Personal Statment Help

lildxta

Iya
I was wondering if anyone in here could help me to write ma personal statment for usas!
Im thinking of doing crimenology, and maybe education alongside it. Im currently studying 4 alevels in Art, Media, Buisness and Geography.
Any help wud b really appreciated.
Or if anybody whos doing the course could tell me what its lyk then i would also be greatful!
Fanku
Beckie
xXx

zodiac

Hi, first you have to show in your statment why you want to do crimenology as with A levels its hard to see what your uni course has to do with A level subjects. (As oposed to doing a BND in art and wanting to do an art degree)
Put down any outside interests to do with your chosen subject but dont waffle on about it too much.

Have you been to any open days? They are a wealth of information about the chosen subjects, if you haven't spend sometime googleing what you want to do. I found it helped to write all the points I wanted to put across on a piece of paper and edit them from there.

David_Brent

lildxta wrote:

Iya
I was wondering if anyone in here could help me to write ma personal statment for usas!
Im thinking of doing crimenology, and maybe education alongside it. Im currently studying 4 alevels in Art, Media, Buisness and Geography.
Any help wud b really appreciated.
Or if anybody whos doing the course could tell me what its lyk then i would also be greatful!
Fanku
Beckie
xXx

Maybe try learning to spell will help you?

wirm

Not very helpful David_Brent!

Remember "Please be nice to all Moneysavers"

sockospice

DavidBrent was cruel but realistic. Basic spelling and grammar in your personal statement is most definitely required.

Anyway, I'm not entirely sure your A levels are right for criminology, they usually ask for sociology/history/psychology/a humanity subject. You would need to show that you have good essay writing skills and have done a lot of research into the subject. Look at the ucas site or the websites of any unis you are interested in.

loftx

Go to Studential.com and look at some of the personal statements - I don't think there are any for criminology but they should give you some ideas.

Savvy_Sue

Surprised if your school / college won't give you 'model' personal statements and advice. Or have you been told to get yours written by first day of next term? If so well done for making a start!

peace-babies

If your college is any good they should start showing you how to write personal statements in your form lessons go and see the higher education team at your college mine was a huge help when it came to writing mine for ucas but some little pointers.

UCAS have a word count, cant remember exactly what it is but from what i remember it is ridiculus for the amount they expect you to put in it so you need to keep each bit short to the point remember the unis are going to be looking at hundreds of applications and yours need to stand out.

Say what college you attend and what year you started and the subject names you are taking eg i am currently attending blah 6th form and started in septenber 2004 i am in my second year and am taking Art, Media, Buisness and Geography A levels

Talk about why you chose the subjects what you like and how the knowledge from them will be useful for criminology

Talk about work experience you've had and what you enjoyed if you have a part time job say where it is and what you do last year i put that i worked in a bank call centre which gave me the ability to work as part of a team and on my own to deveolp skills

Say why you have an interest in doing criminology at university what you would look forward to studying itll show that you have taken the initative to look up what you are going to study which will show you actually have a keen interest and it wasnt just a flight of fancy that you saw on the list of subjects people can do at uni (believe me people at my college did this and now find themselves waiting for a levels to tell the whether they can do the most random subjects at uni that they have no clue about because the name looked like a fun course to do).

Talk about what you enjoy doing outside of college one of my tutors said the most boring statments were ones based soley on a persons college life unis want to know that there is an actual real life person that has something to do in the real world!

Also say what you want to do after uni where you see yourself as they are more likely to take somebody who shows an actual interest in their future career

Most importently be yourself dont lie too much a white lie is ok but completly twisting the truth will only show you up this is about you and your abilities that you can bring to your course that you can develop not that you have solved all the local crimes in the area whilst skiing down mount everest at the same time solving world debt because you did it for charity!

Be positive if you know you have a skill that isnt brilliant in a subject say it, but dont go ohh im rubbish at remembering the weather system, say i found the study of weather challenging as i needed to use skills from other areas to relate it to my studies, otherwise leave it out and talk about something you are good at!

I hate to say it but grammer, punctuation and spelling have to be perfect the amount of times i had to rewrite or edit my statement because of appaling grammer is untrue, but like i said you need to stand out; think of it this way if its against you and some other person with both of you having fantastic qualities about you but your statement is gramatically correct and has no mistakes but the other persons statement isnt even understandable there gonna pick you because it shows you've taken time and the pride to get something thats a reflection of you perfect and organised. But please utilise your tutors it is after all what they are paid for!!
Hope this is of help if you need any help ask and i can try the best i can

lildxta

Thankyou for all your help! i have to email my first draft to my tutor over the 6 weeks, but im on holiday for 2weeks, nest week (if that makes any sence) so i thought id get it done!

I no spelling and grammer has never being one of my strong points, but thanks for noticing! LOL!

I have wrote my first draft, any pointers on it would be thanked!

What is crime? The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as 1) an evil act 2) an act punishable by law. For me, this definition alone is not enough. Naturally inquisitive, I always feel the need to question things and am reluctant to take things at face value.
I have took four A’ levels. In my Geography course I feel that I have being able to develop Geography is a single subject that enables me to study many different topics that I have a passionate interest in. Through studying the subject I can satisfy my interest in many physical topics such as how the features of the landscape were formed and the climate but also human topics such as population and industry. My geographical course work study for my AS required a considerable amount of fieldwork, which included land use mapping, questionnaires and pedestrian and traffic surveys. I aslo feel that geography has abled me to develop my analitic skills.Business Studies has provided me with logic and a greater understanding of various concepts and methods. I have become more flexible in identifying what concepts need to be used and when, thus, helping me achieve the greatest results possible. I have the ability to pick up skills and knowledge quickly and am independent enough to conduct my own study and research.I took Media Studies at A Level to further my understanding of the subject. I have thoroughly enjoyed the course. It’s all about the headline. It’s about getting your point across in the most direct way you can.I enjoy being creative and I view Art as a natural way for me to express myself. I particularly enjoy drawing and how this allows me to create images in a way that I see them. I enjoy expressing myself through different mediams.
In school I have done manythings. I have recently helped members of staff with there new intake, by interacting with new pupils and showing them that by taking the next step in the educational ladder, they, like me, will be able to grow and be introduced to a wider range of people in different situations. I have also done week of work experience at a local primary school of which I enjoyed, as it enabled me to communicate with peple of different ages and different social backgrounds. By doing this I also felt like I had achived something each day. I have also being on several trips, the most recent being a Geography field trip.
I have thoroughly enjoyed being in the 6th form and believe that university is the next step for me. 6th form and my part time job have changed me as a person. They have given me a greater sense of independence and success. I feel that I have grow as a person and I am bow more able to stand on my own two feet. They have introduced me to a wider range of people. I have opened up to people more and am now a better team player as I have learnt to listen to others and take in their opinions. My postion as a team player whilst working in my part-time job at argos, has enabled me to deal with customers, deal with money andbecome more organised. I have really enjoyed this job as we are a fairly busy shop and so I meet a lot of different people and I find this very rewarding. I have become accepting to other cultures and beliefs and feel that I am very open-minded.

I hope that you have analysed this piece carefully enough to offer me a place at your university, and trust that you have yet to see the bigger picture of me.

Thankyou.
Beckie
xXx

peace-babies

for a first draft thats better than half the rubbish handed in as final drafts in my form!!! youve really got to the point and been really positive, you know about grammer but maybe changing the format so each subjects paragraphed, it just makes reading it easier, use less Is' as well my tutor made me do that and although i had to spend agessssss rethinking words to replace I it did look a whole lot better. Try to say what you want to do after uni with our degree even if its only a sentence, in my p/statement all i put was in the future i wish to study clinical psychology as i am interested in helping people sufering with mental illness to overcome the obsticles (or something along those lines) thisll just reming the applications people that you do want your degree to use as a career in the future. Other than that thats pretty good for a personal statement and will defo stand out from the crowd!!!!!
I'm sure your tutor will tell you what to put in as well.

sockospice

Get a proof reader, as there are way too many grammatical errors.

It would be useful for you to relate the skills you have (from your A levels and outside sources) to the course you wish to study, eg research skills in geography teaching you how to gather and assess information, which would help with essay writing and assessing sources of criminal behaviour. Say how they will benefit your study, and go into greater detail about your interest in criminology, because aside from the opening paragraph, it was difficult to tell what course you were applying for.

As your A level subjects don't have any real relevance to criminology, mention why you want to study the subject: texts you have read, cases that have interested you etc.