Ask an Admissions Tutor III - 3 March -18 April

Hello everyone. Last year I hosted two threads which allowed students to ask any questions they had about the admissions processes at Cambridge. I have now changed colleges from Corpus to Christ's but intend to do the same this year. This, then, is your opportunity to ask an admissions tutor anything about Cambridge. I will be answering questions until Good Friday and then, like last year, will run another thread in early summer and another after the A Level results come out.

I look forward to answering your questions over the coming weeks.

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Reply 1

edithuman

Hello,

I am a sophomore studying at a private boarding school in the United States. I would like to know which AP examinations subjects are relevant for me to study biological and biomedical sciences at Christ's. Furthermore, will Christ's ask for my high school grades (outside of AP/SAT I/SAT II scores) during the admission process?

I thank you in advance for your response.

Reply 2

Christ's Admissions

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Original post by edithuman

Hi there, thanks for being the first questioner. if you want to study Biological Natural Sciences or Medicine, then similar APs would be relevant. We would usually ask for at least five Grade 5s. If we were to specify particular subjects, they would be science subjects. For NSB and Medicine, the most relevant Sciences are Chemistry, Biology and Maths (both Calculus and Statistics), with the Physics APs in fourth/fifth depending on how many Maths APs you did.

We wouldn't ask for non public exam results. I hope that is helpful.

Reply 3

edithuman

Thanks for your reply! Do you have any regards wether a student take AP Calculus AB or BC? What about AP Physics B or C?

Reply 4

edithuman

Hello,

I am a sophomore studying at a private boarding school in the United States. I would like to know which AP examination subjects are relevant for me to take to study biology and biomedical sciences at Christ's. Furthermore, does Christ's ask for my high school grades (outside of the AP/SAT I/SAT II scores) during the application proccess?

Thank you.

Reply 5

ermm

Hello,
I'm a two time Cambridge Physical NatSci applier and a subsequent two time post-pool rejectee.
I'm now plan to attend Imperial College London to study Physics and reapply to Cambridge for either the Maths iii or Physics Mast Masters courses. When applying as a graduate, would the University still have/use records of my undergraduate application?

Thanks in advance!

Reply 6

Christ's Admissions

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Original post by edithuman

Thanks for your reply! Do you have any regards wether a student take AP Calculus AB or BC? What about AP Physics B or C?

No problem. For NSB or Medicine, we wouldn't mind which AP Physics you did. We would prefer Calculus BC but AB is fine if that is all you have.

Reply 7

Christ's Admissions

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Original post by ermm

Hello there, sorry to hear you had to go through the Pool process twice, it can be fairly brutal. No, your records will be shredded/deleted later this year and we would be unaware of your undergraduate application. Graduate admissions is entirely separate from undergraduate admissions (most obviously that you are accepted by the department first and the college second) and many people come to Cambridge for post graduate study having been unsuccessful at undergraduate level and thrive. What we would be interested in at that stage is your performance at Imperial.

Reply 8

Mike_123

Your thread was very helpful last year, so I just thought I'd say thanks.

Reply 9

Christ's Admissions

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Original post by Mike_123

Your thread was very helpful last year, so I just thought I'd say thanks.

Thank you, it's good to know it was helpful. I hope it will be useful to people this year as well!

Reply 10

moderatedbliss

Hello,

I'm an American student applying for an MPhil. I was interviewed via phone recently; how long does it usually take to hear back from the University after a postgraduate interview? This was for the MPhil in European and Comparative Literatures and Cultures.

You may or may not know this, thank you for the consideration either way!

Reply 11

iano101

Hey, I'm looking at potentially applying for law post a-level. (2015 entry)

What would my chances be like with the following profile?

GCSES:
3A*s 7A 1.5B

AS:
AAAD (86% ums average)

A2:
Predictions: A*A*A, EPQ A

Would a D in maths at AS Level be of a big disadvantage? Also how do you assess post A-2 candidates, e.g more importance on A2 UMS than AS UMS?

Thanks again!

Reply 12

studentrhume

If A levels become linear only in format what is the thinking among admission tutors at Cambridge as to how the basis for their admissions decisions will,. change

Also, if the power of AS level UMS scores is so strong in predicting degree level performance why isn't this basis more widely used?

Thank you

Reply 13

EmmaBxoxo

Hey.

II appreciate the time you take to make this thread and answer questions etc.

I have a few questions..

-how do you consider post a2 applicants. Do you place a high emphasis on a2 UMS in this regard?

-As a UK applicant do you consider scores achieved in us exams?

-Do you have the average UMS score for post a2 applicants?

-how do you consider applicants who are retaking lots of modules but have extenuating circumstances in as year?

Thanks if you reply :smile:

Emma

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Reply 14

supersaad255

Would it make a difference when applying to Cambridge that you don't specify a certain college? For instance, if i would choose to do medicine and i did not specify a college in the UCAS form, would my application be sent to all the colleges or would you decide one for me?

Reply 15

Paralove

Original post by supersaad255

If you don't decide on a college you make an open application, so you get allocated a college prior to interviews! :smile:

(I was an applicant this year though not open, I chose Newnham!).

Reply 16

m0hd_J

Hi!
I am currently in year 11 and I am hoping to do a degree in law or a degree largely related to law. I am in a state comprehensive school called Christs College Finchley. I am taking eight GCSEs, they are:
Maths
English literature
English language
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
German
History
What I want to ask is will I be disadvantaged as I have taken only eight GCSEs? The reason I am asking this is because through research I have found that most people actually do around nine subjects.
Also, what A Level subjects would a university prefer for A Levels? I am currently thinking of taking Maths, English Lit, Chemistry and Histroy. Is this subject combination strong enough and do you think I should replace any subjects?
I can also take five subject (depending on my GCSE grades), so if I do choose to take a fifth subject, what do you guys recommend? I'm thinking Law A Levels as doing this will show that I am particularly interested in doing a Law Degree.
Cheers

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Reply 17

Christ's Admissions

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Original post by moderatedbliss

Hi there, I am afraid that the answer to this is 'how long is a piece of string?'

Unlike undergraduate admissions, there are not set timetables for postgraduate admissions. Each department handles applications separately and throughout the autumn and winter. The application will be processed by the department, then sent to the relevant supervisor (who probably interviewed you) and then back to the department. This may take some time but if you haven't heard within a month of the interview then you should contact the department to find out what is happening. Some departments, and indeed some academics, are faster than others!

Reply 18

Christ's Admissions

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Original post by iano101

It is difficult to be certain about your chances without seeing your application and without seeing everyone else's. Your GCSE and AS Level profile, however, are lower than average, especially for a subject like Law, and so what we would need to see if you were to be competitive, is considerable improvment at A2. Your UMS average will be worked out across AS and A2 but if you can show significant improvment in Year 13 then that would be encouraging. If you do not get 2 A*s post A Level, however, you will not be among the strongest candidates. That's not to say that you can't or won't get in with 1 A* post A Level but it is much harder given the average level of achievement at A2 by successful applicants.

Reply 19

Christ's Admissions

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Original post by studentrhume

The University is discussing how we will incorporate linear A Levels into our admissions processes but it is too early to say anything yet and to what effects it will have. Sorry not to be more helpful at this stage.

UMS is a very strong predictor for degree performance at Cambridge. The Department for Education's (DfE) data shows that generally AS Level is a better correlator than GCSE but not by very much. They therefore concluded that AS did not provide sufficient added value for university admissions and was not a valid reason for keeping modular A Levels.

There are some issues with the DfE data (they used only AS grades not UMS and across all subjects rather than broken down across subjects and also only looked at whether a student scored a 2.1 or above, whereas our data goes into much more detail about exam performance) but the essential problem is that other universities have not, for various reasons, used UMS in their admissions processes as we have and so the relevant data to demonstrate the utility or otherwise of UMS more generally (i.e. not just at Cambridge) isn't there.