Possible things for personal statements

[yoyo1234]

Hello, just wondered about examples of what things are good to mention for personal statements.

There are examples, but also warnings that the same phrases do tend to come up on plagiarism checks (I seem to recall something about ‘setting my pajamas on fire with my birthday chemistry set at the age of x’ being a surprisingly popular opener). Better to make it genuinely personal.

Look at the section on UCAS.com for helpful advice

The student room has a bank of (risible) personal statements.

I expect admissions tutors are very weary of students wasting valuable words on stupid anecdotes about how they became interested in the subject.

I have also noticed that a lot these anecdotes don't actually relate to anything relevant subject-wise.

Surely you'd be better off talking about how your intellectual curiosity led you there. Like doing punnett squares didn't explain bees and ants so you watched a video, read a paper, read a book and found out more and then...realised there was more to find out and even better, more stuff we don;t know and you want to be that person to research.

Or wandering why SE Asians are more vulnerable to coronavirus > socioeconomic and cultural factors that lead to overcrowding, customer facing occupations, family structure. Or the neolithic farming transformation > rice subsistence --> epigenetics of type 2 diabetes, and then off on a tangent possibly golden rice and GM crops.

If you're a "pyjamas on fire" student then you're seriously underestimating the competition if its a Russell group you're after.

I'm going to remember "pyjamas on fire" as an example of what not to do.

The two most memorable (for the wrong reasons) personal statements are these:
one that started "As I gazed upwards in awe at the vaulted roof of Salisbury Cathedral I realised mankind's infinite ability to shape the world..."
and one that included
"I enjoy the plays of Ibsen (Henrik) and Chekhov (Anton)...
We did laugh in our engineering selectors' meeting; all of us had actually heard of Ibsen and Chekhov before. At least they were not fans of Shakespeare (William).
We don't actually use personal statements now, but its best to stick to facts - why you are interested, what you have done to find out about the subject and where you want it to take you.

At the risk of being outed, one of my most memorable was an applicant for a law degree who wrote about police persecution for his drug possession and he needed a law degree so he could defend himself properly...

Ds (like lots of people) is interested in his subject because he found it easy to get good marks in school so it became a thing he worked hard at and then got even better at and then developed a genuine interest, and also because he thinks it will lead to a good job. He can’t really say it that baldly but I can see the problem with setting your pyjamas on fire too. I think it can be difficult to get an opener that sounds personal but also genuine. Probably better to be neither if it’s going to be cringe but you need some sort of launch pad for your supracuriculars. I just wish I knew what it is! So often people are just interested in something for no earthly reason.

@shadedog. If your son needs an opener, then I think what you wrote as your first sentence is actually fine: It shows he's naturally good at the subject, when he wants to improve, he actually works at it, he wants to work in this field, so he clearly has a lifelong interest.

All he has to do now is demonstrate just how interested he is by referring to his supracurricular and then maybe a little on what kind of field within his subject he wants to work in and why.

I'll be the admissions tutor probably have a competition for worst "Pyjamas on fire" story every year.

For most courses at most universities the PS is not read. If the predicted grades match or better the offer for the course an offer will be made.

For those courses/unis where the PS is more important you will very quickly find that the character limit dwindles to almost nothing by the time the applicant has described why they want to study the subject, the additional reading they have done and any relevant (NB RELEVANT) work experience. Admissions people are seriously not interested about playing in the hockey first XI or a newspaper round.

My DS wrote about how sport has shaped him and his interest in pursuing it at uni. He mentioned his work experience in a uni sorts centre, his courses at A level, how the skills he's developing in maths and physics would feed into a sports science degree. He also mentioned his county swimming and football commitments. I can't remember specifics because I was only allowed to read it the once before it got put back in the 'don't interfere' file.....I was just pleased that he'd written anything to be honest