What do you feel “looks good” on ucas form or job applications?

[Bonappetite]

People always say that Duke of Edinburgh looks good on ucas form. But what else does?
my dc are particularly sporty or musically minded. Although they have enjoyed scouts. And have recently done some beginner training in sailing. I am on the look out for other things that may look good. All their friends seem to be virtually county level in various sports, but what if you aren’t sporty?

Depends on the course being applied for. For my course I wouldn’t consider someone who hasn’t either had a Saturday job or have done a prolonged period of volunteering.

@sheepdogdelight and @VenusClapTrap thank you both

What’s the course?

What is the course though. Presumably something related to care and presumably it’s then specified in the course requirement documentation. Otherwise you’re missing out on a significant number of applicants who are told not to mention these things in their PS. DS has volunteered for many years at the local riding for the disabled stables. He’s there for hours every week. It isn’t vaguely relevant to his history degree so was told to leave it out completely. The course administrators would have no idea that he does it.

It isn’t vaguely relevant to his history degree so was told to leave it out completely.

Teachers telling pupils to leave out everything not relevant to the subject are likely doing them a disservice - a brief mention of non subject leadership/team/determination type of indicators can't be a bad thing.

nursing, midwifery, physio, paramedic, medicine, OT.

My three DC included their part time jobs, volunteering, hobbies and interests relevant to the subject and any leadership roles they had. About 80 % of the statement was their love of the subject, they all included references to things that were in the news either currently or previously and related this back to their interest in the subject.
Luckily they were all really passionate (obviously they didn’t use this word) and I think they portrayed this in their statements.

I read uni application forms. Honestly, it’s a sincere interest in the subject that we are really looking for. D of E or piano playing is of no relevance whatsoever unless you are applying to the army or a music school.

Years ago these extra curricular things were signifiers of a certain class or person and I think universities (unconsciously) took them as evidence this was the ‘right kind of person’ under the guise of them being ‘well rounded’ Nowadays I am aware that many people do not grow up in an environment where parents organise or can afford such things. I just want students who love the subject and genuinely engage with it. And that does not mean just saying ‘ I am passionate about x’

This is great to hear as they tend not to gel well with a lot of extra curricular activities and prefer to do their own thing. And actually do already enjoy extra reading around science so will probably stand them in good stead. In fact I think I will start getting them science magazines regularly so they can read them

Agree with this it was exclusionary imo and this is far better

Coffee thanks for courses, Ds isn’t applying for those but has a job anyway

I thinking sticking at anything looks good, particularly extra curricular.m or volunteering. It shows stamina and dedication.

so if they were in Scouts for years, say so.

my DS’s first job was in McDonalds when he was 16 - he had a huge form to fill in including life experiences, which 16 year olds just don’t have!

he was ably to say he had been at beavers, cubs and scouts for ten years, had his Chief Scouts Gold, had travelled abroad with them, did good works etc, and also that he had near perfect attendance.

I was once told by a recruiter that they hugely value the uniformed organisations as experience in young people, and that if everything else was equal that would give one applicant the edge.

Meeting the criteria on the JD.

Dd's feedback from her tutor on her UCAS form was to really make it specific about the course. Try to show commitment to the subject.

She mentioned her DofE but just talked about what she had learned from one specific incident. She found ways to make her work experience relevant to the course and her future plans.

I'd echo what others have said. A lot is about interest in your subject. DS is doing Physics and watched lots of videos on YouTube in years 10 and 11, helped with Physics support for younger children in sixth form and he and a small group set up a Physics Society in Y12. They researched specific areas and presented them back.

DD is doing Earth Sciences and included watching programmes with her dad at 7, what she had observed on walks and read about.

Both went on taster days in Y11 or Y12. They gave lots to write and talk about too.

Not sure about job applications but according to ex admission staff on WIWIKAU lots of UCAS statements don't even get read before offers are made.

You don't need to buy them anything. Go to your local library and let them check out the popular science section. Most public libraries will also have online access to magazines so ask them about accessing those as well.

That’s all very well if your library is accessible. Our local one is closed by the time dd gets home from school and the next nearest one (which has longer opening hours) is a half hour drive away with no car park; which means paying for parking in the town centre and then a walk. As a result we rarely go.

When I was growing up the village library was next door to the primary school and we practically lived there. Sadly those days are gone.

Work

I'm an admissions tutor and see a lot of very strong ucas forms. The problem with volunteering, d of e etc is it is often hard to know if it has been arranged/compelled via school, many "good" schools have schemes to make sure the students have these things on their ucas forms

I like to see students have had a normal Saturday job, as this generally is their own initiative and shows they are not snobs about getting on with h boring things that need to be done.

That said I don't give it much weight and I'm sure different assessors would pay attention to different things

No school library or public library open at weekends either ?

(starting to feel very spoilt by our little local library)

School library yes, true, she does use that.

You are lucky. Libraries are wonderful things.

Free online courses with future learn etc go onto Amazon and look at the top selling books for science or maths etc

many many uni have outreach programmes or summer schools - bursaries available.

honestly there is loads out there and it costs next to nothing
scouts is a really good call

I was at a talk at my DD's school in October about UCAS as she is currently going through the process. The woman who was speaking was from Glasgow Uni, she was speaking about the process in general, but also shedding light on that her uni look for in personal statements. (with the caveat that other unis may do things differently, she could only talk about Glasgow).

Anyway, she said that for medicine, dentistry, vet med, law - they will ALWAYS read the personal statement. She said that they are looking for an applicant to tie it all together, not just reel off a list of what they've been doing. She said - don't just tell us you have been volunteering in Oxfam or playing rugby, tell us what you have learned from that experience and why/how it contributes to your decision to study what you're applying for. She said they always wanted to hear about part time work even if it's not directly linked to the course you are applying to.

She also said that in some departments they are not interested in personal statements. That you are likely to get an offer if you meet the entry requirements and nobody cares two hoots about your Gold D of E or weekends mucking out at the dog rescue.

But that the important thing is to tie the statement all together as one - apparently lots of applicants just list all their extra curricular stuff they do without saying why they chose to do it, what they learned, how it has broadened their outlook.

My older DS applied to uni for 2021 entry, he was the covid cohort so had pretty much nothing relevant to the course he wanted to do (science based) as all volunteering and internships stopped. 5 unconditional offers. So I would say do not get hung up on filling your child's every single waking hour with sport and music and volunteering, let them explore interests and encourage them to think about what they are getting out of their extra curricular, and how to express that.

D of E shows character.
Volunteering.
St Johns Ambulance.
Scouts, getting Chief Scouts Awards.
Army cadets.
Anything showing leadership qualities or cricket team captain.
Sports to a good standard.
Karate black belt.
Musical theatre group.
Won competition in photography etc.
Part time jobs can show committment and responsibility.

Absolutely none of this.

Its simply not relevant.

This is a great list. But I’m sure my ds isn’t the only one who would hate all of these, apart from having a job.
DofE here is expensive, and there are very few volunteering opportunities that they all fight over for it, also limiting volunteering for those not doing it.
Scouts here you needed to be on the list before you were born, and it isn’t for all teenagers.
St Johns and Army cadets, fantastic for the right people but not for all.
Sports, again fantastic if you can, dd’s helped her a lot with her applications for uni and jobs, but not all dc are sporty, not all families can afford sports.
Musical theatre, great if you can sing, enjoy acting.

I know I’m sounding negative but all these require skill, money, parents time and interest or outgoing personality which some dc just don’t have. It doesn’t make them less able to do a degree or be brilliant in their carers.

I’m encouraging ds to read around his subject, and engage in any opportunities related to it, but he won’t be able to include any of the extra curriculum ideas and hope this won’t go against him.