SURVIVOR’S GUIDE TO WRITING YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT

1. 7 PUNCTUATION POINTS SURVIVOR’S GUIDE TO WRITING YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT • Avoid exclamation marks. They are too dramatic and emphatic • A semi-colon is used to join two sentences which are related to each other eg I really enjoy plays; I go to the theatre at least once a month. NOT • I really enjoy plays, I go to the theatre at least once a month. • A colon can be used where you make a statement and follow it with more information eg Physics affects us all: it shows us how the world works. Or it can introduce a list of things eg I enjoy a number of sports: football, judo, swimming and athletics. • Hyphenate compound words eg. First-generation, part-time. • Make sure you use apostrophes correctly. • eg teacher’s help – one teacher • teachers’ help – more than one teacher • it’s – it is • its – belonging to it • commas give you a pause in your sentence, but they mustn't be used to join two sentences.

2. 3 4 EASILY CONFUSED Advise – a verb, eg my teacher advised me to read ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four. Advice – a noun, eg I have followed all the advice I was given Principal – head of a school or college etc. Principle – a rule or guideline to work by. eg - for example ie - that is Uninterested – indifferent to Disinterested – impartial, not involved Practise – a verb, eg I practise my cello to play in a band. Practice – a noun, eg constant practice has improved my batting technique Affect- a verb, eg this can affect immunity levels Effect – a noun, eg the effects of global warming Compliment – to admire something, eg I’d like to compliment you on your excellent work Complement – to complement or work well with something, eg biology and chemistry are subjects which complement each other Criterion – singular Criteria - plural Make sure you distinguish which of these words is the correct one.

3. 5 2 CAPITAL IDEA HAVE YOU SPLIT YOUR INFINITIVE? • The thesaurus • Use it to find different ways of expressing the same, or similar, concepts. Rather than use ‘interesting’ several times to describe topics or subjects, your thesaurus will suggest to you ‘absorbing’, ‘fascinating’, ‘challenging’, ‘intriguing’, among others. What should you capitalise in your personal statement? • Names of subjects (Physics, English Literature, Media Studies.) • Place names. • Proper nouns eg Christianity. • Significant words in any book, newspaper or journal titles eg New Scientist, A Brief History of Time, The Daily Telegraph. • The computer spell-checker • Use it with care, though: it is probably American so will want you to use ‘realize’, ‘color;’ ‘rigor’ and other American versions of spellings. • A trusted adult • These adults may include your form tutor, a subject teacher, a parent or family friend, a member of the Sixth Form team or library staff. Show them a draft of your statement and ask for advice. Weigh all advice carefully before making changes. • Beware of showing it to too many people though. A wide variety of conflicting advice will leave you confused. Star Trek made it famous: ‘To boldly go where no man has gone before’. Try to avoid this in formal writing. The infinitive is the basic form of the verb: to write, to learn, to develop. If you want to use an adverb with this form of verb, move it to a different place in the sentence. eg I’d like to understand completely the causes of the Holocaust.’ NOT ‘I’d like to completely understand the causes of the Holocaust.’

4. 1 SETTING THE TONE Do you think you are: You may have Useful Phrases YOUR BEST FRIENDS HOW TO PROMOTE YOURSELF … NICELY Have you included….. 6 Have you found subjects or topics: • Your personal statement must be formal in tone. Avoid chattiness; avoid exclamation marks; avoid words like ‘brilliant’, ‘fantastic’, ‘amazing’. • Equally, make sure you’re not pompous. Use varied language but not vocabulary you wouldn’t normally use eg ‘commence’ • Don’t use a cliché (eg “The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”) It’s unoriginal, and a waste of your space. • It’s best not to abbreviate ( don’t, can’t, isn’t, should’ve etc). Writing it out in full is better for formal writing. enjoyed, relished, found absorbing, appreciated the chance to, explored, welcomed a chance or an opportunity, found ……………. a challenge, been engrossed by……… rewarding satisfying gratifying fascinating engrossing conscientious involved tenacious determined Doing …… has developed my skills of….., I have brought enthusiasm to my …….studies, I have approached…….. with energy, I have used this opportunity to…. patient, thorough, persistent, enthusiastic. • your subjects and why you like them • service to the school • other service/charitable things you do • musical instruments • groups such as theatre workshops • part-time employment, work experience • sports/games • your reading tastes (you should have some!) • why you want to do the course • The dictionary • If you want to use a word but feel unsure of its meaning, look it up. Make sure the spelling is correct too.