CollegeLAH

Civil Engineering Personal Statement

Tan Wei Hoe is currently studying MEng Civil Engineering at Imperial College London. This personal statement was part of his successful application to Imperial College London, University of Edinburgh, University of Manchester and University of Bath for Civil Engineering.

Many a times I’ve asked myself, “What is my passion?” and many a times I could not muster an answer. Though, I’ve always loved to play Lego. I would indulge myself for hours in it. As I grew older, my perspective towards the world changed. Curiosity led me to a construction site near my house. How structural elements were pieced and combined to produce spectacular structures deeply related to my time playing Lego. It was then and there that I knew, Civil Engineering was, is and will be my passion!

Fascinated by how natural resources can sustain humanity, I’ve led many construction projects in Scouting. The remarkable achievement to me was the construction of a 12 foot tall two-tower archway. Taking into account structural stability and material suitability, the archway had to support the weight of pupils as they walked across it. This particular aspect required me to do independent research on Structural Analysis. How does loads affect the equilibrium of the structure? How will the structure be built based on soil strata? This allowed me to apply concepts in physics and mathematics which I’ve only learned theoretically. Finding practical application to abstract concepts gave me a sense of satisfaction which strengthened my zeal for Civil Engineering.

3D Printing Construction, I believe, is the future of Civil Engineering. Envision a world where we can just ‘print’ buildings into life. Like the ink in our printers, we need only input a certain quantity of building materials. This can drastically reduce cost and material wastage. However, to achieve such advancements, I believe that priority in research must be given to two key fields, namely Robotics Engineering and Materials Engineering. Intelligent systems capable of interpreting abstract blueprints and translating them into concrete elements complemented with flexible ink-like material which can be moulded to mimic materials such as steel and concrete. As companies such as Dutch company MX3D have already made headway in research, I strive to be one of the pioneers of 3D Printing Construction for the future of Civil Engineering.

My work attachment for a day to a power plant opened a new world of perspective for me. I witnessed how different fields of engineering complemented one another. As it was located in an oil palm plantation, Civil Engineers were responsible for laying the foundations of oil mills and power plants. Chemical Engineers then devised methods to produce biogas from the biomass harvested. The biogas is then combusted to produce mechanical energy to turn the turbines. As electricity is produced, Electrical Engineers plans and builds the necessary electrical framework for distribution. My personal experience taught me that to achieve a sustainable world, we must unify the fields of engineering.

My involvement in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and winning the Gold medal in 2016 has developed my confidence and understanding of my potentials. My first taste of entrepreneurship came when I founded SEALS, the abbreviation for Sea, Air and Land Survival in Taylor’s College. This, together with my journey towards the King’s Scout award, sharpened my leadership and organisational skills. Knowing of the importance of Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics, I have participated in the National Olympiad Challenge in Mathematics and Chemistry. The Olympiad challenge provided me with accelerated learning complemented with critical thinking skills. As for Physics, I’ve managed to build a LED display board with a group of friends for the Engineers’ Club. The process was exhilarating as we planned and built the electrical circuits from scratch. I realised that through teamwork, anything is possible.

He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying. In the wise words of Friedrich Nietzsche, I hope to take my first steps into Civil Engineering in one of the most esteemed universities in the United Kingdom.

DISCLAIMER: The personal statements on this site are strictly meant as a starting point to give an idea of how successful personal statements look like. There is no surefire formula to writing good personal statements. COLLEGELAH IS STRICTLY AGAINST PLAGIARISM OF ANY KIND. UCAS employs a plagiarism check system that checks applicants’ work against other published writing so please DO NOT PLAGIARISE.

Law Personal Statement

Jansen Law Zhen Hao is currently studying LLB Law at University College London, and is graduating in 2021. This personal statement was part of his successful application to UCL, LSE, King’s College London, University of Bristol and University of Warwick for Law.

The judicial state of Malaysia is worrying. The catalyst of change for the prejudiced has been freedom of speech. Malaysia’s strengthening of the Sedition Act has harshly restricted this freedom as illustrated in 2015 whereby surges of government critics were prosecuted under the Act. It baffles me how a bygone act, abused by autocrats, is justified due to Malaysia’s racially tensed past and multi-faceted society. Democracy in Malaysia is dissipating as lines of permissibility are contingent on political convenience rather than legal foresight. The discussion on what laws should be universal, and variable based on the society it serves, is one that has sparked my interest in law.

Amidst questionable laws, the recent decline of respected lawyers has left citizens in a limbo of mistrust. “A strong legal system prevents tyranny” becomes an unattainable statement. The rule of ‘separation of powers’ in Malaysia has disorientated into a farrago of chaos. No thanks to politically motivated legal members and absurd constitutionally-granted power of parliament to amend free speech laws. The way faults in a legal system can change a country’s path is both a fearful and riveting trait that I would love to explore.

My interest led me to an internship with the chief criminal lawyer in Malaysia. Knowledge of legal terms and concepts made trials and commentaries easier to process. Mr.Salim developed my analytical skills by presenting me legal principles and asking for their applications in scenarios. While interning, I discovered a trend in Malaysian rape cases showing that a defense counsel had to not only raise doubt but actively prove an accused’s innocence. Due to cultural disgust for sex offenders, the rule of law has been distorted. This reaffirmed my view that the Malaysian legal system has been controversially morphed based on non-legal reasons. Differences between morality and legality interest me as it results in the discrepancy in punishments.

I had the opportunity to substantiate my views on the Sedition Act in my EPQ. My essay focused on how the Act deviated off legal principles and how these deviations weren’t justified in other contexts. I assessed that the Sedition Act was unlike other strict liability offences. Statutes of traditional offences clearly detail provisions to justify that ignorance of the law is no excuse. Yet, there has been prosecutions under Malaysia’s Sedition Act based on broadly undefined terms such as ‘feelings of ill will and enmity’. I also questioned the proportionality of the punishment in the Act. I found a Malaysian Law, requiring proven intent, punished those that made offensive racial remarks with a lesser imprisonment time than Sedition. This was in spite of how those remarks would also constitute Sedition. Through my survey and interviews with lawyers and politicians, I was also able to contextualize Sedition in a political and social landscape.

The prospect of compounding my views with greater legal knowledge in university motivates me. Love for greater knowledge and varying planes of logic culminated in my election as President of the Debate Society. Debating refined my verbalized thoughts and enabled me to pick out main points of contention. I have learned that verbal smokescreens and clutter were prominent in my court visits – the ability to pick out the main issues would be vital. The opportunity to be a trainee judge at national level competitions solidified my debating prowess. Judging allowed me to critically contrast the pros and cons of an argument and analyze a participant’s thought process and logic post-debate.

I look forward to studying Law as the debate is a cornerstone of the course. My experiences have equipped me with discipline, persistence, and consistency to fulfill my potential in law and consolidated my interest. Studying Law will allow me to navigate through political discord and influence people on juggling Malaysian intricacies and democracy through laws.

Chemical Engineering Personal Statement (Anonymous 2)

This personal statement was part of this student’s successful application to UCL, University of Bath, University of Birmingham and University of Sheffield for MEng Chemical Engineering and University of Manchester for MEng Chemical Engineering with a year in industry.

As a child, I would listen to enthralling stories of my grandfather tapping rubber at his family’s estate. The local community then was intertwined with the rubber industry as Malaysia was the largest producer of natural rubber in the world. Meanwhile in school, I would learn about the importance of natural rubber and wondered how a thick white liquid could be processed into remarkable products such as latex gloves and automotive parts and exported globally. I realised that complex processes involved in manufacturing raw materials into products were not limited to rubber but included myriad industries such as petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. During Chemistry lessons, I discovered that natural rubber can be vulcanized by adding sulphur to refine its properties, modifying it into an improved material by increasing its hardness and durability. At this point, I realized that vulcanization was only a small part of a larger process to produce rubber as the final product.

Albeit challenging, A-Level motivated me to pursue continuous learning and to be open to new ideas. Physics, Chemistry and Math helped develop my critical thinking and problem solving skills. I became interested with the idea of connecting the theories of chemistry into practical situations in life. The concept of creating products from raw materials using a series of processes drew my attention towards Chemical Engineering. I now look forward to generating processes for the creation of products, leveraging on my problem solving skills and ensuring that products made meet customers’ requirements.

Following up on this interest, I spoke to practicing Chemical Engineers who suggested I read up on Fluid Mechanics for a start. In “The Essentials of Fluid Mechanics”, I read about laminar and turbulent flows and learned how fluid flow rates are laminar at low velocities, represented by highly ordered motion. As the velocity of the fluid increases, the fluid flow becomes more chaotic and is hence turbulent. For example, cigarette smoke rises in smooth streamlines at first, then starts fluctuating in a random manner as it continues rising.

Realizing the importance of learning new skills and challenging my brain, apart from my academic pursuits, I have advanced my interest in music and learned the guitar, while continuing with singing and playing the piano. I joined Sunway Student Volunteers as I wanted to reach out to people of different ages and strata of society. I have helped at the National Zoo where I observed the zookeepers who were committed and took pride in their demanding tasks, a trait to leverage on to achieve my goals. I regularly teach children aged 5-6 at my church. Interacting with them has taught me patience, a strength I can rely on in the future.

I participated in shot put and javelin events and won a few medals for my school. I was selected to be on the netball team, won second place in my school’s cross country run and became one of the top athletes there. Sports taught me to embrace the failures in life and not be discouraged to continue striving. In 2015, as the President of Red House, a school sports team, I learnt that kindness and empathy were effective approaches in relating to people and building team spirit. This role taught me not to underestimate the importance of teamwork.

Born into a multiracial family, I engage easily with people of various backgrounds. Having mastered English, Malay and Hokkien, I have also picked up Spanish. This is the first step in preparation for me to practice in any part of the world. Attending one of the universities in the UK would not only equip me with academic knowledge, but would also sharpen my soft skills. My dream would be to have all these come together when I finally contribute my skills to advancements in industry as a full fledged Chemical Engineer.

Computer Science Personal Statement

This personal statement was part of this student’s successful application to UCL, University of St Andrews, Durham University, University of Warwick and Lancaster University for Computer Science.

I believe the possibilities computer technology present is limited only by one’s imagination and desire to innovate which both attracts and motivates me to study in this field. The unpredictability associated with this so called era of digital Darwinism excites me and with software bridging the gap between humans and computer, it is my aspiration to be in the forefront of future technological breakthroughs by pursuing a degree in computer science and ultimately a career in software engineering.

Being born in a multilingual country has exposed me to the different interpretable “layers” that make up speech in spoken languages. This has given me a better appreciation of the literal and precise syntax of the programming language. During ICT lessons, I was taught programming languages such as Python and often given projects to create relatively simple games such as “Hangman” using basic concepts we had been taught. My failures leading up to eventual success in creating the game taught me the importance of using logic to understand the flow and structure of any written programme. I truly enjoyed this programming experience which required both creativity and careful planning.

This year I was granted the opportunity to intern with a computer software consulting company. The research I conducted for the company on de-constructed databases enlightened me on the future of “big data” and how it will be one of the key drivers to the growth and development of the global economy. With this better understanding and appreciation of data being a coveted commodity, one of my aspirations as a future software engineer would be to help Malaysian companies develop efficient software systems that would integrate both structured and unstructured data harvesting into usable analytics and thereby enhancing business intelligence, improving their efficiency and ultimately competitiveness.

Possessing an affinity for numerical equations, mathematics and physics has taught me to analyse problems through critical thinking and utilise my understanding of concepts to find a solution. I enjoy the challenge that mathematics presents and the logical thinking required to break down seemingly convoluted problems into simple, solvable parts. Moreover, I have come to be fastidious and methodical when working towards a solution to avoid carelessness, an indispensable characteristic when developing software whose functionality hinges upon a line by line programming perfection.

To me, being creative is an asset to this vibrant industry of computer technology because just as no two artists create the same masterpiece, no two software engineers programme the same way to create identical systems. As a photographer, I have learnt to observe my environment from different perspectives to frame dynamic shots that excite me. It is my belief and hope that my unique perspective as a photographer will help me, as a computer science student, to regard problems as something three dimensional thus approachable from different angles to provide “out-of-the-box”-successful solutions. As an athlete, sports is equally a mental game to me as it is a physical one. Over the years, it has given me confidence, strength to persevere under duress and discipline to reach my goals. With that confidence, I took on the role of Vice House Captain of my college and organised the annual house trip for over a hundred students. This experience developed my leadership skills, communication skills as I had to correspond with many parties and teamwork when working with my peers. A three-month internship stint with a local magazine fostered my soft skills in a working environment and ingrained time management to meet published deadlines.

Ultimately, with my innate diligence and desire to learn, I hope to pursue a degree in Computer Science in your prestigious university and my goal, as a fully qualified software engineer, would be to successfully contribute to the burgeoning advancement of technology.

Medicine Personal Statement

This personal statement was part of this student’s successful application to UCL, University of Edinburgh and Queen Mary University London for Medicine.

As a St. John Ambulance first aider, I treated a schoolmate who fractured his forearm and dislocated his elbow. I immediately assigned my fellow first aiders their roles before speaking calmly to my schoolmate. Yet, held back by the limitations of being a first aider, we could only stabilise him before transferring him to the hospital for treatment. My perceived limitations sparked my consideration of pursuing medicine as a career choice as it exposed me to the extensive possibilities of being a doctor.

Intrigued by the decision-making process in medicine, I shadowed a doctor in the emergency ward of a local hospital. He diagnosed patients not just by using a fixed algorithm, but by using a blend of his clinical acumen, the results of lab tests and imaging modalities, considering every aspect of the illness. Through this, I realised that he maintained a healthy dose of scepticism to avoid red herrings, which could have caused misdiagnoses. Wielding the wisdom to choose his diagnostic tools at the correct moments, he avoided the unnecessary usage of resources, which were then made available for patients in the Intensive Care Unit. By doing so, I recognised that doctors constantly problem-solve, highlighting the investigative nature of a doctor’s role, consequently strengthening my resolve to study medicine.

I also understood the importance of compassion in medicine after witnessing the gravity of the psychological impact of illnesses on patients, especially those with heart disease. To tackle this, the doctor reassured and motivated them to change their sedentary lifestyles, a tough but gratifying task. From this, I learnt that doctors play a pivotal, yet unspoken role in solving some modifiable risk factors in such illnesses, consequently improving public health. He also adopted a scientific approach to most cases by not only addressing the symptoms but also the pathophysiology. Through this, I realised that science and benevolence are symbiotic in this field, exposing me to the holistic aspect of medicine.

Reading about the vastly unexplored area of neuroscience exposed me to the danger of brain tumours, such as glioblastomas. The heterogenous nature of these cells renders chemotherapy ineffective, leaving neurosurgeons with only the crude option of surgery to remove these tenacious tumours. Even then, the dilemma of deciding whether to operate or not plagues doctors ‘minds. I am optimistic that further research can solve this issue by paving the path to the finding of non-invasive diagnostic techniques, such as monoclonal antibodies. This can potentially lead to the discoveries of effective chemotherapeutic agents and oncolytic viruses that can specifically target these cells, such as the Zika virus which can kill glioblastomas. Research is an integral and exciting aspect of medicine, which ultimately aims to improve patient care. I believe that it is vital to apply research in the clinical setting. Volunteering at a hospice enabled me to empathise with the elderly. One particular lady left me feeling helpless as she was bedridden and blind, binding her to a challenging life. I realised that my company brought her joy, exposing me to the importance of applying medical humanities in the clinical setting.

To further improve my interpersonal skills, I tutored underprivileged children from a rural area in English through my college’s Rotaract Club. This allowed me to understand the importance of communicating well in a multiracial society, another key aspect of a doctor’s job scope. This experience further inspired me to champion public health as the kids were living in poor conditions. Currently, I am self-learning to code and play the guitar, whilst regularly playing badminton to ensure that I am constantly learning new skills whilst leading a balanced lifestyle. Together, these experiences gave me the valuable insights needed to practice in this field that is an imperfect science but nonetheless a gratifying art.

Economics Personal Statement (Aaron Goh)

Aaron Goh is studying BSc Economics at the University of Cambridge. He completed his A-Levels at Taylor’s College and is graduating in 2022. This personal statement was part of his successful application to University of Cambridge, UCL, University of Warwick and University of Durham for Economics.

Max Hartwell said that “economics is, in essence, the study of poverty”. I disagree. I think economics today is, fundamentally, the study and use of incentives to achieve policy goals. However, if what Hartwell meant was that alleviating poverty is the goal of economics, then I concur – it must be the most important aim of socioeconomic policy. Reading Duflo and Banerjee’s ‘Poor Economics’, I found myself increasingly interested in discussions of solutions to poverty. In particular, I am interested in the effects of education on poverty; I believe education is a necessary condition to escape vicious cycles of low education, low skill, and therefore low incomes. I do not believe in a single, miraculous solution to poverty. However, I think that a heterogeneous use of education-driven policies bears the most promising results.

I found an appealing theoretical basis for my hypothesis in my A-level studies – Marginal Revenue Productivity (MRP) theory suggests that workers who produce output of higher value will earn higher wages. Furthermore, education changes structural causes, and breaks intergenerational chains of, poverty. Educating children reduces inequality from the get-go, while educating or re-training adults with the right skills grants them access to higher-paying jobs in current demand. Further exploration of empirical research by the Hamilton Project shows that increasing educational attainment will increase average income. Therefore, a sound way to help the poor is to improve access to, and incentive for, education.

I was intrigued by Dulo and Banerjee’s counter-intuitive inding that conditional cash transfers were not as effective as unconditional ones at incentivising the poor to send their children to school; this highlighted that policies to increase education for the poor need to be carefully thought out. For instance, one policy that they discuss is making microcredit available to the poor. I initially agreed, since in theory, this would reduce liquidity constraints holding them back from education. However, research by Augsburg et al. on Bosnia found that higher microcredit availability actually reduced the school attendance of 16-19 year olds due to them leaving school to start businesses! The use of econometric analysis, coupled with tools such as the Randomised Control Trials used by Dulo and Banerjee, can help reveal how our policies should be crafted; I look forward to gaining a rigorous understanding of such analysis at an undergraduate level.

Inspired by data-driven approaches to uncovering solutions for poverty, I downloaded World Bank time-series for GNI per capita, and gross primary, secondary and tertiary enrolment in America to examine the correlations between these variables. A rudimentary analysis of data for America revealed the R-squared value for a regression of GNI per capita on the three different enrolment variables to be 0.61 at most (for primary enrolment). This suggested to me that while education may be a necessary condition for ameliorating poverty, it is not a sufficient condition; it is dependent on other elements too, which is why Eric Hanushek found that in many cases, simply spending more on education did not accrue significant returns. One such element may be political uncertainty. I once discussed the ongoing civil war in Libya at a Model United Nations Conference; it has shut down schools and exacerbated extreme poverty. Policy solutions here must deal with the differing political reality of the country. All this reaffirmed to me that policy discussions require rich cross-disciplinary handling, something I look forward to learning more of.

My tertiary education will be funded by a Malaysian Central Bank scholarship; this opportunity was life changing for someone of lower middle-class income status like myself. How can others access opportunities like this? I hope to gain the rigour and knowledge to answer these questions, beginning with an education in economics.

Biomedical Engineering/Natural Sciences Personal Statement

Ng Eu Keat is currently reading MEng in Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College London, and is graduating in 2022. This personal statement was part of his successful application to Imperial College London for Biomedical Engineering, University College London for Natural Sciences and Biomedical Engineering as well as University of Bath for Natural Sciences.

During my DoE Gold expedition, I camped in a cave with a colony of bats and noted their
skill of echolocation. Only knowing the basics of echolocation I decided to read ‘The Blind Watchmaker’ in which Dawkins highlights the use of the Doppler shift principle by bats to determine how far or near prey is. Additionally, bats are able to contract their ear bones to protect themselves from their shriek, a method which is applied to most sonar systems from boats to medical sonar. What made this so captivating was how it opened up a new perspective on nature-inspired innovations which sparked a desire for me to further understand the possible applications of biology, chemistry and physics.

As a person who appreciates the environment, I shadowed a group of scientists at the
Danau Girang Field Centre in Borneo last January where I developed experimental
techniques such as setting up camera traps and collecting and inspecting parasites in a
lab. Setting up camera traps was challenging as my team and I needed to consider how
the animals might respond to the traps. This required me to think inventively. All the time spent in the field had me wondering about the current situation of my country’s rainforest. In order to understand more I interviewed some doctoral students and scientist about their research. Consequently I learned about their plans for sustainable palm oil plantations which would not threaten forest biodiversity. The experience has heightened my understanding of the environment while helping me hone my communication and mediation skills: all necessary for work in research groups.

Those who spend time outside in Borneo understand the irritation of mosquitoes. Interestingly we do not feel the bites as mosquitoes have one pair of serrated needles which minimise contact with nerves, something I learnt at a talk by Dr. Moshrefi-Torbati on biomimicry. Auxiliary reading showed that the adaptation was the basis on which engineer Seiji Aoyagi created his pain free hypodermic needle. The talk made me wonder about the other instances of biomimicry in nature. Inspired, I undertook an EPQ researching the topic. An example would be the tasar silkworm, whose silk fibroin is the main component of certain heart scaffolds as the silk is biocompatible while being able to degrade safely. The EPQ has refined my ability to conduct independent research which I applied to expand my understanding on respiration. For instance, I made notes on the ten steps of glycolysis as I had not been satisfied with the simplified version learnt in class.

Being given the opportunity to learn about the workings of our world throughout my A-
level has been especially engaging. However the ability to realise practical solutions from the theories learnt is what excites me. Therefore, I read Mark Miodownik’s ‘Stuff Matters’ learning about the medical applications of bio-glass and titanium in surgery. Miodownik further explores concepts such as the transparency of glass which really stretched my understanding of inorganic chemistry; I only knew that glass was transparent and, not how that property emerged. To complement my growing interest in materials science I completed an online course on 3D bio-printing to get an insight on how personalised prosthetics are made.

Quite simply it is the interdisciplinary approach to the sciences which fascinates me and,
as an initiative to share my knowledge, my friend and I started an Instagram account
where I set aside time to point out topics of interest such as: ‘Coral bleaching’ and
‘Tissue regeneration’. It was evident from my research that the environment is degrading
due to human activity. Another problem I have observed is the growing threat of
superbugs facilitated by the careless prescription of antibiotics by Malaysian doctors. It is
my hope that one day I will be able to develop sustainable solutions for the environment,
as well as new advances in medicine for Malaysia.

English Personal Statement

Nadia Tasneem is currently studying BA in English at University College London (UCL), and is graduating in 2021. This personal statement was part of her successful application to University College London (UCL), University of Warwick, Kings College London and University of Bristol for English.

I was not allowed to watch The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, or the Golden Compass until I had read the books. As a child, I could not understand why it was, but I complied anyway, and it was these books that encouraged my love of reading. Within three weeks I had finished all of His Dark Materials, and the entirety of the Chronicles within a month. Perhaps what I enjoyed most was not so much the books, but the discussions I had with my parents afterwards, in which they would ask me about beloved characters, hidden messages, highlights, and plotlines. It was these conversations which nurtured my curiosity and helped Literature become an integral part of my upbringing.

When I was just ten, I came across an article in the school library on the portrayal of
marriage in a Midsummer’s Night Dream. Although I was young, the dissection of social
norms seemed sharp and perceptive, especially as in Malaysia the roles in a marriage are
so rigidly defined. I fell in love with plays soon after, Shakespeare’s in particular, and I
quickly learned to appreciate the genius of Puck’s humorous quips. I felt especially excited at his appearances as his comic relief was primarily used as a plot device, meaning that when Robin appeared, so would another twist in the story. I also began to develop an interest in social commentary by reading material revolving around revolution in Les Miserables and the socialism found in Wilde’s Happy Prince, which became fast favourites of mine. The depiction of poverty in these books highlighted the privileges I have grown up with and nurtured a need to show compassion to those in need. As an impressionable young girl, the elements of feminism in Austen’s Emma and Alcott’s Little Women appealed greatly to me as well, but perhaps what affected me the most was Miller’s The Crucible. The rationality of society and courts being affected by religious beliefs terrified me, particularly because in Malaysia, Muslims follow Islamic, not secular, law. The prevalence of religion in my life is perhaps what inspired me to return to Lewis and Pullman’s books in my EPQ, which discusses the influence of religious messages in children’s literature. Lewis’s world depicts the four children as loyal subjects and Aslan as a Christ-like figure, standing in sharp contrast to the chaotic, upsetting child protagonists in Pullman’s trilogy: Lyra and Will, who enact the classic journey to the underworld, a mirror of Christian hell. Both authors deny any religious allegories in their works, yet numerous academic analyses have drawn similar conclusions about the implicit messages to children. More interestingly, only Pullman’s anti-religious books received criticism, whereas Lewis’ writing was universally praised.

Performance poetry provides me with an experimental platform for creative writing. I
regularly attend and compete in poetry slams, as well as recording poems for Malaysian
radio. I also wrote a triptych for the Commonwealth Essay Prize 2017, for which I won a
bronze award. In addition, in my free time, I volunteer for charity events and work in soup kitchens. I also founded a supplementary English program for aboriginal primary school children in Malaysia. The aim of the program was not only to improve the children’s language and encourage education, but also to qualify them for vocational school by helping them break out of the poverty cycle. Last summer, I went back to Malaysia for an internship at the Star newspaper and found the work in the investigative journalism department thrilling, particularly when I was able to cover the Fun With English program that remains so close to my heart.

I hold two grade 8 qualifications in piano and singing and run the performing arts club in college. Balancing my active involvement in music, voluntary work and academic obligations keeps me disciplined and focused, but also inspires me to remain open-minded and creative.

Accounting and Finance Personal Statement (Hoi Lee Yang)

Hoi Lee Yang is currently studying Bsc Accounting and Finance at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and is graduating in 2021. This personal statement was part of his successful application to LSE, University of Warwick, University of Bristol and Durham University for Accounting and Finance.

As a child, I was enamoured with the same questions that would have plagued any questioning child’s mind. Like any aspiring engineer or doctor or lawyer, I yearned to know more about how the world, in all its intricacy and sophistication, functioned. I savoured my opportunities to learn about the breakthroughs of physics in creating our modern comforts, and relished the study of history: of how every nascent today is inextricably linked to past events. I have been thrilled by the knowledge of anatomy, learning so intently about what I was, and how I functioned. Despite all this, the world appeared insistent in showing me that the true key to understanding its machinations lay not in any of these fields. The surest way to make sense of the world, it seemed, was in a certain field without which all human activity would not function. It manages us, as much as we try to manage it: money.

I am interested in accounting and finance due to its sheer ubiquity. I realise that every economic entity, from the big corporations and governments down to local sundry shops or even households, relies on the management of finances and planning for the best future outcome. Accounting has always been a deep-rooted industry, charting a colourful history from the clay envelopes used for bookkeeping in 5000 BC Mesopotamian temples, to the double-entry ledgers of Medieval Venice. Regardless of what general perception might contend, though, I am convinced the field of accounting is also one of growth and vibrancy. Looking to the recent proliferation of financial technology, or Fintech, I am particularly keen to follow the advances in the field as I make my journey into accounting at university.

March 2017 saw HSBC, Europe’s largest bank, partner up with an online commerce platform, Tradeshift, to offer an online alternative for financing and paperwork. This is part of a broader phenomenon of big finance companies collaborating with Fintech startups not just in the UK, but around the world. On the ground, we see the business world evolve, just as it did when manufacturing first took root in the Industrial Revolution. A KFC outlet in Beijing now accepts payment through facial recognition, and the Singapore government is working on a standardised QR code system for all monetary transactions. Bitcoin, despite price volatility and initial hostility from banks had, by the end of August 2017, octupled its market value in a year, pointing to its increasing use as a medium of transaction. Other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Litecoin also follow suit. At university, I am eager to refine my knowledge of the current framework of finance, and alongside a group of equally-curious peers, enrich myself with a better understanding of how the status quo will adapt to these technological advances.

I am drawn to accounting and finance due to the promise of challenge, not only arithmetically but also in tackling complex problems. A-Levels also marked my first exposure to the world of Economics, allowing me to enrich my understanding of accounting with a background context in how the business world worked. The course compelled me to pick up books such as Daron Acemoglu’s ‘Why Nations Fail’, which intrigued me with the idea that governments must strive to maintain inclusive economic activity that incentivises every party to work hard. The copious examples of failed civilisations which could not ensure a reward for parties to take risks and adopt new technologies had also sparked my interest in management, realising how similar the running of businesses are to that of entire civilisations.

I feel I am a dynamic, curious and highly-motivated student who is very excited about the prospect of studying Accounting & Finance at a first class university in the UK. I eagerly look forward to the challenges I will face on an academically rigorous and complex course. And hopefully by the end of my degree, the machinations of the world will be a little less elusive.

Chemical Engineering Personal Statement 3

Roshan Sivabalan is currently a first year undergraduate reading MEng in Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. This personal statement was part of his successful application to Imperial College London, University College London (UCL), University of Edinburgh and University of Manchester for Chemical Engineering.

Diamonds puzzled me – a substance so small and seemingly delicate, measured a 10 on the Mohs scale, and could survive being immersed in concentrated sulphuric acid unscathed. It is unfathomable that this glass-like structure remains as the only known natural substance that can cut anything and that really intrigued me. After doing some research, I learned that it was the tetrahedral arrangement of the compressed carbon atoms that make the carbon-carbon covalent bonds so strong, giving diamonds the aforementioned properties: making it breakable only under extreme pressures.

However, what I found more fascinating was the application of this knowledge about the chemical properties of diamond; engineers have fashioned synthetic diamonds by replicating diamond’s geometrical atomic structure to make it accessible to the masses. Yet others have created nanodiamonds with good reflective properties, which are used to monitor the cellular-level changes in cancer patients after medication is administered. Innovations like these piqued my interest in chemical engineering; I find myself intellectually engaged by the art of manipulating the structural components of atoms to yield creations capable of improving life for the average man.

To explore my interest in this field, I interned at an engineering firm, and was assigned to the Oil and Gas division. There, I shadowed a chemical engineer involved in the building of megastructures. I obtained valuable insight into the role that chemical processes play in the creation of concrete structures used in offshore drilling. I also learned about the assembly of subsea pipelines which are used to pump liquid natural gas from the oil rigs in Lekas, Malacca. Furthermore, I was trained to identify and distinguish good tenders from those that were not, by taking factors such as cost, materials used and construction period into account.

I enjoy the study of Chemistry – it allows me to understand how compounds exist, react and work with one another; this might allow for the identification of the quickest way to yield a product via application of Le Chatelier’s principle. Moreover, the interplay between Physics and Chemistry is fascinating; I find that I understand concepts better when I employ a multidisciplinary approach to my learning. For instance, I better grasped Hess’ Law – which gives that the total enthalpy change of a chemical reaction is independent of the path it takes – when I realised that it was merely a twist on the principle of conservation of energy, which I learned in Physics. Mathematics and Further Mathematics opened my mind to how numbers, although imaginary, have real world applications. For example, studying probability and statistics allows us to calculate insurance risks and estimate ocean current behaviors while knowledge about projectile motions, gravitational force and multiple other mathematical laws made it possible for us to put a man on the moon. My love for these subjects pushed me to participate in the National Chemistry Quiz and the Mathematics Olympiad. I was pleased to receive merit awards in both competitions as a validation of my decision to read a degree built around that subject matter.

In high school, I had to juggle my academics with my duties as the Head Boy, President of the English Language Society and the Vice President of the Taekwondo Club. These experiences helped develop my time-management abilities, while teaching me to work well in teams, a soft skill vital for engineers. Serving as a member of the Malaysian national debating team for 5 consecutive years in multiple local and international tournaments, trained me to think critically under pressure and I feel this will serve me well in university.

I am confident that my experiences, positive and negative, have prepared me for the challenges I will face in university. I am eager and ready to read a rigorous degree in chemical engineering and cannot wait to begin this exciting new chapter in my life.