Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Higher education

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

Which universities don’t read personal statements?

95 replies

User2975976427 · 01/11/2022 10:06

Or does it just depend on the course?

dc is struggling writing hers. It would be good if I could reassure her if a couple of her choices dont use them!

OP posts:
User2975976427 · 02/11/2022 07:50

We didn’t actually go to the personal statement session at Lancaster. It’s my old university so I was too busy rushing around excitedly dragging her behind me whilst I reminisced about my youth!

OP posts:
DeadDonkey · 02/11/2022 08:06

User2975976427 · 02/11/2022 07:50

We didn’t actually go to the personal statement session at Lancaster. It’s my old university so I was too busy rushing around excitedly dragging her behind me whilst I reminisced about my youth!

DS is sick of hearing about my uni days - he’s perfected his eye roll!

I really liked Lancaster and DS was quite impressed too. It’s a bit different to the others he’s looked at. Not too far from home either which I quite like, not sure DS is bothered about distance given that one of the other places he’s applied to is Aberdeen!

Needmoresleep · 02/11/2022 08:24

warwick.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/apply/personal-statement/

What I did with DD, who is dyslexic and not good at writing is to get her to look at course content/structure and PS guidance/“what we are looking for in an applicant” available on University websites and print them off, highlighting key attributes they were looking for, as well as what about the course interest her.

I then got her to write a list of her skills, interests and experience.

Then four paras. One, which she wrote quite quickly, about why she wanted to study the subject, then two more detailed ones drilling down on, and evidencing her interest linking with course content and University requirements. This was reasonably straightforward with the lists and highlighted guidance in front of her. We assumed the PS would be scored so tried to tick off, with evidence, each desired attribute. The final para on out of school etc focussed on how her interests had informed her academic interest, and suggested resilience, independence, leadership and other personal qualities that help a student be successful.

DDs writing style was pretty clunky, with her dad really wanting to tidy it up, but this fitted with someone who is dyslexic and studying a vocational STEM degree. Once she has the content, your DD should ensure hers sounds fluent and persuasive.

Piggywaspushed · 02/11/2022 08:25

DeadDonkey · 02/11/2022 07:07

That was at the Lancaster admissions talk by the senior admissions tutor. They interview for medicine, dentistry, architecture and I think one other, so those will definitely be looked at. But for the others it was pretty much - if you meet the grades we’ll make an offer - with a couple of caveats. She did say that all universities are different in their approach. The Head of Sixth form wasn’t all that pleased when DS told her.

They interview for film too, and history and sociology both told DS they read statements. One of my students got sent a letter from Lancaster which referred to hers.

I think the general idea is you have no idea if it will be read and it's good practice to hone a good PS anyway.

Needmoresleep · 02/11/2022 09:38

If nothing else it good practice for internship and job applications.

ErrolTheDragon · 02/11/2022 10:24

I think DD found it a useful exercise to crystallise why she wanted to do the chosen course - how she'd become increasingly fascinated by the subject and where it might lead.

Afaik the main advice she had from school was along the lines of "explain why you're passionate about the subject but without ever using the word 'passion'" .

Fourcandlesx · 02/11/2022 13:30

Needmoresleep · 02/11/2022 08:24

warwick.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/apply/personal-statement/

What I did with DD, who is dyslexic and not good at writing is to get her to look at course content/structure and PS guidance/“what we are looking for in an applicant” available on University websites and print them off, highlighting key attributes they were looking for, as well as what about the course interest her.

I then got her to write a list of her skills, interests and experience.

Then four paras. One, which she wrote quite quickly, about why she wanted to study the subject, then two more detailed ones drilling down on, and evidencing her interest linking with course content and University requirements. This was reasonably straightforward with the lists and highlighted guidance in front of her. We assumed the PS would be scored so tried to tick off, with evidence, each desired attribute. The final para on out of school etc focussed on how her interests had informed her academic interest, and suggested resilience, independence, leadership and other personal qualities that help a student be successful.

DDs writing style was pretty clunky, with her dad really wanting to tidy it up, but this fitted with someone who is dyslexic and studying a vocational STEM degree. Once she has the content, your DD should ensure hers sounds fluent and persuasive.

This really is excellent advice and should be how all students approach their personal statements. It is like applying for a job and you need to evidence you meet the person specification. Leeds for example wanted evidence of personal responsibility, such as part time work including on their personal statement. Different departments often have their own personal statement guides too.

MedSchoolRat · 02/11/2022 17:45

Phphion · Yesterday 14:26

Realistically, there are three main cases where the PS will make or break an application:

That is super post, and spot-on. Basically, admissions know that a committee has written the PS in many cases. Not all cases but enough... it's not fair to the kids who didn't have a support committee to put much emphasis on the PS in admission process. We don't know if the PS even reflects the genuine voice of the applicant or is entirely truthful. afaik, for medicine places at my institution, the PS are read by junior admin staff to make sure... the applicant comes across as coherent & not deranged. PS is not currently used beyond that low threshold. That's about as much as we trust the PS to tell us something useful to know about applicants.

In past when used PS was part of interview process, I used to delight in finding typos or grammar clumsiness. It made me suspect "Wow, this really was written by a 17 year old!"

Bunnyannesummers · 02/11/2022 22:39

Assume they’ll always read it. Even if they don’t when making offers, they might look at it on results week if you’ve slipped a grade to decide whether to let you in.

blametheparents · 03/11/2022 07:50

VanCleefArpels · 01/11/2022 12:42

On the basis that offers were received within 24 hours of submitting UCAS for my 2 kids these places cannot possibly have read their perfectly formed and rewritten 653 times Personal Statements. Both humanities subjects, hith had predicted grades the same or in excess of advertised requirements for the courses

UEA
Southampton
Essex
Kent
Sussex
Nottingham
Birmingham

This is exactly the logic that I applied too!
DS got an offer from Exeter for economics within 24 hours - they couldn’t possibly have read the PS in that time!

WellingtonSquareTree · 03/11/2022 10:35

@User2975976427 they are not really interested in extra curricular activities per se they are interested what she has learned from them, ie responsibility, team work, handling cash, accurate recording etc. They don't care about her Saturday job unless she can demonstrate skills from it. They care about sport if it benefits them as a university as in you will play for their university.

They care about super curriculars which means your chosen subject and as I said above what she has learned or found interesting from reading, listening, attending anything and everything history related. That is what she talks about. Not herself but what she finds interesting in her subject. Has she read any history fiction that completely ignore facts of the time? Why does she know this is incorrect?

Just google personal statements for history, huge numbers come up, read them, work out what you think sounds good and what sounds awful, do not use the word passion at all, use a thesaurus and good luck.

maddy68 · 03/11/2022 10:41

Honestly if she can't string a personal statement together she is not going to cope with university.

6th form give a lot of support to students in completing these too

User2975976427 · 03/11/2022 11:15

maddy68 · 03/11/2022 10:41

Honestly if she can't string a personal statement together she is not going to cope with university.

6th form give a lot of support to students in completing these too

Nobody said she can’t string a personal statement together for goodness sake.

Thanks for your advice though. I’ll tell her a random on MN said she shouldn’t bother going because she won’t be able to cope

OP posts:
AffronttoBS · 03/11/2022 13:50

OP I think you need to talk through what she read, done etc.. to help her tease out the points she should make on the PS. Make a mind map. I found with my DD that, she was dismissing a lot stuff she's done as 'not relevant', where she just needed help to draw out and articulate what the relevance was from her readings, olympiads, etc..

AffronttoBS · 03/11/2022 13:53

I think maybe, with your DD OP, she may be a bit of a perfectionist, and would likely find starting from a blank sheet of paper daunting.

I think a good approach , which seems to work with my DD (who also thought she has nothing in particular to say that the Unis might want to hear...), is to write everything down, don't worry about being over the word count, and once you have something down, you could work with it, shape it and refine.

PritiPatelsMaker · 03/11/2022 17:49

We went to a Medicine Open Day at Sheffield in the summer and they were very open saying that they don't read the PS.

NotDonna · 04/11/2022 08:23

I am really surprised how many pp are saying DCs get lots of help from school/6th form. My eldest DD had zero info. She’s at an indie. I had no idea until reading this thread that schools were allowed to help or had sessions giving advice.

PritiPatelsMaker · 04/11/2022 09:06

I thought it was pretty normal to get support Not.

DS went to the local 6th Form and they had sessions on how to write the PS, teachers they could talk to and once it was written a teacher reviewed it and made suggestions.

StrataZon · 04/11/2022 09:20

NotDonna · 04/11/2022 08:23

I am really surprised how many pp are saying DCs get lots of help from school/6th form. My eldest DD had zero info. She’s at an indie. I had no idea until reading this thread that schools were allowed to help or had sessions giving advice.

Are you sure about this? It wasn't just what your DD told you?
I'd be surprised at this. It's pretty much bread and butter in 6th form, especially at an indie

Needmoresleep · 04/11/2022 10:03

The fact that many/most Universities don't read PSs is irrelevant. Some do. Warwick does for its over-subscribed courses. I have linked their guidance above. OPs DD is applying to Warwick or a popular course.

I always find this MN idea that once a child is 18 they are adults so need to do everything themselves, rather odd. I see the various challenges: writing PS, renting first flat, etc as learning/mentoring opportunities. I showed DD how to check the inventory and sort out utilities on her first flat. I have not needed to do so since. In the same way that I would help a friend if they asked me for help with something. I have recently been involved in mentoring Ukrainian tenants/refugees about a whole range of things, from registering with a GP, through to the need for thick curtains and draught excluders. Help has included research into how to get equivalence for their qualifications and suggesting a major restructuring of their CVs.

If I am happy to hand hold others in instances where my experience is greater than theirs, I don't see why I should not do the same for a DC. It is a useful learning experience. What I tried to do was get DD on from the blank sheet of paper in small steps, by suggesting what she should research and how she might structure. It meant that when she came to apply for an intercalation degree, she was confident enough to write a successful application on her own.

Both DC were applying to oversubscribed courses with 4xA* predictions, predictions that matched their AS results. I never saw DS' PS, but he received three rejections, including from Warwick and UCL. I asked him more recently what he thought had gone wrong, and he confirmed that in retrospect his PS was not that good. DD was applying for medicine, but with a weak UCAT and too ill to prepare for BMAT. She needed to apply to medical schools that prioritised PS and academic results. Hence the careful approach to the PS outlined above.

It was very much her PS, and she had no problem at interview talking about any of the content. I think at the time Bristol received 17 applications for every place (it was the last year that Bristol did not use aptitude tests). Understanding how initial scoring might happen and that the need to tick every box is important, is probably not something a 17 year old knows.

Job/internship applications can be expected to be way more competitive. Writing a PS is a good opportunity to learn how organisations are likely to apply an initial filter. If you do not have recent experience of applying for a large or public sector organisation, it is probably worth asking a friend or neighbour, with that experience, to read through, with a printout of the University CV guidance.

In terms of school help, DDs private school were very careful to limit to comments rather than suggestions. So lots of "expand" or "needs to be clearer" but no suggested wording. No doubt some used professional help but I am not sure that helped. DD read a friend's PS which was very polished but had little content (he did not have a lot of extra-curricular and if the truth be known was probably applying to read medicine because both parents were doctors and it was assumed he would). He had great grades but only got one interview and no offers. I would expect admissions officers who read PSs can spot those that read like a 17 year old has written it, as opposed to one written by a professional, even it they have received suggestions/mentoring from school or family.

(Sorry it sounds a bit ranty. The message to OP is that her DD should give the PS her best shot. It is not easy, but it is a good learning experience, and Warwick has a great history course.)

NotDonna · 04/11/2022 10:05

@StrataZon Im very sure as when we stumbled across a video online from Bath uni, in November so quite late, I sent it to school saying this could be useful for other students as they’d had no input. They sent it out. It was the only thing sent out. It was 2020 so school was mostly online in their defence.

drwitch · 04/11/2022 10:14

Uni lecturer here. Think personal statements are a waste of time, the only effect they have is to push the over confident and more privileged students ahead of the others
If as an institution you want more information to make a judgement then ask for it directly. The ability to sell yourself should not be a factor in uni admission

Ritasueandbobtoo9 · 04/11/2022 10:15

I attended an open day day at Warwick and they definitely look at Personal Statements. They made it clear that their courses are popular and they get lots of people with amazing grades so this is how they choose their students.

Needmoresleep · 04/11/2022 11:37

drwitch, how would you propose oversubscribed courses select students. LSE economics, say, regularly has 10-12 qualified applicants for each place with a good percentage accepting any offer. Warwick similarly will be rejecting some very strong applicants for a number of courses.

Interviewing would add major costs, and aptitude tests can discriminate against dyslexics, those who cannot afford prep courses, and those without native tongue English (eg Welsh speakers).

Observation suggests that by switching focus to aptitude tests from the use of PS, Bristol medicine has ended up with a much higher representation from, say, well known independent schools, than it had previously. The cohort is different, but not necessarily "better".

PauliString · 04/11/2022 14:19

I would expect admissions officers who read PSs can spot those that read like a 17 year old has written it

This always worries me, as a blanket statement. I have pedantic autistic children who write like 40-year-olds (and I still slightly resent failing my Brownie Writing Badge because the assessor said my story had 'clearly not been written by a seven-year-old'. Humph. I dumbed it down for her next time round).