Official Cambridge Applicants Thread 2015 Entry - MK II

1) I don't expect to get into Cambridge any more
2) I wouldn't accept an offer if for some crazy miracle reason I got one any more

And the two above reasons are mainly because of this thread xD
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Look, I know this thread might make you feel intimidated because of the sheer caliber of people applying, but most of them went to state schools. I go to one and I'm one of thise people with less than 85% average (given I've had a lot of problems throughout my education) but it's not stopped me. I personally think a lot of private school people do have that advantage, also the fact that they can afford to be tutored in anything probably, and don't necessarily agree with private education but the vast majority of applicants and those accepted are from state schools.

Look, I know this thread might make you feel intimidated because of the sheer caliber of people applying, but most of them went to state schools. I go to one and I'm one of thise people with less than 85% average (given I've had a lot of problems throughout my education) but it's not stopped me. I personally think a lot of private school people do have that advantage, also the fact that they can afford to be tutored in anything probably, and don't necessarily agree with private education but the vast majority of applicants and those accepted are from state schools.

Just for some perspective; I'm 24, went to grammar school and only got 3As, 4Bs, 4Cs and 2Ds at GCSE. I had depression but ECF doesn't really apply now due to the time thats passed. I didn't do A levels and I come from a family where nobody is educated beyond GCSE.
I'm enrolled on a Access to HE course at a really, really **** college. But I've applied to Cambridge because I believe I have the ability and the worst they can say is no.

Life is made up of different people. Not everyone at Cambridge will be a straight A* student or from aristocracy. Similarly, not everyone with that background at Cambridge will fit in to the methods of education, or do well there.
Have the confidence that your hard work will pay off, but don't think that the only answer to that will be Oxbridge!
And if not - most of you are pretty young, you can take other routes or options if you need to

Good luck to all of you nonetheless.

What course? Without a levels what qualifications are you doing which are equivalent

Just for some perspective; I'm 24, went to grammar school and only got 3As, 4Bs, 4Cs and 2Ds at GCSE. I had depression but ECF doesn't really apply now due to the time thats passed. I didn't do A levels and I come from a family where nobody is educated beyond GCSE.
I'm enrolled on a Access to HE course at a really, really **** college. But I've applied to Cambridge because I believe I have the ability and the worst they can say is no.

Life is made up of different people. Not everyone at Cambridge will be a straight A* student or from aristocracy. Similarly, not everyone with that background at Cambridge will fit in to the methods of education, or do well there.
Have the confidence that your hard work will pay off, but don't think that the only answer to that will be Oxbridge!
And if not - most of you are pretty young, you can take other routes or options if you need to

Good luck to all of you nonetheless.

I also go to a pretty ****ty college and know people from a similar background to you who have managed to get into Cambridge, (I think it was Lucy Cavendish off the top of my head, amongst others) so it's definitely possible! What college are you applying to?

Good luck to you too!

I go to a private school but can only afford it because i'm on a scholarship and bursary, I really resent people assuming that we're all high flying sons of aristocrats. My parents can just about afford my fees and my dad has a second job working evenings just to pay for us, also making lots of personal sacrifices. I sure as hell cannot afford a private tutor. So please (I know this wasn't necessarily you but just a general message) don't think we're all silver-spoon, spoon-fed privileged people. Having said that, I am aware of how spoon-fed some people are but I pride myself on never being like that. I always prefer engaging with content and reading outside of my syllabus to actually be interested in what it is i'm doing - something that's a perk being an essay student and, for example, reading other romantic literature if you're studying Wordsworth in English. So seriously guys, enough with the sweeping statements

Hey everyone!

Classics (4 year course) applicant for Peterhouse here. Any others going for my course/college?!

Just for some perspective; I'm 24, went to grammar school and only got 3As, 4Bs, 4Cs and 2Ds at GCSE. I had depression but ECF doesn't really apply now due to the time thats passed. I didn't do A levels and I come from a family where nobody is educated beyond GCSE.
I'm enrolled on a Access to HE course at a really, really **** college. But I've applied to Cambridge because I believe I have the ability and the worst they can say is no.

Life is made up of different people. Not everyone at Cambridge will be a straight A* student or from aristocracy. Similarly, not everyone with that background at Cambridge will fit in to the methods of education, or do well there.
Have the confidence that your hard work will pay off, but don't think that the only answer to that will be Oxbridge!
And if not - most of you are pretty young, you can take other routes or options if you need to

Good luck to all of you nonetheless.

I go to a private school but can only afford it because i'm on a scholarship and bursary, I really resent people assuming that we're all high flying sons of aristocrats. My parents can just about afford my fees and my dad has a second job working evenings just to pay for us, also making lots of personal sacrifices. I sure as hell cannot afford a private tutor. So please (I know this wasn't necessarily you but just a general message) don't think we're all silver-spoon, spoon-fed privileged people. Having said that, I am aware of how spoon-fed some people are but I pride myself on never being like that. I always prefer engaging with content and reading outside of my syllabus to actually be interested in what it is i'm doing - something that's a perk being an essay student and, for example, reading other romantic literature if you're studying Wordsworth in English. So seriously guys, enough with the sweeping statements

Haven't looked at your source (sorry, I know it's a bit rude, but it's late) but I believe the discrepancy is accounted for almost totally by course choices.

I.e. state school students are much more likely to go for oversubscribed courses like Medicine, Engineering, Economics, Maths . . . whilst the 'least competitive' (numerically) courses tend to have significantly more independent school applicants e.g. Classics, ASNAC, etc.

And to give an idea of how different the ratios can be, the success rate in Economics is around 12% but the success rate in Classics is 40% iirc.

I believe there was an analysis a while ago which showed that correcting for this discrepancy and for achieved grades, there was no difference in success rates between state and independent students.

OK my tone has been polite so far, but I'd like to finish off by saying that it's extremely incendiary to post statistics and implicitly convey the kind of message you're trying to convey. It's fine to have a discussion on the topic, but if you're going to go out and claim bias in favour of independent students, you should subject your figures to a reasonable level of analytical rigour first, not just put out headline numbers which obscure what's really going on.

Okay brilliant thanks! I'm assuming a photocopy of the form I got on results day with all my UMS marks will suffice? Did they mention any other documents needed?

Laugh or cry? That is the question.