Writing your UCAS Personal Statement

1 THE ADMISSIONS TUTOR

WHAT IS AN ADMISSIONS TUTOR? When you submit your UCAS application for your chosen course at university, it will usually be read by an admissions tutor.

The Admissions Tutor is a gatekeeper. He or she chooses whether or not to let you in.

THE ADMISSIONS TUTOR… may let you in by giving you an offer such as AAB, BBC, CDD may not let you in – they decline to give you an offer often starts providing offers as soon as applications are received is more likely to look favourably on early applications

WHY MIGHT THEY OFFER YOU A PLACE? because you have the required grades because of the positive comments in your reference because of your personal statement

Admissions Tutors were asked ‘WHEN DO YOU USE THE PERSONAL STATEMENT?’ 1. to select candidates for an offer or rejection for UCAS 2. to select candidates for an interview 3. to plan interview questions 4. to help occasional consideration of borderline cases (e.g. course requires grades ‘BBB’, you are predicted grades ‘BBC’) 5.if a candidate misses the required grade in August & there are spare places, the personal statement might decide it

WHAT ARE ADMISSIONS TUTORS LOOKING FOR?... Work experience (if it’s relevant) Wider skills such as teamwork (if it’s relevant) Numeracy or Communication (if the applicant is yet to pass GCSE Maths or English) Future career if relevant and known Any interesting hobby (especially if relevant)

Admissions Tutors ask: Do we want this student on the course? Do we want this student at our university?

Admissions Tutors said they were looking for: Interest in the course (most important) – most of the statement could deal with this, in some cases A motivated student No mistakes in spelling or grammar A clearly written piece A balance of academic study with ‘life’ An interesting person Don’t cut & paste one off the internet – they’ve seen them (and rejected them) all before…

ADMISSIONS TUTORS WERE ASKED ‘WHAT SHOULD APPLICANTS AVOID? Waffle Swallowing a dictionary Statements with no examples or evidence Very ordinary interests such as ‘going down the pub’ Lying (remember the interview!) Lack of conviction & honesty – trying to be someone you are not Rushing - producing a poorly written statement Reducing all experiences to skills – stacking shelves in a supermarket provides an honest income – don’t sell it for anything else

You need a section about YOU

Remember, be selective…

Making sure you don’t get in… “Sex. I love it. That’s why I want to study human biology.” “I'd like to attend a university where I can expose myself to many diverse people.” “I have an extensive knowledge of the value of intelligence.” Their were too things the experience taut me: its important to be accurate and precise.

A useful lesson… The assumption that the admissions tutor shares your sense of humour is a risky one…

A more impressive and less risky way to sell yourself is to convince an admissions tutor that you are really passionate about the course so…. do your course research

Persuading an admissions tutor that I am genuinely keen to study their course Be motivated and interested in the content of the course Write about any relevant books or articles you have read (even writing about a short article in a chapter or journal is going to have more of an impact than simply stating you want to study the course)

Write about experiences that relate to the course Conferences, residential courses, trips, people you have met, something you have read, hobbies, future plans, something you have seen – anything relevant that will convince the admissions tutor that you have given serious thought to the choice of course Persuading an admissions tutor that I am genuinely keen to study their course

Paragraph Headings for Personal Statement 1) Why I want to study that course 2) How my studies relate to the course 3) Work experience & how it relates to the course 4) Wider school involvement & responsibilities I have held 5) Other interests, experience and qualifications held 6) Conclusion – a summary of the main reasons I want to study the course * 42 lines in Times New Roman font*

What should I do do next? Make a start on your statement. Get loads of information down and then edit it. The sooner you do it, the sooner you can get your application off. You can ask for help (but only if you’ve got something worth refining – no-one writes it for you…) Ask nicely… DON’T LEAVE IT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE!!!

And for the future… Make & keep a list of all your qualifications – you’ll still need it when you’re really old…(like 30…) Every time you do something good, attend a course, get an award…write it down.