The perfect Ucas form
Over the next few months more than 400,000 people will apply to university. How can you make your application stand out from the crowd? Alice Tarleton has the answers
· Alice Tarleton
· The Guardian,Tuesday 23 September 2003 11.45 BST
Spare a thought for the poor admissions tutor. The piles of Ucas forms are starting to flood in. Desks are filled with papers, phones don't stop ringing, and it will only become more hectic as the deadline approaches. This isn't a tribute to admissions staff - if you're pondering over your Ucas form at the moment, it's imperative to consider the desk on which it will eventually land. You need to convince the tutor both that you've got what it takes to go to his or her university, and that you are better than anyone else who might be competing for your place. Your qualifications, personal statement and reference are the big three that can make or break your application.
Get personal
The personal statement is the item over which you have the most leverage. "Admissions tutors place a lot of importance on the personal statement, but are often disappointed to find them remarkably impersonal," says Eluned Parrott, schools and colleges liaison manager at Cardiff University. "It is tempting to offer applicants a formula for the personal statement, but we can tell if a statement has been over-coached. Sometimes students from the same school have all been told how to do the personal statement, and it shows. We are looking for signs of life, which can be quite a rarity."
To put in a strong, confident application, you need to know which course you want to study, and at which universities. Having a grasp of what you are letting yourself in for academically not only reduces the risk of three years doing something you hate - it is also one of the best ways to impress the university. Remember you are trying to convince academic staff that you are a suitable new recruit to the subject to which they have devoted their working life.
"We want to know why you are choosing to do the courses that you are, the background to your interests, and your interests in current studies. For example, if there's a particular topic that's driven you to choose this course, then it's worth talking about why it interests you," says Amanda Bennett, Brunel's schools and colleges liaison officer. "Don't make it too waffly, but say a bit more than just 'I enjoy doing this'; give an example or a reason."
While you want to stand out from the rest of the pile, tutors stress that trekking the Himalayas, playing three instruments, and captaining the basketball team are not obligatory to beat the competition. "We prefer people who want to concentrate on one or two activities," says Jane Minto, director of admissions at Oxford University. "This notion that you have to have a list of the 55 things you have done since you were five and a half just isn't the case.
"We are not just looking for people who do very well, but who show a sustained commitment to study. We are also careful, as we know not everyone has had the same opportunities. You could have just been to one place or done one thing, but if you can write intelligently about why that has enthused and inspired you, it's far more useful than a list of all the holidays you've been on."
Get serious
It does no harm to mention relevant work experience or degree-linked career aspirations, but not at the expense of your academic credentials. As a rule of thumb, the more vocational the course, the more you need to emphasise your commitment to and interest in the profession; conversely, the more academic the discipline, the more tutors are going to want to know why you want to spend three years reading about it in the library. Applicants for business, law or teaching can show their knowledge of their subject through both reading and work experience; this is vital for medical courses.
Skills you have learnt in work can also strengthen your standing: "Admissions tutors are looking for a level of maturity and responsibility, partly as an indication of how well they might cope in a new environment," says Bennett. "They are looking for someone who will contribute to the university as a whole. That you've held down a part-time job can show some time management skills, or you could emphasise positions of responsibility you've held."
But don't get so caught up in trying to be the life and soul of the campus that you forget to emphasise why you want to study further. "A bit naïvely, we like all our students to like reading, so it's important to say what, whether newspapers, or novels, or biographies," says Minto. "It's also very important to tell people why: it's not going to be massively impressive to give a list of titles you've read without saying why they interest you or what you've learnt from them."
Unusual interests and strong achievements can make you memorable, but while a lively, enthusiastic statement is a good thing, don't try too hard to amuse. Attempts at poetry or puns are probably best avoided. "You don't want to be too wacky," says Parrott. "It's making the assumption that tutors have a sense of humour: they may do, or they may not. You just don't know who's going to be reading your form." Remember also that, while tutors are experts in their academic fields, it doesn't mean they know your hobbies back to front.
Choose carefully
Looking at the courses in detail is a good starting point - you want something that you won't mind getting up for each morning. University prospectuses and individual departments should provide fairly detailed information on what you will learn. If you're feeling baffled by some of the degree-level jargon or technical language involved, don't be scared to ask admissions staff to explain. If you are keen to spend time abroad, or take a sandwich year in industry, then check whether this is on offer. And don't forget the basics such as teaching and assessment methods, and library and computer facilities.
You are allowed to apply for different courses at the same university; medicine, dentistry and veterinary science applicants can only choose this subject for four out of the six options. Universities no longer see for what and where else you have applied, but it's worth being sure about your subject: it would be tricky to write a convincing personal statement if you are applying for disparate courses.
While you don't want to rush, the earlier your form arrives, the better. The Ucas deadline is January 15, or October 15 for students applying to Oxford or Cambridge. Forms are sent on to universities as soon as they are received, and it might be harder to impress a tutor who has seen hundreds of good applicants already.
That's not to say you should scurry off to do it right now. "It really isn't something you can do in an evening," says Miriam Clift, admissions registrar at Northumbria University. "It's three years of your life: not something to be taken lightly. It's not as rare as you might think to change your mind once you've applied. But we do recommend that people try to be sure when they submit the form: the university may look at a late application, but there are no guarantees, and places may already be filling up. It reduces your chances."
As well as choosing a course, you need to choose where you want to study it. University prospectuses contain information about the grades they expect you to get, and any particular A-level subject requirements. Be realistic about what you are likely to achieve. "If courses have high tariff points, that doesn't necessarily reflect the difficulty, but the popularity," says Bennett. "But if someone's asking for three As and they'll get three Cs, then they've wasted a choice."
You may have fixed ideas about being in or near a particular area of the country, or whether you want a big or a small institution. If you've not already done so, draw up a checklist of things you want from a university - cheap sports facilities, city or campus location, first-year accommodation guaranteed - and see how they match up. Try to visit as many as possible: attending an open day, especially in term-time, can really give you a feel of what a university is like.
Take time over the basics
The first page of the form might seem pretty straightforward, but it's still advisable to take care. Don't write today's date where your date of birth should be - the rest of the form will reveal you are a sloppy adult rather than a young prodigy. The wrong course codes can wreak administrative havoc, and omitting to tick the deferred entry box if you plan on taking a gap year can cause real headaches for universities trying to sort out their student numbers. Whether you are applying electronically or on paper, take care over spelling and grammar.
Don't rely on a spellchecker: it won't pick up on the difference between organic chemistry and orgasmic chemistry. Slips like this might make your application stand out, but probably not quite in the way you were hoping for. Expect to do at least four or five drafts, and show them to friends and family. Handwritten and word-processed forms are both acceptable, though if you are handwriting, be sure your writing is neat enough to sustain being shrunk to half its size: Ucas reduces forms before sending them to universities. Try to use all the personal statement space available: some statements are only two or three lines, which suggests you don't have very much to say about yourself.
Don't lie
And finally, don't lie. It will come back to haunt you. Universities may require proof of your qualifications when you enrol. Tutors are practised at picking up discrepancies between personal statement boasts and references, and you should never ever write down anything you aren't prepared to discuss if called for interview.
This is your life, girls
For the year 13 students at Highbury sixth form in north London, the long hot summer is a distant past. They are eight months away from the A2 exams and the workload is increasing. And there's a little matter of their futures - that Ucas form - to sort out.
"This could be one of the most important decisions I have to make. If I pick the wrong one and feel unhappy when I get there, it could be like a three-year jail sentence," says Sarah Glancy, a student at Highbury. More than 400,000 students will do the same thing over the next few months. They are weighing up a string of factors: likely chance of success, course, location and reputation. "It is better to get a poor degree from an established university than a good degree from a newer one because of the reputations involved," says Salma Khatun.
Rare research into how students choose a university, by researchers working at Liverpool John Moores University and Liverpool University, and published in the Journal of Further and Higher Education, suggests most students do not think like Salma - or, at least, they say they don't. When 674 students were asked which was the most important of three factors in their decision, 46.5% said course content, 30% university reputation and 25% location. This suggests universities need to emphasise the detailed structure and composition of their courses more than they have in the past. More than two-thirds of the sample felt there was little difference between old and new universities and the majority would apply to any university if they thought the courses on offer were relevant to them.
The researchers found that pupils with more qualifications relied upon parents instead of their teachers for advice. Two-thirds of students had made their decision to go to university before June in the lower sixth. Those who made the decision from September onwards in the upper sixth were less likely to be influenced by their parents and relied more on teachers and careers officers for advice.
There was some evidence of a gender divide. Boys were more likely to take parents' rather than teachers' advice into account; boys found it easier to make their choices than girls; girls were more anxious about not settling into university life, while boys were more worried about "messing up their whole futures".
Self-motivation was the greatest influence on the decision to go to university in the first place, although parents were the next important influence. "Parents need their own 'parent prospectus' prior to attending open days with their offspring," the Liverpool team says.