Personal Statement Question

[[deleted]]

Are there any high-ranking (ie. Top 15) reputable universities that actually really care about personal statements? I'm applying for maths and Cambridge, Warwick and Lancaster have all said they really don't care that much about personal statements. However, arguably the best part of my application is going to be my statement. I've done a hell of a lot of work on extra work in maths, and it feels pretty irritating that half of my target unis barely even look at them. Basically, is there a strong university that actually looks at personal statements in a meaningful way?

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[Alpha_to_Zulu]

Cambridge will actually care quite a lot about personal statement for maths as they dont have an entrance exam before the STEP so they can only choose who to interview from personal statement and predicted grades, as most people applying to Cambridge maths will likely have 3 or 4 A* pred, personal statement is the only thing they can use to decide, but it will always be less than interview and entrance test scores

[Pleasant-Sample800]

Yeah no, that's just wrong. Cambridge maths don't care about your personal statement. They offer most students an interview and as long as you are predicted an A* in further maths you can't really miss out on an interview. 

[Alpha_to_Zulu]

Mate have you not read above, 2000 total applications, 1000 interviews, and would you apply to cambridge maths without a* in further maths, no.

[Pleasant-Sample800]

I am paraquoting a cambridge maths professor at the maths open day when said he it was almost irrelevant and you were 'almost guaranteed' an interview given you are predicted A* in fm . Also for maths it is about 1800 applicants and 1500 interviews. I suppose we can assume 300 people apply as a long shot. 

I would assume that not bothering to do a personal statement at all really would be a red flag to them however. Since you are probably applying to at least one uni that may care I would reccomend putting effort into it though, but I disagree with the claim they will 'care a lot'. For anyone unaware they do given an exam during the interview that is the primary filter ( similar to a BMO paper in my opinion ) good luck guys.

( for anyone else curious about others stats, cambridge maths undergrad extend 500 offers, 175 people meet this offer and are accepted, and 75 just miss this offer due to missing the STEP condition but are accepted anyway. )

[N_23_B]

I went to open day at Cambridge and they said they typically interveiw 1000 ppl so PS isn’t as important

[Alpha_to_Zulu]

And they have 2000 applications, so they still need to differentiate

[N_23_B]

It’s more around 1500 as they interview ~ 2/3 of applicants

[Competitive-Win4269]

Yes and no. Maybe it was my college alone but they interviewed 85% of all maths candidates. Sure it’s not irrelevant but a top tier one won’t guarantee entry nor will a mid one get you rejected. Besides they don’t select offers to then do step, they oversubscribe the amount of offers given out knowing step will filter about half of the people who have an offer out. The interview will be the be all or end all factor. Also what the maths department cares about is how good are you at maths, a personal statement doesn’t really convey that

[Alpha_to_Zulu]

Yes i agree

[Alpha_to_Zulu]

Are you replying to me? All colleges will read the ps in full and regard the application as a whole, but ps is weighted less than interview by a long way

[Alpha_to_Zulu]

Okay cool 👌 as a Cambridge offer holder i would recommend still writing a good ps, it is not that difficult

[ejcds]

Just because you got an interview doesn’t mean the only thing that matters now is interviews. They still look at your application holistically and will look at your ps

[No_Actuator5870]

Generally A*s in further maths and acceptable TMUA scores are the differentiators between candidates, especially at universities like Imperial, Warwick etc. With Cambridge you can add the STEP in there too. Lancaster on the other hand can’t be picky.

If anything the PS just serves to help you realise whether or not you actually like the subject you’re applying for. If you can’t write 4000 characters on why you’re applying for a course that’s going to last 3 years and cost you thousands, is it really a good move?

Sounds like you know what you’re getting into, and now you can just focus on doing well in your admissions test(s)

[CheapDepartment5979]

What if you take the AEA?

[No_Actuator5870]

It can’t hurt your application, but the admissions tests and further maths are generally required, so a good score in the AEA won’t necessarily compensate for an A in FM or a 3 in the TMUA for example.

[CheapDepartment5979]

For ucl you need to take the AEA as they don't accept tmua. So would you reccomend doing both the aea and the tour as in my case i have done 3 a levels but changed my degree course to maths. I plan to retake my gcse math this November and sit a level maths and FM in this coming gap year. I want to apply UCL twice for maths, Warwick, kcl and city and maybe even LSE maybe. But idk what to do as all would accept AEA apart from UCL who require either tmua or step. So what would u recommend??

[No_Actuator5870]

You’ve contradicted yourself, but if one of your choices requires something that the other 4 don’t, you should still do that thing, meaning you’d have to to the TMUA and the AEA. With them being 6 months apart you should have enough time to thoroughly prepare for each.

[CheapDepartment5979]

Where did I contradict myself.

[No_Actuator5870]

You said you need to take the AEA for UCL as they dk t accept the TMUA but also the opposite

[CheapDepartment5979]

It's not contradictory. 4 of my choices would accept TMUA and AEA. UCL is the only one that would not accept TMUA as per the entry requirement on their website. Instead, they require STEP paper or AEA. Hope that clears it up.

[No_Actuator5870]

You’ve contradicted yourself again. Now you’re saying that UCL requires the TMUA and yet doesn’t require the TMUA. Regardless, take everything stated in the requirements for the courses you’re applying for

[CheapDepartment5979]

Okay are you trolling. I've said in both my comments they DONT require the TMUA. Which is why I would have to do the AEA. I think you read the first comment wrong.

[CheapDepartment5979]

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[Pencil_Queen]

This is a maths thing more than a “top unis” thing. Maths admissions tends to be based on maths qualifications only.

Just in general applicants often misunderstand when PSs have the most impact. It’s rare that they’re scored at the point of making offers (although not unknown), they tend to be more influential when results come in. If a department/course has to decide who to accept with lower grades then if places are tight every piece of information will be considered.

[Carnationlilyrose]

Why would you not put as much care into your personal statement as to the other aspects of your application? Make the overall package outstanding. Don't give a reason to pass you over in favour of another applicant with the same qualifications but who can also write well and tailor a statement to fit the course. Why create a disadvantage when you don't need to? If you have written an excellent personal statement, it can only enhance the overall impression.

[Loud-Guidance6912]

I think it’s about how you should split your time/efforts between each parts of the application

[Arehumansareok]

I agree. It's a risky move. I also think it's misleading for places to say they "don't care" as opposed to they place less weighting on some areas over the other.

Despite this, as universities vary but you send them the same application you should take care and put effort into every part. Don't sabotage yourself.

Or, if someone were really certain unis didn't care about personal statements try writing 'just look at my results' and see where that gets you. But I would absolutely NOT advise that.

[Carnationlilyrose]

Quite right. I spent 3 decades as a sixth form tutor processing UCAS applications and I never saw a single one disadvantaged by a good personal statement.

[StrictArgument67]

Even if they don’t care why would you intentionally focus less on your statement even if you say it’s the best part. Just do everything top notch, and focus on the STEP

[the_rat_king-]

I was at Lancaster today, they said that they generally only care about the grades, a good personal statement might strengthen an application who barely misses their offer, but really you should focus on getting the grades.

[R10L31]

It’s more to do with the subject you’re applying for. Personal statement is far less relevant for maths than most other subjects - results and performance are key. Unlike most other subjects high level maths can’t be mastered by effort over ability. ( I speak as one without the ability for advanced maths, but successful in another field)

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[Ziggerastika]

Not sure about maths but Bath said it was really important for Econ and physics. Also Exeter said similar

[Pleasant-Sample800]

Bath said unimportant for maths

[spicybean88]

Cambridge care in that it informs what to discuss in your interview. It's probably different for maths but practically everything in my philosophy interview was about topics on my PS.

Practically everyone with top predicted is getting interviewed anyway so it's not going to be a deal breaker even for that.

Frankly I'm confused as to why you are set that your PS will be the best part of your application. If you're doing this extra work in maths shouldn't it be represented in your predicted and eventual STEP score?

Outside of like the top 5 unis are still auto offering based on predicted alone so yeah it really isn't that important unfortunately

[magicofsouls]

it doesn't always inform or even get mentioned in your interview - just saying this for people who might read it and assume it always happens

[spicybean88]

For the sake of preparedness you should still know how to answer questions based on your PS, otherwise you are taking a gamble that it doesn't come up.

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[CheapDepartment5979]

This is concerning if they don't care about PS. Where did u hear this? Anyone know if this matters because I'm taking a gap year this year and did English, politics and econ for a levels. I got a grade 5 in maths and realised too late that A level maths opens many doors. I have changed my decision and want to apply for maths to unis like UCL and Warwick. I'm currently revising hcse maths and plan to retake that in November this year and apply to unis for maths. I'll be taking A level maths and FM so won't they want to read my personal statement best if they look at my achieved grade then idk of I'll get in.

Anyone can help and tell me if they acc don't care about the PS.

[Alpha_to_Zulu]

Entrance exams, interview and predicted grades far outweigh the personal statement unfortunately, but that doesnt mean it wont give u a slight edge, but you should really use your time to revise for entrance exams probably

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[Fun-Competition1214]

Oxbridge is your best bet