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:
Always volunteer for any presentations in your class, and plan and deliver them brilliantly.
- Keep a diary of your presentation topics. If it’s compulsory, you should again record what you presented on
- If there are any optional visits or trips (or optional anything), go on them and note it in your diary
- If there are any optional projects linked to your subject – volunteer for them!
- Does your subject have a club linked to it? Computing club? Science club? Film club (for English or French)? If it does, join it, if not, ask your teacher if you can start one and get some friends to join
- Are there any opportunities to help teach or mentor younger students at your school? If so, take them, if not suggest this to your teacher
- Always be enthusiastic in class – you need to stand out from the 300+ students your teacher teaches every week
- You find out that a famous person/speaker linked to your subject is visiting your city – ask if you can organise a group of your colleagues to listen to them (if no one’s interested, go yourself!) – then ask your teacher if you can deliver a presentation to your class on it
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:
What fascinated you about it and why
- What new insights it gave you – how it changed your understanding of a topic or the subject as a whole
- What it encouraged you to do, e.g. explore a new topic (and how you did this)
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?
Shadowing an architect
Construction projects
- Conservation of old buildings
- Anything linked to arts and crafts
Volunteer at an art museum
Any laboratory experience
Horticulture/agriculture/aquiculture
Any experience at all with any business
Marketing or fundraising for an NGO
Please note: chemistry placements are very hard to get in any country and have relatively little impact on your application.
Pharmacy/pharmaceutical manufacture
Any laboratory experience
Software design
Fixing hardware
Any experience in a business which significantly uses information technology
Teaching on computing camps
Cultural museums (anthropology)
Social work
Market research
NGOs working with under privileged groups in society
Helping with an election campaign (local or national)
Banks
Stock exchange
Business advisors
Anything linked to your national bank/treasury
Shadowing an engineer
Anything in construction projects (civil engineering)
Anything at any airport (aeronautical engineering)
Anything at a manufacturing business
Installation of electro-mechanical devices
Anything linked to the repair and maintenance of machinery
Conservation related volunteering
Rural tourism
Mountain guiding
Involvement in local/national environmental pressure groups
Shadowing doctors or other healthcare professionals
Volunteering for the Red Cross, a hospice, with handicapped children or adults, old people
Pathology laboratory experience
A pharmacy
Volunteering in a museum or acting as a guide in your town or city
Involvement in any archaeological digs
Conservation of old buildings
Hotel work where you are using your languages
Any tourism experience at all where you are using your languages
Translation work
Shadowing a lawyer
Working in a court
Any work relating to insurance or assurance (pensions)
Banking
Stock exchange (with a focus on trading)
TV production company
Newspaper
Anything linked to advertising
Being an ‘extra’ on a movie set
Doing anything on a movie set
The research department of any company
Laboratory work in a university physics department or research facility (in your country or elsewhere)
Engineering – especially materials, electronic or aerospace
Observatory voluntary work
Helping with an election campaign (local or national)
Shadowing a politician
Involvement in a pressure group in which you are trying to influence public opinion
Any form of teaching
Any work with young children
Hospital psychiatry department
Any work with mentally disabled adults or children
Any work with old people
Market research
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:
The actions the person did
The skills/knowledge they used
How they dealt with clients, patients, subordinates etc
What the shadowing taught you about their job/their profession
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:
Being head of your class
Being in a school sports team
Helping organise any school activity, from your High School Prom to collecting litter
Drama or debating club
School newspaper
Film, computer, photography or maths club
Being a member of any club or group at or linked to your school
Supporting any pressure group linked to your school
Involvement in any NGOs
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.
Do them because you enjoy them (or even better, are passionate about them)
Do them because you believe in making a difference in your school and community
Do them to stretch yourself and place yourself firmly outside your comfort zone
Drama or debating club
School newspaper
Film, computer, photography or maths club
Being a member of any club or group at or linked to your school
Supporting any pressure group linked to your school
Involvement in any NGOs
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.
Communication
Problem solving
Organisation/planning skills
Time management/working to tight deadlines
Responsability
Initiative
Diplomacy/social skills (often linked to representing your colleagues to teachers)
Determination
Self-discipline
Self-confidence
Patience
Willingness to learn and adapt
Presentation/public speaking
Listening to and responding to the needs of others
Leadership
Numeracy (often linked to handling money)
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.