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+--- Forum: UCAS Forms & Personal Statements (https://www.studentdiscussion.co.uk/forum-2.html)
+--- Thread: HELP!!! (/thread-790.html)
HELP!!! - miss_vamp - 29/07/2006
I'm struggling to make my personal statement seem interesting and worth reading. I took up a lot of volunteering jobs and various other activities because I knew they would help when it came to this time. I've worked in a solicitors (administrative), with elderly, infants (5yrs), library and right now I'm trying for a job in Ottakars. I'm not sure what I want to study to be able to convince the unis, let alone myself. I've been thinking about psychology for pretty much all my life but now I'm not so sure.
Firstly, is it necessary for me to have a part-time job or are my volunteer jobs just as good?
Secondly, how do I put all the things I've done to blend with my chosen degree, which a) i'm not 100% sure about and b) if it is psych then I'm scared i might find it boring and fail it. Then what?
I have no idea what exactly to extract from all the stuff I've done to make the unis believe that i am the one they want. I know i've learnt a lot from them but how do i write this down in so many words. They are also saying to talk about an experience that made me want to do this. i've wanted to do psychology since i was little because of my parents. they don't get on and play constant mind games with each other and my sister and i were caught in the middle of it. it made me wonder how human beings tick and how their minds work generally. all sort of bitchy stuff happened as i moved to secondary school and that just fuelled my interest further. but now i'm actually doing it for a levels, i'm not so sure. it's an ok subject but doesn't spark the same kinda passion as before. also there is a lot of emphasis on experimental side to psych n i don't think i could do that. or i'm not really interested in that. for me it appears to be more theoretical. but again im not sure.
if i use my parents as my experience, firstly, how do i write this because it isn't a couple of hours experience more like 17yrs but also, my mum would want to read it and she doesn't even know that that is the reason that I want to do psych.
when i do something i usually do with body and soul otherwise it wouldnt come out right. when i applied for latymer (which is like oxford uni but for secondary schools) part of me didn't really want to go, and it showed up as i didn't get it. (At least i hope that's the reason.)so if im not wholly interested in doing psych as a degree then how is it going to come across. because even if in 4/5yrs time it turns out it is the most perfect job in the world, but doubts are creeping in from now, how am i supposed to sell it when i have no idea of the outcome?
A gap year is out of the question for me for various reasons, none of which have to do with my parents.
Sorry if i've waffled.
Thank you
RE: HELP!!! - Guest - 10/08/2006
Hi, with the whether-or-not-to-do-psych thing, the university course could be very different from the A level course, so make sure you check what they do. Also different unis might have different courses, so if you prefer the theoretical side, you might be able to find a uni that does more of that.
If not though, it might be an idea to do something else...you don't want to end up bored for however many years you'll be at uni! Although if you did end up bored, you might be able to change courses anyway, so don't get too worked up. Obviously it's better to get it right first time, but it's not the end of the world if you don't!
It's probably harder to find a different course if you don't really have any idea what you want to do, but you could maybe try going through one of the books which has all the various courses in and find the ones that you could get into with your A levels and see if any of them look interesting.
As for what to put in with your jobs and things, try and think of what skills you learnt, like being organised, reliable, responsible, teamwork, communication with different people, gaining confidence and stuff like that. I don't know really, but I think that's the sort of thing to put! Get a wide range if you can.
Hope this helps a bit!
RE: HELP!!! - Guest - 10/08/2006
hi!
I had the same problem as you as I found it hard to choose between psychology and english literature. In the past week or two i have decided on eng lit because it is more of a passion for me whereas i was choosing psychology more with the idea of a good job at the end.
A further reason for me to reject psychology was that although i really enjoy finding out why we do the things we do; at the universities i'm interested in there is a huge scientific chunk to the subject. There are lots of experiments and you have to write up research papers etc. and i don't really want to be doing this! Also, a few psychology courses involve a whole module on statistics which i think would kill me.
So look at the other subjects you're doing and see if you have any real passion for them instead. Perhaps you could do a combined psychology degree with another subject to keep options open.
With your reason for wanting to study psychology and trying to appease your mum you could not refer to your parents but rather how you've seen these mind games in society as a whole .
Hope this helps.