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

Hello

I'm in a difficult situation at the moment. On results day, I missed my offer of A*AA (Linguistics, Queens' ) and got AAA, and subsequently failed to make it out of the summer pool. I have since had a remark on my English exam paper and gone up to A*AA as of 11am this morning.

I have phoned and emailed Queens' to let them know, but I'm worried that they've filled my place for 2016, and that I won't be able to go until 2017. In any case, will I have a place guaranteed, regardless of whether it is for 2016 or 2017 entry?

Thanks for your help!
Alex

Firstly, incredible!
I am fairly sure they say conditionals need to be met by 31st of August.
Keep on ringing until they reply!


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what happens when you change course after the first year? Do you do the whole three year course in two years? And what degree do you get in the end? Thanks

Do you literally want to die?

Do you literally want to die?

I thought it sounded weird but I read this on the law undergraduate page and i got the impression that if you change course then it is done in two years.
"It's desirable to study law for two years wherever possible, since it's not possible to pass all seven 'foundation' subjects at Cambridge in less than two years.If your first subject has a two-year Part I, you need to consider the implications – especially the financial implications – of four years as an undergraduate."

Hello

I'm in a difficult situation at the moment. On results day, I missed my offer of A*AA (Linguistics, Queens' ) and got AAA, and subsequently failed to make it out of the summer pool. I have since had a remark on my English exam paper and gone up to A*AA as of 11am this morning.

I have phoned and emailed Queens' to let them know, but I'm worried that they've filled my place for 2016, and that I won't be able to go until 2017. In any case, will I have a place guaranteed, regardless of whether it is for 2016 or 2017 entry?

Thanks for your help!
Alex

There's no need to worry about not having done GCSEs, it's quite common for people just to come to the UK for their A Levels.

UMS at AS Level has traditionally been an important part of the process of decision making. It will still be useful for us where it is available but won't be used in the same way as before as it is going to be incomplete due to the reformed subjects.

With your current results I believe that you will be a competitive applicant at this stage. The number of 'supermen' or 'superwomen' applicants with straight full marks is very much lower than people imagine. Last year for Physical Nat Sci (the course you will be applying through), there were 1053 people with a Science UMS average (the best three Science/Maths scores at AS). Of those just 12 or 1.14% had a UMS average of 99.0% or above. About 18% had a Science UMS average of 96% or above, so there are a lot of very strong applicants but very few with 'perfect' or 'near perfect' results.

what happens when you change course after the first year? Do you do the whole three year course in two years? And what degree do you get in the end? Thanks

It varies from subject to subject but no you wouldn't normally do the whole course. In subjects that have a two year Part II you would just continue and do that in two years. In subjects with a two year Part I and a one year Part II you would normally do that in two years having changed after the second year.

At the end you get the same degree as everybody in Cambridge gets, a BA.

Hi, I am applying for the Theology, Religion and Philosophy of Religion course. In my Religious Studies A Level I got a high A in my philosophy exam (98 UMS) but a low B in my ethics exam (70) averaging out at a low A. Will this inconsistency be a cause for concern?

Does this course have a UMS cut-off point?

What makes a brilliant personal statement?

Thank you for the detailed reply. It is very helpful.

Would you mind if I raise another question? I would like to know if Chemical Engineering (via Natural Sciences) applicants will be mixed up with Physical Natural Sciences applicants and be considered as one same group during the selection process.

Considering the fact that places for Chemical Engineering are quite limited (1-6 students per college) but there are many more places for Natural Sciences (~30 students per college, assuming the biological and physical side each occupies 50% then ~15 students per college are accepted for physical Nat. Sci), would applying to Natural Sciences gives you a better chance of succeeding? (Since Nat Sci and Chem Eng are virtually interchangeable, applying to either does not seem to have a huge difference)

Ah, that's how it works.
I know several students who switched their course either after the first year or the second year, but hadn't made the connection between how they switched & length of Part I/II. Is that the reason for difference in length for Part I /II for each course?
And if your course has two year Part I, you can only switch to other course after completing Part I = after the second year?

Hi, I'm hoping to apply to do Physical Natural Sciences and I have a question about the application process that hopefully you may be able to answer.

Are Cambridge requesting raw marks for the reformed AS/A levels? I have asked various teachers and have looked online at the Cambridge website and so far have yet to find any clear statement saying how Cambridge were going to be approaching the reformed AS. This is quite significant in my circumstances as my AS grades were good, but the actual raw marks were relatively poor (e.g. they would not have been 85%+ UMS).

We are not asking for AS raw marks in reformed subjects. Schools can submit them in the reference if they want to.

The way we collect the data is that we count the number of A*s and As but we would, of course, notice the proportion. We don't look at either mechanistically but dynamically.

Is that with just Christ's college, or all of Cambridge university?