Honouring the request of some fellow students, I will post my personal statement (known as PS) when applying for Cambridge engineering here. By no means am I claiming it is a good PS, as you may judge for yourselves. But it did win me a place anyway, or contributed to it.
Please note that this is not entirely the version my interviewer saw, but I guarantee a 98% similarity. There are very minor changes on several words, mainly to deal with the annoying character amount restriction on COPA.
This personal statement contains some paraphrasing whose source credits to British Airways. Please refer to their 2011 advertisement “To fly, to serve”, I do recommend it, as an inspiring video. You may view an HD version on Youtube here.
The blue words are my comments, looking back a year later.
Mentioning the name of an institution is HIGHLY DISCOURAGED for an UCAS application, for all the institutions will see the same PS. Unless you are only applying for one university, please do not mention a name like I have done.
‘Arrive before you leave.’ (Note: this is also Speedbird’s ad)
Having said farewell to the legendary supersonic transportation, the regret but also passion flowing in my heart never fades away. It was over a century ago that the first young men, the pioneers, the aviators roared themselves into the clouds to battle wind and stars, that the aviation industry was born and that aerospace engineering came into existence. For five score years (this expression credits to the famous speech I have a dream), generations of aerospace engineers have been doing their ultimate duty to make the world a better place and facilitating daily life from your vacations to your FedEx parcels. I have a strong desire to join them.
Airplanes are complicated but systematic and beautiful machinery, or creatures, if my love for them is still within verbal expression. Designing, manufacturing and providing them with proper maintenance is of course challenging task. Not only are good commands of mathematical and physical knowledge needed, but it will also be critical to apply absolute knowledge into practical usage. Most significantly, an aerospace engineer should have a strong sense of responsibility and duty, for their job, or perhaps ours someday which I will fight hard for, is to assist captains not to disappoint the trust offered by hundreds of passengers venturing their lives since the very moment the cabin is secured (well, we rarely crash these days do we).
I formed an interest in natural science since a young age. I have always been curious about everything around and even got hurt once trying to inspect the exhaust shaft (or maybe exhaust pipe? I bought that translation without much thought, which I regret) of a running engine, and when people were buried in sorrow watching Titanic, I was considering whether reversing No.1 shaft only may help (not much, I would say now, since its force arm is so short. A bow thruster will certainly help). I have been showing strength in physics since the first class I had five years ago, and I also got amazing marks in both mathematics and science subjects during NJCEE (well maths was not that good actually), and high school study also provided me with a scientific mind which is substantial. I am always willing to share my learning experience with my fellow classmates, enjoying seeing them developing and polishing my solutions even further to a new level. I also act actively in extracurricular activities and served as the director of the school photography association for a year, frequently organizing preferred activities, from which I learned the importance of cooperation (I would rather have deleted this sentence. Certainly a plus but not quite what Oxbridge is looking for instead of US unis). I believe with these qualities with me, I would fit in the major well.
My strong enthusiasm lying in the sky drove me into a self-taught virtual pilot, of which I have always been very proud. After years of training (just three years gaming lol), I learned tons of theoretical knowledge on aircraft structure, how different kinds of engines work, the influence of weather on operation and so on. I adore combustion engines a lot and often drive the Boeing 377 around every corner of the globe (actually I am not quite familiar with that aircraft, just know enough to get it going, I prefer DC-3, on which I recommend the autobiography of Capt. Robert Buck, called North Star over My Shoulder, it is breathtaking). I also made friends with lots of pilots and engineers and ask questions whenever I raise a doubt (just a few in fact). But the most valuable thing I gained from this experience is some first hand feeling about aircraft, which I think will certainly benefit a lot if someday I join the industry for it is always nice for an engineer to know what his client needs.
University of Cambridge has long been appreciated as the paradise of academics with a charming cultural atmosphere. Its vast ocean of resources has attracted both top scholars and the most distinguished students, and the university aims at producing all-rounded engineers, so I think Cambridge will certainly be my ideal university. I hope I can not only learn the written principles but also promote practical working skills and most importantly, develop a critical mind and the ability to acquire knowledge on my own. Every time I read Newton’s biography I find myself dreaming about every aspect of Cambridge and my university life there (this is true). Today I feel excessively privileged to have a chance to realize it, and I will certainly fetch my last horsepower, boost my turbines to the limit and feed my afterburns to the maximum, to go forth from this time and place, to skim the edge of heaven, the edge of dreams.
Note:
I do not mean to lie, but the content in this PS should not be considered as entirely true. There is a little exaggeration which I thought I could still manage, added with the sole purpose to impress people. It is a personal statement anyway, and it is its mission to gain me a place. It did its duty, so please forgive its methods.