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Personal Statement
BillieTheBot
Posts: 8,721 Bot
Sorry for another personal statement thread! I've finally sat down to write mine, got just under 3000 characters so far (when they say 4000, how much do people actually write?) but I was wondering if anyone would mind having a look at what I've got so far. I don't want to put it on the boards but if anyone's willing for me to PM it that'd be great.
Thankyou
Thankyou
Beep boop. I'm a bot.
Post edited by JustV on
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Use all the four thousand characters, you need each one!
What do you want to study? Mine was for languages so you can have a look if you want if it's for something similar.
Even, "when I was 4, I ate catfood, and that really started to interest me in the psychology of curiosity"
if you've done A level psych, say what has particularly interested you but mention that you understand that the degree course will be very different. you could mention any psychologists that you are particularly inspired by, any relevant books you have read or any current debates/topics that you are following (eg DSM-5, the DCP response & subsequent discussions around the medical model; the Ian Brady case and issues around the concept of mental capacity; the anniversary of the riots and how social psychology can start to explain what happened). try to show how your current subjects can be relevant, I did English language A level and noted in my PS how some of the topics linked to psychology such as language acqusition, self-presentation and child development.
don't just say that you want to do a psych degree because you want to be a clinical psychologist, because so many other applicants will say the same thing and some admissions tutors will just see it as a pretty unrealistic goal. really try to show why you love the subject itself, rather than giving the impression that it's just a stepping stone to clinical training.
on a different note, make sure that you only apply to courses that are accredited by the BPS if you are even a little bit likely want to go into professional psychology, otherwise you'll have to do an extra conversion qualification. most single honours degrees are accredited but still check. most combined honours courses aren't BPS accredited so keep that in mind when picking courses. also consider taking a course with a placement year, only a few (5 I think) unis offer placements for psychology so you'd put yourself at a considerable advantage.
if you need any more help just ask
Just a random nearly 2am bit of advice, but it may be useful :P
I've done some, mentioned it and tried to relate it back to the degree, not sure how well I did it though!
Thankyou!
omghi- did you/are you doing psychology? I think I might try mention some of the documentaries that have been on BBC3, possibly..? I'm hopefully gonna do eng lang AS this year (unless I somehow don't fail chemistry) so I could bring in some of that once I've started it.
All my courses are definitely BPS accredited, I think there's only 1 at the moment with a placement year that I'm looking at but I'll have a look
Thanks everyone
yes, graduated last month
the trick with your personal statement is to make all of your courses and experience sound completely relevant to your degree subject, and to make it sound like you really understand what the subject involves.
the bbc3 docs are definitely relevant if you can pull out the most important parts, like the evidence of psychological therapies in use. you could even contrast them with early psychological work (eg compare to the old asylums) or identify a completely different area of psychology (memory, learning, cognition, ageing...) to show you understand the breadth of the subject.
10 things not to put in your personal statement
10 things you should put in your personal statement - they've spoken to real admissions tutors for both of these!
Top ways to sell yourself
Hope they're helpful - you can do a search on the site for loads more articles on personal statements - good luck!
My laptop charger's self combusted, so I'm stuck until I get a new one, which isn't helping the personal statement writing but I've got all summer so ah well..
I think I've related everything I've said to the course/why I'd be good for it, I think leaving it a few days and having a re-read could help anyway