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What are UCL Greek & Latin looking for in applicants' UCAS personal statements?
Your personal statement is a crucial part of your UCAS application. It's your best opportunity to show your interest and enthusiasm for Classics or the Ancient World.
For us, it's where we can identify a candidate's genuine ability for reflection and an intellectual curiosity. Studying Classics or the ancient world will push you beyond the boundaries of understanding and experience you've already had, so we are looking for signs of that intellectual capacity and motivation in a candidate's personal statement.
We want to hear not only how passionate you are about the subject but also what it is you've done as a result of your love for the subject.
What sparked your interest in studying the ancient world and how have you pursued that interest? Perhaps you were first inspired by reading Homer at school, or a television documentary you saw, or a trip to a museum, or to the theatre to see a Greek tragedy?
All of these are really great ways of engaging with the ancient world, but most importantly, we'd like to know what you thought about these encounters with classical antiquity.
Did it make you think harder about your assumptions about aspects of the modern world? Did you connect it with other subjects that you have studied? That evidence of reflection and engagement is the most telling and useful thing for us in a personal statement.