The Big "Are My Grades Good Enough for Cambridge?" Thread (Mk1)

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Reply 2340

ben_stretch

paddy__power

I am perfectly capable

How could you possibly know?

Reply 2341

zaidhasham404

Are these GCSE grades good enough for Cambridge to at least offer an interview:
A*
Mathematics: A*
Additional Mathematics: A
Biology: A*
Chemistry: A*
Physics: A*
Geography: A*
Economics: A
French: A

7 A* 2A's, is it good enough for Oxbridge????

Reply 2342

ollypocket

zaidhasham404

Yes, those are easily good enough. But nothing is ever guaranteed.

And this is gonna be merged in 1,2,3...

Reply 2343

theman12345

Hi
I am looking to apply for Cambridge or LSE for economics in 2011 as my first choice.
I am also interested in UCL, Bristol (can anyone tell me if I have a realistic chance of a place at any of these unis and which would be hardest and easiest to gain entry to for economics or a similar course)

I am looking for advice on whether I have a chance of getting a place on the Economics course as I know it is extremely competitive, I am in Year 12 and currently take Maths, Economics, History and Geography to AS and am probably going to drop History or Geography at A2. I expect to get 4 A's at AS and 3 A's at A2 and hopefully a chance at the A* grade in some subjects. My GCSE Grades were:

Maths A*
Chemistry A*
History A*
Geography A*
HE - Food A*
ICT A*
Biology A (1 UMS off, getting remarked)
Physics A (1 UMS off, getting remarked)
English Language B
English Literature B
French B

I am doing insight days at PwC and various other firms aswell for the personal statement, it would be great to hear from candidates on advice on how to get in, any extra-curricular economics activities I could sign up for, for my PS.

Cheers

Reply 2344

andrew.P

You need to be able to get A* in maths, that's their standard offer for applicants this year (so could poss go up again to A*A*A next year - just speculating..)

Target 2.0 is good to be involved in, so tell your school to try and enter a team for that..
Your GCSE grades for English aren't going to fare particularly well with the admissions tutors so you should definitely not drop History at A2 as it shows you can argue and give viewpoints in essays

Also, if there's any chance you could do further maths in or out of school then you should definitely do that because increasingly colleges at Cambridge are saying it is highly desirable or essential to have..

Reply 2345

Tempeststurm

http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/prospect/ba/

Your grades look OK, and remember that while some experience might be relevant to economics, for Cambridge they are less important than grades or interview, and irrelevant extra-curriculars (DoE, sport, music, underwater basket weaving) aren't important.

Reply 2346

BigRed

Hey, I'm thinking of applying to economics at cambridge next year and will be on a gap year. I want to know if I'll get on interview because I know cambridge want 90%+ ums scores and I have done maths a-level already and got 93% average but with a 85 in C4 and 89 in M1 and these are below 90%.

I also do further maths and economics as my a-levels and I know that I need another a-level to stand a reasonable chance so I'll pick up physics during my gap year to self study. would they look down on this seeing as I didn't pick it the first time?

Would it help my application if I did a STEP paper this year to prove my mathematical ability?

Reply 2347

synvilla

BigRed

Well you'll need to have A*AA if you are post A-level next year. Other than that -- you're pretty much guaranteed an interview since Cambridge interview almost everyone.

Reply 2348

BigRed

synvilla

Well you'll need to have A*AA if you are post A-level next year. Other than that -- you're pretty much guaranteed an interview since Cambridge interview almost everyone.

I already have an A* in maths when re-certificated next year as I got 91.5% average for my A2 units. I'm worried as I seen people on here get rejected pre-interview because of low module scores.

Reply 2349

synvilla

BigRed

I already have an A* in maths when re-certificated next year as I got 91.5% average for my A2 units. I'm worried as I seen people on here get rejected pre-interview because of low module scores.

I had an interview and had 50% in some modules, if makes you feel better

Reply 2350

BigRed

synvilla

I had an interview and had 50% in some modules, if makes you feel better

It did make me feel better :p:

Still though, I don't understand why they got rejected just because of some low module scores. Also, as my 85 in C4 in an A2 unit and before some offers for economics in previous year said they want 90%+ in maths modules, they might not want to interview me. But I'm just thinking out loud.

So to compensate for my low maths score, I'm thinking of doing STEP I to show my ability in maths and hopefully get a 2 or above or would it not prove anything unless I did Step II or III?

Reply 2351

caffrey

STEP requires quite a lot of extra work, and is mainly for Maths applicants.

Reply 2352

Tempeststurm

I think your grades are fine, the 90% is supposed to be a guideline as an average across AS modules. 85 in C4, especially since it's a year early, won't be a problem.

If you do well in STEP, it will obviously help your application, although you certainly don't need it (you should be guaranteed an interview with your grades). The risk is that STEP is a lot harder than A level, so if you took STEP as an extra and didn't do well, that would look less good.

Reply 2353

123banana123

Yes before I begin I am VERY sorry that you all must suffer another paranoid teenager worrying about Cambridge and GCSE grades...

Anyway, I shall commence!

Would you say that how tolerant the admissions tutors are of poor GCSEs is proportionate to how competitive the course is?

For instance, is it easier to get into something less competitive, such as ASNAC, than to get into something like PPS with poor GCSEs (e.g. less than 5A*).

Thanks :smile:

P.s. sorry to annoy everyone sick to death of these threads! I am VERY sorry. :p:

Reply 2354

QED

Apply for the course you want to do; if you're good enough you'll get in. It differs from case to case, obviously.

Reply 2355

Noble.

You certainly don't need straight A*s, or even straight As for that matter, to get into Cambridge. They're much more concerned about applicants getting 90%+ UMS in their AS-Levels.

Reply 2356

The_Musty_Piglet

you type as if you have a pineapple shoved up your ass

Reply 2357

RainbowConnection

My friend got 14A*s & got rejected for Medicine there this year, so I have no idea what they were expecting! He's a really nice person too! Well spoken & headboy at his school with loads of extra-curricular stuff & work experience :dontknow:

My advice just try your best and don't worry about the others :smile:

Reply 2358

wer343lit

Noble.

You certainly don't need straight A*s, or even straight As for that matter, to get into Cambridge. They're much more concerned about applicants getting 90%+ UMS in their AS-Levels.

Source? I didn't think they really commented on which was more important. Maybe I just haven't read about it though.

Reply 2359

wer343lit

RainbowConnection

My advice just try your best and don't worry about the others :smile:

Medicine is ridiculously competitive and they won't really have cared about his ECs or work experience. Perhaps his BMAT score or A Level UMS were below average.