Personal statements - nothing to write

[Claybury]

DS has abondonned all hobbies and extra curricular over his teens in order on 'focus on studying '. Well this is his view, I think he wanted to free up weekends for partying, recovering and a bit of homework.
As a result I'm wondering what on earth someone puts in their personal statement who has literally no hobbies. Gave up his instrument in year 11, did not want to do any field trips for biology ( had chance of overseas one ) , refuses to do voluntary or paid work, does no sport, refuses to participate in school clubs.

Is this unusual?

She should definitely draft something more daring if she feels she has something compelling to say - and show it to some reliable people for feedback.

He goes to festivals.... could he write about bands/music genres he likes perhaps?

FWIW - many of the Scottish unis allow cross-faculty combinations of subjects, eg I know someone who studied maths, physics and music in his first year. Probably not relevant, but just in case.....

polkadot Many pupils would love to have an offer from Bristol, don't discard it lightly.
I know she wanted UCL but she did what UCL asked for and they turned her down! Doesn't that give pause for thought about joined up thinking etc at UCL.

It's because they said it was her PS that let her down and in her head she thinks that is fixable. . She mentioned to us that if she exceeds the entry requirements she wants to try again. It's such a risk. Bristol have been amazing a 2nd year there student rung her last week asking how she is and is there any question she would like to ask about the uni, such a nice caring uni I'm hoping she will love it when she goes to the open day in april. Iam a bit apprhensive. I did ask her why she would want to go to UCL if they didn't want her in the first place (I know I sound harsh) but she just loves the dept has high regards for them. What can I do?

Bristol is a lovely university! And living there is very easy.

Of course, the actual course is a major consideration!

Hope she falls in love with Bristol on her visit day polkadot.

The two of mine that have been through this process put their extra curricular activities but tied them into the course in a quirky way. Who wants to read something boring?

Will have to hope for an admission tutor that likes Elvish so that they can talk to each other! Although I hasten to say that said dc is not yet fluent... Old English Molio - that was a stroke of luck.

What does he want to study? Hobbies are pretty much irrelevant unless they support his plans and hopes in some way. Futurelearn is a good idea. I think it's helped one or two of our sixth formers this year - eg they run an interesting course on branding if u want to find out whether u might like a business/management type degree. At the moment they have a good politics course about the run up to the election, and they are re-running their Richard III course in advance of his interment.
My DD couldn't decide between English and history in y12 so she joined the rsl- only £30 for a young person - and went to some of their talks - nice for me as we went together - there is a tonne of free stuff out there to support their subject interest once you start looking. We went to a few events at eg the LSE literary festival, and at kings history and policy group. Really depends so much on his subject. It's actually quite an exciting time if you have a bit of spare time to throw at it finding out what is out there.

There are many great reasons to choose Bristol. Also the department's reputation isn't everything if those people never teach you. This can easily happen if they are doing research etc. If she wants to be in London, that's a different matter. Bristol has a much smaller feel to it and has fewer overseas students. I wouldn't reapply to UCL. Also don't schools check the personal statements? My DDs had brilliant advice from their personal tutors.

The OP did say her DS had nothing to write. I took this to mean that included his subject. You don't have to say what career you want on a ps so this is not a factor. Both my DDs included their leadership positions in school and included information about hobbies because it makes them more interesting and rounded people and especially showed they could work collaboratively with others and didn't give up music and dance when it got difficult. They demonstrated sticking power and juggling lots of things. I think lots of young people don't just do A level work and nothing else. There were extra activities that complemented their chosen degree,such as DD2 designing and making clothes and working with a team of girls to put on a catwalk show of their work. DD1 did some work experience in France. I think their personalities came through in their personal statements and I think admissions teams can spot a formulaic one. Someone who goes on about their "passion" for their subject is a dead giveaway. Personal experiences are what counts so if a potential student has nothing to say, then I do think a gap year could be useful to help write something which is personal and interesting. Also university is not structured which is why so many people can't make the seminars, do the work or find they have made a mistake.

What's a 'personal tutor' MMM? Is this the state or indie? I've certainly not come across a 'personal tutor' for my DC, unless you mean the form tutor, but then they've never been to one to read the statements.

the state sector I mean.

I do really hope so she will love bristol littleham on open day otherwise I think she will go and defer. She doesn't have a reply from bath yet but even if she does, I don't think she will like it as it's campus style she prefer city and feeling of separation from education and living. She giving me so much headache at the moment. Thought she let go of UCL, to her it's like the next best thing to oxbridge and they renowned for her subject. At the end of the day they don't want her, wish she could except the fact and move on and don't bother try to impress them. It's so disheartening. Only the oxbridge applicants got the special treatment with their PS at dd school the rest was looked after by the form tutor who's a PE teacher . Molly molly I think that's what my dd fell in the trap of the formulaic way thematic approach with how she decribed passion for the subject. But wasnt done creatively rather mechanically. She mentioned books on her related subject she read and what she got out of them and upto date research that she found intresting but not with any style and finesse. The only extra curricular stuff she mentioned was having a job at the samaritans office and what she got out of it. No competitive sport, leadership skills etc make it stand out She doesn't possess any so can't lie?? The thing is I wonder if ucl was just saying it was her PS that let her down as a polite way of saying she's not good enough they didn't want to say it so bluntly. Oh Bristol please be amazing!

Molio, many schools/colleges allocate a number of students to each personal tutor, who will help guide the students through the UCAS process, giving advice on personal statements, choice of universities etc. Where I worked it was someone who was also the student's lecturer but in other places it could be someone in student services or other pastoral roles.

My DDs were at independent school and DD1 got to choose her personal tutor for 6th form and DD2 was in a very small school but was allocated one who understood applications in her, rather specialist, subject.

I think schools who do not allocate people with the best knowledge of universities and personal statements to students do actually let them down. Both of my DDs had far too much to write and needed to have guidance on how to cull it but still retaining their individualism and personality.

UCL is hugely competitive and has lots more students from abroad. Bristol is wonderful and it is a cheaper place to live then London. It is also just as good as UCL when it comes down to students getting jobs - research just published by the Daily Telegraph. My DD1 didn't want UCL because when she visited she realised out of 54 students on the course she wanted (one years intake) 45 were from abroad. Also tell your DD that most employers don't know the "best" places to study, other than Oxbridge. They are far more interested in your efforts at work experience and the level of the degree. They probably have no idea UCL is better at a particular degree than Bristol. What subject are you talking about, by the way?

Polkadot, I sympathise with you. This was so nearly us. Rejection from Cambridge then rejections from both Warwick and UCL. Luckily and acceptance from LSE, who probably offered the best course anyway.

From reading student room, UCL and the others who did not interview inevitably said something about the personal statement not being good enough, because effectively that is al they had to go on. The real reason I suspect was that the course was extremely competitive and for whatever reason DS did not tick their boxes. (He had 4 As at AS and was predicted 4A*s, from a school which was careful not to over forecast, so his academics were sound.)

If he had not got his LSE offer he probably would have accepted his fifth choise and then if his results were more of less in line with forecast, eg noticeably better than the minimum required, he would have decided in August to reapply. If they weren't so good he would have stayed with his fifth choice, which curiously was also Bristol, on the basis that he was unlikely to do better.

Your daughter might do similar. UCL is really sought after for a number of subjects, from English to Biochemistry. I think it is easier to get an offer when you have your results, but equally if your results are not what you want you are better sitting on an offer who might then show some flexibility.

I hope that makes sence.

My ds was the same - his only hobby is gaming, no paid work, no voluntary work etc. Last year when we were doing the uni rounds, looking at Maths & Physics, a professor at Leeds told us not too worry too much / spend too long on the ps, as they were more interested in achieved grades and predicted A level grades. Other people have told me this tends to be true for Maths & Science departments, but I don't know for sure. I do know that ds got 4 offers from his 5 choices (all top RG uni's).

It's difficult isn't it.

DH works in a private school and checks PS's all the time.

When DD wrote hers he thought it was great, quirky, her personality really shone through and we thought she had included some excellent reviews and insights into what made her love English so much..

However when she took it into her (state) sixth form college they were horrified and asked her to change it to make it much more standardised (and boring). She refused to alter it and had to sign a disclaimer before the college agreed to send it off.

Anyway, she got five offers (one unconditional!) and a letter from a tutor at one of them stating how much he had enjoyed reading her PS.

What a scary story, serin

That's interesting ICantFind - it was a professor of a science subject at Glasgow Uni who told me that he doesn't read ps's . He goes by grades and relevance of subjects apparently.

millydd applied for neuroscience at ucl is suppose to be world renowned I've nothing to back it up apart from dd telling me. Im sure theres plenty of others that are just as good i just dont get her? On her PS she declared all her module and ums as the school advised her to do so as it was something positive she should highlight even though she never applied to oxbridge but i wish she did then her PS would have got special treatment she had got 100%in C2 maths and 100% in one of her biology modules. We were just so proud of her and to be honest we never really thought about what if she gets a rejection, she is the first generation in our household to ever to go to university so we are rather clueless as parents as to what to expect. Comments from friends and teachers who kept telling her not to worry they would never reject a good academic applicant didnt help and because Dd had done so much research on perfecting the PS so it was the UCL way invested so much of her heart and efforts to pleasing them. Rejection from them made her feel like she wasn't 'special' enough, need to try harder crushed her confidence And then on top of that all of her friends have offers from their 1st choice of uni that just made things worse. I just wish she would toughen up and not feel the need to want to try again. Ive been trying to conjure up as much negative stuff about ucl almost ucl bashing to put her off I'm definatley going to tell her all the good stuff you mention about bristol and the negs about ucl
needmoresleep thanks for you post I don't feel so alone about whats happened to dd as your ds has had some rejection from top uni aswell and got super impressive grades. It's makes a change hearing rejections on MN not many talk about it, especially when it's rejections from dc with good grades. I'm glad your ds is happy with the outcome and saw past what my dd cannot at the moment. I worry that even if she exceeds the grade requirements writes a awesome PS applies again they may still reject her shes going to feel even worse than before worry she might end up depressed. As parents we do feel we have somewhat failed her we didn't spend enough time toughening her up with the realities of rejection it happens all the time to best of people I discovered MN a bit late Otherwise I think I would be better informed with the pitfalls of applying to top uni's. My thinking is if we can't convince her not to reapply and she really wants to try again with good grades we just going to have go with it I don't want to fall out with her and she resent us.

My youngest DS has just been through the uni application process and has received offers (including an unconditional) from all 5 of his chosen universities (including those MN favourites - RG uni's).

Like your DS he has no hobbies, no sport, no job, no clubs etc etc and I was so worried as to what he could write re 'extra curricular activities' - basically he didn't bother!
His PS consisted of why he wanted to do his chosen course, his enthusiasm for it and his specific areas of interest. He mentioned relevant books/authors he had read with his thoughts/criticisms about them. He also mentioned relevant events he'd been involved in at college, places visited, presentations attended which highlighted his interest in his subject. His course is joint honours though so at least he had two subjects to write about! The only non academic thing he mentioned was an occasion which demonstrated his persistence and commitment.

I would say though that DS has good GCSE and A level predicted grades and college reference so I'm not sure how important his PS was in the scheme of things - although the uni who have made the unconditional offer did refer to his PS when they wrote after making their offer, so they did read it and made the effort to mention his specific interests in their letter.

Best of luck - it's a worrying time.

Comments from friends and teachers who kept telling her not to worry they would never reject a good academic applicant didn't help

Sorry, but that's not true. It's a painful fact of life to find out, after years of being head-and-shoulders better than your schoolmates, that there are loads of schools out there and they all have their own 'head-and-shoulders'. A quick look at the UCL Neuroscience website shows me that they have 7 applicants for every place so DD only had a 14% chance of getting in. And the Bristol website tells me that they have 7.7 applicants per place so her chances there were even slimmer!
If you doubt me, look at the threads on here for getting into medicine or Oxbridge. There are numerous pupils who get A* in everything, are headboy/girl, play sport for the County, play music to Grade 8, etc, etc and they don't get in.
There are no certainties and the higher up you get, they more difficult it gets.

As parents we do feel we have somewhat failed her we didn't spend enough time toughening her up with the realities of rejection it happens all the time to best of people

Just be glad it happened now, when she is at home. Imagine if this hitting-the-buffers happened at University, when she was away from her support network.

Polka It might be a good idea to give her those statistics that senua quoted as she might not realise that she has achieved a fantastic offer with Bristol.

I really hope the offer day convinces her to move on. Honestly your daughter isn't the only one not to get her top offer. Loads of students don't, they just don't advertise it!

polkadot - is there more than one route to studying neuroscience at a 'top' uni perhaps? Postgraduate courses for example? Or neuroscience modules taken as part of a different course eg biochemistry perhaps?

Oh - just read that she has an offer for Bristol - ignore the above!

Seriously though - I'd be surprised if there aren't specialists who talk/teach at more than one uni.