Last updated:
09 December 2011
Look beyond your horizons
Applying to University
There is now only one route for university applications: UCAS. All applications are made on-line through the UCAS web site. Your school will provide lots of help, and lots of help is needed! Competition for good courses is extremely high, and much rests on the Personal Statement. You have 4000 character and 47 lines in which to attract the attention of the jaded Admissions Tutor and then to sell yourself. Deadlines are firm: Oxbridge, medicine, veterinary etc are mid-October; all others are mid-January. Some advisors recommend getting applications in very early, around mid-November for non-Oxbridge, although entries can be put in from September each year.
Our advice is to start putting the Personal Statement together as early as possible; Year 10 is not too early to start collecting information! Make sure all the information is to hand when the time comes for the real thing, about June of Year 12 (Lower Sixth) for many schools. As many people as possible should read through each draft of the Personal Statement, including but not limited to: the applicant, their parents, grandparents, teachers, friends, sisters cousins and Aunts whom they reckon up by dozens (and, if possible, the chorus of the local Gilbert and Sullivan Society). Plagiarism (copying from elsewhere) is not just frowned upon but positively searched for, so don’t even think of it.
For most students, writing the Personal Statement will take far longer than you imagine. The opening paragraph needs to grab the attention of the Admissions Tutors. The final paragraph needs to leave a strong impression.
If you can, it is better to write too much and then cut it down - trying at the last minute to find more things to add is painful. It is though, possible to get too enthusiastic. Student Amber, having written over 7000 characters, struggled to cut hers down to the required 4000 limit. And so difficult is it to write the all-important final paragraph, she took four days to find the right words. You have been warned.
Although not part of the Personal Statement, you will need all of your GCSE and A level results (and music grades if you have them), including resits. Do not throw any of these away.
However. Much better advice is available from all of the published guides to choosing a university course as well as:
UCASpersonalstatement - not a UCAS site, but helpful
GetIntoUni - a site of general help, but this link takes you straight to their guide on writing the Personal Statement. They also sell an editing service, but we have no experience of this.
The Owl at Purdue - our only American link. General advice on writing the Personal Statement.
Printed guides include:
Insider’s Guide to Applying to University (9781844551811) - lots of check points.
How to Complete Your UCAS Application (9781844551606) - an instruction manual plus good advice.
Getting Into the UK’s Best Universities (9781844553969) - or, rather, getting into the most popular ones. But helpful.
The ISBNs may change from year-to-year.
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