Hi, I’m Karishma, a Law finalist at Wadham College, University of Oxford.
I have five years of tutoring experience and as a result I am accustomed to adapting my teaching methods based on the preferences of individual students.
Personally, the LNAT was the hardest part of the application process for me so during my preparation I spent hours and hours meticulously researching and analysing the patterns, skills and key assessment criteria for the exam. In my first LNAT paper I scored 17/42, however after intense amounts of practice and research, I transformed myself into a student with a strong enough LNAT score to receive offers from Oxford, UCL and KCL.
Moreover, I have a bank of essay questions from when I have previously tutored LNAT students and I will work with my student to create essay plans, mark essays and teach them the most important aspects of how to plan and structure your essay when writing under strict time conditions. My students often praise my bank of model essays which I use to exemplify how a strong candidate would articulate different arguments.
Writing a personal statement can feel extremely daunting when first assigned the task, however I can assure you that whilst this fear is only natural, it is also as a result of a lack of guidance and understanding - this is where I fit in. Not only have I been through the process myself, but I also spent the summer of lockdown 1 (2020) reviewing over 18 personal statements and providing in-depth feedback. I understand that the personal statement needs to remain ‘personal’ and therefore I make it clear that my feedback is only a suggestion and often I will provide the student with thinking points to force them to develop their ideas with their own arguments, thoughts and opinions.
Additionally, I have spent a large amount of this summer working with university applicants at different stages of their journey so I am not only confident with reviewing personal statements, but all of the stages prior to this too. Volunteering with my old Sixth Form has meant I am well equipped with resources to provide students with the necessary foundations for their research. Additionally, I understand the importance of a strong structure when writing a personal statement and I can aid students by suggesting a variety of frameworks they could follow which is not only favourable with admissions tutors, but also useful for the student themselves as it helps them organise their ideas and make the process less daunting. This was particularly beneficial for me when I was applying as I had ample ideas but nowhere near enough space in the word count to accommodate all of them. Instead, it is about prioritising and writing concisely, both of which I can support you with.
Lastly, I have spent my first year at Oxford working extremely closely with the Law Faculty and Access teams so I know specifically what they are looking for when reviewing LNAT essays and personal statements too!
Independently, I was able to secure 5/5 offers and many of the students who I supported have gone on to secure offers with top universities including (but not limited to) Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, UCL and Bristol. Thus, I am keen to support more students on their UCAS journey and I think my experience proves I am in a strong position to do so.