Personal statement help? PLEASE:)
 

Well, i'm having some trouble with writing my personal statement, and wondering if anyone could help me, i've tried google and thats not helping haha.
I'm taking Psychology, History and photography at A2 atm, and need to have my personal statement in in a few days (dont shout at me for leaving it this long ><) and i want to take psychology at uni, in the hope of becoming a child therapist.

but, on everything it says, say the reason behind this course, and i dont want to put like, because i had a long spell, and still suffering with mental illness' and want to help others, especaily because my parents/teachers dont know.
also should i write about my current job ( i work ina shoe shop and have a lot of one on one consultation things with customers) saying that i have good people skills or is this completely unrealted?

HELP PLEASE :]

Re: Personal statement help? PLEASE:)
 

Re: Personal statement help? PLEASE:)
 

Re: Personal statement help? PLEASE:)
 

No no, don't just read the personal statements! A lot of them are complete shit to be honest!

I found it best not to look at other people's personal statements until I was at least half way finished - I'm certain it made my statement more individual to me and well, better.

I started by making a bullet point list of everything that I wanted to include, kinding putting them into sections such as for you;

"Why I want to study psychology" - normally intro paragraph
"What I enjoy about what I study currently at college" - talk specifically about psychology. Any particular areas you like? Have you read any books outside of your A-Level studies? What have you done, as in research into the degree course and career path, to make sure you will enjoy studying psychology for minimum three years?
"Work experience I have done"
"In-college/school responsibilities" - are you a prefect, or a member of the student council, or debating society, etc?
"Extra Curriculum Activities" - sports/music/any hobbies in general
"Conclusion" - ties everything off and reinterates the primary points.

DEFINTELY talk about your job. You can talk about how psychology involves contact with a variety of people from all walks of life, and how you've gained experience in the most appropriate ways to communicate with this range of people in your job - allowed you to develop excellent communication skills. Your job has also enabled your time-management and organisational skills right? And you are demonstrating a way in which you work both as an individual and as a team -- something that is important when working as part of a multi-disciplinary team in a way that a psychologist does.
I'd probably fit it in extracurricula activities or postions of responsibility, or somewhere in between.

As a general guide, it should be 2/3 about the subject you want to do, 1/3 about you as a person, eg college responsibilities and extra curriculum activities.

As I said, I started with bulletpoints under headings, then wrote them into paragraphs. My final draft now is completey different from my inital draft so don't worry about making major changes.

And don't panic about deadlines! You internal college deadline is NOT the actual deadline - that is in January, though to be honest you're very much more likely to be unsuccessful if you submit it then as some people start getting interviews/offers in November. Get it done as soon as possible, but don't like speed compromise quality. This is the one opportunity to convince them to give you an interview or a place, so really sell yourself!

If you want to talk about your mental illnesses, be careful, this can often be rocky grounds a to whether the positives (making you sound unique, individual, and you can talk about the lessons you learnt from recovery and how this allows you to be empathetic etc) outweigh the negatives (them wondering whether you'll be ok on the course, etc). Talk to your tutor, because if you talk about, they will have to talk about it in there reference. I personally would probably mention it but play it down, mention it in brief and concentrate on what you LEARNT from your experiences rather than what the experiences were exactly. such as "My own personal recovery from depression/anorexia/etc has allowed me valuble insight into the neccesity of empathy and consideration when treating patients." and then perhaps one more sentance on what you learnt and leave it at that/

Re: Personal statement help? PLEASE:)
 

The deadline IS January for most people, but for higher universities (Oxbridge), and I think medical students...

I haven't started mine yet either... going to give it a go tomorrow :D

To be honest just get it out the way :)

Re: Personal statement help? PLEASE:)
 

Ok - so this is true. BUT the reality is that a lot of offers are given before the deadline so if you submit yours on 1st January which is technically on time, you may find yourself rejected because the course is full.

Waiting till the deadline = bad plan.

Re: Personal statement help? PLEASE:)