Personal statement - are there examples online

[User84]

I know they have to be very personalised but are there examples to give an idea of the sort of thing they are looking for? Ds1 doesn’t know where to start

The studential website has lots of examples of varying quality.
The UCAS website has loads of guidance on how to write the personal statement.

Have a look at this page - some really helpful guidance and examples at the bottom www.jesusoxfordjcr.com/useful-application-resources

NB do not the plagiarism warning and that UCAS run PSs through software

PS for Oxford and Cambridge you are advised to keep it academic not to mention much about extra curricula activities - they aren't interested unless very linked to your degree choice. Other unis take a different approach.

Yes and they all look like they’ve been written by adults. I’m surprised universities take any notice of them. I’ve made DD write hers on her own and without looking at examples. At least it reads as though a teen actually wrote it.

If you look at the pages on uni websites specific to the course your DC is interested in, many give advice on how to write a subject -specific PS.

Is school/college not advising?

Hi, OP -

Former admissions tutor here. I certainly sympathise with the fact that your DC stuck. It can happen to the best of candidates and is nothing to worry about. I feel sure that with a little ingenuity he will find many examples of personal statements online in addition to the ones suggested above.

And there is nothing wrong with looking at them. In fact he could search out examples in a wide variety of styles,across a spectrum of subjects. Some will speak to him, others won’t. Your DC should try to identify what makes a PS he would be pleased to have written. And once he has an idea of that, he really must put everything he’s read firmly out of his mind, because the warnings above about plagiarism are understatements. UCAS takes it very seriously indeed, even if it is accidental. Inspiration is fine, copying is not.

Good luck to your DS

If the school uses Unifrog , they have a decent template.

Loads on The Student Room as well, by subject and telling you where they applied and where they got offers. I was very reassured by reading the Computer Science ones when my son was applying! (Great at maths and CS, but his first draft of his PS was physically painful to read 😂)

Honestly, We looked at a few examples, I spotted the in-common formatting (a paragraph about topic 1, 1-2 paragraphs about topic 2, 1-2 paragraphs about topic 3 etc), explained that structure to DS. He wrote the whole thing (original but following the broad topics in each paragraph) in about 1.5 hours. His tutor was happy, his friends said it was good.

The key is that it is personal, so should reflect why your son wants to study his chosen subject. Tailoring it to the type of university is also important. For top academic universities they will want it to be scholarly and about the books your son has read with a minimal amount about extra curriculars. Mid-lower tier universities will want more of your son's experiences and his academic journey in his chosen subject.

The student room has lots of examples. I enjoyed reading this one:
www.thestudentroom.co.uk/university/personal-statements/environmental-science/environmental-science-1

Youtube also has many students reading and discussing their personal statements. You can search via subject or university.