The Official 2017 Cambridge Applicants Thread

Original post by jneill

Are you guys hoping to do Law?

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No, Natsci, although I hardly criticised anyone :smile:

Reply 81

I won't necessarily be doing it in my subject, just something I find interesting. Why wouldn't Cambridge care about ucas points the average is 567 which is the highest in the uk?

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Reply 82

TVIO

12

Original post by Theawesomejem

I won't necessarily be doing it in my subject, just something I find interesting. Why wouldn't Cambridge care about ucas points the average is 567 which is the highest in the uk?

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They don't care because they're not relevant. Correlation does not equal causation, especially in this case.

Reply 83

Cmabridge dont care much about personality, extra curricular if not relevant to subject or being a well rounded person.
Concentrate on getting really good at you subject and that is pretty much it.
I failed my gcse's screwed up AS (except maths) and got in for maths. I had one extra curricular which was SMC and BMO.
Good luck. Revise hard for those top marks !

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Reply 84

TVIO

12

Original post by physicsmaths

Cmabridge dont care much about personality, extra curricular if not relevant to subject or being a well rounded person.
Concentrate on getting really good at you subject and that is pretty much it.
I failed my gcse's screwed up AS (except maths) and got in for maths. I had one extra curricular which was SMC and BMO.
Good luck. Revise hard for those top marks !

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To be fair, SMC and BMO are RIDICULOUSLY useful for maths entry.

Reply 85

Original post by TVIO

To be fair, SMC and BMO are RIDICULOUSLY useful for maths entry.

Lol, trye true

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Reply 86

What does everyone want to study at Cambridge and why? :smile:

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Reply 87

jamestg

OP

Original post by physicsmaths

Cmabridge dont care much about personality, extra curricular if not relevant to subject or being a well rounded person.
Concentrate on getting really good at you subject and that is pretty much it.
I failed my gcse's screwed up AS (except maths) and got in for maths. I had one extra curricular which was SMC and BMO.
Good luck. Revise hard for those top marks !

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I read they do care about personality because they don't want boring people in their supervisions, they want people who have passion and interest for their subject and who get A*AA+, not just people who get A*AA+. If you come across as quite a boring person with no real passion or enthusiasm with what you're wanting to study, it doesn't look that good.

Reply 88

Original post by jamestg

I read they do care about personality because they don't want boring people in their supervisions, they want people who have passion and interest for their subject and who get A*AA+, not just people who get A*AA+. If you come across as quite a boring person with no real passion or enthusiasm with what you're wanting to study, it doesn't look that good.

No they dont trust me. They said it themselves. I heard one of the addmissions tutors say we don't want well rounded people, we want academics.
Yes they want people with passion.
I doubt they care about boring people. At the end of day it really does come down to real passion which is pretty hard to convey and how good you are at your subject. I have been through the process and trust me, this is all they care about. I met some other people with offers who are the most boring people alive honestly.

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Reply 89

jamestg

OP

Original post by physicsmaths

No they dont trust me. They said it themselves. I heard one of the addmissions tutors say we don't want well rounded people, we want academics.
Yes they want people with passion.
I doubt they care about boring people. At the end of day it really does come down to real passion which is pretty hard to convey and how good you are at your subject. I have been through the process and trust me, this is all they care about. I met some other people with offers who are the most boring people alive honestly.

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I'm not saying well rounded people though! I'm literally just saying here people who are passionate, enthusiastic about their subject and who get the grades. A passion isn't that hard to convey, if the subject is something you really want to do and are interested in it - it's almost instantaneous.

Obviously boring people are going to get through, because it's mainly down to how good are you at your subjects. But if you show this 'spark' it will indefinitely help you.

If you take two people, both with the same grades and one was passionate about it and one wasn't. Who would get it?

Reply 90

Original post by jamestg

I'm not saying well rounded people though! I'm literally just saying here people who are passionate, enthusiastic about their subject and who get the grades. A passion isn't that hard to convey, if the subject is something you really want to do and are interested in it - it's almost instantaneous.

Obviously boring people are going to get through, because it's mainly down to how good are you at your subjects. But if you show this 'spark' it will indefinitely help you.

If you take two people, both with the same grades and one was passionate about it and one wasn't. Who would get it?

Ofcourse the one with passion.
Lol i think were arguing on two totally different points.

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Reply 91

Can being passionate for your subject constitute grades? I used to think no and that if you didn't get the entry requirements Cambridge wouldn't even consider you. The thing is I know a girl who got A*,A, B and got in to do geography, granted the A* was in the subject she wanted to do but what about her B why didn't that impact it. She got an A in English lit and B in maths.

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Reply 92

jamestg

OP

Original post by physicsmaths

Ofcourse the one with passion.
Lol i think were arguing on two totally different points.

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I think we are too! Never mind! :smile:

Reply 93

Random1357

Original post by Theawesomejem

Can being passionate for your subject constitute grades? I used to think no and that if you didn't get the entry requirements Cambridge wouldn't even consider you. The thing is I know a girl who got A*,A, B and got in to do geography, granted the A* was in the subject she wanted to do but what about her B why didn't that impact it. She got an A in English lit and B in maths.

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Probably many factors: good reference/ extenuating circumstances/contextualised data/ interviewed well/ B in less relevant subject/ may have entered summer pool/ signs that not achieving full potential/ admissions test etc.

Reply 94

Doones

Original post by Theawesomejem

Can being passionate for your subject constitute grades? I used to think no and that if you didn't get the entry requirements Cambridge wouldn't even consider you. The thing is I know a girl who got A*,A, B and got in to do geography, granted the A* was in the subject she wanted to do but what about her B why didn't that impact it. She got an A in English lit and B in maths.

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A good interview can make up a little for lower academic results. But you do need pretty good academics to get selected for interview. I've seen data showing candidates with very high grades (>95 average UMS) but a poor interview not getting an offer.

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Reply 95

Original post by jneill

A good interview can make up a little for lower academic results. But you do need pretty good academics to get selected for interview. I've seen data showing candidates with very high grades (>95 average UMS) but a poor interview not getting an offer.

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I had a good interview and a D in chemistry with low marks in physics. Good interviews definately makes up for low marks.

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Reply 96

Random1357

Original post by physicsmaths

I had a good interview and a D in chemistry with low marks in physics. Good interviews definately makes up for low marks.

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Maths is often the exception to many rules: you can be an exceptional mathematician but not very good at other subjects: being an exceptional physicist without maths would be impossible, however.

Reply 97

Original post by Random1357

Maths is often the exception to many rules: you can be an exceptional mathematician but not very good at other subjects: being an exceptional physicist without maths would be impossible, however.

Ooh. I am flattered lol. But really, my maths olympiad marks probably had abit of weight aswell.

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Reply 98

I find maths extremely difficult so I always find it amazing when I notice someone who it comes so naturally to e.g. My friend brilliant mathematician does basically no revision and gets an A* in maths(full marks). That's a real skill I think. Good on you mathematicians.

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Reply 99

misscrouton