I applied through the UCAS system in 2019 and matriculated in October 2020, so some of my advice and experience may no longer be relevant. If you want to see what I have to say regarding my own experience, it’s after this line.
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Starting
When you first create a UCAS account for whichever year you are applying for, you are required to register with your high school, so make sure you speak to your university counsellor about it. Every high school has a unique “buzzword”, and your reference for your UCAS must be sent via the school, so this step is crucial.
Reference
Ensure that you have a good working relationship with your referee. Keep them updated on any achievements or work you have completed.
It is normal to pick a referee in your favourite subject, but it is often better to pick a referee whose subject is relevant to your course. For instance, if you want to study Geography at university, you should get your Geography teacher and not your Physics teacher to write your reference.
Grades and subjects
Depending on the year of your application, you must either apply with predicted grades or your actual grades if you have already received them. Check the websites of the universities you are interested in and the course(s) you are interested in.
Do not underestimate the importance of your subject combination.
If you do the IB, if a course such as Economics explicitly requires you to have HL Economics and/or HL Mathematics, not fulfilling the requirement(s) is an automatic rejection.
There’s a difference between the required subjects and recommended subjects. Many engineering programmes often recommend Further Mathematics, but it is still possible to obtain a place without it. However, it is usually impossible to get in if you do SL Mathematics.
If a course requires you to obtain certain grades, not getting these grades will again result in an automatic rejection. If you are applying with predicted grades, many universities often make you a conditional offer, with the condition being that you achieve certain grades for the real exam. The required grades could be anything from:
- Your total score out of 45
- Grades in one particular subject (e.g. 6 for SL Mathematics)
- Grades in your Higher Level subjects (e.g. 7,6,6 for your 3 HLs)
- A combination of the above
Personal statement
Like your grades, do not underestimate the importance of a good personal statement, especially the first paragraph, because first impressions last.
Other than checking for grammatical and spelling errors, do not start your personal statement with an overly generic sentence like “My interest in…” or “When I was young…” or “I want to study so-and-so because…”. There are many exemplary personal statements online. Mine can be found here.
You only get 4000 characters to write about why a university should pick you. It is not a lot, so only talk about relevant academic stuff.
Do you like listening to audiobooks? Great! Keep on doing it. It’ll hone your skills in communication and language.
Is it worth mentioning in your personal statement? Unless you’re doing a degree in literature, probably not.
Always link back to qualities desirable in academia or your course. Get a parent, friend, or teacher to proofread it and see if he or she actually enjoys reading your personal statement. It must reek of enthusiasm for the course.
I’ve done several UK interviews, and many of them start off with something you wrote in your personal statement. Prepare to be asked about your personal statement and anything that you have claimed to have done or read.
All that said, though, don’t put too much pressure on yourself for this. Universities take a holistic view of applicants, and this is just one of the many things they look at. Getting into a university is a confluence of factors that you may or may not have control over.
Interviews
Should you be called up for an interview, make sure you take time off (school, work, NS, etc) to do the interview. Get the required permission to go for it and/or change it to a date that suits you better if it is allowed. Do not be afraid to ask your university counsellor for advice when you are unsure. You may even email the university itself if you have any very specific questions.
Some universities, such as Oxford and Imperial, can conduct Skype interviews, so be prepared to do one (I personally did a Skype interview for Imperial).
I’ve only ever interviewed with Imperial and Cambridge for Engineering, and they have many similarities and differences.
Similarities:
- They can and will ask questions about your personal statement.
- There will be a question phase and a discussion phase, though not necessarily in that order.
- The questions and discussions are technical or based on something relevant to the course.
- Each interview lasts about 30 minutes or so.
Differences:
- Cambridge has 2 interviewers per interviewee and has 2 back-to-back interviews. Imperial has 1 interviewer per interviewee and just 1 interview.
- Cambridge interview questions tend to be more difficult, and you are not necessarily meant to know the answer as soon as the question is asked.
The best things to do for any interview are to stay calm and think carefully. The interviewers are usually very friendly and patient, and they would rather have a good answer than an immediate answer. Be formal, but don’t forget to smile once in a while!
Closing remarks
If you are curious to find out about Cambridge in particular, click here.
Good luck!
*For Singaporean guys
Here are some perks you guys have because of the fact you have to do NS:
- You can apply with your actual grades. Not only are these usually better than your predicted grades, but you don’t have to meet conditions regarding these grades.
- You have more free time to write your UCAS application and personal statement while you are in NS without having to study for IB as well.
- You essentially have two chances to apply to UK universities. For example, if you matriculate in 2023, you can either apply in the 2022 cycle with a one-year deferment and/or you can apply in the 2023 cycle (no deferment). The cycle simply means the year in which students matriculate; for the 2022 cycle, you need to start preparing your application in 2021.
Bear in mind that getting a two-year deferment is not easy, and it is usually not recommended. This is because universities don’t like to hold on to a spot you might potentially reject for such a long time.
Should you choose to apply the second time, all of the offers you received the first time will become invalid, and you will need to essentially restart the entire application process. Think carefully.
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