Constructing my Personal Statement

What is a Personal Statement?

A Personal Statement for university is a key part of the UCAS application process, in this, you must write about your skills, experience and ambitions. This is in order to persuade your chosen universities that you are a good applicant and suitable to study on their course. Essentially it should show how your academic achievements, extracurricular activities and other relevant experience has made you interested in the specific course you have applied for. A Personal Statement for university should be no more than 4000 characters long according to UCAS.

What should you include in a Personal Statement?

Writing a good personal statement is a vital component if you want to be accepted onto your chosen course so if you want to sell yourself affectively, this is what you should include:

• Reasons for wanting to study on this course. You must be specific in detailing why you want to study on this course whilst also demonstrating enthusiasm by talking about what you like about the course, how your interest developed and how it would aid you in achieving your long term career goals.
• Why you're suitable for the course. In order to prove you fit the criteria of this course, you'll need to explain how your skills and experience are relevant by doing research and seeing what the course involves.
• How your current study is relevant. Make sure to talk about how your previous studies have taught you the skills needed to progress into the field of the subject you're applying for.
• Your hobbies and interests. Hobbies that are related to your chosen subject are a great way to show the university that you have an interest in the course they're providing.
• Your skills and achievements. Not only do you need to mention your skills and achievements but you must go into detail about how you got them. Providing examples of how you have used these skills is essential whether it be talking about how you developed your communication skills or how you worked in a team.
• Your work experience. Whether it is full time work, part time work, temporary placements or internships, work experience teaches you a range of practical skills. You should discuss how these skills are relevant to your course and how studying at university would help you land the career you want. 

My previous Personal Statement drafts

I have chosen to apply for Fashion Journalism at University as I have always been captivated by fashion since I can remember, being amazed by magazines and how they were made. One of my most vivid memories from being a child was picking up a magazine and admiring the layouts of all the pages, the photos, the articles etc then later imagining how I would design the magazine had I been taking my vision to paper by creating my own imaginary fashion magazine.

 This led me to making the decision to study Level 3 Creative Media at Sunderland College as I knew this would be a start to gaining an insight into the media industry. Previous to this, I chose to study photography at GCSE and based my project around fashion photography while studying at Seaham High School which furthered my interest in fashion and the Journalism industry. Therefore, I feel I am perfect for this course, because my previous studies have reflected my interests within the media and the journalism industry whilst focusing on my particular interest in fashion. After University I hope to pursue a career as either a fashion editor or a PR content manager which I could do with the help of this course.

I have developed many skills while studying Creative Media like an understanding of how films and tv shows are created and how websites are constructed whilst even designing my own website, creating my own documentary and short tv advert. This is relevant to studying fashion Journalism as being able to construct my own projects is a key element in being able to create my very own fashion website, magazine etc. I am currently working on a regional identity project in college for which I have decided to create a documentary. I have been able to incorporate a fashion element to my project as I am basing my documentary around the subject of how fashion has evolved in the Northeast of England with a focus on local and sustainable fashion brands. While studying creative media last year I created a documentary on how social media influenced politics which allowed me the opportunity to study journalists as well as journalism in its entirety, enlightening me to the fact I wanted to work in the Journalism industry. I overcame many struggles when completing this documentary in light of the covid pandemic and being thrown into lockdown however, I believe that these struggles only encouraged me to gain as many skills as I could on the few resources available to me, as I produced the project to the best of my ability and was proud of the documentary’s outcome.

I am currently working with The Cultural Spring as part of my college placement to gain work experience in the media industry. While working with The Cultural Spring I have wrote three Press Releases which has helped me gain invaluable journalism experience that I could incorporate to the projects I may create while studying this course. I have also designed promotional images and Instagram posts for them to help attract more people using the software canva, this has provided me with knowledge on how to use the programme for design purposes which I could apply while studying fashion journalism. Along with my placement at The Cultural Spring I also have a part time job working as matchday catering staff at the Stadium Of Light in Sunderland, my job role consists of counting stock, cleaning up and serving customers whilst dealing with any problems that may arise. I dedicate my time to making sure that the customers are satisfied with the service they are receiving.  

From doing this job I have developed many skills that would be key in studying fashion journalism like excellent communication skills that would aid me in developing good contacts with others in the industry.

All in all, I hope that I am able to push myself to the best of my creative ability while being surrounded by people with the same aspirations as me. I am excited to be given multiple opportunities within the media and journalism industry, also to be provided with the necessary experience needed for my future career. I believe this course will push me out of my comfort zone and allow me to experience new things and gain an understanding to the reality of the fashion journalism industry while being taught by industry professionals. Provided I have the opportunity to study this course at university I wish to fulfil my dream of working in fashion journalism.   

This was my first draft of my Personal Statement, I made sure I added all the key components that I  previously listed. However UCAS has a character limit of 4000 comments which I have exceeded by over 200 characters, because of this I have to edit and take out part of my first draft while making sure it still fits the criteria.

My final Personal Statement draft

I have chosen to apply for Fashion Journalism at University as I’ve always been captivated by fashion since I can remember, being amazed by magazines and how they were made. From being a child, I can remember picking up a magazine and admiring the layouts of all the pages, the photos, and articles then imagining how I would design the magazine had I been taking my vision to paper by creating my own imaginary fashion magazine.

 This led me to making the decision to study Level 3 Creative Media at Sunderland College as I knew this would be a start to gaining an insight into the media industry. Previous to this, I studied photography at GCSE and based my project around fashion photography while studying at Seaham High School, furthering my interest in fashion and the Journalism industry. I feel I am perfect for this course because my previous studies have reflected my interests within the media and the journalism industry whilst focusing on my particular interest in fashion. After University, I hope to pursue a career as either a fashion editor or a PR content manager which I could do with the help of this course.

I have developed many skills while studying Creative Media such as an understanding of how films and TV shows are created and how websites are constructed whilst even designing my own website, creating my own documentary and short TV advert. This is relevant to studying fashion journalism as being able to construct my own projects is a key element in being able to create my own fashion website, magazine etc. I am currently working on a regional identity project in college for which I have decided to create a documentary. I have been able to incorporate a fashion element to my project as I am basing my documentary around the subject of how fashion has evolved in the Northeast of England with a focus on local and sustainable fashion brands. While studying creative media last year I created a documentary on how social media influenced politics which allowed me the opportunity to study journalists as well as journalism in its entirety, enlightening me to the fact I wanted to work in the Journalism industry. I overcame many struggles when completing this documentary in light of the covid pandemic and being thrown into lockdown. However, I believe that these struggles only encouraged me to gain as many skills as I could on the few resources available to me, as I produced the project to the best of my ability and was proud of the documentary’s outcome.

Currently, I am working with The Cultural Spring as part of my college placement to gain work experience in the media industry. While working with The Cultural Spring I have wrote three Press Releases; one that has recently been published. This has helped me gain invaluable journalism experience that I could incorporate to the projects I may create while studying this course. I have also designed promotional images and Instagram posts to help them attract more people using the software Canva. This has provided me with knowledge on how to use the programme for design purposes which I could apply while studying fashion journalism.

All in all, I hope that I can push myself to the best of my creative ability while being surrounded by people with the same aspirations as me. I am excited to be given multiple opportunities within the media and journalism industry, and to be provided with the necessary experience for my future career. I believe this course will push me out of my comfort zone, allowing me to experience new things and gain an understanding to the reality of the fashion journalism industry while being taught by industry professionals. Provided I have the opportunity to study this course at university I wish to fulfil my dream of working in fashion journalism.   

This was my final Personal Statement draft that I submitted to UCAS and sent as part of my university application. I sent this draft to my tutor and received feedback on any changes I should make before submitting to UCAS, she informed me of a few minor grammatical changes to make but told me otherwise it was good to submit. I made sure that my personal statement fit the criteria by taking out a paragraph I felt was unnecessary and only held me from staying under the character count,