Writing an Effective UCAS Personal Statement

Many of you prospective students may be stuck on how to go about writing your personal statement that will be very much reflective of who you are as a student and what types of academic achievements you want to be able to reach at each respective institution. While it may have been a few years since I underwent the UCAS application process, I do recall how I went about constructing my statement and the guidance that I received from external sources. To make this more convenient and accessible, for all of you who are interested in applying to Warwick here are some my tips that worked for me and helped me overcome moments of writers block.

First things first, collect all your thoughts and list down all the achievements, extracurriculars, awards and activities you were involved in during your time at school. Whether that be volunteering, sports, clubs everything counts and it shows not only your interests, but your engagements and willingness to be active in other things alongside your academics. The world is constantly evolving and rapidly developing so making sure you really frame yourself as a multi faceted individual will work in your favour in the long run. In other words- don’t sell yourself short and really flaunt your achievements because you’ve worked hard.

Be honest and relevant. Of course it is not the easiest feat to write sentences upon sentences bragging about yourself and why you deserve the spot in your dream uni, but this exactly what you need to do to show why you would be such a valuable addition to the alumni list of whichever university you are setting your sights on. Make sure that you highlight your interests in the course and avoid saying very dull and cliche things which many of the recruitment officers may have read in the future. A big mistake i noticed that many students tend to make and especially coming from an international students background and experiences, NEVER follow a pre-formatted template. Yes using a guidance template for inspiration and to gain an idea on what to include and how to start the initial writing, as silly as it may sound I have know students who went to professional application writers or certain institutes that provide tutorial sessions for application writing where many of these students ended up having the same dull sounding application and statement. When things are too stiff and written in a very robotic manner, the department heads or whoever is reading your application, they are able to spot an ingenuine application very easily. You want to be able to draw the reader in and keep them hooked so they to continue scrolling down with the drive to learn more about you and your character.

While application season tends to get very competitive and tension definitely runs high, just keep persevering and maintain a positive outlook. Many of us have undergone the same things, and even now I am finding myself in an almost nostalgic position, as I send out job application upon application with many dissapointing results. Always try to remember that things will fall into place and what is meant to come will come in all due time.