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Ask an Admissions Tutor III - 3 March -18 April

OP

Original post by EmmaBxoxo

Hey.

II appreciate the time you take to make this thread and answer questions etc.

I have a few questions..

-how do you consider post a2 applicants. Do you place a high emphasis on a2 UMS in this regard?

-As a UK applicant do you consider scores achieved in us exams?

-Do you have the average UMS score for post a2 applicants?

-how do you consider applicants who are retaking lots of modules but have extenuating circumstances in as year?

Thanks if you reply :smile:

Emma

Posted from TSR Mobile

Hi Emma,

to answer your questions, we deal with post A Level applicants in the same way as AS Level but with the addedd knowledge of their A2 grades and scores. As we do with those applying in Year 13, we place the most emphasis on the most recent exmaination performance, so in your case A2. Your UMS average is calculated across both AS and A2 but we will be looking mostly closely at A2 performance and whether you have maintained or increased your level of performance.

It depends on what US exams you have taken. We take everything you send us into account but more emphasis will be placed on your UK results as they are the best predictor that we have in assessing a student's potential to do well at Cambridge.

Yes, we have the average UMS scores for Post A Level applicants - a combination of your AS and A2 score.

If there are clear extenuating circumstances that explain why a candidate are retaking lots of modules then we understand that and bear it in mind when assessing the application.

I hope that's helpful, do come back if you need more clarification.

OP

Original post by supersaad255

Would it make a difference when applying to Cambridge that you don't specify a certain college? For instance, if i would choose to do medicine and i did not specify a college in the UCAS form, would my application be sent to all the colleges or would you decide one for me?

As paralove says, if you make an Open application, your application will be sent to a college and it will then be treated as if you applied to that college in the first place. The college the application is sent to is calculated via an algorithm which assigns applications to colleges who have received fewer applications in that subject. A competitive Open applicant is just as likely to receive a place as someone who applies directly but most students feel more comfortable in actually making a choice rather than allowing a computer to do it for them.

OP

Original post by m0hd_J

Hi!
I am currently in year 11 and I am hoping to do a degree in law or a degree largely related to law. I am in a state comprehensive school called Christs College Finchley. I am taking eight GCSEs, they are:
Maths
English literature
English language
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
German
History
What I want to ask is will I be disadvantaged as I have taken only eight GCSEs? The reason I am asking this is because through research I have found that most people actually do around nine subjects.
Also, what A Level subjects would a university prefer for A Levels? I am currently thinking of taking Maths, English Lit, Chemistry and Histroy. Is this subject combination strong enough and do you think I should replace any subjects?
I can also take five subject (depending on my GCSE grades), so if I do choose to take a fifth subject, what do you guys recommend? I'm thinking Law A Levels as doing this will show that I am particularly interested in doing a Law Degree.
Cheers

Posted from TSR Mobile

Another Christ's College, excellent! :smile:

Taking eight GCSEs is fine. it is obviously less than most people take but don't worry that it will negatively affect your application to university - just concentrate in doing as well in them as possible.

Maths, English Lit, Chemistry and History is a good combination if you are planning on doing a Humanities degree such as Law at university. If you want to do a fifth subject that's fine but you already have four strong keystone subjects so you don't need to do a fifth if you don't want to. Law A Level will not help your application for Law. It won't disadvantage you but it is much less relevant for Law at university than, say, History A Level is for studying History at university or Maths A Level for taking Maths.

Reply 23

EmmaBxoxo

19

Original post by Christ's Admissions

Hi Emma,

to answer your questions, we deal with post A Level applicants in the same way as AS Level but with the addedd knowledge of their A2 grades and scores. As we do with those applying in Year 13, we place the most emphasis on the most recent exmaination performance, so in your case A2. Your UMS average is calculated across both AS and A2 but we will be looking mostly closely at A2 performance and whether you have maintained or increased your level of performance.

It depends on what US exams you have taken. We take everything you send us into account but more emphasis will be placed on your UK results as they are the best predictor that we have in assessing a student's potential to do well at Cambridge.

Yes, we have the average UMS scores for Post A Level applicants - a combination of your AS and A2 score.

If there are clear extenuating circumstances that explain why a candidate are retaking lots of modules then we understand that and bear it in mind when assessing the application.

I hope that's helpful, do come back if you need more clarification.

Thank you, your information has very useful.

Regards

Posted from TSR Mobile

OP

Original post by EmmaBxoxo

Thank you, your information has very useful.

Regards

Posted from TSR Mobile

You are welcome. Good luck in the A2s.

Reply 25

edithuman

Hello again,
On Cambridge's website, it is stated that US applicants can take either APs or SAT II exams in relevant subjects to their course. Which of the two is preferred (if there is any preference) and why? Furthermore, I was browsing through the website and found that students studying outside of the UK who do not take A-Levels should submit their high school transcript; however, you answered in my first set of questions that Christ's does not require grades apart from standardized testing grades. Does this only apply to Christ's?

Thank you.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 26

EmmaBxoxo

19

Original post by Christ's Admissions

You are welcome. Good luck in the A2s.

Thank you very much :smile:

OP

Original post by edithuman

Hello again,
On Cambridge's website, it is stated that US applicants can take either APs or SAT II exams in relevant subjects to their course. Which of the two is preferred (if there is any preference) and why? Furthermore, I was browsing through the website and found that students studying outside of the UK who do not take A-Levels should submit their high school transcript; however, you answered in my first set of questions that Christ's does not require grades apart from standardized testing grades. Does this only apply to Christ's?

Thank you.

My apologies for misleading you and not checking first - the website is correct, you will need to submit the transcript.

Either APs or SAT IIs is fine, I do not think there is a strong preference either way but we tend to see APs more frequently than SAT IIs.

Reply 28

kopyl

Thank you for answering our questions. I appreciate it.

I am a non-UK conditional offer holder. If I obtain the needed grades at the end of this school year, how would I have to notify the College?
Would sending a copy (or a translated version) of the transcript to the College suffice?

Thank you once again.

OP

Original post by kopyl

Thank you for answering our questions. I appreciate it.

I am a non-UK conditional offer holder. If I obtain the needed grades at the end of this school year, how would I have to notify the College?
Would sending a copy (or a translated version) of the transcript to the College suffice?

Thank you once again.

You are welcome and many congratulations on your offer. Send a pohotcopy/fax of the original transcript of results and a translation (if necessary) to the college as soon as you get it. You need to meet the conditions of the offer by 31 August so make sure you let them know before then. Good luck in your exams.

Reply 30

Mathsforlife

1

Hi, can I ask what are the requirements for Mathematics PART III. Is a 82% in 2nd year from Warwick good enough. Also, what kind of marks do u need for the scholarships. Also, is a their minimum English language requirement for Cambridge. Is a C in English lang acceptable. Will that affect my chances? Thanks for your time.

OP

Original post by Mathsforlife

Hi, can I ask what are the requirements for Mathematics PART III. Is a 82% in 2nd year from Warwick good enough. Also, what kind of marks do u need for the scholarships. Also, is a their minimum English language requirement for Cambridge. Is a C in English lang acceptable. Will that affect my chances? Thanks for your time.

The minimum entry requirement if you are applying from outside Cambridge is a first class degree in Maths or a related subject. If you achieved 82% in 2nd year at Warwick, you should be a competitive candidate.

If English is not your first language, then you will need a C or above at GCSE English or, if you don't have this, a high enough mark in the IELTS. Most of the time the level for this is 7.5 overall. You need to meet these requirements but as long as you do, beyond that it is your ability in Maths, not English, that counts.

Reply 32

kopyl

Original post by Christ's Admissions

You are welcome and many congratulations on your offer. Send a pohotcopy/fax of the original transcript of results and a translation (if necessary) to the college as soon as you get it. You need to meet the conditions of the offer by 31 August so make sure you let them know before then. Good luck in your exams.

Thank you!

Reply 33

Mathsforlife

1

Original post by Christ's Admissions

The minimum entry requirement if you are applying from outside Cambridge is a first class degree in Maths or a related subject. If you achieved 82% in 2nd year at Warwick, you should be a competitive candidate.

If English is not your first language, then you will need a C or above at GCSE English or, if you don't have this, a high enough mark in the IELTS. Most of the time the level for this is 7.5 overall. You need to meet these requirements but as long as you do, beyond that it is your ability in Maths, not English, that counts.

Thanks for the response, it was really helpful ... finally can I ask what are the requirements for scholarships at Cambridge for maths.

OP

Original post by Mathsforlife

Thanks for the response, it was really helpful ... finally can I ask what are the requirements for scholarships at Cambridge for maths.

You are welcome, glad to be of help. As far as I understand it, there are no scholarships available from the Maths department for Part III. Funding can be obtained from the University and from other sources. Information can be found here.

Reply 35

Miniongirl

4

Hi. This is my first post so apologies if these questions have been answered before. There's so much to go through and it's quote confusing for a newbie.

My son currently goes to an Independent school which does the IB and iGCSEs. I am unsure about him studying six subjects and being overloaded with work from subjects he's not really interested in, which could bring his score down. I am thinking of moving him to a Grammar school for A levels. My questions are:
- Will he be penalised by doing IB over A levels I.e expected to score over 40 rather than AAA? Are A levels regarded just as well as the IB? Does the IB have advantages to an admissions tutor?
- Will he be penalised by moving at 16 as his University application will be filled in by people who haven't known him long as opposed to a school which has known him since he was 11?
- Are those from the State sector (even if it is a Grammar) looked upon more favourably than if they were from an Independent/fee paying school?

I would appreciate your thoughts.
Thank you

(edited 10 years ago)

OP

Original post by Miniongirl

Hi. This is my first post so apologies if these questions have been answered before. There's so much to go through and it's quote confusing for a newbie.

My son currently goes to an Independent school which does the IB and iGCSEs. I am unsure about him studying six subjects and being overloaded with work from subjects he's not really interested in, which could bring his score down. I am thinking of moving him to a Grammar school for A levels. My questions are:
- Will he be penalised by doing IB over A levels I.e expected to score over 40 rather than AAA? Are A levels regarded just as well as the IB? Does the IB have advantages to an admissions tutor?
- Will he be penalised by moving at 16 as his University application will be filled in by people who haven't known him long as opposed to a school which has known him since he was 11?
- Are those from the State sector (even if it is a Grammar) looked upon more favourably than if they were from an Independent/fee paying school?

I would appreciate your thoughts.
Thank you

Hi there, I'll do my best to answer your questions.

1) It is right for your son to think carefully about whether IB is the right qualification for him to take. This should be not be done primarily from the point of view of what Cambridge or other universities want but from the perspective of what is the best learning environment for him. Will he flourish in a qualification that allows him to study more subjects or would he benefit better from the more concentrated A Level qualification.

At Cambridge, we don't have a preferencebetween A Levels and IB, though for those planning to do Science at University they need to ensure that the school is capable of allowing them to take the necessary number and combination of Science subjects at Higher Level. More students with the IB get admitted for Arts & Social Science courses than for Science courses.

The standard offer is 40-42 points and 776. It is high for two linked reasons: first, we don;t have any data on Year 12 and have to rely on predictions which are notoriously unreliable for both A Levels and IB but at least with A Levels we currently have modular scores from AS to judge the validity or otherwise of predictions. Secondly, our research has shown that the higher the score achieved in the IB the better the candidate is likely to do at Cambridge.

2) Universities certainly wouldn't penalise someone for moving schools and we recognise that large numbers of our applicants have moved schools at 16 (often into Sixth Form Colleges) and that consequently they will not be as well known to their teachers and students who have been in the same school since 11. That said, the references deal overwhelingly with students' academic performance in Year 12 and the beginning of Year 13 so providing your son does well if he did move then there is no reason why he would not receive a strong reference.

3) No. We look at the context of each applicant but we do not favour States over Independents or the other way around. What we do look at closely is the context of the applicant's performance. An applicant who has done quite well from a very high achieveing independent or grammar is likely to be considered a less strong candidate on paper than someone who has achieved similar results from a much lower acheiving school.

In other words we discriminate (but not in the meaning the media uses which is to say choose unfairly, rather we choose very carefully) but without prejudice. What we are interested in is trying to find the best students whether they are from the private or state sector. Your son needs to choose his school on the basis of what is going to be the best for his education between 16 and 18, please don't make that important choice on the basis of whether Cambridge or Oxford or any other university prefers people from one school or another.

I hope this is helpful and am very happy to answer any further questions you might have either directly or through a private message.

Reply 37

Miniongirl

4

Thank you so much for your full and extremely helpful reply.

Reply 38

Ruth W

Hello
I am interested in studying engineering at Cambridge.. How important is the GCSE grade in English. (I am an English student) eg Would a B grade decrease my chances? (Maths, physics chemistry, systems are all at the highest grade).

Also would you expect GCSE results to be A/A* across the board?

Thank you for responding.

Reply 39

MrsBartlet

My daughter (who is in Y12) is going to apply for English for 2015 and I am unsure on the best advice to give her in terms of how many subjects to continue at A2. She is doing English, History, RS and French at AS level and would like to drop French next year to give her time to do extra reading in preparation for English. Her school say that their Oxbridge humanities applicants generally do 4 A2s but I see on the Cambridge website that it says 3 are sufficient and that you are looking for depth rather than breadth (something that having time to do extra reading should achieve!) From what I understand, you may say this as many students are not given the opportunity to do 4 A2s and so the application process must remain fair to all.

My question is - is 3 enough really or would she look like a weaker candidate as most candidates would be doing 4 A2s? Would it be thought odd that she was only doing 3 coming form a school with at track record of students taking 4 A2s? She has 10 A* and 2 As at GCSE and she is capable of doing the 4 to A2 but we want her to have enough time for her reading.

Your advice would be much appreciated!

Ask an Admissions Tutor III - 3 March -18 April

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