Soldato
Subject sort of says it all - my son is applying for uni and I'd love to be able to throw his personal statement past someone for any comments!
Does anyone here work in Higher Education Admissions?
- Thread starter Hodders
- Start date
Soldato
My son is in the same boat....
Achieved A* A* A but Cambridge don't want him....
He's trying to reapply and is going through this process
Achieved A* A* A but Cambridge don't want him....
He's trying to reapply and is going through this process
Soldato
Dare I say it but yes I work for a top 3 UK uni. Have done for over 10 years and probably gone over 100s of statements in that time.
Soldato
How much do you charge ?
Dare I say we as a family have been going through turmoil over the past few weeks
I honestly don't get it, my son is brilliant at his PS and interviews so I was actually shocked that Cambridge didn't even give him a conditional offer last year.
I told him, you'll nail the interview and get an offer but you won't make the grades
As it happened the reverse of what I predicated happened
Soldato
- Joined
- 30 Nov 2011
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He probably needs to put his pronouns on the application to be reconsidered to fill their diversity quotas.
Soldato
LOL good shout, thanks mate but ...
I actually looked at it for the first time last night and wow my mind is blown.
Being a politics student this PS is very controversial ! Wow no wonder they rejected him
Will work on this first and wrap in anything ethical and diverse to meet guidelines
Soldato
I dont. Any scheme that charges you for a service linked to undergraduate admissions is a sham.How much do you charge ?
Dare I say we as a family have been going through turmoil over the past few weeks
I honestly don't get it, my son is brilliant at his PS and interviews so I was actually shocked that Cambridge didn't even give him a conditional offer last year.
I told him, you'll nail the interview and get an offer but you won't make the grades
As it happened the reverse of what I predicated happened
I am happy to take a look at it.
I would also advise that top Russell Group unis generally don't really hold much value in the personal statement, with some courses not even reading them at all. Application Tests (BMAT, HAT etc) and/or written work submissions hold a significant amount of weight though.
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I'm not an administrator or anything but AFAIK beyond showing some motivation for the course then exam grades (and interview, if applicable) are most important.
They know full well that some schools coach students in writing personal statements and various parents pay for tutors or other outside assistance etc. His school ought to at least provide some examples of good personal statements as a guide so he's not writing a bad one but they're not as important as they are in US colleges AFAIK.
If he had an interview then it's probably down to that rather than the personal statement (which is perhaps just a basis to ask some questions during the interview).
Maybe some interview prep could help.
They know full well that some schools coach students in writing personal statements and various parents pay for tutors or other outside assistance etc. His school ought to at least provide some examples of good personal statements as a guide so he's not writing a bad one but they're not as important as they are in US colleges AFAIK.
I told him, you'll nail the interview and get an offer but you won't make the grades
As it happened the reverse of what I predicated happened
If he had an interview then it's probably down to that rather than the personal statement (which is perhaps just a basis to ask some questions during the interview).
Maybe some interview prep could help.
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Soldato
Thank you Sir, much obliged for your kind offer, I may reach out after he's revised his PS
Beyond grades (and let's be honest, despite the hard work kids put in, there will always be a massive pool of top grade students to choose from)
Could this bit in bold be the reason (or another) why? This level of pressure can have weird effects on people when interrogated in an interview. Some pressure is good, but if it's a collective pressure, how does he escape and be 'normal'?
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Soldato
What is course/subject of interest?
He's aiming at Maths, he's predicted A*A*A*A* in Maths, further maths, physics and chemistry. He's booked in for the MAT and the TMUA Looks like his 5 UCAS choices are going to be:
1) Oxford - apparently don't care about the PS, just the MAT (maths entrance test) and the interview
2) Durham - have the option to submit a PS just for their records. Assuming this means the PS is valued along with the TMUA results
3) Warwick - also claim they do care about the PS as well as the TMUA
4) Bath - The open day admissions lecture said that they REALLY care about the PS. No entrance test is used from 2025+
5) Surrey - probably insurance choice depending on what happens with any other offers.
He is keen on choices that involve and entrance test as his GCSEs were not what he would have hoped. A really close family friend died just before his GCSE exams and my wife (his mum) had a cancer scare which meant lots of hospital visits and even a blood transfusion literally during his exams. His STEM results were good 9,9,8,8,7 but his non-stem were not what he hoped 7,7,6,5.
His hope is that he will do well in the entrance exam, which will be hard evidence to back up his predicted grades and allow admissions to look past his GCSEs.
@iamtheoneneo we've had mixed advice on including extenuating circumstances for his GCSEs in his PS. The school reference should mention it, but it might be good coming from him with a positive spin. If your Uni is one he's applying to and you would rather not comment in-case of a conflict of interests, please say so! Thoughts?
1) Oxford - apparently don't care about the PS, just the MAT (maths entrance test) and the interview
2) Durham - have the option to submit a PS just for their records. Assuming this means the PS is valued along with the TMUA results
3) Warwick - also claim they do care about the PS as well as the TMUA
4) Bath - The open day admissions lecture said that they REALLY care about the PS. No entrance test is used from 2025+
5) Surrey - probably insurance choice depending on what happens with any other offers.
He is keen on choices that involve and entrance test as his GCSEs were not what he would have hoped. A really close family friend died just before his GCSE exams and my wife (his mum) had a cancer scare which meant lots of hospital visits and even a blood transfusion literally during his exams. His STEM results were good 9,9,8,8,7 but his non-stem were not what he hoped 7,7,6,5.
His hope is that he will do well in the entrance exam, which will be hard evidence to back up his predicted grades and allow admissions to look past his GCSEs.
@iamtheoneneo we've had mixed advice on including extenuating circumstances for his GCSEs in his PS. The school reference should mention it, but it might be good coming from him with a positive spin. If your Uni is one he's applying to and you would rather not comment in-case of a conflict of interests, please say so! Thoughts?
would have thought including in PS interests/activities related to non-stem can offset non-stem concerns and present multi-faceted personality (although didn't get into cambridge as I had failed O French)
For PS, any use of chatgpt has to be controversial, and making sure PS remains authentic; bbc podcast i listened to yesterday about its use in cv's / interviews.
Make sure university locations and their facilities match his interests (now living near cambridge, and knowing what city is like, kinda glad I went to Bath)
For PS, any use of chatgpt has to be controversial, and making sure PS remains authentic; bbc podcast i listened to yesterday about its use in cv's / interviews.
Make sure university locations and their facilities match his interests (now living near cambridge, and knowing what city is like, kinda glad I went to Bath)
Soldato
Its mixed as you can include that in your personal statement and/or teacher reference. Generally I would prefer it to be in the teacher reference, but if its in the statement then it should only be nothing more than a footnote.
Oxford would be tough to crack with those GCSE's even with special circumstances. Though its important to remember that grades are judged not in isolation but comparative to a students measure of disadvantage which is determined by your postcode data (Polar and Acorn) and GCSE/current school stats.
In terms of MAT score its generally considered that shortlisting starts around 68, but the average of successful applicants is 75. Mock exam papers are readily available on the internet for free, so hopefully he has/will start to go through these?
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He started doing some MAT papers about 3 months ago. I've done a few as well, they are really good fun! I do a bit of maths a-level tutoring and really enjoy the lateral thinking element.
His MAT marks have been getting better as there are definitely "question types" that you get better at. His last few papers have been in high 70's low 80's. All we can do is hope and cross fingers!
Soldato
Evidently true based on @Hodders predicted grades but I know my son, he aces interviews has even managed to get a job working for our local MP and frequents Parliament
Anyway I'll leave it be, if this is in his fate or not so be it
Sorry, but he likely didn't ace the interview in this case else he'd have had an offer (assuming A*, A*, A was sufficient for the course), the fact they invited him for an interview meant he was in the running and they're all A* candidates so it's really the interview that's going to separate them (absence things like a STEP paper where applicable etc.)
Caporegime
Nepotism in 2024.
I benefited from it when I went to uni.
My personal tutor taught my A-level lecturer and helped him with his PhD so they were close friends.
I had an interview and combined with showing a bit of extra knowledge and logical thinking got an unconditional offer.
Maybe offer to donate 500k to the Alumni?
I benefited from it when I went to uni.
My personal tutor taught my A-level lecturer and helped him with his PhD so they were close friends.
I had an interview and combined with showing a bit of extra knowledge and logical thinking got an unconditional offer.
Maybe offer to donate 500k to the Alumni?