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Personal Statement Question Thread
Personal Statement Question Thread
that you have to write at length about why you want to study the course you are applying for and to set yourself apart from other applicants with the skills and experiences you have to offer. For many people this may be the first time they have had to write an important piece of prose about themselves. TSR has a number of good resources to help you with your statement:
DO NOT post your drafts or PS content anywhere else on TSR outside of PS Help as
there is a risk it may be plagiarised. If you see anyone posting a full PS or even part of it, please report the post using the ! mark button in the top right corner of the post so that the moderators can remove it. General questions about personal statements General questions about personal statements, what they should include, style and character/line limits should be posted in this thread. However this first post will attempt to answer many of them so read this before posting. Subject specific questions If your query is specific to a particular course or university you are applying to, for example how important books are to a Law Personal Statement, this should go in the appropriate University and University Courses sub-forum. Regulars in these forums are more likely to be able to answer your specific questions. Before posting your query or draft have a read of the following:
Maximum of 4000 characters (including spaces). Generally you probably want to be aiming for 3000-3500 characters to allow room for line breaks and still be within the 47 line limit. Maximum of 47 lines, as measured on the UCAS Apply form. The only way to check this is to try inputting your statement into the form and it will tell you how many lines you are using. In MS Word Times New Roman at 12 point, with 3.17cm left and right margins gives a reasonably close approximation for the line count on the UCAS form.
Generally speaking, the 47 line limit is more important and relevant than the 4000 characters and so it is important to check when writing your draft how many lines you are using in addition to how many characters. You don't want to perfect your statement only to find it doesn't fit! If you enter/submit a statement which is too long then the remaining lines or characters will simply be chopped off the bottom of your statement, even if that is mid sentence or mid word.
font. You cannot use bold, italic or underline text to emphasise as this will not be retained in the final form. The form also removes any excess spaces automatically, so if you use tabs or spaces to indent paragraphs this will not be retained in the final form. Similarly double spaces between sentences will become a single space. The only way to separate paragraphs is through a linebreak (pressing return twice) and this will be retained in the final form. Each linebreak is included in your line limit, but if space allows it is recommended that you do this as it makes your statement more readable. Remember an admissions tutor looks at hundreds of statements so you want to make their lives easy! The formatting is unable to recognise non-conventional characters so you shouldn't use , and other accents in your statement. Style also dictates that you should avoid characters like & and numbers (1, 2, 3...) should be written in full (one, two, three...). Once you're happy with your statement and have pasted it into your form and previewed it, read it or print it out before you submit it to check that the formatting is as you expect!
Why you are interested in the subject, and why you want to study it further What relevant experiences you have both academically and socially and how these experiences give you the necessary skills for study at degree level Your diversity as an individual, demonstrating a wide range of interest and experiences.
In addition to this you hope to demonstrate that you have an appreciation of what is required of the course you are applying for, that you have the ability to write in coherent sentences and can form a compelling and focused argument.
Where do I start?
The first thing to do before you begin writing your statement is to think about what it is that the statement requires (see above) and to gain an appreciation of the style/format it should be written in. Many of the resources on the TSR wiki are useful at this early stage:
Personal Statement Frequently Asked Questions Guide to Writing a PS Subject specific guides to writing a PS (still a work in progress) Example Personal Statements - Old statements submitted by site users to provide a guide to the style and content of a Personal Statement. Don't plagiarise - the statements are referenced by UCAS Copycatch software. Reviewed Personal Statements - Example statements reviewed by the PS Helpers to demonstrate good and bad practice in a PS.
Once you have familiarised yourself with the general expectation and style of a PS then you can start to plan your statement. Instead of jumping in and trying to write a first draft, brainstorm your experiences and the skills that you gained from these. Having done this you can write a more structured plan to think about what paragraphs each experience belongs in.
Introduction - This is a more general paragraph which should immediately explain and discuss why you want to study the course at university and why you are interested in the subject. You don't need to demonstrate skills or list experiences at this stage. Section 1 - This should discuss your academic experiences. Discuss your relevant A-levels and how these have inspired you and what you find interesting about them. Try to give specific examples of things you have enjoyed studying. You don't need to discuss every Alevel you do and you don't need to list your A-levels, since these are elsewhere in your application. Section 2 - Continuing with academic interests you should discuss your interest in the subject outside of the classroom, so summer schools or open days you have attended, books you have read or relevant experience to your discipline. Again specific details of what you did and how this makes you a better/more motivated candidate are good. When discussing books try to avoid name dropping and instead discuss aspects of the book you have enjoyed reading or have been inspired by. Section 3 - Discuss any work experiences, relevant or otherwise, with particular focus on how the experiences have enabled you to develop relevant skills for the course. This is an opportunity to show appreciation of what skills the course requires. Section 4 - Include hobbies and extra-curricular activities in a paragraph again with focus on skills. Sport, music and voluntary work are all good examples and help to show that you are a diverse person outside of the classroom. Avoid more mundane hobbies like socialising with friends, watching tv, playing computer games or browsing the internet. Conclusion - The conclusion should be brief (1-2 sentences) but should summarise and reiterate you interest in the subject and your aptitude and skill for it. This is also a good place to discuss any future career aspirations, but if you don't have any then you don't need to mention it.
This structure is only a guide and will be dependent both on the subject you are applying for and your own experiences. You may have lots of work experience or you may not and so the exact structure is unique to you. Ensure that you fully check the PS requirements for every university as some have very strict requirements. LSE PS Help: here UCL PS guidelines: here. Take note of the guidelines for applicants who are studying a language at A level/Higher. If it is your 2nd/3rd/xth language you MUST say this in your PS. Most universities give subject guidance for what they are looking for in the PS somewhere on their website. Ensure you take note and use it.
How much of my statement should be extra-curricular activities and how much academic?
The rule of thumb is that your statement should be approximately 2/3 academic and 1/3 extracurricular. Your application is for an academic course and so should focus primarily on your academic abilities and experiences. Extra-curricular activities show diversity and provide a good opportunity to discuss the transferable skills you have developed. However, these should still be discussed with regard to how these pursuits make you well-suited to studying the course. These hobbies should not take up more than 1-2 short paragraphs in your statement.
Extenuating circumstances as to why you did badly in a particular module/GCSEs/AS levels Reasons why you didn't take particular courses (for example because your school didn't offer it). Background of your school - if your school wasn't the best and you were surrounded by troublesome classmates don't put it in your PS, get it mentioned in your reference. Virtuous qualities - avoid saying things like "I am a dedicated and committed student who will be an asset to your university." or "I was the best student in my year". These just make you sound arrogant and presumptuous and should be discussed in your reference. When discussing personality traits in your statement show rather than state, giving examples of where you have demonstrated these qualities.
things that you didn't before. You may receive lots of advice but at the end of the day it is down to you to decide what to change and what to put in because it is your personal statement.