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
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?
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!