Ask an Admissions Tutor - applying at 21+

Cambridge colleges will differ in their requirements of mature American students, but I think most would be willing to consider qualifications other than SAT subject tests and APs. We have certainly made several offers for English Literature at Lucy Cavendish, based on Associate Degrees.

However, the level of those offers was quite high: typically, a cumulative GPA of 3.8+. So, I guess my advice would be that if you can re-start your Associate Degree, without using the credit that you earned previously, you should probably consider doing so. Otherwise, you will need to ensure that your GPA on all the courses you take from this point onward is 3.8+, and make it clear on your application that the overall GPA has been pulled down by courses that you took many years ago, not by recent underperformance.

Hi! Thanks so much for doing this!

Do you have any advice for a PhD student keen on applying for JRFs at Cambridge in a few years? I'm in my third year in a humanities PhD program at Harvard -- I also did an MPhil at St John's (and my undergrad here in the US) -- and have another 2-3 years left, but am keen to start thinking ahead to applications for postdocs. Do you know if there's anything I can do now to set myself apart from the pool later down the line?

Cheers!

I don't think there is anything specific I can recommend as preparation for applying to JRFs (as opposed to other early career posts): basically, build up your publication record and CV as much as possible, and start thinking about ideas for a strong and cohesive postdoctoral project.

Will do! Thanks so much. I'm aiming to have (hopefully) three publications by the time I finish up my PhD and I've already won fellowships and awards (will try to keep that up), and I think that I already have in mind a possible idea for a postdoc project that I think would be a great contribution to the field. I'll keep on pushing! Returning to Cambridge would be a dream come true!

I'm not sure if you'll know this, but do you think that having a reference from one of my former professors from Cambridge would be seen positively in my JRF application packet, or would it seem nepotistic? Would it be better to just have letters from my doctoral advisors?

I certainly don't think having a reference from one of your former professors at Cambridge would seem nepotistic, provided you have remained in contact with them, and they are aware of developments in your work. And they would be able to give an informed assessment as to how you rate, vis-a-vis other candidates for JRFs at Cambridge. However, letters from your doctoral advisors would also be fine, in my view.

Hi,


I was looking at the CGC in medicine application form, section C says healthcare experience but the sentence below am not sure if what it means? Are you not allowed to mention non-healthcare experience in this section?


"Please summarise (in chronological order) your main (non-academic) activities since leaving school, including all work experience (paid or unpaid) in a healthcare setting."


Thanks

I'm going to use this opportunity to ask a question exactly opposite to what you are here for and see if maybe you have a good answer. Since you are used to dealing with a departure from the typical student in one direction, perhaps you'll have some insight regarding the other.

So what's the best college to apply to for maths if you would be starting at just over 17. I get the strong impression that Trinity is unlikely to even ask you to interview. Who is more welcoming?

If it matters, I'm thinking about a student who would be an easy admit if not for age.

Why isn't a CertHE from the OU enough for admission? I was told repeatedly that I needed at least 60 credits at level 2 or 3 on top of the CertHE to be considered, but if I took those extra modules, I would be ineligible for a full student loan were I to come to Cambridge. In effect, Cambridge places impossible burdens on OU students and I'd like to know why?

Cambridge colleges will differ in their requirements of mature American students, but I think most would be willing to consider qualifications other than SAT subject tests and APs. We have certainly made several offers for English Literature at Lucy Cavendish, based on Associate Degrees.

However, the level of those offers was quite high: typically, a cumulative GPA of 3.8+. So, I guess my advice would be that if you can re-start your Associate Degree, without using the credit that you earned previously, you should probably consider doing so. Otherwise, you will need to ensure that your GPA on all the courses you take from this point onward is 3.8+, and make it clear on your application that the overall GPA has been pulled down by courses that you took many years ago, not by recent underperformance.

Thank you for your advice! Would it be necessary to submit an extenuating circumstances form when I apply?

Hi everyone,


My colleague from Christ's has hosted a number of threads allowing students to ask any questions they have about the admissions process at Cambridge, and sometimes got some rather tricky queries from older students, and those with non-standard qualifications. I'm the Admissions Tutor at Lucy Cavendish, which focuses on the education of students aged 21 and over, and I'm here to answer any questions you might have about applying to Cambridge as a mature student, affiliate, postgraduate, or simply a little bit later than the norm.


If you are going to be 21 or over at the time you start University, you might want to bear in mind that applications to Cambridge stay open beyond October 15, in many subjects.


I look forward to answering your questions, anyhow!

Hi,

I'm considering applying to Cambridge as a mature student (I'd be either 22 or 23 when I started, depending on if I apply this autumn or next) but I'm not sure if I should apply to one of the colleges specifically for mature students (such as Lucy Cavendish) or one of the others.

I'm worried that applying to a college not specifically tailored to mature students might mean that my academic history would not be fully taken into consideration as it might at a college which was only for mature students (I started a degree at the "normal age" of 18, but left due to extenuating circumstances; I am now taking 3 more A-levels, and intend to apply based on either my AS grades or a set of fully completed A-levels). On the other hand, being relatively "young" for a mature student, I'm not sure if I would fit in at a college meant solely for us.

Thank you very much.

Strange as it may seem, you're not "young" for a mature student. Nationally, mature students are getting younger, and this is as true at Cambridge as anywhere else: whilst all the mature colleges do regularly take students in their thirties and beyond, the average age of our first-year undergraduates at Lucy Cavendish this year is 22.5. So I don't think you'd have a problem fitting in, from that perspective, at any college: it's really a question of whether you'd prefer to be with school-leavers or not.

In terms of the admissions process, it is true that the mature colleges have more experience in dealing with applicants from varying backgrounds, and that they are more likely to admit students who have under-performed in the past. If you're doing A-levels, a non-mature college may well place more emphasis on UMS scores than a mature college might, and some of the non-mature colleges have very stringent requirements, in this respect. Having said that, every non-mature college has a mature college "twin", with which it works to assess students over 21 (Lucy Cavendish, for example, is "twinned" with King's, Magdalene, St Catharine's, St John's and Trinity). So you shouldn't in principle be disadvantaged wherever you apply.

Oh, I see, thank you. I wasn't aware that mature students were getting younger nationally - that's quite interesting.

I think I should be able to get fairly good UMS scores (I did well in my A-levels the first time round, too) but I'm concerned that my poor performance at university (and the fact I left my course) might reflect badly on my application, despite extenuating circumstances. However, does the fact that non-mature colleges all have "twins" mean that, if I applied to, say, King's as a mature student, my application would in theory be treated the same way as it would if I had applied to Lucy Cavendish instead?

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What step grades are typically required for mature mathematicians?