Strengthening Your Application
23 UK universities have seven or above applicants competing for each place. While Our Finding Your Future Support package provides our clients with an individual action plan, we would like to offer some general advice on increasing your chances of being accepted by a prestigious university.
What do we mean by ‘strengthening’?
We define strengthening’ as any activities which you and your referee can use to emphasize
- (a) your commitment to your chosen subject(s)
- (b) your academic ability and
- (c) the skills and attributes you possess that make you suitable for your chosen course.
When can I start this?
UK Year 12 (Year 11 in other school systems) or even UK Year 8 is ideal. However, the final year of school might not be too late as long as you are prepared to leave sending your application until the end of December.
Here are some general rules to get you started
1 SHINING IN YOUR SUBJECT IN SCHOOL
Imagine this
You want to study physics at university in the UK. You will have to write around 3-4 sentences about studying this subject at school in your Personal Statement. You are a good student with a good class grades.
BUT all you’ve done for the last 4 years is attended classes, completed homework and taken tests.
Full stop – that’s it.
This isn’t enough!
Here are some ideas:
2 EXTRA READING
Why should I do it?
This shows that you have gone beyond the curriculum – something which you must prove for entry to the top universities.
It also shows that you have a real passion for the subject and can demonstrate your intellect when you describe what you’ve leant from a book.
How should I read?
When you read a book write down in a notebook:
Few of these books are big heavy textbooks. Most are very interesting, some are even funny.
Believe it or not, many of these are from Oxford and Cambridge reading lists. They are designed to get you excited about a subject and find out what areas you enjoy most.
Occasionally, some students discover they don’t like a subject when they start reading about it in depth – this can be painful, but it is much better than finding this out at university.
Comprehensive reading lists for each subject are included in our Find Your Future support package.
3 WORK EXPERIENCE
Why should I do it?
Again, it demonstrates commitment to and understanding of a subject and can help you stand out from other applicants.
It also shows that you possess important generic skills such as team working, adaptability, problem solving, communication skills, initiative, working under pressure and to tight deadlines.
Is it important for all subjects?
We would say many but not all. It depends what you do and what you learn from it.
For medicine, dentistry, veterinary science and architecture it is nearly always essential. For engineering, business related degrees, media studies and biomedical sciences it can be make a significant different to your chances of being accepted by top universities.
Even if you are applying for non-vocational subjects such as maths or sociology, work experience can demonstrate the vital generic skills but it is very unlikely that it will make a critical difference to your application.
How long does it need to be for?
We would say for at least a week. This could be in one block during a vacation or spread over a longer period.
Does it need to be paid?
No. Unpaid internships and volunteer work are equally valuable.
What type of experience is best for my subject?
What should I do while I’m on the placement?
A good answer would be anything.
At one end of the spectrum, ‘shadowing’ someone can very useful especially for medicine, veterinary science and law. It is vital that you keep a diary each day and record:
Any practical activities you can do, no matter how simple, are usually very useful. Again, keep a dairy and record both what you learnt from doing them and what you learnt about the profession in general.
Obviously, being given responsibility or assisting with important events (such as helping at a conference or a product launch) can look very good in your Personal Statement but, as always, you need to be able to say what you learnt from it.
Do I need a letter or a certificate to prove I did it?
No. UK universities will assume you are telling the truth about your work experience.
However, making something up is very dangerous. With interviews becoming more common, you might be asked detailed questions on the organisation you worked with and what you learnt from it.
Would work experience abroad be useful?
Definitely. If it’s in an English-speaking country you will also improve your communication skills and cultural awareness.
Albion International Study is an official representative for The Training Partnership Ltd. which organises internships in South Devon in the UK.
4 EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
We’re talking about quite a broad meaning of ‘extracurricular’. Here are just a few of the activities that fit our definition:
If you find out your school doesn’t offer much in the direction of extracurricular activities, be a leader, have initiative and create one yourself!
One more thing
The myth is that the more extracurricular activities you have done, the greater the chance to receive offers.
The reality is that extracurricular activities strengthen an application if they can be related to the course you wish to study.
Are they worth doing then?
Definitely! But please forget about doing lots of activities just to try and impress admissions tutors.
If you do them for these reasons, you are likely to be able to write an effective section about them in your personal statement.
Skills and qualities that most admission tutors look for
Aim to develop 2 or 3 of these (linked to your course) for 1 to 3 extracurricular activities.
5 COMPETITIONS
Generally, British universities love academic competitions.
Why?
One reason would be that they are less common in the UK – we don’t have a real equivalent of the local and regional Olympiad in academic subjects.
The Oxford and Cambridge admissions tutors we’ve met openly admit they can be decisive in applications. They also show commitment to a subject and ‘going beyond the curriculum’ along with all the usual generic skills such as performing under pressure and (in some cases) team work.
There is also nothing wrong – and a lot right – in admitting that you are a competitive person and thoroughly enjoy these events.
Which ones?
It depends on what subject you are applying for.
With the academic subjects, especially maths and the sciences, the Olympiads or similar national contests,are the one to go for, especially if you are applying to Oxbridge or other elite universities. Success in the English national obviously helps to demonstrate your ability in this language.
On-line completions, such as Codeforces can be strengthen Computer Science applications.
Other academic competitions are also useful. English Public speaking and debating competitions can strengthen any applicant’s application.
Drama competitions have made a critical difference to students applying for both drama(theatre) studies and film studies.