The process of applying to college or university differs in different countries. In the US, collage applications are as important as the SAT score. In the UK, it is important to write a strong personal statement in order to have a chance at your chosen college or university. For Hong Kong students who apply to colleges and universities all over the world, the process of college applications is a very important one.

As much has already been written about the US common applications and SATs, focus here will be given to the personal statement which is needed for the UK UCAS process.

Many students want to put as much as possible into their personal statements. All of the reasons for choosing the course or field of study, all of the exam results, prizes, achievements and awards that have filled a school career, all of the voluntary service opportunities and extra-curricular activities, in order to give the university admissions officer a good sense of what sort of person is applying for the course. But this often produces a personal statement that exceeds the word limit by a long way. Students then feel indignant that they must cut and edit some of their precious personal account in order to fit in with the requirements.

A more sensible approach is to ascertain the word requirements before starting – 4000 characters including spaces. Although not generous in length, keeping within this limit while still giving the admissions officer a feel for the individual often produces concise and tightly written statements.

Students also need to know something about the expected structure of the personal statement. Generally there are five paragraphs, dealing with the reasons for choosing this course, followed by academic credentials and why this makes the student well suited to the course. Then work experience and voluntary service relevant to the field of study, extra curricular activities which have contributed to the development of the student and finally back to the course and what the student hopes to gain from it.

With this structure in mind, and with some thoughtful input from a person with experience of personal statements, students should successfully negotiate this right of passage and end up with the university offer they were hoping for.

For more articles by ITS Tutorial School staff visit:

• Education related articles HK.
• Hong Kong Education news
• IELTS explained.
• HKDSE explained.
• UK Common Entrance explained.