The Big &quot;Are My Grades Good Enough for Cambridge?&quot; Thread (Mk1)

Original post by Little Wing

Would 5A*'s 2A 1B be enough to get me an interview, provided I have an excellent BMAT score, excellent UMS in all my A levels and a good personal statement?

Yes.

Reply 5986

Original post by Magickal

I'm currently a Year 12 Student and I would love to do Natural Sciences (Biological) at Cambridge.
I have the grades (9A*s and 2As at GCSE), all As (at 90% or above) in my January modules. I'm currently studying Biology, Chemistry, Maths and English Literature and planning to drop English Literature as due to an incapable teacher we have to sit both Chemistry modules in June.
Oh I also have General Studies(compulsory) but that's basically worthless in terms of Cambridge.
Basically, is there any point applying to Cambridge with only 3 A-Levels or is it likely to disadvantage me?

I actually supervise NatScis for Bio (physiology) for a certain Cambridge college.
3 A Levels is plenty.
Your GCSEs are very good.

And I hope to supervise you soon ... if you pick the right college.

Reply 5987

Original post by Little Wing

...Sorry to ask again but :P
Would 5A*'s 2A 1B be enough to get me an interview, provided I have an excellent BMAT score, excellent UMS in all my A levels and a good personal statement?
I just feel that the GCSE's are dragging me down
(Technically 7 A*'s if you count the equivalents :biggrin:

)

For medicine, this is good (not excellent, but sufficient).
You need a decent BMAT mark, high 6+ to get a fighting chance of getting in.
Check the TSR BMAT wiki advice and resources to use.

I ma happy to answer any question you may have otherwise.
Best of luck in your application. And you have chosen a fantastic University.

Reply 5988

Original post by Groat

Do you have any general tips for interviews, etc? Or do you not like to comment? :dumbells:

Do really well in them.

Reply 5989

Tateco

14

Original post by alex_hk90

Yes it's worth applying, people do get in on 3 A-levels. However, it is likely to disadvantage you on paper, but as long as you get to interview you'll have a chance. Good luck. :smile:

Based on what? An admissions tutor from Emma specifically told me that they would not advise me to take on an additional AS in year 13 because they only consider your top 3 A-levels and any extra papers will be worthless in terms of boosting your application. Isn't it the same with other colleges too?

Reply 5990

Original post by Tateco

Based on what? An admissions tutor from Emma specifically told me that they would not advise me to take on an additional AS in year 13 because they only consider your top 3 A-levels and any extra papers will be worthless in terms of boosting your application. Isn't it the same with other colleges too?

Based on logic and common sense. Yes there is a scoring system in which you get your AS UMS rated and they only use the three most relevant (not top / highest) A-levels and this is meant to be standardised across the university. However, ceteris paribus, I would prefer the candidate with 5 relevant A-levels all at 95% to the one with 3 relevant A-levels all at 95%, and it is hard to see who wouldn't.

Reply 5991

Extricated

17

How much emphasis does cambridge put on school attended? i.e someone with 7a* at gcse at a school with ~75% a*-c is equivalent to how many a* at a private school (100% pass rate).........Also, is is true that cambridge look at only your best 9 gcses, therefore someone with 11a* will not be seen as more favourable than someone with 9? I know GCSEs are a small factor, but im planning on doing econ at cambridge and my school only let me do 9 gcses (pretty sure i've fluffed english lit..meaning near 6-8 A*)......on the Gonville website it said that an average successful applicant has 9a* at gcse and 95% in their a levels.

also for an econ degree, would the "most relevant" a levels out of maths, further maths, physics, economics, history be maths, further maths, economics?

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 5992

Little Wing

9

Original post by GH

For medicine, this is good (not excellent, but sufficient).
You need a decent BMAT mark, high 6+ to get a fighting chance of getting in.
Check the TSR BMAT wiki advice and resources to use.

I ma happy to answer any question you may have otherwise.
Best of luck in your application. And you have chosen a fantastic University.

Thanks for the answer :smile:

, I was also wondering how much emphasis is put on GCSE grades in comparison to AS UMS and BMAT scores, everyone has mixed opinions :s-smilie:

Thanks again!

Reply 5993

Original post by Extricated

How much emphasis does cambridge put on school attended? i.e someone with 7a* at gcse at a school with ~75% a*-c is equivalent to how many a* at a private school (100% pass rate).........

There's an adjustment made if your school tends to perform poorly at GCSE. I think you can find this out on the Cambridge website under the "Admissions Handbook" (at least back when I was applying this was online).

Original post by Extricated

Also, is is true that cambridge look at only your best 9 gcses, therefore someone with 11a* will not be seen as more favourable than someone with 9?

I think there's an upper limit to the score you can achieve (say, 10) for your GCSEs, and there's no benefit once you've gone over that, but I seem to remember that you need 10 subjects to hit this upper bound (i.e. it's 1 point for an A*, 0.5 points for an A, or something like that). Again this was detailed in the Admissions Handbook.

Original post by Extricated

I know GCSEs are a small factor, but im planning on doing econ at cambridge and my school only let me do 9 gcses (pretty sure i've fluffed english lit..meaning near 6-8 A*)......on the Gonville website it said that an average successful applicant has 9a* at gcse and 95% in their a levels.

Well, you should know that for that to be an average there are likely to be those who have lower than 9 A*s at GCSEs as well as those who have higher.

Original post by Extricated

also for an econ degree, would the "most relevant" a levels out of maths, further maths, physics, economics, history be maths, further maths, economics?

Yes, I would say Maths, Further Maths and Economics are the three most relevant A-levels for Economics.

Hope this helps. :smile:

Reply 5994

Original post by Little Wing

Thanks for the answer :smile:

, I was also wondering how much emphasis is put on GCSE grades in comparison to AS UMS and BMAT scores, everyone has mixed opinions :s-smilie:

Thanks again!

Quite rightly so, because noone really knows what they are talking about on TSR.

This is because each college Director of Studies will use their own "formulae" to work out the importance of GCSE, AS UMS, BMAT, Interview results. So you might have 30+ different weightings!

And each of these weightings, might change from year to year (due to the DOS modifying their formulae to encompass how the previous cohort have done using the old formulae). It is iteration in its best sense.

That is the fine details.

In general however, as an AS level student (I assume you are), you cannot change your GCSE/AS UMS, but you can make an impact on the BMAT and Interview marks.
Although I don't want to divulge the exact weightings of certain colleges, let's just say that high BMAT result can easily compensate GCSE/AS UMS results.

Reply 5995

Tateco

14

Original post by alex_hk90

Based on logic and common sense. Yes there is a scoring system in which you get your AS UMS rated and they only use the three most relevant (not top / highest) A-levels and this is meant to be standardised across the university. However, ceteris paribus, I would prefer the candidate with 5 relevant A-levels all at 95% to the one with 3 relevant A-levels all at 95%, and it is hard to see who wouldn't.

I understand the logic but if admissions tutors are actively encouraging me not take take extra AS/A2 levels then it's hard to see the benefits of carrying on with more than necessary...

Reply 5996

Original post by Tateco

I understand the logic but if admissions tutors are actively encouraging me not take take extra AS/A2 levels then it's hard to see the benefits of carrying on with more than necessary...

It's more that they don't want to discourage applicants who don't take more than 3 A-levels (for instance, due to the school only offering 3), or applicants taking more and doing worse overall as a result.

Reply 5997

Jampolo

3 most relevant? AS grades?
On top of maths i do physics and economics, and physics is not going very well... Basically my economics UMS is much better and it is the one i will be carrying on into A2, and physics will be no where near 90%.

If you get an interview, does that take the greatest weighting in determining your place?

Reply 5998

Extricated

17

Original post by Jampolo

3 most relevant? AS grades?
On top of maths i do physics and economics, and physics is not going very well... Basically my economics UMS is much better and it is the one i will be carrying on into A2, and physics will be no where near 90%.

If you get an interview, does that take the greatest weighting in determining your place?

From what i've gathered, it's

(any admissions test, but STEP is after your offer in this case so doesn't count)
1) interview
2) AS scores
3) GCSEs

couple of mathematicians on here had 88ish average across maths, further maths, physics still got in, with maths its really about showing your ability in questions they set. I'm actually juggling between economics and maths :smile:

Reply 5999

Jampolo