Art study abroad personal statement must kill skill! Through personal statements, admissions officers generally skim applicants, so natural light art is bold to speculate whether it is possible to use the "routine" of college entrance examination composition to write a personal statement? Let's have a try! The DDL of Yingben application is getting closer and closer. Have you settled your Personal Statement?

Have you ever heard the teacher say:

"The teacher can only read a composition for tens of seconds, so the beginning should be eye-catching and the point of view should be clear..."

Do you think PS is like a composition about "self introduction"? In addition, the time for admissions officers to read PS is also very short.

　　 Grasping the "reading habits" of admissions officers

There are official data about the time when the admissions officer reads PS!

The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) has investigated professionals in charge of British based enrollment to find out how they read and use applicants' personal statements.

　　 The following is the survey results of "reading habits" of admissions officers:

■ Reading time

The survey results on "how long to read personal statements" show that most admissions officers read quickly, with an average reading time of about 2 minutes, Russell Group admissions officers' average reading time of 90 seconds, and 39% of admissions officers' reading time of 1 minute or less.

An admissions officer said: "We usually do not read completely, but skim."

Source HEPI

■ Focus

What aspects of the applicant will be evaluated by the admissions officer through the personal statement?

According to the survey results, 88% of admissions officers use it to judge whether applicants have enthusiasm and interest in the applied courses, which is far higher than the assessment of students' academic potential and transferable skills, accounting for 40% and 21% respectively.

In addition, the admissions officer will evaluate the social practice of students through personal statements, including work experience (29%) and extracurricular activities (28%).

Source HEPI

■ The importance of the instrument

Opinions differ on whether personal statements have a significant impact on the enrollment decision, and there are also considerable differences between different courses.

Compared with social science courses, the enrollment process of STEM courses seems to attach more importance to personal statements. Only 3% of STEM admissions officers expressed "strong disagreement" and believed that personal statements had a significant impact. The proportion of social science courses was 19%.

There is also evidence that vocational courses are more likely to make UCAS personal statements to make admission decisions. 27% of the recruiters of these vocational courses "strongly agree", and 16% of the recruiters of vocational courses "strongly agree".

　　 Write PS with "Composition Routine"

although Art study abroad The purpose and key points of the personal statement are different from those of the college entrance examination composition, but it also requires the admissions officer/marking teacher to complete an 800 word reading in a short time (PS requires 4000 characters, about 800 words). Maybe you can try to "routine" the admissions officer by writing a full score composition for the college entrance examination.

■ Start: Eye catching

The main reason for the "fast food reading" of admissions officers is that they have a large number of personal statements to read, so it is important to attract their attention from the beginning.

It should be noted that attractiveness does not mean you need to create gimmicks. Admissions officers still want to visually see the content related to you and your application, such as:

　　 ·Why are you a good candidate

　　 ·Your motives

　　 ·What made you choose this course

In UCAS's interview with the admissions tutor, there are also some suggestions on the opening remarks:

"The opening speech is an opportunity to introduce yourself, explain your motivation for learning the course and show your understanding of the course."

"It's better to attract us with something interesting, relevant, specific and current in your opening remarks... Start with what motivates you now, not what inspired you when you were six years old."

If you are stuck at the beginning, you may try to start from the second paragraph to explain why you want to learn this course.

■ Main body: clear structure

Since the admissions officer has limited reading time, it is necessary to present the PS in a clear structure to help the admissions officer quickly understand. On the UCAS official website, some questions are provided to help students complete the PS content:

·Why did you choose this course?

·What excites you about this topic?

·Is previous or current learning relevant to the course?

·Do you have any work experience that might be helpful to you?

·What life experiences can you talk about?

·What achievements are you proud of?

·What skills do you have to adapt to this course?

·What are your plans and ambitions for your future career?

Map source UCAS

Students can answer the above questions in a detailed and appropriate way, and highlight their own advantages in combination with their own actual situation. While clearly expressing your ideas, don't forget to show your enthusiasm for your profession.

■ Ending: Impression

A good ending should continue to deepen the impression of the admissions officer on you, remember you and send you an offer.

You can review what you have written before, such as key skills, interests and experiences, and emphasize them again at the end. It should be noted that you should emphasize them in a more refined way, rather than simply repeating them.

In addition, looking forward to the future is also an optimistic way to end. If you have a broad understanding of your career path, or relevant life ambitions you want to achieve, and how this course will help you achieve these goals, you can also end by talking about the future.

Different from the college entrance exam composition, it may be a bonus to quote famous quotes in the college entrance exam composition, but in PS, try to avoid quoting famous quotes and talk more about the content related to yourself.

These are some writing routines about PS, which may help you open your mind when you have no way to write. Although the term "routine" is used in Natural Light Art, "sincerity is the must kill skill" in PS writing, the important thing is to show the admissions officer a real and specific you!

Is the University of Iowa a world-class university?

This article belongs to the original article of Natural Light International Art Education Team. Without permission, it cannot be reproduced commercially in any form. If it is found, it must be investigated for legal responsibility.