Writing a personal statement for Uni

[LemonMousse]

DS(19) decided not to apply for Uni (starting Sept 2011) as he didn't have a clear idea of what he wanted to do - fair enough - sensible descision. He was fortunate enough to find a full time job this Summer and is working hard at the moment and earning a reasonable wage for his age. He got good grades for his A levels and has the required points for Uni.

He now has a clearer idea of what he would like to do long term and is looking towards applying for Uni for Sept 2012. He asked me (haha!) what sort of stuff to include on his personal statement - obviously if he was still at college they would be supporting him with this but because he's applying a year later he's 'on his own' so to speak.

Can anyone point me in the direction of where to find info about personal statements? I genuinely have no clue - I did A levels but didn't go to Uni.

Or is there anywhere that provides support for students who are no longer in full time education? It's all a bit of a minefield for me!

TIA

If you Google 'personal statements' there will be loads of sites that will give you examples of the PS and how to write them/how others have written them.

Also, the UCAS site should help - but in case it doesn't, UCAS have brought out a book about how to apply which has loads of stuff in there about how to write a PS.

But in brief - the PS should say why he wants to study the subjects that he does, and demonstrate his involvement/passion for the subject. In other words, other things that he has done to develop his understanding. Reading around the subject, for example. But on the PS you have to be careful not to just say what you've done, but what you got out of it/what it taught you, etc

It should also talk about his other achievements - non-academic - and also talk about why he didn't apply last year/what he's been doing this year/why he's decided now and what he's got out of his year working.

HTH!

It may help also to understand the reason behind the PS - all the universities are presented with more than enough prospective students, who have the right grades/points, and the PS is a way of helping them to make a decision - so it is about making your son stand out and selling him to the university.

Thank you BIWI that's really helpful.

My pleasure! Have gone through it twice with DS1, and no doubt going through it all next year with DS2.

The UCAS book is called:

The UCAS Guide to Getting into University and College

I bought my copy in Waterstones.

The Student Room has information about personal statements, and example ones which might help you in the right direction.

As BIWI says though the important thing is to show the university what kind of person he is, what skills and attributes he has which mean they want to give him a place or an interview.

Yes, google "personal statement "

This was a little snippet of advice we were given for DSS1:-

They want to see his journey ? what he has done, what he is doing and what he wants to do. Don?t be afraid to add times ? how long he has done something as this shows commitment. Don?t lie as they will catch you out! However much they say they want to hear about your Saturday job etc, - they don?t! You have to get across your passion and enthusiasm for the subject and what you can offer to make you head and shoulders above the rest.

Thank you

Ok, going against the flow here...

Don't use google or any other way of finding what other people have written. IME that makes it harder to write a genuine honest PERSONAL statement.

Instead think of this from the POV of the admissions tutor. What can he write to convince them that he has the personal character and motivation to work hard on this particular course? The job of the admissions tutor is to find those people that (i) have the right academic profile (this is the easy bit) and (ii) will work hard for three years and graduate with a good degree.

So admissions tutors want evidence that this is not a spur of the moment random choice, but is a well considered decision and that the student is strongly motivated either by a genuine passions for the subject or by the end goal of a related career.

What has he done to find out more about this subject? relevant reading? related courses? inspired by particular teacher of this subject? Particular interest in one aspect of the course? relevant work expeinece?
He (obviously) doesn't need all of these, but he needs to include some kind of evidence to show that he is strongly committed to this course. His year out will help here.

(i'm and ex admissions tutor BTW)

fair point.
I just found that so many students seemed to get locked into what they have seen on the web that it is hard for them to disengage from these and write something from the heart. The best PSs that I've read did not conform at all to the generic models available online.

Thank you so much everyone - some great tips and advice. I was very daunted by it all (feeling a bit of a 'thickie') but I think I'll be able to point him in the right direction now.

Thank you

I completely agree with Sarky. My four never looked at a PS before they wrote theirs. There is and should be no pro-forma for a PS, they should be utterly personal and fresh.

His school may actually be very happy to help: ours welcomes last year's leavers and gives them as much of a hand as they do the current Y13's.

I would think that your DS's 'real' job would stand him in very good stead with a lot of tutors who will admire that far more than backpacking around Australia on unearned money.