关键在于平衡。和牛津剑桥的要求不同，大多数大学要求申请者将学业成就和课余爱好分开陈述，如果课余爱好与所选课程有关的话当然更好。
However, as Williams says, don’t go overboard. “The mistake people make is to mention too many clubs,” he says, “it makes us question how dedicated you’ll be to your study or work. Pick some key extra-curricular activities and think about the skills they give you and feed that into what you are doing.
不过，威廉姆斯说，也不要太过火。他说：“申请者常常会犯的错误就是提到太多社团。我们会怀疑你还能不能专心学习或工作。挑选一些重要的课余活动，想想你锻炼了哪些技能，并和你所做的结合起来。”
“Avoid the vacuous statement,” he adds, “the statement that seems to say a lot, but actually says nothing at all, for example ‘I am a people person; committed to doing my best at every opportunity’.”
他补充说：“要避免空洞的个人陈述。有些个人陈述看似说了很多，其实啥也没说，比如‘我善于与人打交道，每次做事都会全力以赴。’”
Stock phrases should be avoided at all costs, and applicants should also be careful not to exaggerate their achievements. Be warned; if you are invited to interview, you should expect to be quizzed on what you have said in your statement. White lies won’t impress anyone and can become pretty obvious pretty quickly under pressure.
要尽可能避免写套话，也得小心不要夸大其词。需要注意的是，如果你受邀参加面试，你将会被问到你在个人陈述中写的内容。善意的谎言无法打动他人，而且在压力之下很快就会被戳穿。
Applicants should also avoid copying anyone else’s statement or taking inspiration from the internet, says Balnaves. Ucas uses a program called Copycatch to identify similarities in statements and notifies the universities if it picks up anything suspicious.
巴尔内夫斯说，申请者也不要抄别人的个人陈述，或者从网上找灵感。英国大学和学院招生服务中心使用名为“抓取复制”的程序来检查个人陈述的相似之处，发现可疑之处会提醒学校。
Balnaves also urges students to review their statements for spelling and grammar and to apply in good time. “We probably get about 10 percent of our applications in the last week,” he says, “but it’s best to give yourself some breathing space. The best advice you can get is from a family member or a teacher, read it aloud to them so you haven't missed any crucial bits.
巴尔内夫斯还敦促申请者检查个人陈述的拼写和语法错误并及时提交。他说：“有大约10%的申请是在最后一周提交的，但最好留些富余时间。你能从家人或老师那里得到最好的建议，写好后大声读给他们听，这样就不会漏掉一些关键
