Highlight your own human experience, alongside your appetite to understand the human experiences of other cultures, past and present. Keep it relevant and make sure it connects to the course you’re applying for.
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Think about why you want to study the subject
- Have you been inspired by someone, a news story, a documentary, or a podcast?
- Do you have career aspirations in this area of study?
- What interests you about the subject – be specific; rather than saying you enjoy it or are good at it, try to explain the ‘why’ behind your reasoning.
- What do you already know about the subject and what are you looking forward to learning more about?
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What makes you suitable to study the subject?
- Have you done projects or essays in this subject at school or college?
- Think about who you are as a person; your personality, your strengths, your experiences in life – how do these make you suited to study the subject?
- How have you shown an interest in the subject outside of school or college – have you done extra reading, online courses, been part of clubs or competitions?
- Your current subjects and grades will be included elsewhere in your application, so try to think about specific things you’ve learned during your studies that relate to the subject, rather than listing your grades and subjects.
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Look at the bigger picture
- Have you done any work experience, an internship or had a part-time job in this subject area or related? Most job or work experience will give you transferable skills, even if it’s in a different industry.
- Do you have any hobbies you can mention that might relate to your chosen subject? Many hobbies show that you can be motivated outside of school to achieve and succeed in something you’re interested in.
- Think about how your life and personal experiences have helped make you the person you are today, and how these challenges and experiences can support your application by evidencing essential qualities for certain subjects.
- If you’ve got ambitions and goals for your life and career, can you express how this subject will help you reach these goals?
Guidance and examples you can use
Question 1: Why do you want to study this course or subject?
This is your opportunity to showcase your passion and knowledge of your chosen subject area and to demonstrate to universities and colleges why it’s a good fit for you and your future ambitions.
Examples:
- Explain why you’re enthusiastic about this course and where that interest comes from. Maybe you’re fascinated by the current impact of the transatlantic slave trade, how humans communicate on social media, or how hierarchies work in businesses and organisations. Whatever it is, relate it to the course you’re applying for.
- Include examples of things you've read that have influenced your interest in this subject, and elaborate on one or two of them. Perhaps you’ve watched a documentary about Amazonian tribes, or read an article about primate behaviour and how it relates to 21st Century humans. Articulate how these made you want to study anthropology.
- If you know, write about your career aspirations, whether you want to work in user experience, public health or marketing. If you don’t know yet, don’t worry – you can still get across why your natural curiosity or analytical nature would make this degree a good fit for you.
Question 2: How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?
This is your chance to shout about the relevant or transferable skills you’ve gained from your formal education and highlight your understanding of how they will help you succeed in this subject area.
Examples:
- Think about what you’ve learned from the subjects you’ve studied that you can use during an anthropology degree. For example, you may have done fieldwork in geography, learned about different societies and cultures in politics or sociology, or gained good research and analytical skills in sciences, maths or economics.
- Think about other relevant skills you’ve picked up at school or college too, such as public speaking and presentation skills, good time management, and the ability to focus.
- You’ll have also learned things from supercurricular or extracurricular activities, whether that’s an awareness of different cultures, working well independently or as part of a team.
- Have you done any online courses to boost your knowledge in the subject? For example, why not try Subject Spotlights or Virtual Work Experiences from Springpod to grow your skills and interest?
Question 3: What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?
This is your chance to talk about any other activities you have undertaken outside of your formal education, or personal experiences which further demonstrate your suitability for the course. This section is likely to be highly personal to you and anything you do include should reflect on why you’re including it.
Examples:
- Think about part-time jobs or voluntary work you’ve done. For example, if you’ve worked in a cafe, restaurant, shop, or supermarket, you’ll have observed human behaviours and picked up good customer service and interpersonal skills.
- Similarly, if you play a team sport, you’ll know something about human behaviour and will have developed your communication and teamworking skills.
- You may also have hobbies that show certain attributes. If you enjoy reading, it can show you have patience, attention to detail, and an understanding of different people’s stories and backgrounds. You may love swimming or playing in a band or orchestra, all of which demonstrate a commitment to something you’re interested in.
- Do relate any examples back to the subject you’re applying to – make it relevant
- Do make it personal – admissions staff want to get to know who you are
- Do use a spell-checker and grammar-checker to ensure there are no errors
- Do ask people for feedback, whether that’s family members or teachers
- Do your research to find out what universities are looking for, and make sure you include evidence to show how you are suitable for the course
- Don’t just list out examples, subjects you study, or experiences you’ve had without any evidence
- Don’t copy something you’ve seen online or use AI to write something for you
- Don’t make things up just because you think they’ll make you look good on paper
- Don’t leave it until the last minute – you need time for several drafts
- Don’t worry about making each section the same length; as long as you hit the minimum character count, you can use the 4,000 characters across each answer in the way that suits you best
How to set yourself apart
The key to setting yourself apart in your application is to remember how important the ‘personal’ bit is to your personal statement. What makes you, you?
Give admissions tutors further insight into what makes you tick. If you love foreign films or documentaries, can you reflect on the differences you see in human behaviour and cultures compared to your own? If you’ve had a part-time job in a business or organisation, what did you learn about the culture there, how people interact, or even how managers approach conversations with their staff?
If there’s something relevant from your personal life, you can mention that too. For example, how does your experience compare to your peers who were brought up in a different environment to you? But don’t feel you need to reference your personal life if you don’t want to.
Think about the culture you consume, and what that has taught you about humans and anthropology. Perhaps you love Professor Alice Roberts, and can reference something you’ve learned from her television documentaries, or you follow David Olesuga on social media and he’s given you new insights into Black history.
Relate what you’re saying back to anything else you’ve read in, for example, Sapiens magazine, or Yuval Noah Harari’s book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Just try and make sure your references aren’t ones everyone else is going to use, and link your references back to why you’re excited to apply for this course.
Some more tips to consider
- Research the course: Why do you want to study anthropology, what specific aspects of the course interest you, how does it relate to your academic studies, and what additional reading or other activities have led you to apply?
- Make your work experience count: If you’ve work-shadowed at a marketing company, community organisation, museum, or educational establishment, that’s great, but make sure you also spell out exactly what you gained from it.
- Transferable skills: Brainstorm what skills you’ve picked up through extracurricular or supercurricular activities, work experience or a part-time job that are relevant to your course. Think outside the box – so you’ve played basketball; can you explain how that has given you interpersonal skills, self-motivation, and good time management?