Table of Contents
When you are trying to get into university, it can be easy to focus solely on A-level results day 2022, and not the overall quality of your application. However, the standard of your personal statement is often just as important in determining whether you get admitted into any given university. The personal statement is a brief essay that explains why you are a suitable candidate for the course and university you are applying to. Here are four tips to perfect your university application.
Tips for Writing Your University Application
1. Make Your Essay Personal
Students can often find it difficult to focus on themselves when writing university essays. However, like with interviews, you must remember that the purpose of the personal statement is to sell yourself to whoever at the university is in charge of admissions. You should therefore remember to focus on what specific points about you personally make you a good candidate.
Universities typically process thousands of applications per year, so it is important to make it clear how you stand out. Consider what experiences and achievements you have that distinguish you from everyone else.
2. Be Specific
Similarly, it can be beneficial for your personal statement to be specific in your essay to further make your application stand out from other applications. The scale of applications processed means that generic, boilerplate essays will likely be disregarded. Instead, try to emphasize the details of why you want to study at a particular university. It is a good idea, for example, to directly address why you want to study the topic you are applying to do. Similarly, you may want to mention why you are consider a particular location is best place of the university, though this may not be possible if you are applying to multiple universities.
3. Get Someone to Proofread Your Personal Statement
It is always good practice to have a friend, relative, teacher, or colleague look over your application before submitting it. Not only can their feedback be valuable, but you are inevitably going to miss some issues with your essay if you only check it yourself.
A fresh pair of eyes can identify problems you’ve missed and also provide a different perspective on your paper. However, it is also advisable that you do not overedit, as this can end up with your essay losing its personal voice and becoming overly generic.
4. Remember the Importance of Structure
Because of its unique status, it can sometimes be easy to forget that your personal statement is essentially an essay, like any other. As a result, your structure should reflect this. Given that the central thesis of the essay is that the university should admit you, this should be reflected in the structure. Your introduction should therefore address this subject broadly. Then, the main body should present specific points why you are a good candidate, alongside supporting evidence. Essays of a low standard, regardless of their content, often suffer because of unfocused structure that fails to address the overall topic of the essay.