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[theberthaintheattic]

[theberthaintheattic]

Results day is going to be like

[theberthaintheattic]

TOP TIPS FOR YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT

Hello! I’m about to start uni in a few weeks so I thought now would be a good time to share my top tips for writing a good personal statement. There is no ‘special formula’ for writing a good one but these are some tips I picked up from family, friends, online articles, teachers and universities themselves:

WHAT SHOULD I WRITE ABOUT?

you need to say why you want to study that course - how your interest developed, how you’ve pursued it (e.g. extracurricular activities), how you’ve drawn inspiration - basically demonstrate a lot of enthusiasm but be specific

give evidence that you’re right for the course - demonstrate with examples that you have researched it, understand what it entails and have the correct skills

say what you’ve done outside of the classroom - further reading and opinions (but try to be original - don’t talk about books that are really well-known in your subject)

explain why your experiences are relevant to the course and to a future career - reflect on experiences, don’t describe them!

give examples of transferable skills - teamwork, time management, problem solving, etc. and then expand on the most relevant skills - success in projects, how you grew from particular experiences, biggest challenges you’ve faced, etc.

also show you’re a critical thinker and mention long term plans

AN EXAMPLE:

as an example, here’s what I wrote about in my personal statement:

a public lecture I’d been to at a local university and how this inspired me (you could watch a TED talk online and discuss it)

how I was interested by the lab equipment and research I’d seen at a university when I went on a taster day

hobbies I have and how I was interested in my subject outside of school (books, magazines, podcasts I like and why)

a line about my EPQ and how this follows on from a podcast I listened to

how I’m finding my A level subjects (e.g. I enjoy science practicals)

how my AS levels helped me (e.g. AS history really helped me with essay writing)

what I learned from tutoring some GCSE students and volunteering at a charity shop

how I found shadowing a PhD student at a local university - how this inspired me and motivated me in my chosen subject

TRY TO INCLUDE:

paragraphs and GOOD GRAMMAR!!!!!

balance of academic and extra-curricular 

evidence you’ve done research

show genuine engagement 

lateral thinking - link to a more obscure theme that you find interesting 

honesty and a desire to study 

what you want from course 

positivity

CURIOSITY! 

make it interesting, thoughtful and personal - say what inspires you

DON’T INCLUDE:

academic achievements - unis know what qualifications you have and which grades you’re predicted so don’t waste your characters! 

quotes - this is YOUR personal statement, not Winston Churchill’s!! 

lists - you need detail and explanations 

clichés - you have not wanted to be a doctor for as long as you can remember! 

sweeping statements 

‘passion’ and other commonly-used words 

stilted vocabulary - use language that you actually use (but not slang)

exaggeration 

humour - it’s a dangerous move to use humour 

negativity 

irrelevant facts - it’s not a school essay!

OVERALL:

show not tell - “I’ve been able to develop my communication skills by tutoring three GCSE science students” is better than saying “I’m a good communicator” 

DRAFT!!!! you will not be able to write a good personal statement in one go - it took me months of regular drafting and re-writing to get mine even close to being finished! 

get help! ask friends, family, teachers, etc. to read it and give feedback

don’t be too precious about it - you will have to cut bits out, shorten sentences, lengthen sentences, delete words, re-arrange the structure, etc. so try to stay open minded!

one uni I visited on an open day suggested using the ABC formula: A is for Activity (say what you did), B is for Benefit (say the skills you gained from the activity) and then C is for Course (relate it to the course and say how it prepares you) - I didn’t use this myself but I have friends who found it useful!

be specific! don’t say “I love French” - say “I love how learning new languages helps me to understand the world around me….”

I hope this is helpful and good luck! Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have! :)

[theberthaintheattic]

HOW TO MAKE YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT SUCK LESS

AKA: Tips for writing an amazing UCAS personal statement to ensure receiving all 5 university offers.

I’ve had loads of questions about what to include in your UCAS personal statement and how to write a really good one, so I decided to put this together to help you guys write an awesome personal statement! I also thought now would be a perfect time to upload it, because I just hit 11k followers (#crazy), so as a thank you, hopefully this will help some of you.

Just ask me if you’ve got any more questions about personal statements or the whole UCAS-applying-to-university processes! You can also download this here on google drive.

[theberthaintheattic]

How to write a bomb ass personal statement

I’ve had a few asks about how to write - as one of you put it - a bomb ass personal statement. I’m a bit reluctant to write this, seeing as I haven’t actually got an interview/offer yet! But I guess it might be helpful to those of you applying around now :)

HOW TO START

Bullet point what you want to include - I suggest listing out what you want to include. It’s a good idea to do this at the beginning, to make sure you don’t leave anything out; and it can help form the basic structure of your statement.

Do not start at the start - this is one of the most important things I learnt when writing mine. It is so hard to write that first sentence - so just leave it until the end, and begin writing with the actual content, something you’re more comfortable writing about.

When you do get down to writing that first sentence - do not start with a cheesy quote or the typical “I have always bee passionate about…” as these are things that can immediately put off an admissions tutor. Try and be original, or just simple: “I want to study X because…”

THE CONTENT

Just keep writing - don’t worry about the 4,000 character and 47 line limits. Literally just write, and keep going, even if you think what you’re writing is bad - just get all your ideas out there, and put down everything you would want to include. It’s so much easier to take things out rather than adding things in. My personal statement was around 8,000 characters at one point!`

Get the balance right - different unis want different things from personal statements, so check their websites to make sure you’re getting in what they want. You need to get the balance of intellectual curiosity/passion for the subject with your personal qualities and extra-curriculars. 

Back up everything with evidence - don’t just say you are great at working in a team, give examples that demonstrate that you have worked well in successful teams in the past.What to include?

WHAT TO INCLUDE

Why you want to study that particular course

Why you are the right person to study the course

Extra things you have done to show commitment or interest about the course - volunteering, subscriptions to journals, further reading etc.

Any relevant work experience

Any relevant awards you’ve won (e.g. maths challenge or physics olympiad) or responsibilities within the school (e.g. prefect or house captain)

Demonstrate desirable skills for your course - problem solving, teamwork, leadership etc.

WHAT NOT TO INCLUDE

Cliches - like “Ever since I was born I have wanted to study…”

Quotes - this is a personal statement, so don’t start quoting other people! Plus way too many people do this to make it original.

Jokes - it may be that the person reading your statement has a very different sense of humour than you do.

Really long sentences - you want your personal statement to be as easy as possible to read, and long confusing sentences won’t help that.

Repetition - it’s such a short document, you don’t have space for this. Plus it gets boring!

Names of unis - the unis you apply to have no idea where else you have applied, so don’t name any of them in your statement.

THE ENDING

Do not end on a cheesy quote or joke. Just sum up why you’d be a great candidate and reinforce what you have told them throughout the main body of the statement - that you’re fabulous!

Once you have finished a draft you can start trying to cut down on the word count. Maybe ask a teacher to look at your spelling/grammar, and you can always get your friends’ opinions too, on what should come out, and what should be kept in. Make sure you don’t let other people have too much influence - it has to be a personal statement!

[theberthaintheattic]

08-01-2017;

for anyone writing a personal statement here’s some advice I collated from countless sheets I have been given over the last three years. This is all sound advice, as I have written three personal statements and all of which have gotten me unconditional’s :) Good luck guys! 

[theberthaintheattic]

You know you’re ready for Halloween when you have a great urge to watch Over the Garden Wall in August.

[theberthaintheattic]

I need this movie in my life now.

[theberthaintheattic]

Americans: Ah don’t have no accent y’all, y’all’re jus’ talkin’ funny

[theberthaintheattic]

god i want the problems of a jane austen heroine so badly specifically sense and sensibility like oh no my dad died and my horrible brother left us destitute and by destitute i mean we only get to retain two of our Servants when we go live in a beautiful two story, stone house with a garden and farmland and caring if overbearing neighbors and it’s so sad bc despite attending balls I know I have no dowry so I’ll probably just have to marry for love ONLY instead of for love AND wealth as originally planned but little do I know in one month I’m going to marry rich anyway thank GOD life was getting hard having only two (2) servants : (

[theberthaintheattic]

[theberthaintheattic]

I know a lot of you guys don’t want to reblog those posts about the wildfires in Greece because they’re too long, so I figured I would make a shorter post for y’all. 

Here is a link on how to help and what the current situations are, and here is a direct link to the fundraiser.

As someone who has personally been affected by fire, I would really appreciate if y’all could sb this??

[theberthaintheattic]

Why did (most) modern phones get rid of those little holes you can loop charms through? That was brilliant.

[theberthaintheattic]

This fucking site: hey net neutrality is about to die :((( please help us :(((( boost and rb everything you see even if you’re not American :((((((((( we’ll have no wifi :(((((( we need you!!!! :((((

Non-Americans: okay

Non-Americans: hey greece is basically on fire, 150 people are wounded, 53 are killed and our nature is being destroyed. we’re suspecting arson. can you please reblog some posts and help spread awareness?

This fucking site:

[theberthaintheattic]

Please pray for us here in Greece.

Three different places near Athens were destroyed by massive forest fires.

• 180+ people are severely injured and burnt.

• 50 people and counting were found dead on the streets, in their cars or houses, including families that were found hugging each other.

• 100+ are missing.

This is a national tragedy. So many were lost because of ARROGANT PEOPLE.

Spreading awareness. There’s no need for such things to happen, so many lives were destroyed for no reason.

[theberthaintheattic]

Friendly reminder… Your hair looks great, I believe in you, go buy more books.

[theberthaintheattic]

That’s at least three times we’ve seen a character with only one eye in SU... I hope nothing bad happens to Steven