Writing is a great way of learning more about your subject whilst also having something to show for it in the end. I personally included it in my EPQ (which was enough for a Cambridge offer!), so I know a thing or two about writing for a university application.

Being a Self-Starter

I did not participate much in essay competitions. Even in the times I did, like when I wrote an antibiotic resistance submission for a YoungMinds Essay Competition, I did not win anything. Nevertheless, this should not hinder you or your chances of pursuing writing. There was a mindset that I took with me through most of my supercurriculars - be a self-starter.

The essence of this mindset is to create your opportunities yourself, if opportunities do not already exist and present to you easily. Personally, I have created multiple opportunities for myself, of which writing for a subject is one.

The easiest way to start writing with nothing is to create a writing group at your college. There will hopefully be more than one person ready and willing to write about articles, assuming your subject is adequately broad or popular. Doing this helps develop a lot of skills for yourself.

It’s incredibly easy to then integrate this into your personal statement. Having created a medical publication myself, I could write something along the lines of: “Having founded and led my school’s publication for medicine and biology, I sharpened my analytical and administrative skills. Overseeing a team of writers also provided insight into leadership…”. This demonstrates an individual who is active enough to found a school club, passionate enough to write articles about medicine, and dedicated enough to practice qualities of a doctor (teamwork, leadership…) etc. Even if these soft skills do not necessarily relate to your specific vocation, these are skills that will be helpful in university work and wouldn’t do any harm in mentioning.

Another great example would be to create a website on your own. Neil Sardesai, a Cambridge medic, created his own website for articles about medicine. He didn’t need to learn how to code a website - he used a Wix, a website builder for free.

This is a prime example of being a self-starter - you don’t need much external help to make something like this happen. All you need is time, dedication, and Google. Plus, it looks great.

If you’re still adamant about participating in essay competitions, TSR has a whole list of them here: List of Essay Competitions for Year 12s.

EPQ

Should you take an EPQ? It’s a big question. I did. I also used it in my personal statement. Do I regret taking it? No. Would changing “EPQ” in my personal statement with “an article from my publication” have a massive impact? Probably not.

This is a big question and really for you to decide - are you willing to commit a lot of time and effort to writing this big project? On one hand, you get the benefit of an entire qualification, dedicated support, and the chance to delve into a specific topic in detail. On the other, you could be using that time to write more articles, read more books, practice more for tests, and so on.

Summary

If you're having doubts on whether you'll be restricted to one subject if you solely focus on that in your personal statement, then know that I was able to do it! If your subjects are closely related, you can edit your personal statement such that it reflects this. Otherwise, apply to universities that allow you to give an alternative personal statement!