Cats Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Hi everyone, I'm a Canadian IBer interested in applying to UK universities in fall 2012. I was wondering: How much emphasis do universities in the UK place on extracurricular activities, volunteer hours, etc? I know that American schools are huge on these things. I've heard that UK schools are more grades-oriented. Is that true? Thank you Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arrowhead Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Hi everyone, I'm a Canadian IBer interested in applying to UK universities in fall 2012. I was wondering: How much emphasis do universities in the UK place on extracurricular activities, volunteer hours, etc? Not much at all. If the extra-curricular activities are directly related to the course you're applying for, then they're relevant enough to mention. But if you're applying for Medicine, then mentioning you've been playing the tambourine for the school band won't help your application in any way.I know that American schools are huge on these things. I've heard that UK schools are more grades-oriented. Is that true?Thank you Yep, you're right in one about the grades-oriented part. That is of significant importance. If you don't meet the minimum grades requirement, but think that loads of extra-curricular activities might give you a shot, that might work in the US, but it won't fly in the UK at all. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cats Posted January 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Hi everyone, I'm a Canadian IBer interested in applying to UK universities in fall 2012. I was wondering: How much emphasis do universities in the UK place on extracurricular activities, volunteer hours, etc? Not much at all. If the extra-curricular activities are directly related to the course you're applying for, then they're relevant enough to mention. But if you're applying for Medicine, then mentioning you've been playing the tambourine for the school band won't help your application in any way.I know that American schools are huge on these things. I've heard that UK schools are more grades-oriented. Is that true?Thank you Yep, you're right in one about the grades-oriented part. That is of significant importance. If you don't meet the minimum grades requirement, but think that loads of extra-curricular activities might give you a shot, that might work in the US, but it won't fly in the UK at all. Ahh I see I see, thanks! Btw, I'm interested in applying to law in the UK. Seeing that you are a law student, are there any extracurricular activities that you'd recommend? Now I will need to re-prioritize my extracurricular activities and discontinue the ones that do not particularly interest me nor relate to law... Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arrowhead Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 (edited) Ahh I see I see, thanks!Btw, I'm interested in applying to law in the UK. Seeing that you are a law student, are there any extracurricular activities that you'd recommend?Now I will need to re-prioritize my extracurricular activities and discontinue the ones that do not particularly interest me nor relate to law...Well, the most useful ones would be Debates and Model United Nations (MUN), some schools even have mooting clubs, if you could join one of those it would be beneficial to you. But really, extra-curriculars can only do so much, if you really want your Law application to stand out, what will benefit you most is some kind of legal work experience. you don't have to be an Intern at a Law Firm, something simple enough like being a Filing Assistant in the local non-profit free law advice centre would suffice, anything connected to law will supplement your application much more than mere extra-curricular activities.But really, you should do whatever extra-curricular activities interest you. I knew I was applying for Law, but I did loads of activities in school that weren't relevant to my application simply because I enjoyed them. Edited January 7, 2012 by Arrowhead Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandwich Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Now I will need to re-prioritize my extracurricular activities and discontinue the ones that do not particularly interest me nor relate to law... Whilst I agree with more or less everything Arrowhead has mentioned, I think it's a bit of a simplification to say that only activities directly relevant to the course you want to do will be beneficial. I've been involved in the admissions process briefly at my own University and been interviewed a few times myself and from my experience based on these would say that that isn't true. The way I see it is like so. The minimum you require is your grades. These have to be as good as you can get them. So despite the fact that they're the most work, you have to just treat them as a given. From here on in, the basic things you require in order to improve your chances of getting into the top Universities, you need to have: - relevant work experience - relevant extra-curricular activities Between the two of these, it shows that you have realistic expectations and are sufficiently motivated in a particular area to pursue that sort of thing in your free time. Thing is, so many people meet these criteria that you can use all of them to choose and still have too many people for the number of places. This is where your other 'irrelevant' activities come in. You have a stack of people with top grades, a few weeks of work experience and who've all done MUN or something like that, applying for Law. How do you pick the top ones? From the extra stuff they have. Tambourine playing is actually quite unique and might catch somebody's eye on a personal statement! These courses want well-rounded, motivated and interesting people. At all the interviews I've ever been involved in with University admissions, they want to know about 'you' as a person and about what you do. They're directed to ask you about your irrelevant extra-curriculars. Especially for professional subjects. For instance all the interviews I ever had to get into Uni, every single person asked me about the fact that I took Chinese lessons, despite the fact it's totally irrelevant - just because it's unusual. Pique the interest of people and they will select you. They want to know that you're not just a Law-robot person, but that you have other interests (and indeed there's a lot of evidence to suggest that the more stuff you can handle at school, the better you're likely to manage your workload and react to stress at University). It's a genuinely quite important criterion for selecting people. Just my opinion, but I personally think that you should regard relevant extra-curricular activities as a minimum requirement and maintaining a full range of varied activities as the icing on the cake. People who really want to be accepted always ice their cakes Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dessskris Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 I just want to say that I agree with Arrowhead and Sandwich, and I want to point out that during my Oxford interview I was asked about my choir and dance extracurriculars, which I didn't expect at all so I didn't prepare wonderful answers but... looks like they are still interested in my extracurricular activities, even though they clearly state in their website it's irrelevant. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cats Posted January 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 Wow, thanks for everyone's advice!! I will definitely try to find some law-related activities, but also continue the activities that I genuinely enjoy. I find some of my extracurriculars to be great stress relievers for me as well as worthwhile experiences, so I'm glad that it is still encouraged to continue them. thanks everyone! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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