Personal Statement

Why is this important?

...because this is the one part of your UCAS form where you can talk about yourself, and tell the admissions tutor why you want him to select you. This is where you sell yourself, where you try and make yourself stand out from the other 699 applicants. The content, style and presentation are all vitally important but what must shine through is - you! You must build up an honest and interesting picture of yourself which will make the admissions tutor sit up and say: "We must have him." And this is why you must write your own personal statement, not get someone else to write the flowing prose. Above all else show your enthusiam for your subject and show how you can demonstrate it by books you've read, places you've visited, and work experience you've done (not necessarily in that order).

General advice

• It's very important to look at the departmental websites of the universities you are thinking of applying to; there is often clear advice about what the admissions tutors like to see in personal statements. It would be folly not to take that advice.
• Take your time. You cannot turn out a polished personal statement on your first try. You will go through lots of drafts, you will ask lots of people what they think. It may take several months, but it is worth it because you will end up with something a hundred times better than what you started with.
• Do some research about yourself. Why do you want to study your chosen subject? Think about the reading you have done and are doing - what do you find interesting? And what about your other interests and activities: make lists of everything you do, and what you have achieved that is worthy of note. How can you build this up into an interesting self-portrait without going over the top?
• Of course other people should be involved in helping you but, as noted above, limit this to advice - do not let others write paragraphs for you. You will get inconsistencies of style, and admissions tutors may well see through the deception.
• You can write up to about 500 words. If you are applying to a popular department, use fewer words: admission tutors will not read every word of a long statement. But make those fewer words count. Do it in "Word" in the first instance so that it can check your grammar and spelling, and so that you can work at it wherever you are. When you are a good way down the road, paste it into your APPLY form. If it is too long, it is no good changing the font (Times New Roman 12). There is nothing you can do: reduce the length. See further advice about common formatting problems.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism (passing off other people's work as your own) is forbidden in your personal statement, and UCAS take the subject very seriously, and use a piece of software called Copycatch to detect suspected cases. When a personal statement is submitted it is uniquely identified so the results of the process are accurately reported for each applicant.

Each incoming personal statement is checked against a library of personal statements already in the Copycatch system, and a library of sample statements collected from a variety of web sites and other sources including paper publications. Each new personal statement is added to the library of statements already received after it has been processed.

Any statements showing a potential level of similarity of 10% or greater will be reviewed by members of the UCAS Similarity Detection Service. HEI's will be notified on a daily basis of any cases where there are reasonable grounds to suspect collusion. Applicants will also be notified that the UCAS Similarity Detection service has identified their personal statement as potentially plagiarised. The decision about what action, if any, to take regarding notified cases rests with the admissions tutors at individual HEI's.

The Copycatch process ignores 450 commonly used words that many applicants would reasonably use in their statements like 'and', 'so', 'with', 'football' 'enthusiastic' 'keen' etc. and also ignores a selection of commonly used phrases including 'Duke of Edinburgh'.

Constructing Your Personal Statement

The purpose of this section is to give you a framework upon which you can hang your individual ideas and experiences. You do not have to follow the structure rigidly, but it will help you to incorporate all the elements you need to include in an effective personal statement.

N.B. For the purpose of this exercise, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO COMPLETE THESE PARAGRAPH SECTIONS IN ORDER. Sometimes the hardest part is filling in the subject you want to do. In which case, start with your personal strengths, work experience, voluntary work, sports, books, courses etc. and you may see a subject emerging.

Once you've got the bare bones, you can start to write it as a flowing, succinct, personal prose.

Paragraph One - Why do you want to study this subject?

Write down some ideas for the following:

• What sparked your interest? - talk about how you reached your decision to study this subject.
• How has it been sustained? - has taking it to A level confirmed that you want to take it even further?
• Be specific - give an example of something in the course that's really 'fired you up'.
• Be enthusiastic - have a go at writing an enthusiastic sounding sentence or two.

Paragraph Two - Your Academic and Intellectual Curiosity

Write down

• Books that you've read. Try to think about your independent reading. Give the title, the author, a brief synopsis and explain what it was about that book in particular that you liked/seemed relevant to you and your course
• The journals you've read. Why do you like that particular journal, and which articles in particular have interested you?
• The recent development in your subject that have caught your eye. For sciences, have there been some breakthroughs that have fired your interest? For arts, are there some new approaches to traditional texts, or some newly published works that have helped you to greater depths of intellectual curiosity?

Paragraph Three - Related interest in your subject

Write down

• The work experience or voluntary work have you done.
• What it was about that work experience or voluntary work that (specifically) interested you?
• Any competitions you've entered, how did you do? What did you learn?
• What courses, lectures, seminar have you attended? Who gave them? What impressed you?

Paragraph 4 - Extra Curricular - the subliminal messages

Write down

• The sports you do and the level.
• Any scholarships you have, and how you have continued to excel in that area.
• Your orchestras, choirs, bands, societies and say why you like them.
• Your positions of responsibility or occasions when you've led teams. What did you like about it/learn from it?
• What takes up your free time, and why do you give it so much space in your life?
• Why you think these qualities will make you a good undergraduate when combined with your studies?
• Some areas of your life that show you can work under pressure, to deadlines.

Paragraph 5 - The sign off

Write down

• The salient points about your interest in your course.
• How you intend to take that forwards at university or in your career.
• If you've managed a first sentence, see if you can write a final one that matches, without repetition.

The Golden Rules

• Be enthusiastic
• Be specific
• Make YOUR voice heard
• Plan and prepare

Things To Avoid

• Arrogance and pretentiousness
• Generalisations
• Waffle
• Mistakes or errors in expression
• Don't use Tonbridge abbreviations - Say Tonbridge School, not Tonbridge. Say Prefect, not Prae
• Untruths or half truths
• Negatives

Handy Tips

• You only have around 500 to say everything
• Write it in Word as there's no spell check in the UCAS software, and then paste it onto your form
• Ask at least two adults to check it for you for spelling mistakes and errors
• Don't paste it onto your form until you're sure that it's perfect
• Explain anything that's not obvious e.g. Frusta Frustra