Worried that DS2 is taking on too much to bump up his personal statement. Any one else ?

[Peterpiperspickledpepper]

DS2 is 16 just gone into year 12. Is a worker, very diligent, well organised with regards to academic stuff (other things not so much lol). Did extremely well in GCSEs. He’s currently studying for 4 A’levels and really enjoying it, now decided he’s going to do an EPQ. School are also offering opportunities like being a school ambassador which involves a certain degree of commitment and then you’ve got other things like a part time job at some point.
At the moment he’s not sure what unis to aim for, parents evening isn’t until next month. I’m pretty certain some unis are less interested in extra curricular stuff and just want to see passion for chosen subject, others not so much.
Back in my day there really wasn’t all this mad rush to tick stuff off so it’s a bit of a culture shock. I’m not sure really what I’m asking but I guess just wanted to get a feel for what other A’level students had done, whether they got the balance right or overdid it and studies suffered.

Also, skills young people gain from something like PT jobs, dealing with the public, drama, Scouting, and so many more things, make them far better candidates for job applications later - everything isn't all about the Personal Statement.

This I wholeheartedly agree with!

If 5 pupils all have top grades and show passion how will they differentiate?

Why would they need to? They'll all get offers.

Not for popular unis? Over subscribed?

Applicants apply to five unis. On average therefore, five applicants all getting offers will result in one student. Not all applications will be from top grade predicted - in reality in fact very very few applications will have 3 x A star predictions. So over-subscription in that scenario is actually very rare - realistically Oxbridge (offer holders will turn them down btw, usually for Ivies), and medicine. Both of which use more than grades and PS to make offers.

Thank you titchy.

What are ivies?

I wouldn't do an EPQ plus 4 A levels; pick one or the other, depending on what course he's applying for.

Fine to do the other things but they probably won't add anything to his applications - potentially something to stick on his CV at least while at uni, though.

Ivy League universities in N America. Most home students applying to
UK unis will only apply to UK unis, but Ox and Cam often compete with other prestigious unis globally.

Do unis freely admit this info, can we call and ask?

I thought that they were getting rid of personal statements for current year 12s.

It depends on how your ds feels.Only he will know what he can cope with.
Dd did 3 Alevels and an EPQ.
One of her results was a grade lower than the entry requirements for the Masters but she still got got onto her uni course this year as her EPQ was in the course subject and she got an A for it.
I think it also helped that she was a STEM ambassador for school and the only girl in 2 of her ALevel subjects. Her uni course is very male heavy.
She studied hard and managed to hold down a very part time job,DofE and scouting
She is now thriving @ Uni and all of the above helped her to prepare for life away from home as well as a good study ethos. Party environment
If it had been either of my boys they wouldn't have coped with half of what she did

You'd need to search their websites - this is an example from Kings: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/campuslife/acservices/admissions/admissions-statistics-2021.xlsx

Different unis and different courses want different things. Even for the same course. It's best for him to figure out what degree he wants to do and a couple of options for where and then work towards that.