This is a temporary place to edit a personal statement for JD's application to ic.ac.uk for a MSc in Advanced Compuer Science. Please feel free to edit things as you feel neccessary. You may want to look at [http://www.davidpashley.com/resume.html my CV].

The Question says:

Supplementary Personal Statement - Describe your academic interests and reasons for applying. Include details of work experience you consider relevant to your proposed study, careers objectives and relevant non-academic achievements. Expand on a separate sheet if required.

The Notes also have this to say: Use this space to tell us why you are interested in the subject for which you have applied. Describe your academic interests and reasons for applying to Imperial College. Selectors place particular importance on the personal statement.

draft 1

[edit as appropriate for your own interests] I have had an interest in computing for many years; particularly enjoying .... I enjoying applying my mind to the solving of problems, usually showing persistence in persuading something to work. I also particularly enjoy the satisfaction of a well 'shaped' piece of code or a 'neat' proof. This leads me to a specific interest in <blah> areas of CS.... Other subjects which appeal to me are ... for similar reasons.

The MSc at Imperial appeals to those interests, in particular the modules on ... . I want to do an MSc as the first step towards further academic study; blurgh blurgh. <need more>

Outside of paid or academic study I am usually working on some personal computer-related project. These include <debian developer: blurgh blurgh>, etc, etc. I have therefore honed my skills in <wibble, blah> and <demonstrated that I am really interested in this stuff and would work!>

I have a broad range of extra-curricular interests including <wibble, blah, blugh, [through which I <developed teamwork skills>], [which requires patience and persistence], [often working late into the night to fix blug]>. I [travel, help, wobble]. In the past I have [taken computer related jobs, eg leeds thing. say?]

I undertook my BSc at the University of Leeds as I was attracted by [blah, blah] in the course and the chance to develop [blah, blah]. I enjoyed [blah, blah] and was particularly successful at [blah - maybe give examples of modules other than your project], although I feel perhaps this wasn't reflected in my final 2:1 classification. I am now looking to for further challenges. In the Advanced Computer Science MSc I am looking to build on [blah, blah - why does this course seem so damned good??? Does it build on work already undertaken???]

Maybe mention you work at Parguild. What are the transferable skills that would help you with your course, and what makes you stand out from any other comsci grad?

It might be more important to put 'other non-academic achievements' before stuff about Parguild. Surely your work with Debian is a big achievement?!? I'd put down that you actually enjoy the challenge and satisfaction gained from mastering all the languages you know, but avoid the word 'tinkering' at all costs - it infers playing about, like guys might tinker with a classic car at the weekend but never actually get it fixed and on the road! I'd avoid phrases like: "I program a range of languages for fun " - somehow even though I know you do, it somehow sounds fake (I really do, honestly!). "I also enjoy travelling to technical conferences" from your CV doesn't sound right - do you just like the journey or something? NO! So maybe re-phrase: This year I have had the opportunity to attend [blah. Blah]. This provided a fantastic chance to meet up with like-minded people, exchange ideas and news, and start on new projects [?]. I am also a member of ([list geek groups!] and why this is a good thing).

You'll then need some summary of why you'd be one of the most suitable candidates for their course, what you can offer (terms of commitment, interest) and what you would like to achieve through the MSc and how this could help you progress into... further research?

how many words? don't you think you should be at least attempting to draft this? when should it be done by?