By this stage you’ll probably have realised that you’re unlikely to make it far in the university/working world without an application form, personal statement, CV or something along those lines. Personally, I find CVs and personal statements really frustrating to write. Trying to sell yourself in such a short space as well as trying to fit in your grades, work experience and all the rest is a real struggle!
As far as personal statements for university are concerned the length is usually 500 words and the whole purpose of it is for you to tell the university what makes you great. One of the hardest parts about writing a university personal statement for me was the beginning. Finding that perfect opening line or two can be a real challenge. You’ll want to aim for something more inventive than “I like Maths because…” but equally don’t try to start with “When I was young, I saw the number 7 and pondered where numbers truly began….” as that says to the person reading it, I’ve googled “Good opening lines to Maths personal statements”. Something simple that shows enthusiasm is best but finding that right balance will probably take a few attempts (I know it did for me). With your personal statement you want to show the reader that you do actually enjoy this subject and want to learn more about it. At the end of the day you’re about to spend the next three or more years studying this so you’ve got to show the applications co-ordinator you’re actually serious about it.
Something else a Personal Statement can be used for is to show off your extra reading (if you’ve done any). Say you have a particular interest in Materials Science; you might talk about reading “Stuff Matters” by Mark Miodownik, maybe quote a small passage and talk about it. But, tread carefully. If you quote a book you’ve read, you’re opening yourself up for specific questions so make sure you’ve actually read it and understood it. I don’t imagine in an interview that someone would ask you “On page 349 what is the 7th word of the 12th line?” but they could ask you more general questions such as “In Stuff Matters Miodownik talks about many different materials, which was your favourite and can you explain some of its properties?” Whilst this may make talking about a book look like a huge risk, if you can talk about a book you’ve read it’ll reflect really well on you, especially if you’re applying for a subject like Law or Materials Science that you may not have studied in huge detail at school.
With your personal statement crafted that’s pretty much all there is to it! Now you’ve just got to upload it into UCAS, hit the send button and wait. Some universities may invite you to an interview but this really depends on department policy so just because your friend has an interview at a particular university, it doesn’t mean that you won’t be accepted there without one. Some universities, like the University of Birmingham, hold “Applicant Visit Days” (or AVDs), this gives you, as a prospective student, the opportunity to come up to the university and meet some of the lecturers and ask any questions you may have for them. In a lot of cases these AVDs are only offered to students who the university have already considered for acceptance so if you attend one of these you may already be one step closer to an offer.
That’s just about covered Personal Statements. Next time I’ll focus more on CVs and job applications.