Over the last couple of weeks we’ve put up a couple of posts here on our blog offering you pointers about things to be on the lookout for when visiting a university open day and the different types of university and what sort of people they tend to suit. All this is part of our greater plan to make sure that those of y’all who are applying to university in the next academic year will go into the task fully prepared once September rolls round.

However, moseying around university buildings and thinking about whether you’d like to study in a big city or on a rural campus is far from the only thing you need to do before you’ll be ready to apply for university.

There’s the small matter of deciding on what course or courses to apply for, though that’s something we’ll be leaving for another day. But there’s also the issue of making sure you’re ready to fire out an application that shows what a capable, enthusiastic and multipurpose individual you are.

You’ve guessed it, we’re talking about how to be ready to wow your university suitors with a personal statement that screams knowhow, skills and a can-do attitude. In about six months or so you’ll be required to write six hundred words (give or take) that talk not only about why you’re interested in the course you’ve applied for, but also what other personal qualities and interests you have.

It might seem like this is a problem to worry about when the time comes, but the fact is that if you can’t think of enough things you’d talk about to sell yourself right now, if you do nothing the chances are you’ll also be struggling to think of things to say. So the coming months are your chance to get some experiences under your belt that’ll arm you with material for when the time comes to write that statement.

Now, some people will argue that there’s no point in taking measures such as these. After all, they say, what’s the point of doing charity work if you’re applying to do business studies? The two are surely unrelated. Well, superficially that might seem to be the case, but really it’s an argument that misses the point about what a personal statement is about.

You see, with the exception of certain courses such as medicine, the exact activities that you do are not so much the important part; it’s the ability to articulately reflect on what you’ve learnt from them that those admissions tutors are looking for, along with a demonstration that you have a curiosity for the world around you that makes you put effort into things beyond the absolute minimum of what’s expected from you at school.

So put your skepticism on hold and start getting involved with some extracurricular activities. It doesn’t have to be anything that involves hours and hours of your time, and it needn’t be anything expensive. Here are a couple of suggestions to get you started:

– Get involved with a fundraising initiative for a local charity

– Do a short-term voluntary placement that involves looking after people

– Take up a new hobby or learn a new skill outside of school or college

– Arrange a summer work placement

– Start reading books and magazines or journals related to the subject that you want to study (because making up that you read stuff for the purposes of a personal statement is one of the oldest tricks in the book, and one that admissions tutors can see right through!) or attend some public lectures or talks related to the subject

In a later blog post we’ll discuss how to turn these little bursts of effort into persuasive personal statement paragraphs. But for now, just enjoy getting out there and helping people, earning some money or learning something new!