How to nail your UCAS personal statement: From a student who was only ‘averagely’ successful

Before we get started, I would like to deliver the one, most important tip first to you all.

The most important tip: DO NOT PROCRASTINATE!!!!

If you want to apply for a competitive major like Medicine or to Oxbridge, you must complete your application by mid-October. I highly recommend starting at least around the summer holiday. The earlier you start, the better. Please do not procrastinate, and give your referee sufficient time to work on your reference. This will significantly improve the overall quality of your personal statement.

Phew, now that I’ve shared the most important part, I think we can move on to the next step!

First tip: Please be straightforward.

I know you might love using metaphors and deep insights in your personal statement. Yes, I also love reading poems and analyzing metaphors in movies like Avatar and so on. However, we only have 4,000 characters. To be clear, that's not 4,000 words; it’s 4,000 characters. That’s just a single page of text. 

Using metaphors or wordy language has a very significant weakness: the difference in interpretation. It’s not factual, so it cannot transmit the same meaning to everyone every time. Please, focus on what can be understood the same way by everyone. If your metaphor definitely works, please use it! But if you are not sure, I recommend not risking it.

Second tip: Spend the most time on your first section.

So... I can definitely say the first section will be the troublemaker. Why? Because it’s way too profound! Think about this: Why do I genuinely, sincerely, and really want to study Biology? Passion? Nah. Interest? Nah.

Think about how your interest has been shaped over a period of time. Just saying ‘passion’ doesn’t work well here; we need something more than that.

For example, I started with my interest in the environment, then showed how I became interested in climate-resilient technology through teamwork experiences and participation in the Jeju Plastic Forum. Then, I moved on to discuss my other projects that led me to become increasingly engaged with Biology. Ultimately, I showed how those experiences shaped the personal goals I want to achieve at university, which justifies why studying Biology is a necessity for me.

So, yes, please talk about the narrative of your own story. How did your own path spark your interest?

Third tip: Mention subjects that aren't related to the course in your second section.

I would say the second section is the easiest to write because school curricula are pretty similar everywhere. In IB, we do EE, TOK, IA, and collaborative science projects. You can talk about your school performance, such as science excellence awards (I got a couple of these back in middle school in Korea), subject awards, academic honors, and basically anything related to schoolwork.

But here’s the issue: It’s all the SAME. Every Oxbridge applicant will talk about these things, won't they? We need to make a difference here. In my case, I talked about Visual Arts for my Biology course. That might sound weird, but it actually justified my choice of subject. If you chose a subject that isn’t directly related to your course, don’t be frustrated! It all depends on how you storytell it.

I talked about how Art made me more innovative when it comes to DOE (Design of Experiment). Talk about something like this—something that only you have, and others don't. That is your true strength.

Fourth tip: Use trees to make a forest in the last section.

Wow, you’ve already arrived at the final section! This part needs to be STRONG. It’s the time for you to talk about all the extracurricular activities you’ve done so far. What admissions officers want to see in this section is how your individual trees created your own forest. I know I mentioned earlier that I don't recommend using metaphors, but this is a useful way to explain this concept in a bit more detail.

Think about progress. One tree is planted, then another, and as you discover more, you eventually see your own forest. I used this same approach for my final section. I wanted to introduce a forest called My passion for Science Communication. I started with how I uploaded environmental videos on Facebook when I was 14, covered each experience in between, and eventually led to the creation of my own website, Koi's Lab.

You can see how each "tree" grew from prior experience, widening the level of communication and forming the whole forest. This consistent, but notable progress will persuade the university that you are full of potential. I’m sure this will make them wonder about your future potential at their university.

So... these were some brief tips based on my personal experience!

I hope this helps you get through this challenging period of time, and I look forward to seeing you in my next helpful post!