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Cambridge Applicants for 2013 Entry

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Original post by ArsLongaVitaBrevis

I don't know where everybody else is at but I'd hesitate to place myself among the truly elite in the country regardless. Your confidence in me is encouraging though, hopefully mine in you works the same. I'm sure you'll get straight As, you're fantastic at languages. (I'll never understand how).

I really don't think the admission process revolves around choosing the "elite" in the country. I'm sure other factors (enthusiasm, interest, passion) play a large role in the application process. Although Cambridge are looking for good grades, they would never make a decision based upon grades alone (especially for MML).
I was talking to a few of the professors a while back, and they emphasised that they also look for a certain style of learning (i.e. students who will benefit from the supervision sessions) and students who they would like to teach. Some brilliant students may not be able to properly flourish in a discussion based lesson, whilst other students may relish the chance. For a course such as MML (i.e. there is going to be a lot of talking/ listening involved anyway) I'm sure this is even more true.

Basically; don't worry if you're not getting perfect grades in everything, only worry if you don't think you're enjoying your subject.

Reply 121

wibletg

Original post by Lily Academia

Sounds like a lot - not so horrific when you know the context:

-Maths
-Physics
-Chemistry
-Biology
-English Lit
-French
-Fine Art

The Sciences overlap quite a bit (especially Physics and Maths) and English is just eloquent waffling - although I think English is the one I'm most worried about... :sadnod:

Spoiler

Still some pretty difficult A Levels in there :tongue:

Best of luck to you anyway, you seem like a decent person so hopefully you do well :smile:

Reply 122

Etoile

Original post by Llewellyn

My short-list of Colleges I liked the look/ feel of (when I went to Cambridge last year) is:
Christ's, Clare, Downing, Emmanuel, Homerton, Jesus, Pembroke, Trinity

My short-list of Courses I liked the look of from the prospectus and from various conferences:
Maths, NatSci, Philosophy, English, Engineering, Medicine, VetMed

"short-list" :rolleyes:

Also, I'm following this thread as it is full of so many talented and smart users.

You have every course except the best one on your list! Why no linguists around :cry:

But seriously, wow that is quite some variety! Wouldn't you have to be doing work experience by now for medicine and vet med though?

Original post by ArsLongaVitaBrevis

You have to be pretty high up to even be considering such a competitive course :tongue:

I'll admit that I'm not bad at languages ( :wink:

) but I am really struggling with linear programming in maths at the moment. I need the holidays to catch up on everything :emo:

Also, today my dad was all "why can't you be a German doctor?" and then later my sister said she wants to be a nurse... "but why not a doctor??", dear god XD

Reply 123

SixteenHundred

Etoile

1 I am really struggling with linear programming in maths at the moment. I need the holidays to catch up on everything :emo:

Do you do decision maths then? I've got D1 this summer as part of Further Maths but it's such an odd way of thinking I'm a little worried about it. Linear programming (in Edexcel D1, anyway) is one of those things which clicks though and then it'll be fine. :smile:

Have you done critical paths? I'm far more worried about those!

Reply 124

Academic Beth

Course: Law
GCSE results: 9A*'s 1A and a distinction
AS Levels: Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry, English Lit, History and Law(self study).
Colleges considered: Pembrooke!!

Reply 125

Etoile

Original post by SixteenHundred

Have you done critical paths? I'm far more worried about those!

Yes, I do. I'm doing AQA though and I don't think we've done critical paths. We've done many other path-related things though! :lol:

Linear programming is the only topic I can't do at the moment- I just never seem to find the objective function correctly. But I think with enough mymaths it will become fine. And then there's not mixing up all the sorts and algorithms! I'm glad I picked Italian instead of further maths - how are you finding it?

Reply 126

Extricated

Might apply if UMS are good enough...Currently standing on 94%ish..hoping to pull that up in June.

Username : Extricated
Course : Maths or Economics (Oh why oh why can I not decide)
GCSEs : 9A*s 1A.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 127

Llewellyn

Original post by Etoile

You have every course except the best one on your list! Why no linguists around :cry:

But seriously, wow that is quite some variety! Wouldn't you have to be doing work experience by now for medicine and vet med though?

I think there must be some reason why TSR is full of Medics and Mathians and no-one else :confused:

Work experience/ volunteering is fine, although I'm probably going to lean away from Medicine because (as many doctors have said) it's probably better to go in postgraduate. I also think Natural Sciences is such a brilliant concept that only maths could deter me (failing my June exams may deter me also).

You're obviously very into linguistics, but why are you (potentially) choosing Cambridge over Oxford?

Reply 128

anniema

Course: Theology
Colleges: Emmanuel is currently my favourite, Christ's, Clare
AS Levels: Religious Studies, Classical Civilisation, English Language, Biology
GCSEs: 3A*, 6A, 1B
Therefore will only apply if my ums is definitely good enough, as my GCSEs aren't strong enough alone, but I've improved since last year.

Reply 129

tooambitious

Original post by Llewellyn

I think there must be some reason why TSR is full of Medics and Mathians and no-one else :confused:

may i ask why?

Reply 130

Etoile

Original post by Llewellyn

I think there must be some reason why TSR is full of Medics and Mathians and no-one else :confused:

The Oxbridge group at my college is all mathematicians and medics too! Forever alone :lol:

Ahh awesome. Biological rather than physical I presume then? I do agree, they overlap so much that it does make sense to study it like that. Somehow I doubt that you will fail your exams, you are extremely clever :tongue:

Because the Oxford course is very very literature heavy. I like literature a lot, but I'm also fascinated by linguistics and I'd prefer the balance. Plus I spent much of my childhood in Cambridge so I grew up biased. :tongue:

Reply 131

Llewellyn

Original post by tooambitious

may i ask why?

It's quite common in other countries.

I think the main reasoning is; 18 is perceived as being too young (in the context of the course) due to experience/ knowledge reasons; a lot of people go in without a full appreciation of what to expect (which is why they really want lots of volunteering); postgraduates perform better than undergraduates on average; there is a desire for people to go into medicine with a bit more background (particularly within science based subjects).

Personally, I think it depends on the individual, and I think there would be exceptions to either rule. However, I would not be surprised if Medicine became postgrad. only within the next 5 years.

Reply 132

bananarama2

Original post by Etoile

The Oxbridge group at my college is all mathematicians and medics too! Forever alone :lol:

Definitely think you need to get of TSR :tongue:

Most of my school are undecided!

Reply 133

SixteenHundred

Original post by Etoile

Yes, I do. I'm doing AQA though and I don't think we've done critical paths. We've done many other path-related things though! :lol:

There's definitely a ridiculous number of algorithms. It's going to be so difficult to learn them all for the exam. I've only done the first module so far as well as the extra applied module (I do statistics for Pure) which haven't been very difficult really! I'm only taking the AS. Oh wow, you do Italian? I did a taster course for a few weeks in my school which was great although I can't remember much now other than how to order a bottle of wine. That probably says something about me eheh. I suppose you could say I study the ancient variation of Italian though! :biggrin:

Reply 134

Tateco

Original post by Extricated

Might apply if UMS are good enough...Currently standing on 94%ish..hoping to pull that up in June.

Username : Extricated
Course : Maths or Economics (Oh why oh why can I not decide)
GCSEs : 9A*s 1A.

If you think you can conquer STEP then go for Maths :tongue:

Reply 135

Etoile

Original post by wcp100

Definitely think you need to get of TSR :tongue:

Most of my school are undecided!

Haha why? I am multitasking, being a woman, with revision :tongue:

You go to a grammar school, right? They probably know they can do whatever!

Original post by SixteenHundred

It's pretty good though - I drew a bipartite graph and then did matching this afternoon in order to help my sister pick her GCSE subjects! :biggrin:

I hear stats is boring, what do you think? Yeah ab initio! It's great fun, although I'm not allowed to do the A2 as well as French and German which is a shame :frown:

Well, that's probably more useful than me discussing the causes of violence in football stadiums (actual topic we did :L) :lol:

You do Latin? OMG SO JEALOUS! Do you go to a grammar/private school?

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 136

SixteenHundred

Original post by Etoile

Haha why? I am multitasking, being a woman, with revision :tongue:

You go to a grammar school, right? They probably know they can do whatever!

It's pretty good though - I drew a bipartite graph and then did matching this afternoon in order to help my sister pick her GCSE subjects! :biggrin:

I hear stats is boring, what do you think? Yeah ab initio! It's great fun, although I'm not allowed to do the A2 as well as French and German which is a shame :frown:

Well, that's probably more useful than me discussing the causes of violence in football stadiums (actual topic we did :L) :lol:

You do Latin? OMG SO JEALOUS! Do you go to a grammar/private school?

My teacher drew up a two metre long Gantt chart for the construction of the school's new site which was pretty awesome! Yes, it's mind-numbing to be honest at S1, but my dad's got a couple of MAs in stats so I have to be quiet about it. :tongue:

My friend who does German showed me a picture of a pregnancy test in her textbook the other day when I asked what she'd done in German that morning. :lolwut:

Yes, I go to a private school (my dad teaches there among other things). It's only a small Classics department and there's three in my Latin class, so they're just about keeping it going. Latin's quite different from MFLs I find in that it's so systematic and structured (although I have never taken German and hear it's far more like that), discounting the somewhat more adventurous writers, whereas Classical Greek (which I did for GCSE, but I don't have your commitment to languages!) is more fluid. Would you ever consider taking up a classical language as well as all your modern ones? :smile:

Reply 137

ArsLongaVitaBrevis

Original post by SixteenHundred

My friend who does German showed me a picture of a pregnancy test in her textbook the other day when I asked what she'd done in German that morning. :lolwut:

My Latin class has exactly 3 people as well!
Also, your avatar is one of the most touching images from my childhood. No lie. *Blinks a manly tear away*.

Reply 138

wetin dey?

Original post by Junaid16

Even though people say that you can't prepare for your interview, its still really important to ensure that you're really well-prepared. I stupidly bought into the idea that 'you can't prepare for the interview and basically was caught cold in the interview. :colondollar:

Thanks for sharing, & what is the best way of preparing for the interview (I'm considering Law), I've thought as you did that you can't really prepare as they may just throw random questions on abstract things or ask scenario based questions...

Reply 139

-raisa

Original post by Etoile

Awesome, pretty good reasons! Plus I guess it is the one people have probably heard of the most in Canada?
Oh wow, that's really encouraging - I also love Verlaine and I've read l'Étranger and La cantatrice chauve too! Absurdism is brilliant :lol:

Thank you so much :smile:

Did you have to submit work or sit an entry test for King's? I don't know if that would be different being international though. How many interviews did you have? Were they in English? Sorry for all the questions! :L

Haha I don't think anyone in Canada is actually aware of the fact that Cambridge even HAS colleges to begin with! (I certainly didn't when I decided to apply to Cambridge! :colondollar:

)

For King's, we had to submit written work AND write a MML test (on the day of the interview). For written work, they want one piece in your foreign language, and one in English (if you're doing only one language post A-level; otherwise they would want one from each language I think).

I had two interviews – one per language (although some MML applicants had a third interview – a 'general' interview – but I'm not quite sure why I didn't!) The interviews were mostly in English, but they do test you on your languages as well. For my French interview, I was discussing a piece of text with my interviewer, when all of sudden, he switched to French and then I had to too!