Personal statements. Is it always a no no

[LaaDeeDa321]

to start them with a quote? I read that it was. This is a very short quote which relates to the subject in quite a clever way.

This.

The PS isn’t really there at most unis to make the candidate “stand out” unless it’s ultra competitive. Even then grades, test marks snd submitted work and GCSEs could mean more. It’s there to fill in gaps about why DC is suitable for the course. Info from the unis on a PS is available to all. Whether you apply to them or not is irrelevant. You don’t just look at advice from one uni. Build up a picture of why you fit the course.

Never say you have “a passion for fashion” or similar. Quotes can be useful if they truly demonstrate something but it’s difficult to see how. They are not the students work.

It is an ultra competitive course @TizerorFizz

Gosh personal statements are tough. I'm not sure I did one but a) it was ages ago and b) I never got to the stage of going to uni.
DD is writing hers and there seems to be lots of "donts" but the dos seem more vague!
Then I bumped into a friend who's a uni lecturer and he shrugged and said he never reads them anyway!
She wants to do something arty/creative and the overwhelming message we've got from uni talks, is that it's the portfolio that will be the decider...

A quotation is a handy thing to have about, saving one the trouble of thinking for oneself, always a laborious business."
A.A. Milne,

Using a quote to make a jibe about using a quote. Nice work.

I thought it worked rather well...

Isn’t that what I said?

@BorrowedThyme I thought your advice was spot on and freely given. . OP might not have liked hearing it but others will have benefitted, so thank you. I have a sibling in university admissions and they say the same.

Please don’t misrepresent what I said @guzzleandstuff I immediately accepted the advice. Nowhere on this thread have I argued once that it was bad advice.

No but your bitterness at being told it really wasn't a great idea has shone like a beacon....

Don’t be daft @titchy. It’s a personal statement not my debut novel 😂

Literally what universities say you shouldn’t do

OP it’s great that you asked this question and are helping your child.

As I said, whilst it’s not the best idea to use a quote, when looking at statements (I look at them for medical school), it would certainly not put me off a student who was great in every other way.

Having gone through it twice with my kids, we put so much effort into perfecting these damn statements and then you never know how much difference it makes. Some universities pay little attention to them anyway! I am sure your child will do a high quality one.

I really didn’t get that from the OP. I thought she took the feedback quite well. Interesting how we interpret online comments so differently!

And that;s not what I said. I thanked another poster for sharing something that many have found useful I said that the OP might not have liked hearing it but I did not say that you said it was bad advice - because you clearly didn't.

I'm always grateful on MN when people who work in particular fields or know a lot about something share valuable experience. It has helped me on so many occasions.

Thank you @NeverAgree DC and I started this thread with a really open mind and yes we were both taken aback by slightly brusque responses but it’s all fine. We should have expected it. I have no idea why people would think I am ‘bitter’ about letting go of one line in a personal statement. I definitely have more burning issues to contend with than this! As I said pretty much at the beginning of this thread thank you for all the good advice. It resulted in us pretty much straight away deleting the quote. Can this be the end of it now please so I can go away and burn my bitterness like a beacon on another thread? 😂

It’s an interesting point though - PS are put through plagiarism software so an incorrectly cited quote could throw up problems …

As I said earlier they want to hear the students own words not those of someone else (be that an author, celeb, their parents or their teachers).

The risk is always that at age 16 you think you’re being startlingly original but you’re really not and the examiner sees a lot of similar or even the same quote used.

I say this as someone who was once a startlingly unoriginal 16 year old themselves.

Mega cringe don’t need to try do anything clever

My DD wouldn't even let me read her PS so I've found some of this interesting.

It's a bit early for DS, but I like that slide from Durham - thanks for sharing @KittyMcKitty

@SingingSands Lits of university departments give great advice on what they are looking for. Bristol will tell you how they use the PS and other info about the applicant. Never too early to get reading up on it because not all schools understand what’s required for a competitive course.

@LaaDeeDa321 I think if it’s a competitive course, the university really should give some guidance. Plus DS has 5 choices. Not one. So make sure one or two other options are not so competitive. What does the course he wants say they are looking for? That’s your starting point. Don’t list books, podcasts and visits. Say what he learned from anything he’s read or done. How does it make him a great fit for the course based on modules and options? It doesn’t have to be a whizz bang PS, but carefully written so his interests and evidence of greater learning then the syllabus shine through. It’s not really how you write it to get noticed, it’s what you write.

OP I know you've deleted it and made your decision but for the benefit of others who might stumble upon this thread, you could modify the quote slightly to make it your opening sentence rather than a quote with a capital Q. Mine was something like 'finance is the lifeblood of commerce' which while wasn't a 'quote' per se, I have seen a combination of 'accounting' and 'lifeblood' used in lots of places so just made it my own sentence. I then gave a general overview of how the financial system allocates resources/runs through every key decision, mentioned some news articles and then zoomed into what I, specifically, found engaging about it.

Got into all 5 of my choices including LSE so it worked.

you don't have to throw the quote away completely that's all I'm saying, maybe play with the words a bit and use it to express your ideas.

Hi, OP -

I am literally very late to your thread. I am a former Russell Group STEM admissions tutor. My School is in the tier just below COWI in my discipline. Our offer is above AAA.

You and your author have taken your decision and IMO it was the prudent one. However in a STEM subject I don’t think using a short quotation for a good reason would be the disaster some have suggested. It sounds young and idealistic and a bit naive. Nothing terribly wrong with that.

Perhaps in disciplines where applicants are expected to have stronger writing skills it is different.

Thanks everyone. Most helpful.