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Ask an Admissions Tutor V, 18 August -12 September

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Original post by Skill Twix
I've got another question.
Does Cambridge know that some candidates mess their GCSES up but do really well at A-levels?
And can you provide me more information of increasing my chances to getting into Cambridge!


Yes, we are well aware of that which is why we ask for AS UMS in addition to GCSE which no other University does.

Most aspects of your application are set now (GCSEs, AS results). The things that you can still influence are your personal statement and school reference, so work hard on your PS and ensure you work hard at the beginning of term so your teachers write positively about you. As I said earlier, however, your UMS and GCSEs are not going to put you among the stronger candidates for Economics.
Original post by ScienceGeek!
Nothing in relation to this response but needed to quote you. I do Maths with Further Maths, Economics, Physics and History. I got a 96.9% across best three with maths combined. I am very happy with this and know it is good but I want to apply for economics.

Do you know what the average UMS is of a successful economics applicant at either Cambridge or Christs specifically?

Thanks in advance.


Economics is, of course, super competitive. At Christ's we have been fortunate in having a particularly good crop of Economists in recent years. Our nineteen successful Economists with UMS between 2010 and 2014 averaged 96.45%. This is, of course, a very small smaple compared to the University as a whole across these years and I suspect our average is a little higher than most colleges but Economics and Medicine probably have the two highest UMS averages for successful applicants. Your average is very strong and should stand you in good stead no matter which college you apply to - you easily qualify for compulsory pooling.
Original post by Neverme
Hi! I have seen on your website that Medicine applicants who have only two sciences at A Level or IB HL are much less likely to be made an offer than applicants with three. Is this because admissions tutors actively prefer students with three sciences, or because students with three tend to perform better on the BMAT and at interview?


I think we actively prefer candidates with three Sciences because it is better preparation for the Medicine course.
Hi there! Under any circumstances are interviews conducted over the phone? For example for international applicants who do not live in the countries listed by the university for abroad interviews, and for whom it would be very difficult to travel to Cambridge for the interview (due to costs, etc.) ?

Many thanks in advance !
Original post by C-king
Hi. I don't have the strongest GCSE performance and also quite a low UMS average (average 90.67%). One of my exams I did terribly on which brought my ums down, just had a bad day. Is there any point applying for a course in engineering?

GCSE grades 5A* 2A 2B 1C


We have taken people at Christ's with similar or slightly lower UMS than yours for Engineering but most have got more, so it is certainly worth considering Cambridge for an application while being aware that you will only be around average in terms of the very strong applications we get for this subject. I hope that is helpful.
Original post by notebooker
Hi there! Under any circumstances are interviews conducted over the phone? For example for international applicants who do not live in the countries listed by the university for abroad interviews, and for whom it would be very difficult to travel to Cambridge for the interview (due to costs, etc.) ?

Many thanks in advance !


Very, very occasionally interviews can be conducted by Skype but this is very rare and you should not count on the college being prepared to do this, Generally if you cannot come to Cambridge and live outside the countres where interviews take place then it is extremely unlikely that you would be offered a place.
Hi. I am hoping to apply to Cambridge for Natural Sciences (Physical). My GCSEs and AS level UMS scores are good (11 A* GCSE, 98.6% SUMS at AS), but I somehow managed to mess up my extended essay and only got a C! I have been told this result has to go on UCAS, will this hinder my application?

Thank you very much in advance for your help and for creating this thread!


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Original post by Christ's Admissions
Very, very occasionally interviews can be conducted by Skype but this is very rare and you should not count on the college being prepared to do this, Generally if you cannot come to Cambridge and live outside the countres where interviews take place then it is extremely unlikely that you would be offered a place.


Alright, thank you for information, I appreciate getting a response on this issue :smile:
Course: Economics
College: Peterhouse

GCSE's: 6A* 5A
A Levels: 5A 1B
Mathematics: 96 UMS
Physics: 92 UMS
Geography: 86 UMS
Economics: 78 UMS (???)
Further Mathematics: 82 UMS (Learnt individually)
Japanese: 86 UMS (Learnt individually)

So I wanted to apply to economics at Cambridge before I received my results, as I was expecting 6As and an average of over 93 UMS. However, I clearly failed to achieve that, compounded with a B in arguably the most important subject of them all, economics. I was shocked, especially considering I had achieved 90%+ in almost all of my economics school assessments throughout the year. I'm getting a remark in economics and M1 to try to get my grade up to an A and increase my mediocre top 3 average of 91%.

I learnt further mathematics individually within a timespan of a month (D1 D2 FP1), and this brings my mathematics average down considerably. Thus my average of maths, further maths, physics, and geography falls to 89%. Is there a scenario where I can be excepted from the rule of combining all maths modules in the average, such as mine?

Also, is there anywhere within the application that I can state that my AS results are a poor reflection of my true abilities? My predicted grades of A*A*A*A*A infer this (A in further maths as I'm learning individually, as stated above)?

I'll probably have to take a gap year for Cambridge to consider me a serious applicant, but do I have any chance this year?

Thanks for your time :smile:
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 69
Avatar for theorbo
theorbo
Hi, thanks for doing this thread :smile: I'm looking to apply to do Mathematics but I'm unsure whether there's any chance of getting an interview with my AS results. I received 10 A*s at GCSE and AAAB (in Maths, FM, music and Spanish) in AS. UMS are as follows:
C1 - 100
C2 - 97
D1 - 95
FP1 -97
M1 - 70 (Didn't go as planned)
S1 - 89

Music - 246/300

What are your thoughts on my chances? Thanks in advance.
Hello there! I am a hopeful applicant to medicine, and my UMS average across most relevant 3 is 92.3%. (Individual subjects: maths 99%, chemistry 88%, and biology 89%). My biology grade was brought down especially by a 75% module. As the other modules were 100% and 95%, would this be considered in context? And overall, for a course as competitive as medicine, would my application be a weak one?
Thank you.
Reply 71
Avatar for sr-96
sr-96
2
Hi there:smile: Could you calculate my UMS average for me? I just wanted to make sure I'm doing it right as I've been told its to 2 d.p.
AS Economics- 197/200
AS Biology- 293/300
AS Chemistry- 267/300
AS Maths- 286/300

I want to apply for Economics, so I need A level FM. Would it be a disadvantage if I did the whole A level in my A2 year? As in, would the admissions tutors question why I didn't take AS FM in my first year?:frown:
I've just started to think about applying to Cambridge after my AS results which were a surprise:tongue:
Hi, do you know the average ums for successful natsci applicants at christs?
Hello, I'm a potential post A level applicant with A*A*A grades for history. My average comes to 93% across my A2s, but I was just like to know if Cambridge would be concerned with UMS of my 4th As level - which was 100% - and wondered what weighing that would hold in the application process?
I'm a little uncertain about applying, and I think that may sway my decision of whether or not to give it a shot.
Thanks in advance
Hi, just wondering how much emphasis is placed at contextual data with Cambridge? For instance, if an applicant has a lower UMS average for their subject but they come from a worse off area?

Also if one of their AS subjects is a language they are fluent in would that still be considered in their average?

Thanks
If two applicants had similar averages... Would having more ASs at a similar standard benefit at all?

Obviously I mean myself, would having French help my application if we were similar in other regards? Curious. Thought I might as well ask.
Original post by Christ's Admissions
Economics is, of course, super competitive. At Christ's we have been fortunate in having a particularly good crop of Economists in recent years. Our nineteen successful Economists with UMS between 2010 and 2014 averaged 96.45%. This is, of course, a very small smaple compared to the University as a whole across these years and I suspect our average is a little higher than most colleges but Economics and Medicine probably have the two highest UMS averages for successful applicants. Your average is very strong and should stand you in good stead no matter which college you apply to - you easily qualify for compulsory pooling.


Thank you very much for your response. Few more questions though.

I'm taking all five subjects on to A2, in this case would I get the standard A*AA offer if deemed worthy to get it or would all five subjects be included?

Also besides the general Cambridge bursary for people from a low income family, does your college offer any extra grants which for example other colleges like Johns does?

Finally for economics I would need to submit a 1000 word essay. The ones I have done in school (not many) aren't particularly that good, would it be more of an advantage to write one based on a topic your college sets? as this could be talked about in interview and is thus important.

Thanks again, this is extremely helpful!
Hi,
Could you give me an idea of how much you weight certain areas of an individual's application, including BMAT, interview, AS module marks and GCSEs? Also, I've heard certain colleges consider UMS less - could you give us any idea which colleges these are or whether this is just a rumour? I'd like to separate fact from fiction and have some statistics first before making my final decision.Thanks
I am looking to apply to study Law. My best three UMS score will consist of 3 science subjects. Will this is anyway work against me? In Economics, I only scored 85% which is considerably below what I should have achieved. I am therefore planning to resist in October so I may be predicted an A*. Will Cambridge acknowledge this. The exam board for Economics is CIE so I can resist. Results come out at the end of January but Cambridge give out all their offers before then, right? If so, you wont know what I will have achieved in my resist, which will be a shame.

My results:
Maths A2-292/300 +282/300 from last year = 574/600
Physics AS- 291/300
Chemistry AS- 264/300
Economics AS- 85/100

I am also disappointed with my Chemistry result as I am better than my 88% score would suggest. I could be predicted 3 A*s on top of the one I have already achieved. My best 3 UMS average is 93.56%. Do I have a good chance at receiving an offer? If so, what would a typical offer be as I have already achieved the A* required to meet the standard offer. It may be worth noting that I have a 20/20 average in the Apolyterion as evidence I am a capable student and better at Chemistry and Economics than my AS results suggest.
Not sure if this is an appropriate question to ask but, I am most likely going to get the GCSE grades 8 A*s, 5 As, 1 B- will this profile look bad on my application? Assuming that my As UMS 90%+ ? Thank you very much for taking the time to respond.

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