Personal Statement Advise

[Sazle]

Hey everyone stressing about writing their personal statements. Has anybody actually applied yet? I know it's early but some of us are too keen.

I've recently been given some pretty good advise about writing a personal statement from someone who has already been there. He graduated with a 2:1 this year as well.

The advise is to start off knowing which degree you want to do. I've found what I want to do and now I can't stop going on. I've wriitten pages and it's hard shortening it.

I had a format suggested for me:

INTRO - development of subject interest (why you want to study chosen subject, what inspired your choice etc)

PAST - development of skills (if you're like me, a mature student, include working history)

CURRENT - what you're doing now (A-Levels, Access, working, predicted grades maybe)

FUTURE - your reason for studying your chosen subject, career choices etc

CONCLUSION - wrap it all up. I'm going to include my other interests and hobbies here and probably mention my son. I was also advised not to talk about my son and being a mother as I would be instantly stereotyped. What do you think? I'm 23 and unmarried but still with his dad.

Well, good luck everyone. I hope what I've written helps. It's a competetive business this uni stuff but we're all in the same boat.

[ijakings]

Hey, that all seems like good advice - especially for mature students who often need a slightly different format as they've done different (usually more ) things than most applicants.

Rather than writing my statement chronlogically chronologically, I divided mine into section based on what I'd done starting with an education section, then a work experiance section then an extra-curricular section - mainly because I hasn't done much in the past and had no clue what I wanted to do in the future :p

As for stuff about your son, I'm not sure it would lead to you being sterotyped and it shows commitment and management skills, but not being an admissions tutor I don't know exactly how I would react. You mentioned needing yo shorten your statment though, so I would probably leave it out unless you can link it in with your subject or experiance.

Good luck with your statment - what course and universities are you applying for by the way?

[Sazle]

Hey, I've just finished my first draft of my personal statement. It has taken me forever and a day! Just emailed it to the person who gave me the advise to see what he thinks. I personally think it's ok, not brilliant, but it sums me up pretty well.

I'm applying for Heritage Managemant at Northampton, Gloucestershire and Winchester and maybe Heritage Studies at Manchester. I know you get 6 choices but not many unis do the course I'm looking for : (
Tis a shame but never mind.

As I'm a mature student (at 23!!!, can't be right) without A Levels but on an Access course I tried to concentrate on how enthusiastic I am about the course and my motivation for my choice. I have mentioned my son, I felt I should as I'm not ashamed of him and he is the most important thing in my life (as well as getting into uni). I've included him in relation to incoroprating Heritage Management with education so it's not just as an afterthought.

What did you study and where? Is that being nosey? What the heck, I am nosey, so what and where did you study?