Personal statement questions

Dunne_bkill

Hello,

Im applying as a mature student this year and Ive got a couple of quick questions about the personal statement which I am send as part of my application.

Should the personal statment be written in a letter form? for example 'to whom it may concern' 'yours sincerely' etc. ?

When posting it says 'clearly mark your CAO number on posted documents'. By 'mark' does it mean to type the name and CAO number or write it on the top corner for example?

Upon postal, do I just get an evidence of posting stamp on the back of my CAO handbook?



Thanks to anyone who could help.

paperclip2

Most statements are written in essay style rather than letter and can be about a page to a page and a half.

You can write the CAO number, name and DOB on the documents to be sent.

When sending anything to CAO get one of the certs of postage on the handbook stamped in the post office.

Abby19

If you are typing your statement I would suggest you put your name and CAO number in the header and if you run over a page, then number is as 'Page x of y' in the footer, especially in case they get separated. And essay format afaik. That's what I did anyway.

amtw

I did my personal statement as a "To whom it may concern" letter. I put my CAO number in as a header and I kept it to one page. I don't think it matters if you do it as a letter or an essay so long as you show that you are capable of taking on a 3rd level degree.
Best of luck to you going to college was the one of the greatest experiences of my life.

Dunne_bkill

Thanks very much for the help guys, appreciate it.

Tying up some loose ends on my appllication and this was most helpful.

Jack Skellington

Hey just thought I'd ask this here but when it comes to the Trinity online application with regard to the personal statement would you be worried if you didn't reach the max word counts?

I feel like I've said what I need to say and made good points about my interest in the course but it's a little short of the max (though not recommended) word count.

Probably just fretting over nothing, but I think if Ikeep adding more I'll just be waffling a bit.

ktthompson2013

Dunne bkill...

On the note of postal evidence, I applied this years and was advised by the Mature Students Officer in UCC to send it by registered post and keep the receipt safe..

Doyler01

Hey everyone,

I had intended to just apply 100% online, but I have only now noticed that its a 1000 character limit and not a 1000 word limit online..

If I send off my personal statement in the post tomorrow it will not arrive before the deadline.

Will it matter that the personal statement is barely late? My Cao is completed otherwise.


I'm unsure now if I should just trim down a small statement to 1000 characters and mail off my complete personal statement.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

*edit
I received an email from CAO stating that I have 7 days for them to receive it so I guess i'm actually ok, can anyone confirm this?

QWERTYX

Doyler01 wrote: »

Hey everyone,

I had intended to just apply 100% online, but I have only now noticed that its a 1000 character limit and not a 1000 word limit online..

If I send off my personal statement in the post tomorrow it will not arrive before the deadline.

Will it matter that the personal statement is barely late? My Cao is completed otherwise.


I'm unsure now if I should just trim down a small statement to 1000 characters and mail off my complete personal statement.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

I don't know. It is REALLY up to you. You could leave a your last few characters explaining you are sending in the rest. And post it tomorrow apologising profusely. You still have most of your application done. As I say, tough call. Your call.

If it were me, at 9 minutes to 1st Feb. I'd probably do the above. You could be alright. Good luck.

Your call.

QWERTYX

Doyler01 wrote: »

*edit
I received an email from CAO stating that I have 7 days for them to receive it so I guess i'm actually ok, can anyone confirm this?

Just seeing your edit. You should be OK. Get on it it now and get it away registered on Monday morning. Or tomorrow.

Doyler01

QWERTYX wrote: »

Just seeing your edit. You should be OK. Get on it it now and get it away registered on Monday morning. Or tomorrow.

Yeah will do, thanks a lot!

QWERTYX

Doyler01 wrote: »

Yeah will do, thanks a lot!

Oh don't thank me just yet. Just in case I'm wrong. I haven't a clue to be honest. It probably is your best bet though. Hope everything runs smoothly for you.

tracert

Doyler01 wrote: »

I had intended to just apply 100% online, but I have only now noticed that its a 1000 character limit and not a 1000 word limit online..

Jaysus, I just realised the same thing! What good is 1000 characters?

I'm going to send mine in by registered post in the morning and contac the CAO and the Mature Office at the college I'm applying to on Monday and hope for the best.

Hope it works out for you!

studentforever

If you exceed the 1000 character limit, you can just write 'see supporting documentation'. Send in what you have and make damn sure you register it!

Has anyone applied for TCD and got an email saying the deadline is the 3rd when the website says the 1st? I don't know whether to trust it or not...

Doyler01

tracert wrote: »

Jaysus, I just realised the same thing! What good is 1000 characters?

I'm going to send mine in by registered post in the morning and contac the CAO and the Mature Office at the college I'm applying to on Monday and hope for the best.

Hope it works out for you!

Sounds like a plan, I'l be doing the same thing!!

All the best.