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Original post by Christ's Admissions
Thanks for the question. No, I don't think that the application would be weaker if you dropped Biology and would suggest that SSD is probably of more use for a Comp Sci degree, it is just unlikely to form part of the A*A*A offer. I doubt that Biology would either. What matters in your context is the results in Maths, FM and Physics.


Ah okay, thanks, will be dropping Biology then! :tongue:

And sorry just to clarify so I'm 100% clear, is the Maths average without Physics is used with CompSci? So in the end the 3 averages you will have on us are SUMS, Maths & Physics, and Maths?
Thank you very much for your reply.
Original post by Peterhouse Admissions
Sorry for gatecrashing! The UKCISA website is the oracle for fee status questions and is used by admissions teams.

Thank you very much for the UKCISA link.
Hi Christ's admissions,
I'm a law offer holder for Clare :smile: As my offer was raised to A*A*A (when the usual offer is only A*AA for law applicants and other applicants to Clare law also received the standard offer) I was wondering what my chances would be if I got the same grades expected of other offer holders at A*AA? I don't know if because my offer was raised it might have meant my interview performance wasn't as good as could have been, or for whatever reason, but I'd really appreciate knowing the reasons why sometimes candidates offers are higher than others and what my chances would be on results day.
Many thanks :h:
Original post by TiernanW
Ah okay, thanks, will be dropping Biology then! :tongue:

And sorry just to clarify so I'm 100% clear, is the Maths average without Physics is used with CompSci? So in the end the 3 averages you will have on us are SUMS, Maths & Physics, and Maths?


Students who are doing new-style A Levels will not have a SUMS average or a Maths and Physics average. Those doing CIE exams, International A Levels, Welsh and Northern Irish A Levels will have them but this will be in a significant minority.
Original post by Christ's Admissions
Hello everyone and welcome to a new Ask an Admissions Tutor thread, back for its fourth year.

I will be here for the next month to answer your questions about admissions to Cambridge, especially if you are planning to apply this year but also to help those already holding an offer for this year and waiting for your results.

Do please fire away and I'll answer them as well and as quickly as I can.

If we have raw marks available in the unreformed subjects would they be taken into account
Original post by jtmass22
If we have raw marks available in the unreformed subjects would they be taken into account


In the unreformed subjects you will still have UMS and those will be looked at, yes.

In reformed subjects, we have yet to decide whether we are going to ask for raw marks but should make a decision by the end of the month.
Original post by Poppycharlotte
Hi Christ's admissions,
I'm a law offer holder for Clare :smile: As my offer was raised to A*A*A (when the usual offer is only A*AA for law applicants and other applicants to Clare law also received the standard offer) I was wondering what my chances would be if I got the same grades expected of other offer holders at A*AA? I don't know if because my offer was raised it might have meant my interview performance wasn't as good as could have been, or for whatever reason, but I'd really appreciate knowing the reasons why sometimes candidates offers are higher than others and what my chances would be on results day.
Many thanks :h:


Hello and thanks for your questions. Obviously I can't tell you why Clare made you a stiffer offer than standard in your individual case, you would have to ask them. There can be a number of reasons why a college might make a stiffer than standard offer - some colleges make them routinely to candidates taken from the pool because often they haven't seen them themselves. More often, it is an insurance, it can sometimes be that they really like a candidate at interview but their paper application is a bit weak or it could be vice versa, that their interviews were disappointing but the paper application very strong. In these cases, colleges sometimes raise to offer just to make sure that their judgement was correct.

If you reach A*AA but not A*A*A, then it is up to Clare to decide what to do. Again, I can't second guess them or set their policy but they might decide that, having got close to A*A*A they are happy to take you anyway or they may feel that they are;t willing to compromise, that they made you a stiff offer and you didn't make it. In the latter case, were you to achieve A*AA, then Clare would be obliged to put your file in the summer pool for other colleges to look at. The stronger the results an applicant the better their chance are of getting picked up in the Summer Pool. Not many offers are made outside Maths but those that are predominantly go to those who have met the standard offer but not the stiffer offer set by their college.

Sorry not to be more specific about your chances but I hope that this is useful nonetheless. Good luck with the results! :smile:
Hi, I'm currently waiting for results and i had some problems in my exam, and have applied for special consideration from my exam board but i'm still scared my place is in jeopardy as i have an extremely high offer of A* A* A* A, What would most likely happen if i miss my offer and get 2A* and 2A'S or get an 3A* and an A but not all A*'s are the ones that are required
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Christ's Admissions
Hello and thanks for your questions. Obviously I can't tell you why Clare made you a stiffer offer than standard in your individual case, you would have to ask them. There can be a number of reasons why a college might make a stiffer than standard offer - some colleges make them routinely to candidates taken from the pool because often they haven't seen them themselves. More often, it is an insurance, it can sometimes be that they really like a candidate at interview but their paper application is a bit weak or it could be vice versa, that their interviews were disappointing but the paper application very strong. In these cases, colleges sometimes raise to offer just to make sure that their judgement was correct.

If you reach A*AA but not A*A*A, then it is up to Clare to decide what to do. Again, I can't second guess them or set their policy but they might decide that, having got close to A*A*A they are happy to take you anyway or they may feel that they are;t willing to compromise, that they made you a stiff offer and you didn't make it. In the latter case, were you to achieve A*AA, then Clare would be obliged to put your file in the summer pool for other colleges to look at. The stronger the results an applicant the better their chance are of getting picked up in the Summer Pool. Not many offers are made outside Maths but those that are predominantly go to those who have met the standard offer but not the stiffer offer set by their college.

Sorry not to be more specific about your chances but I hope that this is useful nonetheless. Good luck with the results! :smile:


Thank you for your very useful answers :smile: it might be because my GCSE's weren't so strong but I did receive 4 high A's at AS but who knows :redface:
Just one more question and I know this one may be a bit difficult but ... A few months after I got my offer, my school failed it's Ofsted being listed as 'requires immediate improvement' for its teaching - could this have any bearing on Clare's judgement if I were to communicate this to them on results day? Or is this irrelevant information to Cambridge?
Thank you for your wishes of good luck!
Original post by Poppycharlotte
Thank you for your very useful answers :smile: it might be because my GCSE's weren't so strong but I did receive 4 high A's at AS but who knows :redface:
Just one more question and I know this one may be a bit difficult but ... A few months after I got my offer, my school failed it's Ofsted being listed as 'requires immediate improvement' for its teaching - could this have any bearing on Clare's judgement if I were to communicate this to them on results day? Or is this irrelevant information to Cambridge?
Thank you for your wishes of good luck!


It's best not to try and second guess why they gave you a certain offer, you deserved your offer and all you can do is try to meet it. I'd let them know before results day, it's always easier to make decisions with more information. By results day most decisions have already been made. We get the results this weekend so try to let them know before then as it is relevant.
Original post by Saywhat123
Hi, I'm currently waiting for results and i had some problems in my exam, and have applied for special consideration from my exam board but i'm still scared my place is in jeopardy as i have an extremely high offer of A* A* A* A, What would most likely happen if i miss my offer and get 2A* and 2A'S or get an 3A* and an A but not all A*'s are the ones that are required


If you get the standard offer for your subject then, if you college decides not to take you because you didn't meet their stiffer offer, then you will be put in the Summer Pool for other colleges to look at. If you got 2 or 3 A*s, you will be in a strong position in the Summer Pool but not many offers are made.
Hi,

I emailed both Oxford and Cambridge admissions tutors with regards 2017 undergraduate entry to Medicine. Oxford said their admissions criteria would remain the same as last year (i.e emphasis on GCSEs/BMAT), however, Cambridge have yet to reply.. is this because the criteria is still being set (due to the removal of UMS in reformed subjects)?

Thanks in advance
I'm just going into my second year of A Levels & was just interested to know: how important are AS grades in comparison to A2 grades? The whole A Level structure has changed & I'm worried I could miss out even though my grades from this year don't necessarily represent my capabilities.
Thanks
Original post by Christ's Admissions
We get the results this weekend

Lol I regret reading this thread :facepalm:
Original post by hasbroakhtar
Hi,

I emailed both Oxford and Cambridge admissions tutors with regards 2017 undergraduate entry to Medicine. Oxford said their admissions criteria would remain the same as last year (i.e emphasis on GCSEs/BMAT), however, Cambridge have yet to reply.. is this because the criteria is still being set (due to the removal of UMS in reformed subjects)?

Thanks in advance


Hi there, our criteria for entry in each subject is on the website and in the prospectus. We will look at all the data that we have holistically before making decisions.
Original post by Rsjparker099
I'm just going into my second year of A Levels & was just interested to know: how important are AS grades in comparison to A2 grades? The whole A Level structure has changed & I'm worried I could miss out even though my grades from this year don't necessarily represent my capabilities.
Thanks


For students who have AS grades, we will look at them closely and students who do well will be in a good position. Those who haven't taken them won't be disadvantaged while those who have taken them and have not done as well as they might hope will be in a weaker position.

Students with A2 result in hand that exceed the standard offer in their subject are going to be in a good position when they apply. A2 results have been found to be a decent indicator of performance.
Original post by C0balt
Lol I regret reading this thread :facepalm:


I won't read mine til Monday - one of the most interesting days of the year for an AT!
Original post by Christ's Admissions
I won't read mine til Monday - one of the most interesting days of the year for an AT!

I'll make sure to sneak into the admissions office over the weekend and alter the results, thanks for that piece of info :wink: :tongue:
Original post by C0balt
I'll make sure to sneak into the admissions office over the weekend and alter the results, thanks for that piece of info :wink: :tongue:


It's all done electronically so they won't be there til we download them on Monday so it's not worth it! :smile:

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