Uni Application Essay

so... i'm going to be hedging my bets and applying to do a law conversion course here in the UK.  it's amazing how little you have to do to apply... online application & essay

it says... "If you wish to include any further personal information e.g. relevant experience, reasons for choosing law, career aspirations, hobbies, interests etc. please include here.  1500 characters including spaces. "

that's a lot of info to put in 1500 words.  any words of wisdom about what they're looking for in this essay?

When we went to open days for my daughter and they discussed the "personal statement" part of applications they stressed that they want to know what draws you to the particular area of study. They said not to list everything that you do but to give a bit more information about specific things for example don't just say you love to read. Explain what you like to read and why.
Does that help at all?

Helena

When my daughter wrote hers she concentrated on how things she'd done related to what course she wanted to do, such as mentioning specific exhibits and museums she'd been to and places that she'd traveled.  As well as being from a multicultural family.  She also talked about books that were relevent to her interests.  And she talked about work experience and her job and what she'd learned from them. 

it says... "If you wish to include any further personal information e.g. relevant experience, reasons for choosing law, career aspirations, hobbies, interests etc. please include here.  1500 characters including spaces. "

that's a lot of info to put in 1500 words.  any words of wisdom about what they're looking for in this essay?

Notice that it says '1500 characters, including spaces', not 1500 words. 1500 characters (inc spaces) is more like 300 words - maybe 2 paragraphs or so, so you'll probably want to be as concise as possible.

I'd write maybe a couple of sentences on each point you want to make - e.g. previous experience and why law first, then career aspirations - where you want this qualification to take you - and finish off by including any other hobbies/interests that show you are a well-rounded person etc.

My wife should we hope be doing hers next January 09, and she has done her personal statement and is filling out all of the forms from September they help at the college she goes to and advise on it.

She is hoping to go to Warwick to do law, though she is actually doing a social work course at the moment but is not enjoying it as much as the law side.

I talked about what drew me to my field, and what experience and talents that I have that I can apply to what I'll be learning and my career - in my case experience with digital media and an interest to pursue those developments. Google statement of purpose, it sounds silly but it helps quite a lot...

...especially telling you how NOT to do it. I keep in mind for anything I apply to that these people will be going through hundreds of the same thing, so making it enjoyable and interesting while explaining a facet of your personality is important. Also kind of hard, but very worth it to show you're putting major effort into the application.

Also, I think you can upload your statement of purpose if it doesn't fit in the box. Mine was 1200 words, or so and I uploaded it as a .doc for all of my applications.

My SoP was very focused on what I wanted to research. It had a little background on why I was switching from English lit to TV Studies, and how my undergrad experience was relevant, but the bulk of it was demonstrating why my research ideas fit in with the work the professors at the university were doing.