Personal Statements Explained

🎙️ New Podcast Alert! Stay tuned for expert tips on writing your personal statement. Marcus and Siam discuss what not to do, super-curricular activities, the MyCambridge application form, and much more!00:00 Introductions1:00 What are personal statements?3:00 Cambridge and Oxford have an earlier date for personal statement submission 4:30 What kind of things should you include in your personal statement? 07:00 Should students avoid writing about cliched interests over niche interests? 11:00 What things should students not do in a personal statement?14:00 How do we use the personal statement during assessment? 15:30 Will your personal statement come up during an interview? 19:00 Including topics that are not covered in your syllabus 20:25 What are super-curricular activities? And how are they different to extra-curricular activities? 27:30 Being found out during your interview 30:30 Should the personal statement be structured in a specific way? 33:00 Should the personal statement be academic based?34:40 Should personal statements be written in a particular style? 37:10 What’s the My Cambridge Application? 46:30 Do Personal Statements get too much attention compared to the rest of the admissions process? 48:00 Prioritising exam preparation over personal statement prep51:30 Personal Statements are changing from 2025/2026 application year and onwards