University Application

You could include that you're a queer and had alot of reason to get into philosophy due to that. And don't forget to threaten that you'll seek legal action due to discrimination if they don't accept you.

...

Okay, maybe that wasn't so helpful.
Sorry. It -really- were the first thoughts I had. Those are often silly.

 

It's for a philosophy, right?

Well, write the paper on why you should have to write the paper. It'll be clever, utilizing the subject itself, and allow you to be a sarcastic ass while being totally in line.

 

Think of anything that you have done in the past that demonstrates your 'passion' and 'enthusiasm' for the subject, and big it up as much as you can. Also, go on the universities' websites and find out exactly what it is that they're looking for, and play up to it.

 

Well, my PS started with about 4 lines outlining why the subjects are important, why I feel the need to study them and what impact they have on peoples' lives.

Then in the main body paras I dug into specific topics and debates within the subjects which I'd either read about through books or news and such like or which captured my interest, all the while explaining why they interested me, what I'd done to explore them, and a bit of what my (current) thoughts and stances on them were. Basically it was all about bringing up the issues within the subject that drew me towards them and providing some explanation on why that is and what I have done/intend to do about it. I'd say too much book- and name-dropping might well sound pretentious, but a little certainly can't hurt.

Final couple of paras was the simple selling myself bit; achievements, experiences, why I'm suited to the degree, yada yada yada. I finished by coming back to precisely why the subjects interest me and what I can bring to the table with regard to them.

Finally, one of the best tips I was given by an admissions tutor was: read over your personal statement and every time you mention the name of the subject or a keyword relating to it, substitute in a random word like basketball. If the sentence still makes perfect sense, it's too generic and you need to go back to the drawing board.

I'm sure you'll be fine

 

The personal statement has to also tell them about yourself, who you are and why you want to do the course.

Since philosophy can link to LGBTQQA stuff you can always talk about stuff you have done about it in the past and why it makes philosophy relevant and interesting to yourself. I don't know about Philosophy but for my one for Engineering I was fairly safe and generic, I just explained why I want to study it, why I want to work in aviation, my interests and future plans. Thats all I needed to get 6 offers!

 

Your personal statement should include some of these things.

Your strength's - uni will want to know you are not just committed but also equipped to handle the course applied for.
Why you want to study the subject at uni i.e. What led you to be interested in it...
Why you want to attend "that" uni - a little flattery never hurts
Interest and extracurricular stuff and the skills gained from such that may aid in your studies
Other experiences relevant to your chosen discipline

This list is by no means exhaustive, but I hope it's at least useful

Happy days

 

Academic history - what relevant grades have you achieved? They love to know that you can help maintain or bring up their average and reputation. Your academic history in English, history, philosophy, Theory of Knowledge, and other writing-intensive and analytic classes will be useful. Tell them what good grades you got in them, and it will probably help.

If they're convinced of your academic ability, then you should be fine convincing them to accept you on other grounds. Mention your interests - but only those which are conveniently exactly what the university offers, courses you've previously done well in (which you've already established or will mention afterwards).

Then that leads on to making sure they have no moral option but to accept you;

Why do you want to go there? What do they offer that nowhere else does? If you're like me, you won't have any qualms about gently assuring that any alternative will ruin your future (regardless of whether that's entirely true). Here's a good place to flatter, by the way. It's easy here to talk about how good the university you're applying to is, with courses you absolutely must take, but alas, your other option has nothing of the sort. (again, this doesn't have to be strictly true, as long as it's plausible)*

What extra-curricula activities are they strong on? Every university and often their individual colleges have a culture and focus on certain events. Are they strong on philosophy debating competitions? Bring up your skills both inside and outside the classroom, but only really briefly so it doesn't clog the letter up or look like rambling.

*I used this method getting into my current school, which is selective. I moderately rigged my original application so that the only public alternatives had barely anything I wanted to do and were in the middle of nowhere, and I didn't mention that I got accepted into a private school. I focussed on my skills in English and other languages, because my school is renowned for its language courses, making sure that the other options given to me taught no Spanish or German. Stuff like that's good; make it obvious that you really have no other choice, but of course you have to be professional about it and not say it openly