Advice: Personal Statement when applying for just one course

[ComfortablyGlum]

Hi I’m looking for some advice for my son.

He has looked around over the past year and has decided there is only one uni he really wants. It is a specialist arts course and this particular establishment blew everything else out of the water. The course mainly accepts via a portfolio interview and only require a low points score in addition (CCC). We have been told after interview the candidates are split into ‘Yes’, ‘No’ and ‘Maybe’ on the day. The Yeses and the No’s are informed within a week with the pool of ‘maybes’ discussed by tutors and a further set of offers and rejections sent out later in the process.

My son has decided he’s going all out to get on this course. He is talented at the subject but he’s shy and terrified of the interview process. Hence his confidence isn’t that great. If he gets rejected, then he’ll take a gap year and reapply next year and include the full 5 choices of course.

My question is; as this year he is applying to the one course, should he mention the uni by name and gear his application solely to that course? Or should he keep it generic, as if he was applying elsewhere?

Would love some advice on this as I’ve searched and not found anything useful.

Apply for the one course but you don’t need to name it in the ps because it wastes space. He needs to explain why his skills and attributes are a good fit for the course. Why does he want to do it?

My dd was asked to either take in a portfolio to the interview after they read her PS and invited her for interview or submit it in advance, via a method the university chose, for them to decide if she was worthy of interview. The portfolio was discussed at the interviews so you need to know it inside out.

Generally it’s a bit dangerous to just apply to one university via ucas but if he cannot go anywhere else, or won’t, then go for it and make it a great ps tailored to the course and his portfolio must be outstanding. They will go on that more than anything. When my DD was interviewed for her course(s), they asked her about the portfolio, her research into what she had done, inspiration, the difficulties of doing it, what went well, how she had changed things/ experimented if she experienced set backs and how she perfected ideas and techniques.

Hope that helps.

My DD was in a similar position although she had already applied to four before realising, if she didn't get that one, she wasn't going.

She found the interview practice useful as two came up before her preferred course.

She got her choice amd had just graduated. She's adamant she wouldn't have gone anywhere else.

I think these creative courses know what they are looking for and if you are the right fit. The interviews help them work that out as they can get to know him, why their course and his work, so encourage him to talk about it.