Cambridge Applicants for 2013 Entry

How about over 3?


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Hi,

Congrats on your results! At Oxbridge every 3-year course is listed as a BA for traditional reasons. Here they list PBS az a science, which would mean averaging your three most relevant: http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/. However, I'm not even sure which would be more relevant to you course out of RS an Economics. Your best bet might be to email King's admissions about this, I'm sure they'd be happy to help.

As for the TSA, not taking Critical Thinking won't really be a disadvantage. You can only really know how good you'll be if you do one of the past papers under timed conditions. I'd say that if you can get 35+/50 it won't hinder your chances, if you can get 40+, it's amazing, but you'd perhaps like to reconsider King's if you can't get over 30. These are just rough guidelines, though, and many people say that they don't attach much significance to the TSA, so you should simply choose the college you like most. (Btw there's a good book suggested on the website called Thinking Skills, which should more than compensate for your lack of CT A-Level.)

Anyhow, best of luck with your application.

Hi,

I'm hoping to apply this year for Medicine and I was wondering is anyone else doing IB instead of A-levels... ?(well, in Poland I didn't have much choice. It was either IB or normal Polish Matura which sucks)

I was at the Open Days in 2010 and since then I didn't want to apply to any college other than Peterhouse. Recently I've been considering Newham instead... And for now I really don't know. Any tips/ideas to help me decide between these two?

Same! hope they made a mistake with our papers but I doubt it maths is so objective unless they didn't mark everythng or missed out marks, are you close to the next grade up? What do you need?

What sort of extracurricular activities did you have when applying for Maths? Are they particularly important?

Congrats on getting in!

How did your STEP go? (well, I presume?)

I posted this earlier in the thread, just looking for more opinions before I decide to commit. ( Anyone else you wishes to give me advice, that would be great )

As CD315 said, not brilliantly I got a 2 in STEP II and 1 in STEP III. I don't think I performed at my best. Whilst I don't think I'm one who could easily squeeze out triple figure scores in each exam - I think I was very capable of getting 1, 1 or even S, 1 - I did let the pressure get to me a bit, especially in II (I was pretty close to the S in III).

For maths, what is far more important is having read a couple of books as further study

Just to clarify, do university admissions see ALL module scores individually.

I'd much prefer that to a faceless computer that spits out this "magical average of 3 most relevant UMS".

Plus I am awaiting a response from a college admissions director but would appreciate your thoughts too. (See back a couple of pages for my full scores etc).

Bio Practical - 48/60 80% UMS, this is my worst % score, will the exams hold more weighting when considering individual scores. (My Bio exam record is 236/240).
Maths D1 - 82/100 my second worst score, I'm applying for BioNatSc simlar question as above, will this module be considered "less relevant" than say C2 where I scored 95/100?

This is untrue, reading books is far less important for maths than for other subjects

all they care about is your passion and talent for the subject. It can look good reading a book, but its definitely not important. Plus an EPQ just does the same job, in fact probably better as you can do complicated calculations in your EPQ whereas 'your opinion on a book' really doesn't show how capable mathematician you are, you might just enjoy reading.

Have you looked at the pros and cons on the wiki? And the relevant pages on the alternative prospectus?

Hello all again!

I'm pretty sure I will apply (BioNatsci) as my AS UMS scores are reasonable, particularly in relevant subjects / modules.

AAAA Average of 90% across all 4 Bio, Chem, Math, Phys. 91% top 3 and 90% most relevant (excluding physics).

Bio - 95% (98.3% excluding stupid practicals!)
Chem - 87%
Math - 88% (An 82% lowered score in a D1 applied module)
Phys - 91%

So I think that stands me in good stead? Admittedly I did retake 2 Jan Modules that both were on the same "blip" day but have recieved an A on every single module since which hopefully demonstrates consistency.

Seen some crazzzy UMS scores on here, anyone that has made it this far well done! And good luck, I look forward to your company on this journey

Of course I did, still can't decide... During the Open Days I haven't been to Newham so maybe that's the thing - I can't picture it properly...

Well done on that boyo!
I have a fairly similar breakdown:
Bio - 92.7% (Due to 84% in my january exam)
Chem - 96.3%
Maths - 95.3% (Due to a 91 in S1)
Phys - 98.7%

I think you should be fairly happy with that You'll easily get an interview, where you have a chance to dazzle with your show skills

What college are you going for?

And for everyone, PLEASE help me decide!
I'm really stuck between Trinity Hall and Pembroke :-S
Both are really lovely places (Pembroke maybe slightly nicer, but doesn't have a river etc); great atmospheres (Trinity Hall is INCREDIBLY friendly, but because of being a small college with a smaller central site and annexes that are spread out, I thought it might not have as close a community atmosphere); Pembroke is apparently known for Bio NatSci (which would be useful for supervisions etc) and Trinity Hall has (the amazing) Dr Andrew Murray
Both seem similar for sports and academic prowess alike...

Anyone got any comments at all PLEASE! It's driving me crazy
Any tiny comment on accomodation, atmosphere, supervisions, traditionalness or ANYTHING will be very very much appreciated

He never said it was "as/more important than in other subjects", he said it was more important than most extracurriculars.


I'd say reading books is a very good indicator as to how passionate someone is, especially with Maths. People who "just enjoy reading" would definitely not buy a maths book. Also, many of these books are written by illustrious mathematicians of today; I'd say you would learn more from one of these people (whether we are taking proper maths, or what maths is all about, or whatever) than by doing an EPQ.

PS: maths is hardly about "doing complicated calculations" anyway.

This is untrue, reading books is far less important for maths than for other subjects. Just doing an EPQ is sufficient, and most admission officers say its not necessary to read books as all they care about is your passion and talent for the subject. It can look good reading a book, but its definitely not important. Plus an EPQ just does the same job, in fact probably better as you can do complicated calculations in your EPQ whereas 'your opinion on a book' really doesn't show how capable mathematician you are, you might just enjoy reading.


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This is untrue, reading books is far less important for maths than for other subjects. Just doing an EPQ is sufficient, and most admission officers say its not necessary to read books as all they care about is your passion and talent for the subject. It can look good reading a book, but its definitely not important. Plus an EPQ just does the same job, in fact probably better as you can do complicated calculations in your EPQ whereas 'your opinion on a book' really doesn't show how capable mathematician you are, you might just enjoy reading.


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