UCAS SURVIVAL PACK MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN The Personal StateMEnt

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Aim Incentive Reason Why To focus you and your work in and around the personal statement, part of the UCAS process. Incentive Quicker and more effective personal statement. Reason Why 6Ps, the place you want – at the university you want. Welcome from the University of South Wales Introduce yourself and our student ambassadors Why are you here? AIR

Revision: What do you think of the personal statement? THINK.PAIR.SHARE

Revision: Can you change your perspective?

Revision: Why write a personal statement? THINK.PAIR.SHARE

60:1 Revision: Why write a personal statement? Growth of students going on to University 1963 – 216,000 applications 2001 – 1.96 million applications 2004 – 2.1 million applications 2007 – 2.3 million applications 2010 – 2.5 million applications 60:1

[2 Students. Same subject] Revision: Why write a personal statement? COMPARE.CONTRAST [2 Students. Same subject]

[My friends. The competition] Revision: Why write a personal statement? COMPARE.CONTRAST [My friends. The competition]

Revision: Why write a personal statement? - Part and parcel of the application process - A chance to sell yourself - Differentiate yourself from the competition “The Personal Statement is your chance to sell and differentiate yourself…to influence the Admission Tutors and explain what motivates you.”

[Why is it so difficult?] My Personal Statement: Filling the white space THINK.PAIR.SHARE [Why is it so difficult?]

[Self esteem assessment] My Personal Statement: Filling the white space TASK [Self esteem assessment]

[What do your friends think?] My Personal Statement: Filling the white space TASK [What do your friends think?]

TASK My Personal Statement: Filling the white space [Mind Map on page 5]

My Personal Statement: The specification 4,000 characters High quality SPG, no formatting. 1 statement only Save a copy Submit c.Jan 15th 2015

Motivated Independent X-Factor Experience My Personal Statement: What are we looking for? Motivated Independent X-Factor Discuss and describe these examples. Experience

My Personal Statement: What are we looking for? 146million results in 0.26 seconds(!) UCAS has ‘Copycatch’ software which detects statements which are similar to each other or similar to those found online. The applicant’s university choices are informed and appropriate action is taken.

My Personal Statement: What are we looking for? 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 The words stay exactly the same – spellchecker could not help you here – yet the meaning is entirely different!

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[Structure tips page 6-9] My Personal Statement: What are we looking for? TASK [Structure tips page 6-9]

A + B = C Good – Better - Best My Personal Statement: What are we looking for? A + B = C Good – Better - Best © University of South Wales

“ ” My Personal Statement: What are we looking for? “ Your personal statement did not show sufficient understanding, relevance or knowledge about the course you are applying for 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 Unsuccessful as you have not expressed a strong enough interest in the subject area in your personal statement These four examples are taken from data given in 2010 to applicants as reasons for being made unsuccessful ” www.ucas.ac.uk/students/applying/howtoapply/personalstatement/whattoinclude

There is no maximum length to a personal statement My Personal Statement: What have we learned? 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 TRUE FALSE You can enter up to 4,000 characters (this includes spaces) or 47 lines of text (this includes blank lines), whichever comes first. You do not have to use all the space provided. When you save text, the system will tell you how many characters are still available or if you have used too many characters. You can preview your statement after you have saved it.

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

The UCAS Apply software has spelling and grammar checks TRUE FALSE Question 3 The UCAS Apply software has spelling and grammar checks 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 We recommend that you prepare your personal statement offline using a word-processing package and copy and paste it into the Apply system. Whether you are typing your statement directly into the box, or amending a statement that you pasted in, you should click 'save' regularly because Apply will time-out after 35 minutes of inactivity. The countdown on the screen displays how much time you have left before it times out. The character and line count in Apply may be different to a word-processing package, such as Microsoft Word - this is because formatting characters, such as paragraphs and tabs, are counted in Apply but may be ignored in Word. Please use the size as specified in Apply as the guide.

You can write a different PS for each of your choices TRUE FALSE Question 4 You can write a different PS for each of your choices Answer 4 You only write one personal statement and it will be used for all your choices Remember that you only write one personal statement so it will be used for all your choices. Try not to mention a university or college by name, even if you're applying to only one university - your personal statement cannot be changed if you apply to a different place later. If you're applying for a joint degree you will need to explain why you are interested in both aspects of this joint programme. If you're applying for different subjects or courses, you need to identify the common themes and skills that are relevant to your choices. For example, both mathematics and law are subjects where you have to think logically and apply rules. You may like both subjects because you enjoy solving problems, using theory and natural or man-made laws to come to a correct conclusion. If your chosen courses can't be linked by a common theme, think about your reasons for applying to such varied courses - it might be useful to speak to a careers adviser to get some guidance. If you mention a subject in your personal statement and are applying to other courses, you may be asked by the university or college for additional information about why you have chosen alternative courses.

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

You should keep a copy of your personal statement TRUE FALSE Question 6 You should keep a copy of your personal statement 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

There’s no problem in using material I’ve found on the web 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 All personal statements sent to UCAS are tested for similarity. There are some example personal statements on the internet that have been used by applicants, in some cases word for word. The service we use, called Copycatch, finds statements that show similarity, works out how much of the statement may have been copied, and reports the findings. It helps admissions staff at universities and colleges judge applications, and it is the institutions who decide what action, if any, to take regarding notified cases. Each personal statement is checked against: a library of personal statements previously submitted to UCAS sample statements collected from a variety of websites other sources including paper publications. Each personal statement received at UCAS is added to the library of statements after it has been processed.

[Download Uni Box and filter content p16] My Personal Statement: Where else can I look for inspiration? TASK [Download Uni Box and filter content p16]

My Personal Statement: Where else can I look for inspiration?

My Personal Statement: Where else can I look for inspiration?

My Personal Statement: Where else can I look for inspiration?

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