UCAS Personnal Statement

PERSONAL STATEMENT

It must be PERSONAL and it must be 4000 spaces long or 47 lines. (Police=12pt)

I suggest that you write 3 paragraphs (and only 3) and that you separate the middle one with 2 lines of spaces – above and below - (you lose some character spaces, but you gain in clarity. The "mise en page" in the box for the online form does not accept "retraits" and so your paragraphs lose definition.)

PARA 1 – Everything about your love for the subject that you have chosen to study. Why? What caused your interest? What have you read in English or in French that feeds into this interest. What lessons have you most enjoyed? What teacher has inspired you? Or member of family? What work experience connected with the subject? What ambitions?

Anecdotes, books, articles read, visits made – EVERYTHING could be useful

PARA 2 – Your academic profile. What sort of student are you. What subjects are you good at? Can you work well in a group? (eg your TPE? Describe it…?) Are you curious? Do you read around any of your other subjects? What have you read??? What do you think about what you have read? Can you manage your time well? What are your strengths? How can you improve on your weaker areas? Have you made progress, if you do have some difficulties?

PARA 3 – Other areas. What activities do you have outside school? Give details of sport, music, cinema, whatever. Why would a university be interested in having you? Are you good at organising? Do you like politics, drama? Making friends? Helping others?

• These paragraphs will give a university plenty of scope to build up a picture of you and your potential. Make them your own – tell us how YOU see your future, bearing in mind that universities are places TO WHICH YOU BRING THINGS. They are never just places where you TAKE JUST FOR YOURSELF!

• Try to keep it simple. Don't use long flashy words if short one will do as well, if not better!

• Check out what British students have to do in Maths or Physics or Economics etc at A Level. It looks very good if you can compare your syllabus (programme) with A Level syllabuses!

• Don't boast too much (se vanter) ! You can be modest and yet we will still understand your achievements and successes if you write clearly and carefully.

• Don't forget, it's a personal statement, so keep it personal.

• Don't write anything that somebody else could have written (for example: "I am concerned about the problems of the globalised world and believe that young people have a role to play in helping to solve them. I believe that studying science helps people to make the world a better place and hope that I will be able to play a part in furthering human knowledge… etc etc" YAWN…zzzzzz….!!!)

The next page offers you an example (not as a model - just that, an example).

Here is an example of a (7th attempt) real Personal Statement…… not perfect, but getting there… – from one of my previous students.:

I want to study economics because, for the last four years, I have been aware that the economies of France, in particular, and the World, in general, have become increasingly volatile and dysfunctional. I find the study of this both interesting and stimulating. The economic syllabus that we are taught in school is, in general, limited to theory and does not

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