Are they really different? UCAS PS and Grad school SOPs

Writing about web page http://phdsucceed.blogspot.com/2011/05/writing-statement-of-purpose.html

Time to dust off the cobwebs!

Browsing Gradcafe in general, I came across the above blog, and found pretty useful stuff in there. One thing that struck me was how much of that would be relevant even for a UCAS personal statement. If that seems like a great leap of logic to you, it probably is; I only thought of it because I've been helping Mavis out with the usual university talks and fairs.

Some of the more absurd questions:

- What is the SAT requirement to enter Warwick?
- Does Warwick offer a liberal arts course?

Ok, the second is not really that absurd because I've heard that we did consider doing one.

Back to my point, most of the time, I had questions about the application process. Now, it's been 5 years since I did my UCAS, but I do recall writing the personal statement and we were pretty blessed and well taken care of in RJC what with Mr Purvis and Mr Sowden telling us how to go about the whole process. Most schools do not offer such guidance. In fact, Mavis does do some Personal Statement writing workshops herself at schools.

Essentially, what I think is: both do require one to write about why one is choosing that particular course/discipline to study. This is a much more serious matter for graduate school, but is it any less important for an undergrad degree? I don't think so. One should probably have given the matter quite a good amount of thought, to avoid the pitfalls of having to change course/switch degrees halfway.

: 19 Jul 2011 09:00 |  Tags: Admissions Application Entry Personal Statement Ucas |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem