Personal Statements

[Trinity]

Remember a personal statement is not supposed to be a descriptive essay. Be clear and concise. Summarize the points you want to make.

it is important not just to say what you have done, but also what you have got out of it; e.g.

Part-time work in the corner shop - experience of working with all sections of society; responsible for cashing up and pricing. Gained insight into how a small business operates.

[Kirsty :]]

I cannot do my personal statement at all!
I'm doing fine at helping my friend with what to write on hers... jsut don't have a clue what to write on mine. Grr

What do they mean by "what would you contribute to Uni?"

Any help at all is much much appreciated, thankyou

[Abbie]

I didnt know we had to write what we would contribute, I know we have to write why we think we should do the course at the uni and what makes us want to do it

[DaVeyWaVey]

Yeah, I only wrote down on my personal statement why I wanted to do the course/why I wanted to go to uni and why the course would suit me - I didn't put anything about what I would contribute to university, seeing as I'm applying to 5 different ones.

[Kirsty :]]

Oohhhh ok thankyou lol. I don;t even know what it means so I'll leave that bit out.
I've made a start but it just sounds so cheesy..

[Abigail]

I don't know if this has been said, don't tailor your statement to one specific course at a university you're applying for.

Don't worry about it, it took me several months to think of what to write then it came all at once.

[Layne]

Did about 7 drafts and finally got it right All has been sent off - woo!

[Kim]

My school are getting us to start on personal statements now. I've made some notes on what I want to put in but I'm not having much luck getting any further than that. I start it then abandon it because I don't like the way it turns out.

[DaVeyWaVey]

Hopefully this will help in some way to people who might be writing personal statements this year. This is how I did mine and I got 5 offers.

Introduction: Why will you enjoy the particular subject you want to study at university? Why do you plan to study it at university? e.g. I have a talent for it - mention contributions you've made in your classes that helps support this.

Paragraph 1: Talk about any relevant work experience and the skills you learnt on that work experience that would be useful whilst studying for a degree e.g. independence. If you have had any work experience that can be related to your chosen subject, I would write about it. I worked at 2 newspapers for mine and talked about that, followed by saying "and I would consider pursuing Journalism as a career after completing my degree".

Paragraph 2: Talk about two things you have studied in detail. One thing you've learnt in your classes, another that you've learnt in your own time to show you have a passion for your subject outside of the classroom. Say how you taught yourself, what you learnt from it and how it benefits to your understanding of the subject as a whole. Mention at the end of this paragraph that you would like to study a particular module in your degree that will help expand on the knowledge you have learnt from studying your subject at A Level.

Paragraph 3: Talk about any ECs for 2 or 3 sentences at the most and say what skills they have taught you.

Conclusion: Round up the reasons why you want to go to university. Think carefully and try and not make it too much of a cliche!

Hope this helps in some way..

[Abigail]

Conclusion: Round up the reasons why you want to go to university. Think carefully and try and not make it too much of a cliche!

Yes, don't include any cliches. Especially not "it's my dream to study xyz" or "I've always wanted to/had an interest in xyz,"

Remember, admissions tutors have to read hundreds, if not thousands of personal statements and choose very few applicants to offer a place to. Make yours stand out