uni or Cambridge If I write my personal statement so that it talks about both law and English? Both being very competitive, the successful personal statements I have seen for both English at Cambridge and for law are highly specialised to the course being applied to. My worry is that making my personal statement fit both will make it too vague and ruin the possibility I get into either. I want to do English at Cambridge more than I want to do law elsewhere so if I have to then I will disregard law however I don't want to apply to do English anywhere else and so if I don't apply anywhere for law, Cambridge will be my only application which is very risky.
Do I choose to focus on Cambridge or is there a possibility of making my personal statement fit both English and law whilst still being of a high quality and displaying equal passion in both?

Reply 1

lalexm

16

Original post by tilly1111

I am planning on applying to Cambridge for English however I also want to apply to law elsewhere (Durham, Edinburgh, Warwick) and am struggling with how to write my personal statement. Am I jeopardising my chances of getting into either a law uni or Cambridge If I write my personal statement so that it talks about both law and English? Both being very competitive, the successful personal statements I have seen for both English at Cambridge and for law are highly specialised to the course being applied to. My worry is that making my personal statement fit both will make it too vague and ruin the possibility I get into either. I want to do English at Cambridge more than I want to do law elsewhere so if I have to then I will disregard law however I don't want to apply to do English anywhere else and so if I don't apply anywhere for law, Cambridge will be my only application which is very risky.
Do I choose to focus on Cambridge or is there a possibility of making my personal statement fit both English and law whilst still being of a high quality and displaying equal passion in both?

Not sure how you are going to convince the Cambridge selectors that you are passionate about English if your PS is about law, and likewise for law courses if your PS is about English. Trying to cover both in your PS would normally be the best bet, but prob not here as both are super competitive, so you would risk getting neither. The obvious question is why are you not applying for law at Cambridge also?

Reply 2

simonmorrish

12

My opinion: from what you've said, you have to write a ps focused on English for Cambridge. They definitely consider the ps, so to do anything else would undermine your application.

I would check the web sites for your law unis to find out how much they actually use the ps in their application process. (Some uni/course combinations don't read it at all.) For those that are going to use your ps, you can contact the uni admissions office directly and ask if you can send a course-specific replacement ps to them.

(Make sure you're clear in your own mind about why you want to do English at Cambridge but Law otherwise. The conventional wisdom is to choose course first, then uni.)