Contents:
1. General advice
2. What should the student get out of the session?
3. The session itself:
- Getting to know the student
- If they don’t have a first draft yet…
- If they book another session/ or you have seen a first draft…
4. At the end of the session
1. General tips:
- Be positive and enthusiastic throughout the session. Make it clear that you are keen to help the student get those coveted university places.
- Remember, the student is doing the session to ask for your help and advice as you are the one with the experience, so give it! Feel free to give examples from writing your own personal statement.
- However, you will be working on the students personal statement, not your own. Suggest changes if you think something is inappropriate or doesn’t quite fit, but if the student doesn’t want to accept these, don’t force them to. Also, make sure you don’t end up writing the personal statement for them; you should be building and reviewing the student’s ideas, not your own.
- Don’t be critical! The student may have spent a long time over their personal statement and be very worried about it already. Use phrases like “this could be better expressed as…” rather than “you shouldn’t write it like that”.
2. What should the student get out of the session?
The overall point of a personal statement is to link the university course to the student; it should cover four key points:
- Why they want to study that course in particular.
- How their academics will equip them to do well in the course.
- What hobbies and interests they have and how these show an interest in their course outside of their academic career.
- What positions of responsibility they’ve held and how they have developed themselves through these.
You are here to make sure that all of these points are covered in the student’s personal statement and that all of their ideas are conveyed clearly and, if possible, an interesting and memorable way. These four points should be presented in the personal statement in the above order; however to an extent this is discretionary.
3. The Session Itself
Getting to know the student:
Before you start, greet the student and get to know them on a personal level.
- Ask what they are studying now, how they enjoy school, what their hobbies are etc. Try to build a rapport.
- Ask them why they’re applying to university and why they want to study their chosen subject.
- Are they interested in the subject? Is it the first step to a job they would like to do after graduating?
- Be aware that they may not know why exactly. This is fine but don’t let it come across in the personal statement!
Ask them which universities they’re applying to (and why).
- This will help you gauge whether their personal statement should be a bit of an ‘off-the-wall’ Oxbridge type of whether a more standard layout is appropriate. If they’re just applying to one university, then their personal statement can be tailored for this course.
Before you get started on the consultation, make sure they’re taking notes throughout. Make notes yourself too! They might want to come back for a second consultation and it will help you to have any relevant information to hand if they do.
If they don’t have a first draft yet, discuss with them:
Why they want to study this course?
- Do they find it interesting? Does it form part of a qualification for a future career?
- If they are only applying to one university, you can help them pick out aspects of the course that are unique.
What subjects are they studying now and how do these link to the course?
- Have they studied physics which will give them a good foundation for engineering? Are they studying arts subjects which demonstrate that they could bring creativity to a graphic design course?
- Some subjects and courses may not link obviously. Work with the student to draw out any soft skills from their current subjects that they could transfer to a degree course. For example, Maths A Level and a Philosophy degree both require logical and lateral thinking.
What are their hobbies and interests, and how do these demonstrate an interest in their chosen subject?
- Have they spent time volunteering in a hospital? This is a good foundation for medicine. Do they write plays or read scientific journals in their spare time?
- Make sure that these are genuine hobbies and interests! If the student receives an interview, they may need to be able to further elaborate on these.
What positions of responsibility have they held and what skills have they gained from these?
- Have they had a part time job? This demonstrates organisation skills and team work. Even positions of responsibility within their college or sixth form, for example helping out with a RAG week, demonstrate initiative.
- Make sure you use examples that are either current or have happened within the last two years.
Help the student to decide which aspects of their answers to the above questions they, and you, think would be best to include in their personal statement. The last two points are their chance to stand out; help the student think of as many points unique to them as possible.
After you have gone through these key points, and if the student would like to do so, help them to come up with an interesting opening paragraph that will catch the admissions tutor’s attention.
- This could be something unique about the student that links to their course, an experience that made them realise they wanted to go to university or an interesting quote.
- However, beware that often similar quotes are used in many students’ personal statements and these can be easily forgotten.
After this, it is best that the student go away and write their personal statement using the notes they have made during the consultation. Let them know that they can book another session after writing this draft, to refine their personal statement before they send it off.
If they book another session (Or if the student has already sent you a draft):
· Read it before the session and make notes on a hard copy of the personal statement.
- Make sure they’ve included the four key points outlined above.
- Make sure these points are clearly and appropriately conveyed.
- If not, discuss these points first thing in the session, as outlined above.
Next, ask them which parts of the personal statement they have sent you they are least confident about. Are they not sure about including certain things? Do they think they’ve adopted the wrong approach?
- Discuss these concerns with them and give your opinion on whether the student should make any changes.
If the student has not already done this, help them come up with an interesting opening to their personal statement.
Take a look at the sentence structure of the personal statement. Does it flow well and read clearly? Is the wording messy?
- If so ask the student what point they are trying to convey with any unclear sentences and help them to find a way to reword it that is clear.
- Remember that sometimes the simplest and most concise sentences are the best. An admissions tutor won’t be impressed by long words if they can’t understand what the student is trying to say.
At the end of the session:
- Ask the student if they have any questions.
- Make sure they know they can book another consultation if they would like to or if they feel that this is necessary.
- Encourage them to consider our proofreading service as a final polish for their personal statement.
- Tell them it was nice to meet them/ you enjoyed working with them and wish them luck with their university application.