This is a very interesting video on open/closed mindedness. So if you always go around telling people they are closed minded or telling people to be more open minded, you should watch this.

As part of the series of “Meet the cast” in the uber cool game, Team Fortress, which sadly had saw me playing for a good ol’ 10 years since 1999 with team fortress classic and now it’s sequel, team fortress 2. This latest installment is an early leaked version not released by VALVe yet, but it’s still cool as hell (no pun intended). As with this video, a keen eye may be needed to get a foothold or what to expect on future item updates for the game- other new in-game items can be seen in this video as well, such as the new “Saxton Hale’s croc-toothbelt” sniper hat and the heavy’s football helmet in the intel room which are new headgear entries for the respectively classes. Anything related to the scout’s mom, well that’s dealt in pure James Bond style.

With the game’s mature theme, expect gore to go with the video haha.

Ahem, now gentlemen, the video at the click:

This is the second part of my guide for applying to UK universities via UCAS for polytechnic students in Singapore, covering the remaining sections, employment, personal statement and reference.

5. Personal statement
Many will shriek in fright when first faced with a daunting task to write a personal statement, you should see a personal statement is your way of picturing yourself, the applicant, towards the university admissions staff. Yes though it can make or even break your application, the low down is that your personal statement is a powerful way for you to strike the lasting impression as well as stand out from monotonous grades, particularly in situations where universities have to choose between 2 academically evenly matched applicants.

What should I write?
Everybody is unique and everybody will definitely have much to say about themselves, talk about a hobby, a sport you enjoy doing, your Co-circular activities, a person you’ve helped or your community service work. The key things to mention here are anything you’ve NOT mentioned in any other part of your application, that is, do not mention what fantastic grades you have or what bombastic company you worked for, that will turn against you and whats more, that’s repetition and wasting valuable space in your statement which can be put to other good use.

It’s like telling a story, but not your life story!
Usually write in a first person perspective, using “I have done various activities”, rather than “Joe has done various activities, ranging…” it gives it a more personal touch and paints a better picture of you to those accessing your application and please do yourself a favor by not starting each paragraph with an “I”, be creative!

Those thinking of taking a year out or doing a deferment because of national service may want to justify why and what you intend to do and achieve during that year out. Also, be straight to the point and do not include hangers, ambiguity or areas open in your statement which requires interpretation. If you are applying for language majors and wish to show off your skills here, I say, leave it to the barrage of entry essays from your college after your application is submitted, remember we are here not to access the people accessing your application!

It’s not vacuum packed
I won’t recommend using point form to list details, such as awards or achievements. Though it can be more effectively displayed/listed in that manner, it will effectively take a whole single line off your statement, imagine wasting a single line to “Medisave award 2009″ or “NYAA award 2009″ where you can squeeze in 4 times more content if it were a full line, stick to paragraphs and list multiple instances separated by commas, grammatically you are not wrong.

No nos
Big no nos will include grammar and spelling errors as that reflects very badly not only on you as an applicant but also on the possible quality of work you can produce as a student. Another big no will include lifting or copying someone else’s personal statement, plagiarism is dealt with very seriously in UCAS and they have automated systems to check statements for plagiarism.

Seek opinions and always edit edit edit!
You are strongly recommended to compose and edit your personal statement on a word processor, say Word, or in Open office, which thankfully almost completely eliminate spelling errors (but laughingly at the expense of inviting you to spew more words in). When done, print it out for your teacher or parents to go through, it helps getting views from another party- Is it too boring? Is it trying to hard? This helps you tone out the writing on top of correcting your language as well.

Characters, paragraphs and lines!
Thereafter, confirm your character count using the review function on your word processor, copy and paste your essay into your UCAS application, do note that the line count in Microsoft Word is not the same as that in UCAS due to text formatting differences, so it will take quite a bit of snipping here and there to get your essay in. And yes, do need not have a line break after each paragraph as that effectively steals a precious line off your line count, the next paragraph can always go on cleanly on the next line.

Sample guideline for reference
A general guideline (similar to what I’ve submitted, with explanations in italics):

(This is the header of the statement, serves more or less to address the applicant and acknowledge that you are a valid student)

(An excerpt from my referee in point form for illustration, generally what we are looking here are personal qualities seen from another party, also skills which seem out of place and can’t otherwise “brag” about in your personal statement. These of course have to be genuine and true to paint an accurate picture of you as a candidate)

(End off like how any letter will end, with the details of the referee here)

And that’s it, a reference is totally not that difficult, it is infact easier and shorter than your personal statement.

Ok, that is all I have for this guide for UCAS based on my own successful application. If you have any additional questions, do feel free to leave it in the comments below or reach me via the website contact form. Cheers and all the best in your studies!

Return home

After my successful application as an international student from Singapore via UCAS (guess many found their way here from a dated blog post), I’ve been receiving quite a number of questions about the application process, particular for non-mainstream poly students like myself. I have written a small guide condensed from the replies I’ve given out, going section by section as from the 2008 application year.

This guide follows closely the 6 structured sections applicants will have to go through in their UCAS application and can be completed in any order. Moreover, though this article may cater more to Polytechnic students, it is rather general in nature and can apply to anyone applying via the mainstream route on UCAS. Read on more with my more of my pointers, tips and hints highlighted from my application.

The first section, your personal details:

2. Choices
This section is where you specify all your desired major as offered by your chosen college. You first have to specify the university and additional detail fields will follow:

Campus: Specified if your university has colleges to chose from (e.g in Oxbridge)
Live at home?: Usually it is “No”, this only indicates that you intend to use college dormitory facilities, there is no harm indicating “No” here first unless you already intend to live in a home or rented property already residing in UK, but you can always make arrangements with your college when the term starts.
Start date: October 2009 is the usual start date for normal point of entry
Deferred entry?: No, unless if you intend to take a year out and start your term the following year. This is in particular for guys in Singapore still serving NS and are applying one year before their intended year of study.
Further details: Usually can be left blank, otherwise, do specify other needs such a visual impairment, mature student or otherwise areas of need not covered in the disabled needs section.
Point of entry: This is only for if you are about to do the second or final year of the same course but at another university. Usually you should leave this blank, otherwise, do specify 1, 2, or 3 in the box which would denote the year you are starting the course.

In my application, I used 3 choices in total, but I believe you are only offered 5 choices, so do make the best of what you’ve offered. UCAS will charge an additional application fee if you intend to have more than 5 choices. But remember it’s the quality and not quantity which matters!

Next I will go on an cover the other remaining parts of the UCAS application process, such as your dreaded personal statement and reference.

Next page (page 2)