Demonstrating your passion for the earth sciences is super important when it comes to filling in your UCAS application, writing your personal statement and if you end up going for interviews. When you are writing your personal statement it is generally a good idea to give as much evidence of your enthusiasm as you can, and there are a number of ways you can do this, including through reading around topics that interest you, attending lectures and/or visiting geologically significant sites.
Some current and past undergraduate students have put together a few ideas and resources below to help get you started, as well as some tips on how to make your application stand out!
Some current and past undergraduate students have put together a few ideas and resources below to help get you started, as well as some tips on how to make your application stand out!
Reading
Books
Books
- Whilst it may seem impressive to have a long list of books that you have read in your personal statement, it is generally much better to focus on something like 1 - 3 books (or other reading materials) that particularly interest you, as this allows you to go more into detail.
- Where to start?
- Earth Science Department Recommended Reading - curated by the Earth Sciences Department this list includes a number of books highlighted to help aspiring Earth Scientists develop their interests further. They are generally very accessible to those who have never studied any earth sciences or geology courses before, and a few were even written by past and current faculty members! Please note that these texts are not required reading for the course so only read them if you're interested!
- Univ College Reading Bank - book reviews written by Univ students that cover a range of popular books read by aspiring or current Earth Sciences students.
Newspapers, journals & scientific articles
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Reading tips
There are a number of other great ways to develop your interest in earth sciences and to help you find things to talk about in your personal statement, including, but not limited to:
- Both of the reading lists in particular are a great place to start, however to help you really stand out from other potential applicants we also recommend that you read other book(s) not included in these lists and/or additional scientific articles. In particular, because interviewers love hearing about your genuine passion for the subject, try to choose books/articles to read that focus specifically topic (or topics) that really interest you personally - that way your enthusiasm will naturally shine through in your personal statement and/or interview!
- It's also generally a good idea to take some brief notes as you read, especially of things you found interesting and/or surprising. That way you can remind yourself of what each book/article was about as well as refer back to the parts you particularly liked without having to re-read the entire thing multiple times - this especially comes in handy when you are writing your personal statement and/or when preparing for interviews.
- In your personal statement try not to just name-drop books/articles but to (somewhat briefly) discuss how they in particular expanded your understanding and/or interest in a certain topic, i.e. what you learned from reading that book/article, what you found particularly interesting/unusual/strange/surprising and/or if it prompted you to further investigate a certain topic(s) more and what you discovered upon doing that, etc.
- For example, you might write something like: "Having studied {TOPIC} in {SUBJECT}, I wanted to further investigate {SUBTOPIC} so I decided to read {BOOK/ARTICLE} to learn more. I was surprised to find out {CONCEPT/DISCOVERY/THEORY} and found {CONCEPT/DISCOVERY/THEORY} particularly interesting because {REASON}, and so I decided to read the article {ARTICLE} by the same author. In addition I attended a lecture on this topic given by {SPEAKER} and discovered {COUNTER ARGUMENT/ANOTHER THEORY/ADDITIONAL AND/OR CONTRADICTORY EVIDENCE}."
There are a number of other great ways to develop your interest in earth sciences and to help you find things to talk about in your personal statement, including, but not limited to:
- Attending in-person lectures, watching online lectures/seminars or listening to podcasts
- On our 'Featured Lectures & Seminars' page we highlight some of our favourite geoscience lecture and seminar series, including several lectures given by current members of the Earth Sciences Department Faculty. We hope that this page provides a good starting off point for exploring the huge range of online audiovisual learning resources available to educate on all sorts of earth science related topics.
- Such resources include, but are not limited to:
- Earth Sciences Department Podcasts & Lectures
- earth2earth Seminars - a brand new series of seminars which seeks to highlight the outstanding work of geoscience researchers across the globe, particularly those focused on addressing the various environmental challenges of the future.
- The Geological Society of London's public lectures and podcasts.
- Oxford Sparks - in particular the Earth Sciences specific podcasts, videos and other resources on this website aimed at highlighting the scientific research being undertaken at the University of Oxford
- Geology Johnson - one of our very own PhD students has created this fantastic YouTube channel with a large collection of short, fun and very informative videos covering various geological topics.
- BBC Radio 4's 'In Our Time' also includes a number of geology podcasts.
- Ethan Baxter's 'Every Rock Has A Story' YouTube series - a great tool for learning how to describe and identify different rock types.
- The U.S. Geological Survey Lectures.
- Visiting a museum exhibition
- Visiting a site of geological interest
- There are a variety of resources available about the geology of different areas both in the UK and abroad. Reading these in conjunction with visiting the site is a great way to experience the life of a geology student.
- Check out The Geological Society of London's 100 Great Geosites for some inspiration of where to go, or to find sites near you!
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- Doing a summer course or relevant work experience
- UNIQ is run by Oxford University allowing you to spend a week in the Earth Sciences department. It provides a great opportunity to experience some of what life is like if you study Earth Sciences at Oxford!
- Headstart is a national scheme with a variety of STEM courses run each year. In particular there is a Geology and Geophysics course run at Southampton University.
- The British Geological Survey Work Experience Scheme offers 1 week placements for school students enabling you to gain some experience working with professional geoscientists.
- The Nuffield Science and Engineering Placements are designed specifically for school students interested in gaining 4-6 weeks of valuable research and project work experience. Placements take place across a range of different sites with all travel costs reimbursed. Students may additionally be eligible to receive a £100 bursary each week throughout their placement.
- The Geologist's Directory provides an extensive list of geoscience companies that may offer work experience and/or student internships depending on what industry you are most interested in.
- Googling and exploring online resources
- Below are a few websites that highlight some great online learning resources. These can be a great place to start if you're not entirely sure what topics you are interested in or you don't have much prior knowledge on a specific topic:
- Starting from these sites, or even just by searching online, you can hopefully find and further explore and research the topic(s) that you find most interesting!
Top tip: It's important only to write about something if you understand it reasonably well and are willing to talk about it at interview. Interviewers are looking for genuine passion and interest, so once you discover which aspect(s) of earth sciences particularly appeal to you make sure to keep researching and reading around these topics - it will really help to make your application stand out!
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