The Cambridge 2014 Results Day Discussion Thread [offer holders]

Why would it be? A Levels really don't take very long if you're not in a school environment where you have to go at the pace of the slow people, as they just don't have much content.

I've heard it compared to 6/7 A levels by some friends, but never 10

Reply 1581

willp93

8

Original post by Mike_123

I've heard it compared to 6/7 A levels by some friends, but never 10

Depends what subject, some people have insane amounts of free time. Medics and natscis have very large workloads, I would say we cover about a terms worth of a level work in less than 2 weeks, per subject. Since we have 4 subjects in first year, I'm sure you can appreciate it builds up rather quickly. Like the other person said, its at a ridiculously high pace, short terms etc. You still have time to do other stuff, just not a lot in exam term!

Reply 1582

Claree

17

Original post by willp93

Depends what subject, some people have insane amounts of free time. Medics and natscis have very large workloads, I would say we cover about a terms worth of a level work in less than 2 weeks, per subject. Since we have 4 subjects in first year, I'm sure you can appreciate it builds up rather quickly. Like the other person said, its at a ridiculously high pace, short terms etc. You still have time to do other stuff, just not a lot in exam term!

Does it differ much depending on which natsci options you choose or is the workload about the same for all of them? :smile:

Reply 1583

willp93

8

Original post by Claree

Does it differ much depending on which natsci options you choose or is the workload about the same for all of them? :smile:

about the same. in general phys natscis have more work during the year, and bionatscis have more work at the end because there is a lot more to revise.

again, once you get used to it, it is perfectly manageable, and you get good amounts of free time! :smile:

Reply 1584

hairclip

Original post by willp93

about the same. in general phys natscis have more work during the year, and bionatscis have more work at the end because there is a lot more to revise.

again, once you get used to it, it is perfectly manageable, and you get good amounts of free time! :smile:

Thanks for clearing this up! I don't mind sacrificing some things during exam term as long as the rest of the year I can do other things :smile:

Reply 1585

R T

13

Original post by willp93

Depends what subject, some people have insane amounts of free time. Medics and natscis have very large workloads, I would say we cover about a terms worth of a level work in less than 2 weeks, per subject. Since we have 4 subjects in first year, I'm sure you can appreciate it builds up rather quickly. Like the other person said, its at a ridiculously high pace, short terms etc. You still have time to do other stuff, just not a lot in exam term!

~~I think this is an exaggeration.~~ Nvm, I actually agree. This is definitely true for Biological subjects. But the typical workload is probably 40-50 hours a week, then when you come around to revision this increases closer to 60 (but the hours you were in practicals are now "proper work". But I've just finished revision for cells, chemistry, physics and maths and now that I have some perspective on things, I think 1st year isn't actually that bad. You just learn to be more efficient with your time, rather than spending all your time doing work.

When I did 5 A-levels, I spent ~30 hours in school, then I probably did about 5-10 hours homework during the week, so this isn't that different. What is different is the difficulty and the disparity between lecture content and exam content (certainly, knowing a lecture series is very different to getting a 1st - whilst at A-Level if you knew everything you should be aiming for full marks).

Also at Uni you get huge holidays, which is enough to catch up properly. I think a lot of NatScis, particularly those who do extra things, simply "cope" with the work during term, then learn and revisit it in the holidays. At school, there is much more emphasis for learning during ... well, learning :tongue:

(Any NatSci offer holders shouldn't worry too much! If you have an offer, that means they think you can cope :tongue:

)

Original post by Claree

Does it differ much depending on which natsci options you choose or is the workload about the same for all of them?

Unless you are very diligent, it's generally your supervisor who determines how much work you do, and this can vary a lot. As for overall workload, you can definitely make it easier or harder by picking certain combinations, or certain subjects. An example here would be overlap between biology subjects, or overlap between chemistry/materials. Also certain subjects are definitely less work if you are good at them (physics being the main one here) and certain subjects just seem like less work in general (Earth Sciences). But rather like A-Level, it's more about you as an individual picking things up easily (or having difficulty).

But if you do NatSci, its impossible to avoid doing a lot of work.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 1586

ClickItBack

18

Original post by Mike_123

I've heard it compared to 6/7 A levels by some friends, but never 10

It's . . . different.

Technically speaking you may not be doing that many hours more - like, an average natsci I would say does a 40-45 hour week (35 for slackers, probably up to 60 or more for the seriously keen). If you compare that directly to school which involved 6 hours a day 5 days a week plus homework/revision, it doesn't seem to stack up that badly on the face of it - plus you save a heck of a lot of commute time!

The difference is the intensity of the work. For those who get in to Cambridge, most would have found the 6 hours a day of school pretty relaxed and not felt harried by the pace of classes. At Cam, lectures are so fast and detailed that topics that might take a month at A level are covered in about 2 hours. Problem sheets are much the same - rather than doing homework where the majority of time is actually just getting the answers down on paper, much more of the time is spent getting to grips with understanding the actual question and trying to come up with the right way to answer it (this is particularly a maths thing, but the principle applies to all the science subjects).

Also it varies by course. Medics have the most out and out workload, followed by natscis and engineers. Mathmos and economists have less scheduled time, but if you're just not 'getting it' you can spend loads of time on problem sheets with little to show for it. Arts students have seeming mountains of reading and essays, though they have the fewest contact hours too. The only subject which seems to escape is land economy - I knew a couple of them pretty well when I was there, and they always seemed rather bemused at the state that other students got themselves into re: workloads. Clichéd but (anecdotally) true :wink:

.

Oh and exam terms are a different story altogether. I was an absolute slacker for much of my first two years, skipping loads of lectures and fiddling my way past problem sheets - probably getting by on only 25ish hours a week on many occasions. But even I had to put my foot down for exam term, putting in about 50 hours a week (more in third year). That was still quite slackerish compared to many, though.

Reply 1587

ClickItBack

18

Original post by R T

~~I think this is an exaggeration.~~ Nvm, I actually agree. This is definitely true for Biological subjects. But the typical workload is probably 40-50 hours a week, then when you come around to revision this increases closer to 60 (but the hours you were in practicals are now "proper work". But I've just finished revision for cells, chemistry, physics and maths and now that I have some perspective on things, I think 1st year isn't actually that bad. You just learn to be more efficient with your time, rather than spending all your time doing work.

When I did 5 A-levels, I spent ~30 hours in school, then I probably did about 5-10 hours homework during the week, so this isn't that different. What is different is the difficulty and the disparity between lecture content and exam content (certainly, knowing a lecture series is very different to getting a 1st - whilst at A-Level if you knew everything you should be aiming for full marks).

Also at Uni you get huge holidays, which is enough to catch up properly. I think a lot of NatScis, particularly those who do extra things, simply "cope" with the work during term, then learn and revisit it in the holidays. At school, there is much more emphasis for learning during ... well, learning :tongue:

(Any NatSci offer holders shouldn't worry too much! If you have an offer, that means they think you can cope :tongue:

)

It's amusing how similar our posts are :tongue:

.

Reply 1588

R T

13

Original post by ClickItBack

It's amusing how similar our posts are :tongue:

.

... But perhaps not entirely surprising considering I'm a John's NatSci who has done way too little work this year for my exams to be going this well :tongue:

Reply 1589

C-king

6

Original post by EwanWest

I've got an offer for engineering from Girton (from the pool).
I got 7 A*s and 5 A's at GCSE and then 5 A's at AS level.
My offer is A*AAB with the B in chemistry (I'm also doing maths, further maths and physics)

The most important thing is doing really well at AS in maths and Physics, I think I got 98% and 96% respectively

hmm okay thanks, do they look at GCSE's because mine are horrible but I'm good at the subjects I picked

Spoiler

Reply 1590

ClickItBack

18

Original post by R T

... But perhaps not entirely surprising considering I'm a John's NatSci who has done way too little work this year for my exams to be going this well :tongue:

Hehe. You'll be fine. If I survived, anyone can :wink:

.

Reply 1591

voodoo_child

4

Original post by C-king

If anyone minds me asking,

What GCSE results and ALevel results did you get to get these places? I am wondering what I need to get!

I am mainly asking ENGINEERING!

Thank you very much!

are you trolling..? exact same post as before, but about medicine..

Reply 1592

C-king

6

Original post by voodoo_child

are you trolling..? exact same post as before, but about medicine..

noo im not trolling I want to apply for engineering so was interested on the offers made

Reply 1593

suedonim

15

Original post by hairclip

as the person that I was referring too was a girl she sees this as a wonderful opportunity.. :wink:

But thanks it's useful to have an inside perspective :smile:

well it could be - but they are all medics and engineers :smile:

Reply 1594

hairclip

Original post by suedonim

well it could be - but they are all medics and engineers :smile:

Haha!

Reply 1595

EwanWest

11

Original post by C-king

hmm okay thanks, do they look at GCSE's because mine are horrible but I'm good at the subjects I picked

Spoiler

As long as the C is in something irrelevant and not in Maths/physics I don't think they'd care. Cambridge mainly look at AS results, Oxford GCSEs

Reply 1596

Shehr

Okay I have no idea what the ongoing conversation is about but I'd really like some Cambridge success stories right about now :P Feel like I'm totally failing all my exams! Anyone ever get in having gotten 3As?

Reply 1597

Vinnychenzochen

Original post by Shehr

Okay I have no idea what the ongoing conversation is about but I'd really like some Cambridge success stories right about now :P Feel like I'm totally failing all my exams! Anyone ever get in having gotten 3As?

Feel exactly the same way, all my exams have been semi-terrible. Getting an A* is actually so unpredictable :frown:

Reply 1598

Goods

16

Original post by Shehr

Okay I have no idea what the ongoing conversation is about but I'd really like some Cambridge success stories right about now :P Feel like I'm totally failing all my exams! Anyone ever get in having gotten 3As?