Dear Katie
It would be my pleasure to help you prepare for your university applications. The experience, I am sure, will be productive and rewarding for us both. May I suggest the following approach?
First, as I am sure you know, the key component of your university application is the personal statement. This is a short piece of prose, no longer than 500-1000 words, in which you must give a sense of your character and attributes, and why you want to be considered by the institution to which you have applied.
But, between you and me, what you really need to persuade the reader of is just how much you want it (your place at university, naturally...) and exactly what you are willing to do in order to get what you want.
Second, in order to whittle down prospective candidates to a manageable shortlist, it is common for prospective students to be asked to submit a short video recording of themselves to augment the written statement. The video should be viewed as another opportunity to put across exactly how much you want it and what you are willing to do to get it. It is also an opportunity for you to show off your personal attributes, character, flair, and precisely what the viewer can expect to get from you 'in the flesh', as it were, if he chooses to make you an offer.
Finally, you will be required to attend a short interview. This is your chance to impress and to leave your interviewer in no uncertain terms that not only do you want it, but that he wants you more than anybody else in the world, on behalf of his institution, who might apply for the same position. Please dress to impress: a formal suit would be appropriate. You need to look as mature as possible.
I therefore propose to hold a mock interview with you, at which I will also give you feedback on your video and written statement. To ensure I have ample time repeatedly to review your submitted materials before the interview, please put them through my letterbox sometime on Wednesday afternoon (a short clip burned to disk will be fine for the video, or if you prefer you can send it to my phone). Now, I recall you telling me that you have Thursday afternoons free. I will therefore expect you to arrive promptly at 2pm. To preserve a degree of formality, I will not welcome you to the house. Enter with your babysitting key and proceed to the door to my study. Knock, then sit down on the chair outside my room and wait.
Try to prepare yourself for the interview, which will be rigorous, detailed and probing.
I will call you in when I am ready to begin.
Kind regards
Will
***
My mother read it out at the breakfast table. Yes: the breakfast table. Will had posted it through our letterbox the morning after our 'not exactly' a date. Astonishingly, brazenly, madly, without an envelope. She had found it and now she was reading it out loud.
Oh. My. God.
My father barely looked up from his paper. My mother sighed (a little wistfully, I thought) and said, 'He's such a good man to make this time for you, you know Katie... after all, he's been through so much. You really must do your best to impress him and not let him down.' She gave me a strange little look, then passed me the letter and averted her eyes. Could she have guessed? Surely not.
Blushing beetroot red and bolting back my cornflakes, I nodded my agreement and managed a spluttered, 'I will. I mean, I won't. Whatever.' It was hard to concentrate, as phrases from the letter, which I now held with my shaking hand and reread again and again, bounced around my mind and started playing tricks on certain parts of my still sleepy body:
...show how much you want it... what you are willing to do to get it... show off your personal attributes 'in the flesh'... I will repeatedly review your submitted materials... the interview will be rigorous, detailed and probing...