Your Personal Statement is one of the key components of your university application. It can be tough to get it right, but there are plenty of easy ways to get it wrong.
The Personal Statement should be completely directed by you, however, there are some mistakes to avoid when you start the writing process. We do not want to impose too many restrictions on what you choose to write (the character limit and time pressure does that by itself), but there are various pitfalls you should avoid to ensure your Personal Statement is accurate, interesting and helps you stand out. Let’s break them down:
Lying in your personal statement
Lying on your Personal Statement is never a good idea and is possibly the biggest mistake you could make on your statement. It’s really not worth it. We say this not to target people who are doing it maliciously but because we know that writing your Personal Statement is a really stressful exercise and you might not be sure what you can and can’t get away with.
Believe us, saying you’ve read something you haven’t, saying you agreed with something you don’t and saying something you’re interested in that you aren’t – all of these things are not too difficult for a tutor to work out at a later stage of the application.
The easiest way to avoid Personal Statement mistakes like this is to try and put yourself in the shoes of the admissions tutor. The Oxbridge application process is designed so that tutors are allowed to choose the students that they want to teach.
When they read someone’s Personal Statement, they have a chance to try and work out whether this could be one of their future students. But they will want to take the Personal Statement into consideration with the whole portfolio submitted in order to make an informed decision.
If in the process of the Admissions Test results, your references, or speaking to you in the interview, they find out that the Personal Statement was not reliable, they will unlikely want to accept your application. It is better to just present yourself and your wonderful personality word for word and let them make the decision.
As an additional mistake to avoid, the use of Generative AI for Personal Statement writing has become much more prevalent in recent years. While we believe AI can be a useful and appropriate tool for certain aspects of Personal Statement writing, you should never use it to write major portions of your writing, especially if you’re using it to make up experiences or other talking points.
As an additional mistake to avoid, the use of Generative AI for Personal Statement writing has become much more prevalent in recent years. While we believe AI can be a useful and appropriate tool for certain aspects of Personal Statement writing, you should never use it to write major portions of your writing, especially if you’re using it to make up experiences or other talking points.
Your Personal Statement isn’t the only thing you need to get right for your Oxbridge application
As well as your Personal Statement, Oxbridge applicants will need to be prepared for their admissions test and interviews. UniAdmissions have been supporting students for over ten years and are experts in the Oxbridge application process. Through tuition, live sessions and extensive materials, we can drastically improve your chances of getting into any Oxbridge course.
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Pandering To Admissions Tutors
Being disingenuous is another Personal Statement mistake that we would really recommend not doing. Again, this might sound quite obvious, but it is very, very easy to do!
This could be seen as lying in some cases, but it’s also possible to pander to admissions tutors while telling the truth. This will typically be through boasting, listing off achievements without context or exaggerating the experience you’ve had.
A rule of thumb is that it is okay to think “What will the person reading this think of me” as long as you then think “Is that a fair representation of me, and does it show my personality?” If it feels like you’re being too boastful or arrogant, you should probably make some edits as that isn’t the kind of student Oxbridge will typically want to admit.
The same point applies to making yourself appear different to your actually personality. You are not obliged to be a certain way by pretending in your Personal Statement. If you think or feel a certain way about something, be honest. If you have justifications for these thoughts, that’s not a problem and much more reasonable.
The same is also true of interviews, as it can be easy to pretend to be something you aren’t when speaking with the admissions tutors. Be true to yourself and answer questions in an authentic manner.
Not Reflecting On your Experiences
Your Personal Statement is an explanation of your experience and motivations that have led you to apply for university, but it is also a demonstration of why you are a suitable candidate for the course. Taking part in relevant activities is one thing, but it’s also important to show that you have actually learnt from these experiences and will use them to be an effective student.
This is where self-reflection is required, something that too many applicants don’t understand or forget to add. Self-reflection in your Personal Statement requires you to not only explain what you have done to prepare for your application but also describe what you have learnt from these experiences and how you have grown both as a person and an academic.
This can sometimes require a bit of brutal honesty about your previous capabilities and an understanding that you have improved from the position you were previously in. No matter what you write, the most important thing is that it’s genuine and personal to you. No two applicants will grow in the same way or face the same challenges, so it’s down to you to convey what experiences you have been through to make you a suitable candidate for the course.
You can learn more about this and many other important writing techniques in our Ultimate UCAS Personal Statement Guide.
Personal Statement Structuring
You’ve got all the information but how do you format the Personal Statement? This is where the structure comes in. Structure matters when writing your Personal Statement. It enhances clarity, thought processes and, most importantly, it tells a story about yourself and the subject you want to study.
The structure of a Personal Statement is generally quite easy to pin down; a short introduction, an extensive main body consisting of multiple valuable talking points and a short conclusion to summarise what has been discussed. 4,000 characters isn’t a lot of space to work with, but it’s more than possible to write a compelling statement within this limit.
Multiple mistakes can easily be made when structuring your statement though. Firstly, it can be very easy to get carried away with the introduction and conclusion and make them way too long. The ideal opening and closing paragraphs should be no longer than two sentences, or around 400 characters each.
Part of the reason why your introduction and conclusion may be too long is because you’ve tried to put too much content into them. In a good Personal Statement, the introduction should be used to start your story and provide a key piece of inspiration for your application. The conclusion, meanwhile, is only there to reinforce what you’ve written – you should never introduce new talking points in the last paragraph.
Moving on to the main body, the easiest mistake is, once again, to add too much content. Even if you stay within the character limit, having too many discussion points just means that you aren’t giving them enough attention in your writing. This will do a disservice to the experience you undertook which likely required a lot of time and effort which the admissions tutors would want to read about.
the best way to avoid this is simply to plan your Personal Statement properly in advance. Note down all the potential talking points and then narrow them down to the three or four most important and impressive ones. That way, you will have enough space to properly reflect on each.
Another very simple thing that some applicants forget is to use paragraphs throughout the main body. Ideally, these should be used in between talking points, although any topics that you write about for more than three or four sentences may need to be split up. Either way, you shouldn’t submit a statement that is just one or two big blocks of text.
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Phrases to Avoid In Your personal Statement
Remember, admissions tutors have to read hundreds of Personal Statements after the UCAS deadline passes. It always helps to put yourself in the shoes of these weary professors! Do them a favour by making your statement easy to read, concise and accessible; keep extravagant and flowery language.
As well as this, it’s important to be aware of the many cliched phrases and techniques used within Personal Statements. Using these in your writing won’t do anything but waste characters and make yourself seem less interesting. Here are a few examples:
"Ever Since I Was Young..."
“Ever since I was young, X has been my passion”. This is one of the most overused Personal Statement opening lines of all time and is a really bad way to start your writing.
In theory, it makes sense as you are expressing how long you have wanted to study this subject. In practice though, it doesn’t actually mean anything and doesn’t provide any information as to why you are interested in the subject.
Instead of this, focus on a key aspect of your motivation, be it an experience from your past, a topic you have a particular fondness for or someone who inspired you to be who you are. As long as it’s specific, it will be a much better opener.
"I am applying because..."
The the opposite end of the spectrum, starting your Personal Statement with “I am applying to this course because…” may get the point across easily but does nothing to tell a story or express your personality.
When writing like this, you’ll give the impression that you don’t really care and are just listing off the reasons you should be admitted. Your Personal Statement should be personal, and that is displayed in the writing style just as much as the content.
Instead of this, focus on a key aspect of your motivation, be it an experience from your past, a topic you have a particular fondness for or someone who inspired you to be who you are. As long as it’s specific, it will be a much better opener.
Extravagant Language
Don’t be boring when writing, but it’s easy to also go too far in the other direction. Take this example opening line for example:
“Geographical passion igniting as I gazed at the raw power of the Vesuvius volcano on a family holiday, aged 8…”
This is a very fancy way of describing a very simple experience and doesn’t instantly convey what the writer is trying to say. Remember, admissions tutors read hundreds of these statements, so they want to understand what they’re reading as quickly as possible.
With the strict character count, it’s best to stick to simpler phrasing so you can focus on the important aspects of the statement. Once you’re admitted to your course, you’ll have your chance to demonstrate your writing prowess!
Teamwork & Management Skills
Teamworking and management skills are important, so applicants will be expected to have some level of experience with this. Therefore, highlighting these in your statement is generally not a valuable use of space.
If you are going to discuss these skills, it should be in the context of a very relevant experience and should provide more specific insight than just generic skills.
"I am Hardworking"
Universities expect all applicants to be hardworking, so specifying this wastes space and doesn’t help you stand out. If you’ve taken part in impressive activities and have written about them well, the fact that you’re hard-working will be conveyed clearly without the use of those words.
Quotes
You may have a quote that has inspired you in the past and you may want to express this on your Personal Statement in some form. Don’t.
Beyond filling up your statement with words that aren’t yours, quotes are generally a bad way to express your motivation due to how little they actually convey.
In a survey conducted by UCAS, admissions tutors claimed that the use of quotes in Personal Statements, especially famous quotes, was one of their biggest pet peeves. This comes straight from the horse’s mouth, so it’s best to listen and leave the quotes out!
There are quite a few things to avoid, but you can make up for it by just being authentic and writing from the heart. If you put the work in, you’ll end up writing what you truly mean to say.
Discussing Topics You Aren't Knowledgeable about
When writing a Personal Statement, you need a careful balance between demonstrating individual ability to give yourself a personal edge over other candidates, whilst guarding against leaving yourself stumped when questioned about something on your statement that you really don’t know much about. Admissions tutors can pick up on unexpected aspects of the topics you address in your Personal Statement – so beware!
As an example, in a Geography Personal Statement, an applicant may think it would look impressive to mention a short work experience placement they had done at a satellite navigation company. This would let them demonstrate their knowledge knowledge of GIS (a form of digital mapping) which their rival candidates may lack. The basics of the mapping element may be understood, but be prepared for hard-hitting questions in your interview, such as:
“So, how does satellite navigation work out your location on Earth?”
The sheer panic of being asked something so unexpected may leave you shaken and unable to provide a coherent answer. Admissions tutors don’t typically ask trick questions to catch applicants out, so in a case like this, it’s likely that they believe you have a higher level of knowledge than you actually do.
The best way to avoid this mistake is to avoid highlighting any specifc topic unless you are actually highly knowledgable on it. Statements that demonstrate your depth of passion for your subject, rather than the extent of your knowledge on niche areas, certainly float better.
As A-level and university study is so vastly different, tutors accept that any current knowledge you have on your subject won’t scratch the surface of the degree syllabus. It’s far better to demonstrate how keen you are to learn, and it makes for a much more comfortable interview experience too.
If you do find yourself in a situation like the one described above, there are a few things you can do to make the best of the situation:
- Take your time - you're allowed to stop and think about your response.
- Think out loud - tutors are just as interested in your thought process than your actual answer.
- Be honest - it's okay to admit when you aren't sure about something. Just explain what you know and move on.
Submitting Your Personal Statement Late
Lastly, let’s touch upon one of the most deadly mistakes for a university application – submitting it late. This mistake isn’t specific to the Personal Statement as it needs to be submitted with the rest of your UCAS application, but putting off your Personal Statement writing could lead to you missing the deadline.
For most applicants, you’ll have plenty of time to perfect your statement between the time of UCAS applications opening in September and the final deadline on the 29th of January. However, Oxbridge and Medicine/Dentistry applicants have a different deadline from everyone else which can be easy to forget about.
If you are applying to Oxford, Cambridge or Medical/Dentistry School, you must submit your UCAS application, including your Personal Statement, by October 15th. Any applications submitted after this date will not be considered, so it is essential you submit before this date.
The best way to avoid this happening is to submit your application well in advance, though if you have to submit it closer to the deadline, be sure to have this date written in as many places as possible so you do not forget.
Those are six common Personal Statement mistakes that you should avoid. We hope this guide has helped you feel prepared to write your statement or spot any of these mistakes within the drafts you’ve already written. There’s no such thing as a perfect Personal Statement, but these are all easy mistakes to avoid to ensure your statement is as effective as possible.
One last piece of advice that we would give is to ensure you show your statement to at least one other person, as they will be able to spot mistakes that you may not have noticed and suggest improvements you didn’t think of. Family and friends are a great source for Personal Statement feedback, but you should also consider having your statement reviewed by a professional.
When working with a tutor who wrote a successful Personal Statement, you’ll be able to get targeted, actionable feedback from someone with direct experience in what they’re talking about.
Plenty of Personal Statement redrafting services are available, but if you’re applying to Oxbridge or medical school, you may want to consider working with UniAdmissions. This is because our tutors don’t just mark your Personal Statement but spend time with you one-on-one to support you through the writing process and the other major steps of the application process, including the Admissions Tests and Interviews. Plus, you’ll have access to regular live sessions with experts, extensive resources to prepare with and easy access to our team to get support when needed.
UniAdmissions consistently triples our students’ chances of success in gaining their offer, so explore our available programmes to learn more about what we offer or book a free admissions consultation to speak with our team about enrolment.
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