Land Economy Personal Statement Example (Cambridge University)

Having been born and lived all my life in Hungary, with an English father and Hungarian mother, I have always wanted to go to university in England and spend most of my summers working in England.

Being bilingual gives me an ability to see both sides of the question, and examine things from different perspectives which I feel will be useful for my studies.

I am active outside school in subjects varying from writing a newsletter for the last decade, playing and recently coaching football at local and national level, playing the cello to grade 7, winning a national young novelists' short story competition and singing in a choir. My interest in the course and the subjects which it consists of arises from three sources:

Firstly, ever since I learnt about the Roman Empire and jurisprudence in history lessons I have always had a general interest in law, the history of law and the use of law, but my real determination to study law at an academic level came when a friend of mine was accused of intending to commit murder and I was a character witness in his trial.

This courtroom experience at the age of 17 and the realisation that things are not black and white affected me in a very direct way and ever since I have wanted to learn and understand more about how the rules or constitution that governs our society evolved from the Ten Commandments into Roman law and then into its current form.

Secondly, in primary school I was a member of a club called “Greenpici” (along the lines of “Greenpeace”, “pici” meaning small in Hungarian) which was mainly about our natural surroundings and environmental awareness.

We visited several national parks, special landscapes, planned and help build eco-friendly houses, learnt about green energy and took part in various environment related competitions – now, several years later I have realised that these are among the most valuable subjects I have learnt in life and studying them at an academic level is perhaps an appropriate progression of my interest.

Thirdly, mathematics has always been among my strongest subjects (after primary school I applied to and was accepted by a secondary school famous for its maths teaching) and later when I studied economics in geography lessons it struck me as a more usable and applicable version of maths with the beauty and logic of numbers and their correlations still remaining.

Ever since I have had a great interest in economics, but having no lessons in this subject in school (in Hungary very few schools offer economics at pre-university level because it isn't part of the National Curriculum) limits me to extracurricular activities such as taking part in the yearly student monetary competition organised by the Hungarian National Bank or helping my girlfriend do her A-level economics homework with great enthusiasm.

Originally, I wanted to study law as an undergraduate course, but after I discovered land economy it seemed a course which is better fitting in regard to my various other interests and abilities, especially since it is a much broader course which – as a first degree – is exactly what I am looking for.

I have travelled quite widely in Europe and been struck by the differing attitudes that different peoples have towards their surroundings and other countries and this could be very interesting to study from the viewpoint of this course.

An undergraduate degree combining my academic eagerness to understand law, my strengths in maths and my interest in economics and my love of nature and our surrounding environment seems composed for me. The fact that is at Cambridge only adds to its appeal.