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If I do a first-aid course will it look good on my personal statement to universities?

I will be going into pyschology... and i have 2 more years before i finish school and head off to uni. I havnt done much extra curriculum activities AT ALL ... so i am worried about that. Will this first aid course be a good idea? Is it even relevant to what skills they will want to see in my psychology course?

Answers from people who know what they are talking about please! (I don´t want to pay for nothing/waste my time)

Public Comments

1. Universities want to see your passion for the subject. All that extra stuff should be a short paragraph at the end.

It's not like they'll think "She's done a First Aid course? Wow, she'll be great at psychology..."

2. its not really relevant to psychology, but if they ask why you did it, just say first aid interested you. If youve 2 more years to go until you are uni ready, THIS YEAR is the time to get into everything....volunteer to work in a local charity shop on a sat, try with your local church, join a club etc - but uni realistically will want you to have been using your free time now while the school workload is smaller as opposed to your final year in school where they would expect you to concentrate on your studies.

uni's dont expect (for psychology) for you to be knee deep in field research or working in a lab...so anything extra you can do, just put it down to enjoying it rather than working towards your degree choice.

good luck!

3. I think it will not help you much, however its good for general knowledge.

4. Just stating 'I did a first aid course' on its own will mean little.
It has little relevance to your course, but that doesn't matter, since it is a pastoral thing and shows how you have been interested in other things. So it is definitely worth doing. But you need to make it relevant and give it some context - WHY did you do a first aid course, and WHAT did you do when you'd got the certificate - did you volunteer with the St John's Ambulance or local events? That kind of thing. Just 'I have a first aid certificate' will be pretty meaningless on its own.

5. Any extra entry on a CV is better than a blank. A first aid course shows initiative, a caring attitude, that you have taken responsibility for your personal development, and all sorts of HR "jargon" like that.

And even if it doesn't, the skills may come in useful one dark night.

6. It'll look good to show that you've done extra-curricular activities because it'll show the university that you are prepared to do more than just the minimum for the course, but it should be mentioned as a small paragraph near the end of the personal statement.
You wouldn't be wasting your time anyway; a first-aid course will look good on your CV when you apply for a job for the same reason that it looks good on a university application.
hope this helps!

7. Doing extra curricular activities like this is always a positive for university and job applications. It doesn't really matter exactly what these activities are, just the fact that you have shown yourself to be self-motivated, interested in expanding your skills, community minded, and able to juggle your school workload with other commitments will help convince them you are worth considering. It helps if you can elaborate on the "transferable skills" you have learnt from extra curricular activities, like teamwork, increased self confidence, learning in a non-school environment etc. First aid isn't necessarily irrelevant to psychology; it shows you care about other people's wellbeing, and you may learn a little anatomy, but I think the most important thing will be those transferable skills, and the fact that you are demonstrating the motivation to improve yourself.

The most important thing to focus on in your personal statement is your passion for the subject you are applying for, and why you think you would be well suited to it. Extra curricular activities are just an extra bonus, but they do count for something and will definately make you look better than someone who has done nothing outside of their schoolwork.

Besides all that, first aid is a very useful skill to have; it could turn out to be even more important to you than your degree if you are ever in a situation where someone you care about needs urgent first aid! Saving someone's life is probably more valuable than all the degrees in the world. It can also be helpful when applying for jobs in the future; most workplaces have designated first aiders, so having someone like you would save them money on training (they'd probably want you to have a refresher course, though, if it was a while since you did your course).

Good luck in your uni applications!