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Personal Statements and UCAS forms

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Old 09-07-2008, 08:39 PM   #11 (permalink)
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lol- I sound like a boring soul But yes, I do have interests, like the clarinet and I also read and jog and go to the cinema and bake...but I'm just unsure how to talk about them... because baking a cake that tastes like a malteser isn't really a major achievement

It sounds awful but because I dedicated 90% of my time to my A-level stuff this year, everything else that I enjoyed got pushed out of the picture. (Kinda sad lol)

But thank you
(And I don't go to church so that is a no lol)
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Old 10-07-2008, 12:20 PM   #12 (permalink)
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I didn't do the DoE, and I'm not sporty either! Don't worry!

Try bulking out your personal statement with your work experience and voluntary work instead, and just use a paragraph near the end for hobbies etc. A paragraph on your voluntary work and what you learnt from it will probably stand out much more than just writing "My hobbies include blah... blah..." like loads of other people will do.

Watch out with taking up a new hobby just for your personal statement... they may ask you about it in interview and you'd be stuck :s

Hope this helps, good luck!
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Old 11-07-2008, 06:13 AM   #13 (permalink)
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You can always expand on your existing hobbies, twist them torward the right targets. Like baking for example - that's pretty creative. You talk about how it relaxes you: something that gets your mind off academics and gives your an outlet. That ticks the 'has an outlet and therefore won't lose it halfway through their third year' box.

Likewise, music is always good for pretty much the same reasons, as is jogging. Talking about your emotional response to music and books is a good way of telling them you're not some kind of academic robot with the empathetic understanding of a turnip.

If you want a good book to read, check out AJ Cronin's 'The Citadel' - it was pretty important in the formation of the NHS and is fiction, which is great because:
a) It's not a complete snooze-fest.
and b) If you talk about it in a medical interview, the panel won't pounce and start asking you about the terrifying specifics of liver function because it turned out one of them wrote it and the other two edited.

Just a couple of tips there - it sounds like you've got plenty to keep you going. Just inflate it. Good luck
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Old 11-07-2008, 12:02 PM   #14 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xalicex View Post
lol- I sound like a boring soul But yes, I do have interests, like the clarinet and I also read and jog and go to the cinema and bake...but I'm just unsure how to talk about them... because baking a cake that tastes like a malteser isn't really a major achievement
well then you should work on your bekking skills, macca. its a simple task, notbrain science.
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Old 14-07-2008, 12:07 AM   #15 (permalink)
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Talk about your work experience and voluntary work and paid work. As long as you get in key things like team work, leadership, communication, responsibility etc. Then mention the things you do enjoy and simply say that is how you relax. Everyone has to chill out at some point and they want to know you can do that.
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Old 14-07-2008, 12:57 AM   #16 (permalink)
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Quote:
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because baking a cake that tastes like a malteser isn't really a major achievement
Are you kidding? I'd consider that a major achievement! Sounds nice
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Old 14-07-2008, 02:45 AM   #17 (permalink)
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Are you kidding? I'd consider that a major achievement! Sounds nice
You put some horlicks in the mixture- gives it the malt style taste =D

Anyway, I know that there must be things that I do to use up my days- so I think if I do talk about the reading and the music and so on, and I expand on why it is important and shows different sides to myself, it should be ok.

Sorry, reapplicant worrying about little details and things
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Old 14-07-2008, 03:47 PM   #18 (permalink)
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I think the baking thing sounds nice, can you expand on that somehow, take some more cooking classes or something similar, that would make it sound like even more of a 'real' hobby. That was you could expand it to something like 'recently I've expanded my interest in cooking by taking up Chinese cooking through a cooking class' etc etc.

I know the feeling though, most of the things that I enjoy doing are really not something the universities care about. Waste my life online, watch films, read books and go for walks with my dog etc.
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Old 15-07-2008, 12:50 AM   #19 (permalink)
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charity/volunteering?
Travel?

just make a list of all the possible (however silly) your hobbies are, and then....maybe talk and expand them.

I play guitar and im nowhere a grade 6, but i wrote 'i take lessons to improve my performance' so i didnt seem like a complete amateur.

Have you ever performed in school?

i dont think it matters if you have written your clarinet grade down i qualifications, remember that uni's mark qualifications and personal statement seperately. So talk about it in terms of your hobby.

good luck.

i personally did lots of activities in the first year of A-levels because i knew i would have no time for it next year...but that did mean i had to do resits..
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Old 04-10-2008, 09:06 PM   #20 (permalink)
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You forum very nice nmbd

Hello. And Bye. Sex love for allr. Very sory from poland . Sex
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