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Don’t fear the Personal Statement! Sêra Evans Head of UK Student Recruitment

Don’t fear the Personal Statement! Sêra Evans Head of UK Student Recruitment. What do UCAS want to know? Personal information e.g. name, address Universities the student would like to want to apply to Schools / Employment history Completed and ongoing qualifications Reference

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Don’t fear the Personal Statement! Sêra Evans Head of UK Student Recruitment

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  1. Don’t fear the Personal Statement! Sêra Evans Head of UK Student Recruitment

  2. What do UCAS want to know? • Personal information e.g. name, address • Universities the student would like to want to apply to • Schools / Employment history • Completed and ongoing qualifications • Reference • Personal statement

  3. “The Personal Statement is your chance to sell and differentiate yourself…to influence the Admission Tutors and explain your motivations”

  4. Relevant & Related Content 1. Why are you choosing this course? 2. Why should we choose you? • Motivation • Background to your interest • Experience/Key skills • Other Evidence of Achievement • Current Studies • Understanding of course • Career Aspirations

  5. Structuring your personal statement… • Why do you want to do this course? • Show that you are motivated, interested in the course and have an understanding about the course. • Are your current studies related? Did they influence your choice (enjoy/interested in a certain aspect?) • What made you choose the course? Do your research to show knowledge of the course e.g. modules, topics • Does the course help fulfil your career aspiration? Where would you like to be in 5-10 years time (be realistic)?

  6. 2. Work experience • Show what you learnt from the experience/skills you’ve gained. • If related to your chosen course, show how it supports your course choice. • 3. School achievements/responsibilities • School awards/certificates, prefect responsibilities etc - what have you gained from these? • What skills have you developed? What do they demonstrate about you?

  7. 4. Extra- curricular activities/responsibilities • All sorts – sports, voluntary work, special projects etc. • Skills you have gained from these? Relate to skills needed for University course. 5. Hobbies/ best experiences • Use these to show that you are a well rounded individual and demonstrate how you are unique.

  8. Not “I” Not… ‘I have always wanted to…’ but… ‘practical experience in X has reinforced my long-term interest in achieving…’ Not… ‘I have always been interested in…’ but… ‘my developing interest in X has raised questions about Y that I’d like the opportunity to investigate…’ Not… ‘I am studying A-levels in’ but… ‘my A-level subjects have enabled me to…’

  9. What are admissions tutors looking for? Evidence of: • Independent study skills • Self-awareness • Motivation and commitment • An understanding of the course • Good numeracy and literacy • Essay writing • Research skills • Time management skills • Enthusiasm to go beyond the syllabus

  10. Reasons given to unsuccessful applicants “ Your personal statement does not strongly support your desire to study your chosen degree. You failed to demonstrate sufficient knowledge and interest in the subject in your personal statement. ” www.ucas.ac.uk/students/applying/howtoapply/personalstatement/whattoinclude

  11. The Personal Statement ABC What you’ve done What skills it has given you How these relate to your course Activity Benefit Course Good Better Best

  12. Elaborate & Analyse Not just a diary of events… “I have…and I have…” but go that one step beyond… What does this prove? What does this show evidence of? Always ask… So what? What more can I say?

  13. Personal Statements – Avoid being bland Not… Not “From an early age I have been interested in civil engineering…” but… “The Millennium bridge was only open for two days before sideways oscillation of approximately 70mm forced its closure…”

  14. Personal Statements – Avoid being bland Not… “I have always been interested in motor sport…” but… “July 5th 2011 was a key date. On that day I experienced Formula One at 200mph, and wondered how the engineering evolved to cope with such stresses…”

  15. Don’t be afraid to be different! 1. From a young age I have (always) been [interested in/fascinated by]... (1779 times) 2. For as long as I can remember I have... (1451 times) 3. I am applying for this course because... (1370 times) 4. I have always been interested in ... (927 times) 5. Throughout my life I have always enjoyed... (310 times) 6. Reflecting on my educational experiences... (257 times) 7. Nursing is a very challenging and demanding [career/profession/course]... (211 times) 8. Academically, I have always been… (168 times) 9. I have always wanted to pursue a career in… (160 times) 10. I have always been passionate about… (160 times)

  16. Do not go over the top… … and when I’m not working towards World Peace, I enjoy learning languages from scratch, writing symphonies and playing a standard of golf that Tiger Woods can only dream about.

  17. PUNCTUATION Dear John, I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you I have no feelings whatsoever. When we are apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be. Yours, Gloria Dear John, I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we are apart. I can be forever happy – will you let me be yours? Gloria

  18. Applications for more than one subject • Joint Honours course: • Focus on one subject – e.g. Politics and History, Politics and English: focus on Politics. • Talk about both equally – refer to any link between the two subjects. • Applying for two completely different courses: • Difficult to give enough information about both subjects. • Look at all course choices and find a balance

  19. Do • Paint a picture of who you are • Show enthusiasm & motivation • Stand out from the crowd • Meet the criteria • Elaborate – What? Why? How? • Structure – beginning, middle and end • Use good spelling and grammar • Check, check and re-check

  20. Don’t leave it till the last minute! Don’t • Begin all sentences with ‘I’ • Waffle…. • Write more than 47 lines • Sound like you have swallowed a dictionary • Lie

  21. PLAGIARISM When you take the ideas, thoughts, words or inventions of someone else and present them as your own. • UCAS will not tolerate plagiarism e.g. copying from other student’s statements, books, the internet. • All statements put through a scanning system (Copy Catch) which detects plagiarism. • If detected the University is notified and this will have a detrimental effect on your application. Make sure that all work submitted is your own!!

  22. Personal Statement activity

  23. TRUE FALSE Answer 1 A personal statement is a maximum of 47 lines or 4000 characters whichever comes first Question 1 There is no maximum length to a personal statement

  24. TRUE FALSE Answer 2 You can use paragraphs in a personal statement – remember that blank lines count towards the maximum Question 2 A personal statement can be written in paragraphs

  25. Answer 3 Apply will not spell check your work – we recommend you prepare your personal statement offline using a word-processing package and copy and paste it into apply Question 3 The UCAS Apply software has spelling and grammar checks TRUE FALSE

  26. Answer 4 You only write one personal statement and it will be used for all your choices Question 4 You can write a different PS for each of your choices TRUE FALSE

  27. TRUE FALSE Answer 5 You cannot use italics, bold, or underlining in your personal statement - the system will automatically remove this formatting Question 5 You can use bold, italics & underlined characters

  28. TRUE FALSE Answer 6 The personal statement could be used as the basis for an interview. Keep a copy so you are prepared to answer questions on it Question 6 You should keep a copy of your personal statement

  29. TRUE FALSE Answer 7 All personal statements are checked by our system for similarities – see www.ucas.com for more details Question 7 There’s no problem in using material I’ve found on the web

  30. Question 8 There is a link to a ‘Personal statement guide’ on Apply TRUE FALSE Answer 8 The link on Apply will take you to a section on www.ucas.com where you can find help and advice on writing an effective personal statement . Take time to read it

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