Will universities refer back to your personal statement after interview?

Hi, I just had an interview for a master’s course. Whilst I feel like it went okay, one thing that’s bugging me is that I feel like I didn’t talk enough or at all about the breadth of my experience, and just focussed on one area too much. I spoke about all my experience in my personal statement though. So I guess my question is when universities are deciding whether to offer you a place, will they look back on your personal statement as well, or just base it off interview? Thank you!

Hey @Curiouspsych, I hope you are doing great! Firstly, I want to assure you that this is such a normal post-interview thought process. I think we all have those moments where we wonder if we said the right things, or rather wonder if we said enough! 😂
So first things first, to answer your question, yes universities absolutely look at your personal statement alongside your interview. The interview is not assessed in isolation.
How decisions are actually made:
Having spoken to Masters students as well as members of admissions staff, decisions are usually a combination of:

The interview is mainly there to:

So essentially, it is not meant to replace everything you already submitted.
Focusing on one area too much
Honestly, it is not as bad as you think, in fact, it can work in your favour!
Talking in depth about one area shows:

Interviewers usually prefer depth over someone listing everything they have ever done without much insight. And besides, they know your personal statement, so you do not need to re-read it out loud to them.
Why your personal statement still matters:
It shows:

So it has not disappeared.
And one thing most people say about interviews is they are asking questions, and if those questions happened to steer you in one direction then that's that.
Remember, they are not looking for perfection, they are looking for thoughtfulness, preparation and genuineness and it sounds like you had all of that. And the hardest part is done so be kinder to yourself. I wish you all the best 🙂
Ru
BCU student rep.

Hi, I just had an interview for a master’s course. Whilst I feel like it went okay, one thing that’s bugging me is that I feel like I didn’t talk enough or at all about the breadth of my experience, and just focussed on one area too much. I spoke about all my experience in my personal statement though. So I guess my question is when universities are deciding whether to offer you a place, will they look back on your personal statement as well, or just base it off interview? Thank you!