Ask Peterhouse - 2017 entry

OP

Original post by ellavanderbilt

Hello,I'm hoping to study linguistics next year.My AS grades were BCD - with all of them being within a couple of marks away from the grade above.Due to an ongoing illness making my attendance lower than 50% at one point, I have been predicted ABB. I also come from a underperforming sixth form.With my circumstances, would there be any way that I could be considered to study at Cambridge? And what is the most important aspect that admissions tutors are looking for in linguistics applicants?Thank you!

Hi, thanks for asking. I'm sorry to hear about your illness and your circumstances (via an ECF) would affect our assessment, but I'm afraid that predictions of ABB are too far from the typical offer of A*AA for Linguistics to make you a realistic candidate. If you work hard and achieve A*AA or better then there's nothing to stop you from successfully applying with A levels in hand.The ECF allows us to properly understand your results and what they say about your potential. However, our courses are quite advanced and are very fast-paced (our terms are only 8 weeks long) and unless students are on top of their A level material (i.e. achieving As or A*s) then the likelihood is that they will be quickly left behind and will struggle with the workload studying here.

Reply 24

OP

Original post by SuperHuman98

I am resitting year 12, with different subjects as the ones before just werent for me (keeping History which I got a B). In really worried that I will be very disadvantaged because 2 of my subjects arent facilitating and might be too weak. I am doing History Geography Politics and EnglishLangLit (combined). Do I have a good chance providing I get the grades? Im really worried. I want to study History at Cambridge

Hi, we're happy to help! That's a perfectly fine set of subjects for a History applicant. If you're on track for A*AA then you can make a competitive application. Getting a B in History isn't ideal but neither would it prevent you from being successful.

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OP

Original post by thepewds_

Hi. I aspire to read medicine and am currently doing my GCSEs. Would 3 grade 9s, 6A*s and an A be enough to have a good chance? Or would the A hinder my chances?

The only GCSE requirements for Medicine are Cs or above in Double Award Science and Mathematics; two single awards in GCSE Biology and Physics may be substituted for Double Award Science :smile:

. Its much more important that you do really well at A level. We don't expect 100% in every exam - remember that applications are looked at holistically and GCSEs are considered in the context of your school and what they tell us about your transition into A levels.

Reply 26

OP

Original post by Obiejess

Hi, I got my AS grades and my result in English was a lot lower than expected. I got an A in History, Psychology, and Government and Politics, but only a B in English Lit. I plan to drop Psychology, and continue with English Lit as it is a facilitating subject. However, my teacher says she will still predict my an A* despite this fluke, leaving me with an A* A* A/A* prediction overall. Additionally, I took AS French in Year 10, which was a mistake, and got a D. My GCSEs are 5A*s, 4As. Is it worth applying for Law, and what are my chances if I did?

Our typical offer for Law is A*AA with no particular subjects essential so your predictions and subject selection are fine. Lots of candidates are successful with AAB at AS. Are you taking reformed A levels? We know that predictions and AS performance are likely to be a bit more variable this year than in the past :smile:

We can't know your exact changes without seeing your full application, contextual information and how it compares to other applicants across the entire University.

Reply 27

OP

Original post by Steliata

Hi there, I'm an AMES applicant for Japanese. I got 4As in RS, English Language, Maths and Chinese last year, and I'm carrying on the latter 3. I got really high UMS in maths and RS (English is reformed) but in Chinese I got 80 UMS and I'm worried it'll negatively impact my application, especially given that my degree involves an East Asian language.

In my school we're the first year to study Chinese to A level, and our teacher has never taught people our age A level, only adult classes with more than two years to prepare. Also, none of the class got above a B in the written paper which counted for 70% of the AS. Would this counteract my less than stellar AS grade or is it a case of me not doing enough? :frown:

Hi, great to hear you're thinkig of going for AMES! The important thing is that you're on track for A*AA. One thing we do look for with language subjects, particular those where you'll learn a language from scratch, is evidence of an ability to learn languages quickly. An A at AS Chinese is a strong achievement and the circumstances you describe sound exactly like the things you might want to tell us about on the SAQ and the school might want to tell us about on an ECF. We will take any and all informatio about the wider circumstances to your studies into consideration and there's ntohing stopping you making a strong application.

Reply 28

OP

Original post by alevelpain

Hey, was wondering about this:

I would like to study History, I got 4 high UMS/raw marks in my AS levels this year, however my GCSEs weren't great (6A*s, 4As at a school where that was the average). I was wondering that with the new reforms, will GCSEs be given more weight than in previous years and thus as a result, less weight on AS levels which in turn would reduce my chances of an offer?

Also, I didn't do History at GCSE even though I want to study it at uni, does this put me at a disadvantage?

Finally, what (in your opinion) is more preferable - 4 A-levels or 3 A-levels & an EPQ

Thanks for the help in advance!

You're welcome! Let's see what we can do:

GCSEs will categorically not be given more weight than in previous years. Not having History at GCSE won't hurt you - contrary to popular belief and lots of personal statement advice, we don't care how long you've interested in a subject. You could have been passionate about History since birth or only got into it this summer as long as you have engaged academically with the subject, have got strong results and can perform well at interview and in the admissions assessments. Your results should make you a good candidate.

For your last question, I'll quote from the post we co-wrote with @Christ's Admissions:

Don't take too many exams! It is better to excel in 3 A levels than to do less well in 4 or more. If your offer is for A*AA or A*A*A then no amount of As will meet it. If your offers don't require STEP or other additional exams then think very carefully about whether you should take them instead of focusing on your A levels.

[A*AA is much better than AAAA or indeed even AAAAAAAAAAAAAA]

Reply 29

OP

Original post by ConorK98

Are my UMS scores high enough for NatSci? Part of CCEA system so don't know if different but the UMS scores are out of 300 apart from Software Systems Development which is 200. I am predicted 2A*s in Maths and Physics and 2A's in Biology and Software. Don't know how relevant but my at GCSE I got 12A*s and an A.

My UMS scores are:

Maths - 278/300
Physics - 268/300
Biology - 263/300
Software Development - 175/200

I'm aware there's also a pre-interview assessment but is this good enough to make an application? Thanks

A*A*A predictions in Maths, Physics and Biology are what matters most. Do you know which sciences you're most interested in?

Reply 30

OP

Original post by ArafatQ

Hi Peterhouse College,

I wanted to know about how important UMS is when applying to Cambridge Computer Science.

I got 90% UMS across my Maths and Further Maths AS modules and 95% in my Phyics AS MOCK.
I also got 71% for Classics AS exams.

I am predicted A*A*A* at A-Level for Maths, Further Maths and Physics - Classics is a big no no lol.

From what I understand, these are pretty low for Cambridge, so I was wondering how admissions tutors use UMS's and what the view on my application will be compared to others.

Thank you for your help!

Hi, happy to help though note that it is just Peterhouse, Cambridge not Peterhouse College. (Don't worry everyone gets it wrong but some of the Fellows can be sticklers over it :wink:

).

For Computer Science we'd want to see you on track for A*A*A in Maths, FM and Physics so you're predictions look great. Nothing looks low to me - don't believe everything you read - there really aren't that many applicants with 100% in everything! Also remember that getting an offer isn't just a function of grades. Every year we reject candidates with high grades in favour of candidates with lower grades who we think have more potential to flourish with our supervision style of teaching or who suit the course as taught here more.

Reply 31

OP

Original post by (student)

Dear Admission Tutor,
I would like to apply for economics having taken maths, further maths, physics and chemistry. My predictions are 4 A*s.
In my maths I got an A* with UMS marks C1 100, C2 100, C3 100, C4 84, M1 95, S1 100.
I've also done an EPQ in economics.
Would it be worth considering an application with the low C4 UMS?
Thanks

Yes. I think you knew the answer though!

Reply 32

OP

Original post by hey(:

Hello, I am an international student and I was wondering if Cambridge considers the results from internal school examinations (preliminary exams) in addition to the predicted A level grades we receive from these prelim results? Would it be used as a deciding factor between 2 applicants with the same A level results? Thank you!

Not the dreaded hypothetically equal candidates! :tongue:

We consider any and all information we have to hand. Information in a school transcript for international students is very useful. It can help us understand and perhaps trust predictions a bit more and can see more about your academic trajectory - whether you are improving or whether you performance has been erratic for example.

Reply 33

metrize

18

Hi which statistic do you look at to see underperforming sixth forms?

Reply 34

OP

Original post by metrize

Hi which statistic do you look at to see underperforming sixth forms?

In terms of contextual information about schools, we look at GCSE performance for your GCSE school and for your sixth form we'll the number of past applicants, offers and acceptances at Oxford and Cambridge, progression rate to HE in general, the number in your sixth form, % receiving free school meals, the A level point score per student and per exam entry and all sorts of other things from the Department for Education. If we see the need, there's almost no end to the statistics we'll use (just look at the huge array the government collects). As we mentioned earlier about UMS averages, we know that summary statistics miss out a lot of the important detail.

Reply 35

Steliata

14

Original post by Peterhouse Admissions

Hi, great to hear you're thinkig of going for AMES! The important thing is that you're on track for A*AA. One thing we do look for with language subjects, particular those where you'll learn a language from scratch, is evidence of an ability to learn languages quickly. An A at AS Chinese is a strong achievement and the circumstances you describe sound exactly like the things you might want to tell us about on the SAQ and the school might want to tell us about on an ECF. We will take any and all informatio about the wider circumstances to your studies into consideration and there's ntohing stopping you making a strong application.

Thank you so much! I was worried that because my school generally performs pretty well, it wouldn't count as an extenuating circumstance. I'll try and get that put on my reference/SAQ/ECF. Thanks again, I feel much more confident now :smile:

Reply 36

1685

3

Hi! I am hoping to apply for Philosophy this year and I have two questions regarding my potential application.

Firstly, I am rather worried about my UMS scores and I hope you might be able to tell me how much of a problem they are/ whether an application is realistic. My overall grades are A*AA at A2, and AAAA at AS. However, my UMS average for my 3 best AS subjects and my A2 results is only 85.58% if an unexpectedly low module (a C, in French) is included, or 88.03% if not. I scored 93% UMS in Philosophy, which is my most relevant subject, but I have been told that Cambridge does not consider this subject as particularly useful in a Philosophy application.

Secondly, I do not have the ideal subject combination for Philosophy, as I picked my A level choices with a different subject (English Literature) in mind, and only decided on studying Philosophy halfway through my AS course as I was enjoying both the A level course and my reading around it so much. I have A levels in Philosophy, French and Music with an AS level in English Literature. My A* grade at A2 was in Philosophy. I am also planning on doing A level Maths this year (during a gap year), to better prepare me for a university Philosophy course at Cambridge or elsewhere. Are these subjects too far away from what admissions tutors are looking for for my application to be realistic? Also, how best should I indicate to admissions tutors my intention of doing A level Maths this year?

Many thanks for your time and apologies for the very long question!

Reply 37

OP

Original post by Steliata

Thank you so much! I was worried that because my school generally performs pretty well, it wouldn't count as an extenuating circumstance. I'll try and get that put on my reference/SAQ/ECF. Thanks again, I feel much more confident now :smile:

There is no 'counting' as an extenuating circumstance - we don't view them in that way. If you think you've been affected by circumstances outside of your control then an ECF is appropriate.

Reply 38

OP