KEY UCAS PERSONAL STATEMENT TIPS đ
Find your voice! đ
It is really important that your personal statement is YOUR voice. One of the key tasks of a good UCAS tutor is to release this voice and open up experiences and interests that a student may have dismissed as irrelevant. The secret is to link this effectively to the subject you are applying to.
Fashion: PS STORY.
One student has a personal statement professing interest in the fashion industry, but it was only after a bit of probing, it turned out she had organised a fashion show. Then we talked through what she had learnt about the fashion industry etc from this and her statement then seemed more alive and less full of gush. EVIDENCE!
Business PS STORY.
It is important to USE work experience and analyse what you observed, linking it to perhaps first year options at the course you are hoping to study. One student had been involved in her family setting up social enterprises in India. It hasnât been mentioned in her PS, but there were various aspects that could be drawn out, linking to 1st Year courses at LSE. Mentioning something is good, but it needs to be intellectually applied to academic study.
History PS STORY.
A student had read an interesting article by a journalist comparing ISIL & âThe war on terrorâ with the Crusades. Good starting point. What was needed was guidance on how to capitalise on this. What further reading was needed to demonstrate a scholarly mindset. The tutor suggested reading Riley-Smithâs book on The Crusades, and then drawing out some conclusions and comparisons. This came up at the Oxford interview and the student was ready!
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