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Ask an Admissions Tutor IX, 4th August - 2nd September

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Original post by Christ's Admissions

I'm afraid I don't have statistics on the success rate of applicants with 3 or 4 A*s. Given the improvement from AS to A2 and the gaining of 4 A*s, however, I would say that on paper he would be a strong candidate post A Level. What he needs to do in consultation with school, family and friends is weigh up whether he wishes to give up a year to chase the possibility of Cambridge over the certainty of Durham. That's not something I can advise on but it needs careful thought.

Thank you for the input and my friend also told me to pass his gratitude :smile:

He has been discussing this with the school and his family so it will be a well thought out decision I hope.

Reply 621

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Original post by water3

hi, I achieved my offer and am soon to be a student of Christ's college! I was just wondering if Breville toastie makers and rice cookers are allowed to be used in the Gyp rooms if I brought them from home? also, are there freezers in the gyp rooms or just refrigerators? sorry if these are obvious questions, i'm just currently deciding what to pack! also, for medicine does the college provide accommodation for all 6 years? finally (sorry this is long!) do we have to buy a new gown before we arrive or are there gowns available to buy cheaper/second hand at college?

thanks

Hello and congratulations on making your offer at Christ's, we look forward to having you in October. You'll get a fresher's pack shortly, probably early September, which will detail a lot of information about what you can and can't do. I'm not sure abut the Breville, I expect it's ok but don't quote me on that, you'll need to ask your tutor. I don't really go into student gyp rooms very often (not really my place!) but I think that they just have fridges and not freezers.

You are guaranteed accommodation before clinical studies. Off the top of my head at at home on Saturday night, I can't remember what happens with clinicals except to say that the vast majority voluntarily rent privately during clinicals because they aren't in Cambridge for a lot of the time but on rotation elsewhere at other hospitals. Also, renting privately near Addenbrokes is often more convenient that being in a college house on Huntingdon Road or near the railway station. If you'd like me to find out for certain, I'll be happy to do so.

You need a gown by the time of the matriculation photo which, at Christ's, happens on the Monday of freshers week, so you'll have a chance to pick one up cheaply on Sunday.

Reply 622

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Original post by Jamesgj123

What is auto-pooling?

It what people on TSR call what in Cambridge is known as compulsory pooling. This is when a candidate has achieved certain conditions in public exams which ensure that if he/she is not taken by their original college then that college has to place them in the Winter Pool for other colleges to assess. In the case of Year 13 applicants, it was based on UMS performance at AS Level. The threshold of 93% average in your best three subjects still holds but those eligible for it are now basically restricted to Northern Ireland, Wales and International A levels. There is no compulsory pooling on the basis of results in reformed AS Levels. At post A Level the threshold is and remains 3 A*s.

Reply 623

SteamboatMickey

Hey, will the actual papers be different than the specimen admissions assessment papers, in terms of difficulty?

Reply 624

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Original post by GracePoole

Hi, could you tell me whether the A* in the standard A*AA offer for English at Cambridge has to be in English? And what happens if A*A*B is achieved (with an A* in English, of course)? I have four As at AS and 12 A*s and one A at GCSE but my school has no history of sending anyone to Cambridge for English so I'm not sure whether to try for Oxford as their offer would be AAA, though I much prefer the Cambridge course. For the record, I think my predictions will be three A*s for A2; however, I'm still worried due to my school's lack of Oxbridge experience. Thanks in advance!

Hello and thanks for your questions. Don't worry about your school's history of sending people to Cambridge, there's no secret formula or experience needed. If you prefer the Cambridge course then you should apply to Cambridge and vice versa if you preferred the Oxford course, that's so much more important than anything else at this stage. With 12 A*s at GCSE and 4 As at AS then you are going to be a strong candidate on paper.

The A*AA offer sometimes comes with an A* in English as part of the conditions but by no means always. It's up to the offering college. If a candidate gets A*A*B then they have missed the offer and, again, it's up to the college what to do then. Sometimes they will relax it and sometimes not. It;s done on a case by case basis, weighing up a lot of factors.

I hope that this is helpful, do let me know if you have other questions and best of luck.

Reply 625

Christ's Admissions

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Original post by jdizzle12345

Hi, I was wondering if my academic profile is strong enough for Philosophy at Cambridge to be considered as a serious contender and invited for an interview? I'm a bit concerned as a few of my maths modules are fairly low for Cambridge standard.

10A* GCSE (Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Maths, English, RS, History, Geography, Latin, Chinese)

A Level: Doing Maths, FM, RS and economics.
3 A's at AS in Maths, FM and RS. Did not do an AS in economics as it is reformed.

Core 1: 83/100, Core 2: 97/100, Statistics 1: 91/100, Futher Pure 1: 89/100, Mechanics 1: 96/100, Mechanics 2: 73/100

Philosophy of Religion: 99/100, Ethics: 100/100

Predicted: A* A* A* A (A in FM)

Hello and thanks for your question. Yes, absolutely that you be considered a strong enough profile to apply. You will b a strong candidate on paper. We would take note your under performance in a couple of maths modules but, in the light of your strength elsewhere, that's not going to suddenly make you a bad candidate. I think I've said elsewhere on the thread, very few applicants have perfect scores, so people need not to worry if they don't either.

Reply 626

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Original post by champ_mc99

How do you filter the medics? Is it mainly the BMAT scores? I can't see any other way of doing it.

GCSEs, AS Levels, references? We'll look at everything to help us decide whether to make offers of interviews and places. BMAT is obviously going to be important but it's foolish to use it on it's own so we won't do that. :smile:

Reply 627

Christ's Admissions

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Original post by C0balt

Thank you for the input and my friend also told me to pass his gratitude :smile:

He has been discussing this with the school and his family so it will be a well thought out decision I hope.

He's welcome and best of luck to him in whatever he decides to do. It's a tough decision.

Reply 628

Christ's Admissions

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Original post by SteamboatMickey

Hey, will the actual papers be different than the specimen admissions assessment papers, in terms of difficulty?

They will be different in content, of course, but they aren't intended to be more difficult. That would defeat the point of specimen papers, we don;t want to trick people but to help them. The History specimen is an actual paper from a college test at interview in recent years, the format of which History DoSes decided to adopt for the admissions assessment.

Reply 629

kakerlake

Which kinds of study/experiences (e.g. reading, summer schools, lectures) look best when you write about the activities you do in your own time to proove your interest in a subject on your personal statement? I am struggling to fit them all in and need to leave some out :s-smilie:

Reply 630

_cryinglightning

1) Are interviews for humanity subjects (English Literature) based off one's personal statement?
2) How does Cambridge view the EPQ? Would it ever form part of an offer? Would not having one be detrimental to an application (my sixth form believes it would be)?
3) When do applicants hear if they are invited to interview? (How long before the actual date?)
4) What sort of things should be included in the school reference?

Thank you!

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 631

Zacken

If it's not confidential, do you mind sharing the details surrounding the error in marking STEP scripts that led to students being notified on Thursday about grade changes? What sort of errors occurred? Sorry if I sound nosey, it just sounds mysterious and got me curious. :smile:

Reply 632

champ_mc99

Original post by Christ's Admissions

Yeah I thought about that but pretty much all applicants will have the same AS grades (esp since they've scrapped UMS) and GCSE's aren't treated with much of a high deal right? How much weight is put on the reference?

Reply 633

mark_corrigan

Original post by SteamboatMickey

Ahh nice to see someone also in my position! Luckily I wasn't in the Math exams, I've heard they were really tough! :redface:

Yup, I was 6 marks off an A and got full marks in the first paper so I'm remarking. I'm so worried they lower it though and I end up someone with a C grade :s-smilie:

Hopefully I can impress with the rest of my application (admission assessment, interview, supercurriculars references, predicted grades etc) and my low GCSE performance will be balanced out by my extenuating circumstances.

Best of luck! How are you preparing for the November assessments? :smile:

I'm not really - I don't know how to. I'm just going to speak to the university/careers people at college when I go back and ask what they think of applying. Fingers crossed for remark. Good luck to you too!

Reply 634

Yo_Classics

Hi all!...Interested in Cambridge Classics here, the 3 year course starting September 2017.

Firstly, let me also thank Christ's Admissions. Really appreciate you guys doing this for all of us.

Regarding Predicted Grades, as we know with AS exams being phased out, there won't be actual, external AS Results for Year 12 work now. So how will you assess post-GCSE 'things that have happened'?

As well as the Pre Interview Assessment, how will you compare these two hypothetical candidates for, say, the HSPS course at Christ's, the application 'packages' being very similar except:

Jane, who has Latin AS (96 UMS), Spanish AS (82 UMS) and will also do linear History and linear English Lit at A2, predicted A*A*A*A;

and her twin sister Jill , who has not done any AS exams and will do 4 linear A2s in History, English Lit, Physics, Psychology, predicted A*A*A*A?

How seriously will you take the School Reference, especially in this transitional period for AS exams?

Any other observations as Cambridge Admissions transition from ASs to a post AS world, having found ASs so useful for so many year s now?

Many thanks.

Budding_Classicist

Reply 635

Makhib19

Original post by Christ's Admissions

No problem, happy to be of help. I would talk about it in your PS or elsewhere in your SAQ (there is a box for an additional PS or for telling us anything else we should know). With your reference then it should be from the person who can say the most about you academically. If that's your university tutor, go with them, if they only really know you a little, then use your teacher.

Hello thank you for your reply and I didnt know that there was the SAQ form which will be very helpful.

Two more questions, sorry!

I would be applying from scotland and the grades I recieved were AAAAAC (C in English) at Higher and AAAD (D in English) at Advanced Higher. Would the English grade deter me or impact my application?

Also would I be able to apply for a second course at Cambridge along with a Medical application, for example for Chemistry?

Thank you so much.

Reply 636

matt.thorne10

Hi Christ's,

I was wondering how much winning an essay prize would help an application? Also, more importantly, whether it would be regarded the same at all colleges or would only really help at the college that ran the prize?

Reply 637

teodorng

Hi! I'm an EU fresher at Modern and Medieval Languages, Clare College, and I'm now thinking what to pack and what I still need.

What can you tell me about the computer-documents compatibility? I've heard about people having invested in a good Windows laptop and then realized that the documents sent by supervisors were unreadable because they were made on Apples; then they had to convert each and every file in order to be able to open them. Do I have to get a Macbook in order to be sure I can read everything without wasting time converting?

If I had to choose myself with no restriction, I would deffinitely go for a Windows laptop, so my questions are: what specs do you find as being of absolute necessity? and: Windows or Mac?

Replies from any of you who can tell me anything are welcome. Thanks a lot in advance!

Best regards,
TeodorNG

Reply 638

MCPClark

Original post by Christ's Admissions

Hello again, I'd need to know what subject she was interested in to be sure, but the remainder of her Maths scores look very strong. yes, the M2 score is a bit on the low side but there is sufficient strength elsewhere in Maths not to
make us think more than it's an outlier.

Sorry for not mentioning this would be an application for Mathematics. Thanks very much for the rest of your advice

Reply 639

Mumofboys

Hello Christ's Admissions - first of all can I just say thank you for reading this and for all the help you give to everyone on this forum.
My question is on behalf of my son who has just completed A levels achieving A*A*A*A in Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Physics. The A was in Physics and is 3 marks off an A* so we have requested the photocopied script with a view to a remark.
My son applied to Cambridge to read Engineering starting September 2016, but was rejected prior to interview on the grounds of not being strong enough academically (predicted grades were A*A*A*A), and we can only assume it was on the basis of his FM at AS which was a D I think. He was otherwise strong at AS and GCSE. The only other thing that has changed is that his predicted A was in FM, but this went to A* and Physics went from A* to A.
He subsequently received an unconditional offer to read Engineering at a Russell Group Uni but is now wavering and talking about a gap year with a view to reapplying to Cambridge for 2017. We have the usual conversations about not wasting a year chasing the Cambridge dream, using the year productively (if it happens) - he already has a job offer for late summer with the Engineering company he did work experience with last summer, which he will discuss extending with them. I realise you cannot offer advice but would welcome your thoughts. Would the 2016 rationale for rejection blight this year's application?
Many thanks for your help.