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Managing Your parents

7/21/2014

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Ahem.  An embarrassing topic.  Daddy wants you to be a lawyer.  Mummy has always dreamed of you fulfilling her thwarted desires.  Rushing to the gym, having competitive coffee mornings where she drones on and on about your achievements until you wish the ground would open up and swallow either her or you.  You only took History to please your father.  Your much prefer English, but spend all your spare time either playing the guitar or practising spoken Spanish with that lovely boy from Madrid.

Back in your world, you'd like to study music, after maybe a gap year travelling in South America, perfecting your Spanish.  Music and Spanish maybe?  Spanish with Music on the side?  

It can be hard to tell your parents where to get off.  Maybe the whole issue of student funding might help you: remind them that though you are grateful for any support they may be prepared to give you, the tuition fees you are likely to be paying if you are UK resident are taken off your tax bill, not theirs.  It's your life, and your job prospects are much better if you get a first class honours degree in Art or Music because you love the subject, than if you get a 3rd or drop out from Law because you hate every minute of it.  

What's more, some of the best lawyers took a first degree in something completely different anyway.  

We trail round the country going to careers conferences, listening to what employers actually want.  Creativity, design ability, enthusiasm, excellent communication skills are highly prized.  Office drones, the merely mindlessly industrious are not going to cut it any more.   

Do what you love, what you're good at and if you're being berated by anxious parents about 'doing something with good job prospects', point them in the direction of Chapter 3 of our book, How to Get Into University, available free on iTunes.  

And do remember, your parents only want the best for you really.  All kinds of funny things go through parents' heads: they try to live through you; they subconsciously do the same things to you that their parents did to them, even though they always swore not to; they worry about finance and try to protect you from the struggles they have faced, but in the end, it's your life and you have to live it.  Go for it.  
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PERSONAL STATEMENT

7/14/2014

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Have you started writing it yet??  If not, why not?  

Make sure you sign up on our home page for free advice and get: 

GET ME INTO UNI - The Book, on iTunes or pdf - free.  And me holding your hand through every stage of the writing process for a week.  

What are you waiting for?  

SIGN UP HERE!


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Write like Hemmingway

7/13/2014

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Cut the pretentious drivel gleaned from a thesaurus.  Try this tool I just came across: 

http://www.hemingwayapp.com

Just paste your draft in, and take a look at what gets highlighted.  It might help.  
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Get me into Uni the book is now available

4/11/2014

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Yes, it's been longer than anticipated, but finally it is available.  

FREE.  £0.00.  Nothing to pay.  

Everything you need to know to get the university place you want.  Get it on iTunes.  

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Time to start planning your application

5/31/2013

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Yes, it's that time of year again: UCAS 2014 applications will go live before the end of June, and most schools worth their salt will be getting candidates registered and planning their personal statements as soon as the AS exams are over.  

Give yourself a few days to recover and celebrate when you're done with exams, but then start thinking seriously about your application: 

  • open days - where can you go before the end of term?
  • check the UCAS and university websites for grade requirements and course descriptions
  • talk to your teachers - what's their best guess at a predicted grade for A2 or whatever exam you are taking?  You need this information if you are going to make informed decisions about your target unis.
  • plan your Personal Statement - make sure you've downloaded our free planning guide boy registering on our home page and contact us for help sooner rather than later!  September is our busiest time of year, so get to us in August if you can.  
  • Register online for admissions tests (UKCAT or LNAT) or ask your school to be ready to register you for BMAT and other Cambridge assessments required for Oxford and other elite university entrance
  • Going to be interviewed?  Make sure you know what to expect.


There's lots you can do now to get a head start on other candidates and give yourself the best chance of success.  Get advice sooner rather than later.  
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Getmeintouni - the Book!

12/17/2012

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Coming soon…

Our interactive book, entitled 'How to get into University - A complete guide to UK university applications, including a personal statement planner and video tutorials' will be available in iBooks in the New Year.  Watch this space for news and previews of the material.  Join our mailing list to get advance notification of publication. 

It will be packed with advice to take you through the whole UCAS process, and quick and easy-to-watch videos to guide you through the labyrinth of UCAS terminology. 

Recommended reading for anyone in Year 11 or 12 (5th Form or 6th Form) who wants to go to uni.  Tell your parents to get it as well - there's plenty of advice for them too!

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Personal statement for sale: is the current system fair?

12/12/2012

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Article on the iniquities of the current system in today's Telegraph: 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/student-life/9737039/Personal-statement-for-sale-is-the-current-system-fair.html?dm_i=14DE,13WBO,5PB90J,3GXRX,1

Our comment: 
'Admissions tutors clearly do see through Personal Statements that are 'the work of more than one mind' to use the phrase of an Oxford admissions tutor we spoke to: to a certain extent it is expected, but a pre-fabricated response is certainly dangerous and will be caught out by UCAS similarity detection software.  What the independent sector offers, or should offer, is tailored guidance on not just the Personal Statement, but the whole application: where to apply with a particular set of predictions, how to balance the academic and extra-curricular in the statement in relation to particular universities, how to demonstrate proper reflection on work experience, whatever the experience may be, rather than simply listing 'stuff I have done', how to find the right course and university and appropriate insurance choices if things go wrong on results day.  I work in an independent school where we go out of our way to give the best quality advice, which might very well be not what the candidate or their parents want to hear.  We also get a lot of pupils from other schools (sometimes other independent schools) who are not offered the same level of support - but it is support with the whole process, and definitely not a Personal Statement writing service.  In fact we've just sent back a statement that was clearly written by someone else.'
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Most over-used opening lines in the Personal Statement

11/23/2012

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We know…writing the Personal Statement is hard, and maybe starting in a punchy way is the hardest thing of all.  It might help to know what others tend to use - try to be a little bit original, but also just try to keep it authentic: don't use long words and be something you aren't: speak from the heart about why you actually want to study the subject.  Remember that you are applying for a job: the job of being a really good student for some of the top academics in the country who absolutely love their subjects.  Having said that, there are some seriously stale phrases that just make Admissions tutors yawn.  Here are some from an article in the Telegraph (full article here) that draws on material provided by UCAS itself: 

Top 10 most overused personal statement opening sentences

1. I am currently studying a BTEC National Diploma in ... (used 464 times)

2. From a young age I have always been interested in ... (309 times)

3. From an early age I have always been interested in ... (292 times)

4. Nursing is a very challenging and demanding career ... (275 times)

5. For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated with ... (196 times)

6. "Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only” ... (189 times)

7. Nursing is a profession I have always looked upon with ... (178 times)

8. For as long as I can remember I have been interested in ... (166 times)

9. I am an International Academy student and have been studying since ... (141 times)

10. Academically, I have always been a very determined and ... (138 times)



Reproduced from the 'Ucas Guide to Getting into University and College' with permission of Ucas - available from www.ucasbooks.co.uk

Need help with polishing your PS?  
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