h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The only advice I can offer with these is to start filling it in as soon as you hav got it, and decided which universities/courses you want to apply for.

All your personal details are pretty standard. The universities/courses bit looks quite scary. It might help if you make a rough draft of it all first, before filling in the proper form. Hopefully you'll avoid messing it up!

The personal statement is probably the hardest bit to fill in. Did you do one for your personal record of achievement? If you did, take a look at that for some inspiration. Above all, sell yourself - but try not to repeat things that you have written elsewhere. For instance, there's not much point writing a lot about your academic ahievements. What do you do outside of school/college? Why should the university accept you instead of someone else?

Oh, and make sure you tick the right box for the 'do you have any criminal convictions' question! I know one person who didn't, and had to spend a very long time on the telephone to various people trying to sort it out!

J

As mentioned above, the personal statement is the trickiest part of filling in the UCAS form. This researcher is currently in the middle of that process.

From looking at other peoples' drafts of their personal statement I can offer the following tips:

Tailer the personal statement around the course that you are applying for. Mention things that show why you are keen on your chosen course and why you would be good for it. Don't mention things that aren't at all linked with the course unless they are really important.

Try to avoid sounding just listing the things you have done. There's no point in saying what you have done unless you say why it is important. Try to avoid multiple sentances starting "I have done..."

Keep the language simple. Don't be academic language. Effective language is simple language that doesn't draw attention to itself. If you try to use words like 'hence' and 'therefore' it will sound fake. Stick to the language you know or else they will think you are trying too hard.

Work out a structure. You haven't got much room but you still need to structure the statement so it has coherence and consistancy.

Try to be original. If yours stands out from the others you stand a better chance at getting in. Make sure it wont stand out in a bad way though.

Get other people to read it, and not people who know you well like your family or close friends, find someone who can be critical, your mum will just say it's fantastic!

Don't sell yourself short, be proud of what you have done and mention your strengths even if it seems like boasting to you. Modesty has no place on the UCAS form!

Don't lie. Admissions tutors will take pleasure in catching you out and the consequences could be dire.

Get it in as soon as possible, preferably before the university semister begins so that the professors have more time to spend reading the forms.

Something I almost forgot - if you can, word process your personal statement. Unless you have super-neat handwriting, it'll make it much easier to read. And that's just at the size you wrote it - the copies that get sent to the universities are reduced in size by 50%, so neatness is an absolute must!!!

You should also be able to use the new EAS - Electronic Application System now if your school have installed the software. This makes the process faster and generally easier...

That's the theory, anyway...

Yep. I haven't had experience of using it yet...

Does anyone know how original I should try to be in my personal statement. I am trying to avoid the start "I have chose this course because...". But I don't want to be all fancy and then not get the info on. Any suggestions?

Originality is probably a godo thing - it'll make your application stand out a little. But don't go over the top - you don't want to stand out for the wrong reasons!

Do a rough draft first. Then get other people to read it and comment on it. Keep going until you're happy with it...

J

Um... You said to try and sound like you would normally, but I always use words like 'hence' and 'therefore' anyway. Is that going to sound fake even if it's genuine?

It depends how you use them. If you can use them in a way that is fluid and doesn't stand out then it would be okay, but it's usually better (and is more skilled) to use simple, coherant language. Those words often sound pretentious and aren't usually neccessary. Most people are taught to use them in essay writing but it's bad practice really. There are not hard and fast rules but my recommendation would be to keep the language as simple as possible. It's content that counts, not pretentious language.

*Sighs when she looks ahead to the next week or so and UCAS-filling-in.*

I have no idea what to write in my personal statement!
"Hello, I am interested in Archaeology because... well, I just am... I've read a lot about it... I've never done any archaeology, I just, well, um, like it. Please accept me!"

Think they will? Hmmm, me neither...

>

It looks a bit silly now that I look back on it (ohhh, I'm getting old ) but all those years ago everyone at my school reckoned my personal statement was pretty good. So here it is, an example of a personal statement that worked pretty well for me, hope it helps and good luck with yours:

My interest in mathematics started at the age of about thirteen or fourteen and it rapidly developed as I began to study the more interesting and abstract mathematics at A-level. In my first year I was unable to study double mathematics at school as well as art and physics because of timetable problems, but I still wanted to take double maths, so I did single mathematics at school and (with the assistance of my teachers) studied the extra double maths in my own time. Fortunately in my second year it was possible to timetable all four subjects and so I changed to double maths.

In addition to the material taught I have developed a number of other mathematical interests, including the history and foundations of mathematics (for instance Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem, Cantor's different infinities Aleph_0 and c, Turing Machines and the Halting Problem). I became interested in the theoretical side of ray tracing (using vector algebra and projective geometry to convert three dimensional structural information into a two dimensional image using a computer) after having used three dimensional computer graphics software for my art. Ray tracing is an extension of the Renaissance tradition of seeking verisimilitude in paintings, but I am also interested in other ways that painters have sought to represent three dimensional space, time and motion, especially Cubism. I learnt to program in BASIC at about the age of fourteen, and more recently I have learnt the C++ language and have used it for many things, including writing computer games, ray tracing and problem solving.

During the last year I have become interested in artificial intelligence, the philosophy of mind and the recent debates about consciousness by authors such as Searle, Dennett and Chalmers. I have recently read Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter which weaves together ideas from mathematics and artificial intelligence.
Although it has whetted my appetite for further knowledge, the popular literature on mathematics leaves me unsatisfied and eager to study twentieth century mathematics in a detailed and rigorous manner.

In addition to my academic interests, I enjoy good novels, good films, good jazz and good food. Among my favourites are Sartre (Nausea and the Roads to Freedom series), David Lynch (Eraserhead, Blue Velvet and The Lost Highway), Thelonius Monk and the Wagamama Japanese Noodle Bar round the corner from the British Museum.

Gosh - the personal statement; I remember how I, with shaking hands, pushed the form into the printer, hoping that it wouldn't chew it up... and it didn't; it printed it beautifully

Electronic UCAS forms - they were just beta testing those when I was (well, that makes me sound old - ahhhhhhhhhghhggggh!) applying; are they any good?

Oh - if you are manually writing it; some admission tutors like that. It gives it a personal touch. On the other hand, printing it is clearer, and makes it look more professional...

Use black biro too. The interview staff/admission staff photocopy it, and black biro makes it clearer to see on the copy.

Dogster - Amazing personal statement! Did you get accepted everywhere after that? No, but seriously, is it better to stress your supporting interests or to get a range of subjects covered?

My guess, it's only a guess though, is that you want to demonstrate that you're interested in the subject you're applying for. So I'd probably go with stressing your supporting interests. Also, if you mention things you know a reasonable amount about it gives you something which you can talk confidently and knowledgeably about in the interview. It's very important that you don't lie about what you've read about though. At one of my interviews they systematically tested me out on everything I said I'd read or was interested in (that related to my subject, maths, not the other stuff). When it comes near to interview time having a quick look over the books and subjects you mentioned in your personal statement would probably be a good idea.

The best strategy might be different for other subjects though.

I was told by one source that it is a good idea to use at least half of the space to write about your subject and how you are terribly knowledgable about it, and the rest about why you are generally wonderful (if you can link the two, so much the better).

A word of advice - do fill in your form IN PENCIL first. That way, if you screw up a course code or something you don't half to worry about whether or not using tippex will give a bad impression.

Sounds like good advice to me. Heard any rumours about things they really like to hear about? Not to make up, just what's relevant to ensure an interview.

arg! UCAS! oxbridge entrance! arg! havent looked at any other univercities! arg! going to fail to get in! arg! my UCAS form = bunch of *rse! arg!

sympathy?

Aren't you cutting it a bit fine, Uncle?

d'ya think? yes. i got the statment written. i got most stuff done. but its a mixture of apprehension and apathy. i expect ill put down for bristol and UCL and nottingham and warwick and so on