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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Extracurricular activities for uni application

157 replies

Puzzledmum · 04/09/2016 08:42

Hi, could you share what extracurricular activities did your DC in order to earn "brownie points" for their uni applications?
My DD has been doing music to a high level (since the age is 3) and is planning to do some volunteering next year.
I know they need to do something which will show they have leadership skills too and am trying to help her decide on what to do about it. But what else? What have your DC have on their CVs which helped them to secure a place at a good uni?

OP posts:
bojorojo · 07/09/2016 21:46

Sorry, goodbyestranger, I definitely got the wrong end of the stick! I was assuming, wrongly, that his cafe work was sufficient and I should have known better!

My real beef was against a poster saying that working in a B and B trumps relevant work experience or volunteering because doing unpaid "work" somehow made you very fortunate as opposed to being focusssed. I totally accept some young people have a strong work ethic when it comes to making money or working for family, but I could not see how that was better than all the other things you have described. There is a massive shortage of paid work for teens where I live and you would be fortunate indeed to be offered a paid job in the family B and B business and not have to go out and find a job for yourself. For many finding the job is a steep challenge, never mind the graft in doing it!

TaIkinPeace · 09/09/2016 16:40

DD submitted her UCAS form just after the Oxbridge deadline (as advised by her college)
She got 4 offers within 4 days.
No interviews.
No mention of Extra Curricular.
Just blank A2 requirements.
Her 5th offer came in 6 months later, again without an interview and the University had clearly not looked at either her PS or EC entries.
Her jammiest non A2 UCAS points (distinction in grade 8 music) did not even go on the form.

When DS puts stuff all effort into his PS which is my accurate prediction for 2017 I shall not care two hoots.

goodbyestranger · 09/09/2016 22:11

Talkin Peace you've said which unis your DD applied for in previous threads and also her subject. None of the unis interview for that subject so no interview is hardly a surprise. Also, offers through UCAS are always couched in terms of grades - did you really expect a special note congratulating your DD on extra curriculars? I think you may have an over glamorous view of the process.

TaIkinPeace · 09/09/2016 22:15

goodbye
No, I'm just pointing out that the whole hoo hah of PS and EC is misplaced
it will make getting DS through the system a darned sight more relaxing Grin

Needmoresleep · 10/09/2016 12:59

Based on a different experience I would not say categorically that the whole hoo haha is misplaced. Certainly not for the DD applying for medicine where one University placed an 80% weighting on PS when making interview decisions. Nor for DS applying for economics who was rejected without interview by both UCL and Warwick, despite a realistic 4A* prediction in the right subjects. He was also kept waiting for a decision by his eventual university till late March. Feedback - his PS was not strong enough.

I think it is damaging for people to make assertions based on the single child. At minimum it is insensitive as not every child will get immediate offers, and it is tough when you don't hear for up to six months after your peers.

bojorojo · 10/09/2016 18:17

As most courses at most universities do not require an interview, surely the PS is part of the selection process at highly regarded universities for very popular courses such as Economics at UCL and Warwick? Everyone, more or less, is applying with top predicted grades and a wonderful reference from school. As some applicants have to be rejected, it must come down to PS as needmoresleep says. I am not the least bit surprised they looked at the PS and possibly gave information on their web sites about what a strong PS would look like. I doubt either university said they didn't care.

I am still waiting for the names of the university courses that do not read them!

goodbyestranger · 10/09/2016 18:41

TalkinPeace, to be fair, you did also rail against uni#5, the top choice, for not giving an offer for a course which hadn't filled numbers rather than for the course applied for, so it's at least arguable that your DD's personal statement played a part there in not getting her the offer she sought.

I certainly wouldn't presume personal statements play no part. I'm completely with Needmoresleep and bojo. Bristol e-mailed one of my DCs to say their personal statement contributed to their early offer - I think that must have been true since a sibling with higher actual and predicted grades had applied for the same course a year earlier and got an offer much later.

goodbyestranger · 10/09/2016 18:45

Sorry, that should have read: for not giving an offer for a course which hadn't filled it's numbers rather than the course applied for etc.

haybott · 10/09/2016 18:54

Bristol e-mailed one of my DCs to say their personal statement contributed to their early offer.

I am external examiner for a university which writes similarly phrased emails but actually has other motivations for many of its early offers.

University courses which don't read personal statements: mathematics, physics etc outside the very top selective universities makes offers automatically to those who look capable of making the grades. So for these subjects at Exeter, Nottingham, Birmingham,.... unless you haven't got standard qualifications (A levels, IB, etc) offers are made by admin staff without academics directly looking at the applications.

Why do these discussions always mix up highly selective courses (medicine, economics at the very top universities) with the vast majority of other courses? If you are applying for courses which are selective, then of course all factors could matter so make sure your PS is good. If you can see from the statistics that 90+% of applicants to your chosen course get an offer (which is the case even at strong RG universities for some STEM subjects), then PS is unlikely to play a big role - they are offering to everybody who looks like they can make the grades.

(And of course take into account that statistics can change - the course you want could turn out to be much more over-subscribed than it was before., although in practice this rarely happens.)

Needmoresleep · 10/09/2016 19:29

Haybott, this is understood. However it seemed worth challenging assertions that were not correct. Perhaps TiPs DS will be aiming for a selecting rather than recruiting course, and so will need to work on his PS.

goodbyestranger · 10/09/2016 19:49

haybott so what is your explanation for a DC who clearly has the correct grades not getting an offer for a non competitive course? Because I can't think of one unless the personal statement jarred or fell short for some reason at a particular institution.

goodbyestranger · 10/09/2016 19:53

Another question haybott: this e-mail wasn't sent unsolicited, it was a personal response to a query about insuring with Bristol. I think you're thinking more of a flattering phrase in the offer letter, which this wasn't.

goodbyestranger · 10/09/2016 19:53

But my question is: what are the motives to which you refer?

TaIkinPeace · 10/09/2016 21:03

goodbye
if Exeter had read her statement they would not have offered her the course they did.
The Nat Sci was all over clearing ....

chatting to other PSC students, the stress of Personal Statements is artificial

goodbyestranger · 10/09/2016 22:07

The question, given what haybott says, is why they didn't offer her the course she was well qualified for TP. Her situation doesn't fit with the idea that it's all about grades. The fact that they offered her the course which went into clearing is irrelevant really - that was what was left, so they offered it. I can't think why they wouldn't offer the original course, except that they didn't, for whatever reason, like her ps.

goodbyestranger · 10/09/2016 22:09

Also, 'stress' is putting it far too high for lots of students I'm sure. Plenty take care to construct what they think is a good ps without it 'stressing' them. My DC haven't stressed at all, but they haven't regarded it as meaningless either.

goodbyestranger · 10/09/2016 22:16

I meant unless they didn't like her ps, not except. I've no idea obviously but it's an odd one.

bojorojo · 10/09/2016 22:25

Doing the PS was exactly that for my DDs too. No stress, just a deadline and keeping to the word limit - an excellent lesson to learn!

Needmoresleep · 11/09/2016 09:22

Its also reasonable to assume that a fair number of DC have one "aspirational" choice involving an oversubscribed course. The normal grade requirements are often not much more than those required at other good Universities. Its just that you need to over achieve on requirements either via grades or through having a very convincing PS.

In short though a miniority will find themselves on those courses, lots more will have had to tailor their PS to them.

My assumption is that if a University gives lots of guidance on how to write a PS, they want you to read and apply it.

And as others have said it is not a bad exercise. Lots of courses either require you to apply for work experience, and lots of students look for summer internships. The best of both can be extremely competitive, and initial applications are used as filters. Good practice!

Sadusername · 11/09/2016 19:14

DD asked me to have a look at her personal statement. It only has information directly relevant to her course including apprpriate work experience. There is no mention of any other activity which may demonstrate a bit more breadth, which are more indirectly relevant such as debating, winning an essay contest. She says the teacher can mention these on her reference. Will this be a problem for universities outside of Oxbridge? Are the two read in conjunction?

HoppityFrogs · 12/09/2016 03:35

Bristol told us that it's all about the grades and they don't care about the ps.

Needmoresleep · 12/09/2016 08:04

Happily. Is this for all Bristol courses? If so it is a radical change in approach.

As before I would urge people to check with individual course websites. DS got caught out by not realising how competitive the courses he was applying for, were. PS' then became very important. Others disagree but unless you are certain a PS won't be read by any of the universities you are applying for it is worth making an effort. And worth looking up and following guidance.

goodbyestranger · 12/09/2016 08:23

I don't buy that Hoppity. It has not been true for my DC, six of whom have applied to Bristol recently for different subjects in pretty much consecutive years. If that is true then they're misrepresenting the process on their official website. I don't think the approach has changed radically at all, not if a Bristol academic I know is correct.

sendsummer · 12/09/2016 08:55

sadusername if the debating and essay writing are relevant to the course (for example politics or law etc ) then IMO it would be good to include them but with her view on what she has gained from them that will contribute to further study in her subject.

haybott · 12/09/2016 09:07

I can't think why they wouldn't offer the original course, except that they didn't, for whatever reason, like her ps.

Reasons: (a) original course turned out to be over-subscribed (relatively small, lots of applications) (b) grade profile weaker than that of other candidates. From other threads, it seems that the candidate concerned got A2 grades which are below the average intake A2 grades for the course although they would meet the lowest offers given for this specific course.

(I know from colleagues that the PS are NOT read for UK candidates coming in with standard AS/A2/IB qualifications, decisions are mostly made by administrators for science subjects at this university.)