PPE personal statement advice

8

I am in year 12 and I’m keen to apply to UCL and LSE philosophy and economics programs, as well as KCL and Warwick PPE. Will i get rejected if my personal statement is literally mainly Philosophy and economics? Maybe one or two sentences for Politics but not as big an emphasis given LSE and UCL may reject if it isn’t aligned with their course?

Reply 1

ageshallnot

21

Original post

by omkaard

I am in year 12 and I’m keen to apply to UCL and LSE philosophy and economics programs, as well as KCL and Warwick PPE. Will i get rejected if my personal statement is literally mainly Philosophy and economics? Maybe one or two sentences for Politics but not as big an emphasis given LSE and UCL may reject if it isn’t aligned with their course?

You can probably gauge LSE's attitude through careful reading of this page:

https://www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/Undergraduate/Prospective-Students/How-to-Apply/Completing-the-UCAS-form/New-Personal-Statement

Reply 2

Dalby1

9

You MUST write for LSE or you'll be rejected no matter what grades you get

Reply 3

charlie200000

12

My son was rejected by LSE for Pol & Econ due to his personal statement not being "Sufficiently convincing" he was offered KCL and Warwick for PPE, he thought his PS was very strong but now think the few lines he wrote on Philosophy was the reason why? If LSE is your no1 choice be really careful how much you write for Politics. LSE are far more focused on PSs than the other unis. My son was also rejected by UCL for his application not being as strong as others so work hard on getting the best possible grades you can. How were your GCSEs?

Reply 4

omkaard

OP

8

Original post

by charlie200000

My son was rejected by LSE for Pol & Econ due to his personal statement not being :s-smilie:

ufficiently convincing" he was offered KCL and Warwick for PPE, he thought his PS was very strong but now think the few lines he wrote on Philosophy was the reason why? If LSE is your no1 choice be really careful how much you write for Politics. LSE are far more focused on PSs than the other unis. My son was also rejected by UCL for his application not being as strong as others so work hard on getting the best possible grades you can. How were your GCSEs?

Thats interesting. I’d assume showing interest in 2/3 subjects should be fine given how limited space there is on the personal statement. My gcse’s were 99999988887 and the 7 was in DT so i don’t think they can reject me because of that!!

Reply 5

Dalby1

9

Original post

by omkaard

Thats interesting. I’d assume showing interest in 2/3 subjects should be fine given how limited space there is on the personal statement. My gcse’s were 99999988887 and the 7 was in DT so i don’t think they can reject me because of that!!

Make sure you apply to a good insurance that you'll want to go to as so far I've been rejected by most of my unis so I'll likely be going to my insurance even with 3 A* predictions.

London unis LOVE internationals so even if your stats are better you'll likely lose out. Seen people with all 9s at GCSE and 4 A* predictions getting rejections

Reply 6

Cabbagedragons

9

Original post

by omkaard

I am in year 12 and I’m keen to apply to UCL and LSE philosophy and economics programs, as well as KCL and Warwick PPE. Will i get rejected if my personal statement is literally mainly Philosophy and economics? Maybe one or two sentences for Politics but not as big an emphasis given LSE and UCL may reject if it isn’t aligned with their course?

I applied to Warwick EPP (economics, psychology and philosophy). My personal statement was around 2/3 philosophy and 1/3 economics and I got an offer! It doesn’t seem too strict in that sense :smile:

Reply 7

GEUoS

Official Rep

6

Hi @omkaard

I study PPE. My personal statement was focused more on Politics and Economics which was fine for me. It does vary depending on university.

What I would say is that Politics has alot of overlap with Philosophy and Economics. So, maybe showing your interest in an area of Philosophy and Economics that overlaps with Politics. For example, Political Philosophy or applying Economics to a political phenomena. That way your personal statement will still be focused on Philosophy and Economics, but has a bit of political slant.

Good luck with your application,
Gulcin
Student Ambassador

Reply 8

Onak_024

3

@GEUoS What kind of supercurriculars did you mention or recommend that someone else mentions in their PS?

Reply 9

GEUoS

Official Rep

6

Original post

by KingKewi

@GEUoS What kind of supercurriculars did you mention or recommend that someone else mentions in their PS?

Hi @KingKewi

I mentioned reading the Economist and wrote about articles that I had read that were of interest. I also mentioned that I did the Young Reporter Scheme which was work experience in which I wrote articles for an online newspaper. I think trying to get some work experience that shows you're interested in current affairs is a good idea. For example, writing for a school paper or if something similar exists. Or being part of debate club. Or, doing volunteering. I did volunteering, although it was not related to politics/philosophy/economics. But, even if it is unrelated, it's still beneficial to have some volunteering.

Also, I highly recommend reading The Economist. You could also read books related to Economics such as Undercover Economist or Freakonomics.

I personally did not really put anything on Philosophy. But a good place to start with Philosophy is to listen to philosophy podcasts such as on BBC Radio 4 and also, Philosophy Bites. For Politics, you could read up on political theory/political philosophy in particular on Rousseau, Locke, John Stuart Mill, Hobbes.

Hope this helps,
Gulcin
Student Ambassador

(edited 8 months ago)

Reply 10

12sunflowers

5

Original post

by omkaard

I am in year 12 and I’m keen to apply to UCL and LSE philosophy and economics programs, as well as KCL and Warwick PPE. Will i get rejected if my personal statement is literally mainly Philosophy and economics? Maybe one or two sentences for Politics but not as big an emphasis given LSE and UCL may reject if it isn’t aligned with their course?

Don’t bank on UCL they take over 70% internationals in PPE and the others are mostly students on gap year who have achieved grades. I know someone with 9 x 9s and 2 x 8s at GCSE with 4 A* predicted (and A* achieved in the EPQ) + super strong teachers’ recommendation + solid PS totally PPE focused who got rejected. Many UK students get Oxford and not UCL/LSE. Different story for internationals! I know UK people with foreign passport who study in the UK who have applied with their foreign passports to get in with mediocre grades (and they did!).

Reply 11

bumba123

12

Original post

by 12sunflowers

Don’t bank on UCL they take over 70% internationals in PPE and the others are mostly students on gap year who have achieved grades. I know someone with 9 x 9s and 2 x 8s at GCSE with 4 A* predicted (and A* achieved in the EPQ) + super strong teachers’ recommendation + solid PS totally PPE focused who got rejected. Many UK students get Oxford and not UCL/LSE. Different story for internationals! I know UK people with foreign passport who study in the UK who have applied with their foreign passports to get in with mediocre grades (and they did!).

Yeah but they would have had to pay an extra 60k (minor issue ofc)

PPE personal statement advice

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Articles for you

How The Student Room is moderated