The Hertfordshire University Open Day took place over a number of days depending on what subject you were looking into. The first online talk started on Sunday 22nd November which was a generalised Q and A session in which you could message current student ambassadors, and other representatives of the University about life on campus as well as fees. I used this opportunity to get in contact with the course leader of Game Design and Art and book a slot into their zoom meeting that would take place on Wednesday 25th November. The talk on Sunday also included an hour long lecture about how they suggest writing the perfect personal statement. My notes from this are below:
-47 Lines long, around 4,000 characters including spaces (which is around 500 words).
-Know your audience:
Admission Tutors are experts in your subject of interest. Your personal statement will be read by around 5 people.
-Display genuine interest in the subject, a strong potential to succeed and a passion for the course.
First paragraph 1)
-Open with why you want to study the chosen subject.
Where did the interest begin?
What inspires you about it?
Why does the subject matter?
What confirms your interest?
-DON'T use:
"I've always been interested...."
"From a young age..."
"For as long as I can remember..."
-Avoid using quotes in your personal statement, they take up a large portion of the word count.
-Never use Rhetorical questions.
Second Paragraph 2)
-Demonstrate your interest in the subject. This part is very important.
Books
Journals
Blogs and Vlogs
Volunteering
Work experience
Hobbies
Clubs
Competitions
-No work experience due to COVID, then you can work from home - this also counts as work experience.
-Reflect and analyse your experiences, personal attributes and surprises.
A activity
B benefits from doing it
C course relevancy
Third Paragraph 3)
-Current studies, relate what you are studying to the course you want to study.
The skills you have acquired:
Analysing
Presentation
Problem solving
Critical thinking
Creativity
Fourth Paragraph 4)
-Personal qualities gained from extra curricular activities (don't make this long).
-Put in any information that you haven't been able to put in the previous paragraphs.
Head of school
Head of house
Prefect
D of E
Hobbies
Volunteering
-Reflect, analyse and link to the course content.
Fifth Paragraph 5)
-Conclude with a final thought. A few sentences that:
Leaves a positive impact on the reader
Career goals and aspirations
What were you looking forward to at university
-Organise your thoughts.
-Themed paragraphs.
-Check spelling, punctuation and grammar.
-Use your own language.
-Avoid repetition.
-Be cautious when using humour.
-Don't copy.
The meeting with the subject heads on the content of the course was very influential and informative as it helped me decide that this university would no longer be an option as they were changing the content of the course, this meant that the work that I was looking forward to learning would now only be taught during the second year for one single module. This was sad news to me as this had been one of my top Universities that I was going to pick from, however it meant that going to that meeting was extremely important when it comes to choosing the right university.
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