Cambridge Medicine Students and Applicants

Hi all, i'm thinking of applying to Cambridge for medicine, and the college choice is killing me! My current two favourites are kings and Pembroke. Can any of you help me out with advice? :smile:

Judging from the prospectus, alt. Prospectus and various things i've read, Kings seems to be a livelier college, with more going on. It obviously has grand buildings, a central location and access to the river, all of which appeal to me. Pembroke on the other hand appears to be entirely work focussed (don't me wrong, I know Cam is hard work, but I want to have *some* fun :biggrin:

What are your experience, and which do you recommend?

Tl;dr: Pembroke or Kings for medicine?

Thanks!

I don't think Pembroke is entirely work-focused - the people I have met from there definitely do do extracurricular activities - however from a brief look at their website I can see why you might think that (I assume the college prospectus is the same)! This is the college JCR (student union equivalent) site to give you a bit more of an idea about their non-academic stuff: http://www.pembroke-jp.co.uk/

Unfortunately nobody will have been to both to compare them, and I don't know much about them, and neither has a particular reputation for Medicine (like eg Downing and Caius) and the things you say about old buildings and the river also apply to Queens', Trinity, John's, Clare, Trinity Hall... what made you pick King's and Pembroke? (out of interest)

Reply 1381

thevmedic

Will I have a chance if I apply with A*AAA at A Level? ( not enough A* at A Level? )

Reply 1382

SabreT

4

Original post by thevmedic

Will I have a chance if I apply with A*AAA at A Level? ( not enough A* at A Level? )

Hmm, well statistically, you'll be below average, since the average Cambridge student has 2.5A*s at A level. But since you've met the standard offer, I think you should still apply. If you ace the BMAT you'll almost certainly be called to interview, and then you can take it from there.

Reply 1383

thevmedic

Original post by SabreT

Hmm, well statistically, you'll be beow average, since the average Cambridge student has 2.5A*s at A level. But since you've met the standard offer, I think you should still apply. If you ace the BMAT you'll almost certainly be called to interview, and then you can take it from there.

I got my A* in maths by 1 mark. :colondollar:

But missed my A* in chem by 4 marks and A* in bio by 6 marks.

A bmat score around what will give me a decent chance after interview?

Reply 1384

SabreT

4

Original post by thevmedic

I got my A* in maths by 1 mark. :colondollar:

But missed my A* in chem by 4 marks and A* in bio by 6 marks.

A bmat score around what will give me a decent chance after interview?

Well it depends on the college and the level of competition, but to be competitive you would have to get at least 6 in S1 and S2. The higher the score past 6, the better. It's hard work though.

Reply 1385

thevmedic

Original post by SabreT

Well it depends on the college and the level of competition, but to be competitive you would have to get at least 6 in S1 and S2. The higher the score past 6, the better. It's hard work though.

I got around a high 4 for s1 and a low 6 for section 2 last year.

you think its possible with hard work?

Which colleges you think I would have a greater chance at?

thanks alot. :smile:

Reply 1386

SabreT

4

Original post by thevmedic

I got around a high 4 for s1 and a low 6 for section 2 last year.

you think its possible with hard work?

Which colleges you think I would have a greater chance at?

thanks alot. :smile:

Yeah, for S1 revise critical thinking multiple choice papers and CIE thinking skills papers. They're quite good at polishing thinking skills.

As for college, well i'd only say avoid Trinity, since on their website they say something like post A level applicants should note that the average student has 2.5A*s, so it seems they're indirectly discouraging people with less to apply. Other than that though its up to you, but some colleges have slightly different admissions requirements. Look here for more information regarding that.

Reply 1387

Helenia

20

Original post by suggsina

Hi all, i'm thinking of applying to Cambridge for medicine, and the college choice is killing me! My current two favourites are kings and Pembroke. Can any of you help me out with advice? :smile:

Judging from the prospectus, alt. Prospectus and various things i've read, Kings seems to be a livelier college, with more going on. It obviously has grand buildings, a central location and access to the river, all of which appeal to me. Pembroke on the other hand appears to be entirely work focussed (don't me wrong, I know Cam is hard work, but I want to have *some* fun :biggrin:

What are your experience, and which do you recommend?

Tl;dr: Pembroke or Kings for medicine?

Thanks!

Pembroke does have lots of social stuff going on! They are pretty academic but it's still possible to have lots of fun. There are also more medics per year than at King's, if that matters to you. And it's right next to one of the first/second year lecture sites - convenient for falling out of bed into lectures!

I'd go for Pembroke of those two, but it's down to personal preference.

Reply 1388

prozium

Hi,

Can any Cambridge medics remember which month they were interviewed in?

Thanks very much!

Reply 1389

Helenia

20

Nearly universally it will be December. Possibly late November for a few colleges, depending on when term finishes.

Reply 1390

TomU

11

Original post by prozium

Hi,

Can any Cambridge medics remember which month they were interviewed in?

Thanks very much!

http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/apply/dates.html

The first three weeks of December. Not for medicine, but my interview was on the 16th December last year.

Reply 1391

prozium

Cheers guys, had a big scare last night when my friend said they were in October! :O (probably trolling me i WILL get him back!!)

Reply 1392

VaVe

8

December. I think Newnham held them in November last year because one of the interviewers wasn't available in December (my friend applied there so I'm a bit sketchy on the details).

Reply 1393

Bubbles2010

7

Original post by prozium

Hi,

Can any Cambridge medics remember which month they were interviewed in?

Thanks very much!

December

although I heard some people were interviewed in November at Christs (they were international applicants though)

Reply 1394

millie

Original post by prozium

Hi,

Can any Cambridge medics remember which month they were interviewed in?

Thanks very much!

8th December.

Some colleges wait for BMAT results before issuing interviews.

Reply 1395

NitroAbdi

Original post by Helenia

Nearly universally it will be December. Possibly late November for a few colleges, depending on when term finishes.

Hi, What would you say which collage has the fair amount of medical applicants and don't use GCSE as a main indicator? I told not even to apply there, i really like the Historical side of medicine, and less PBL. Thanks alot!

Reply 1396

maaz.yazdani

I am looking for information regarding admissions in Cambridge. I am currently doing 4 A-Levels (Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Maths) and hoping that I'll get place in Cambridge.

I have 4 years of work in a charity, I raised funds for AIDS awareness and treatment in India. Also went to Kilimanjaro and raised money for children of war (Afghanistan).

My question is; Is it enough for my application or do I need to do something else? :confused:

Reply 1397

Joanna-Marie :)

15

Sounds like you've got a quite a strong application :smile:

Have you thought about learning First aid? - by joining an organisation such as St. John Ambulance?
Might look good if you have some basic practial medical/first aid experience? Plus You can also learn things like medical gases, putting people onto spinal boards and so on ..

Reply 1398

a rusH

10

Hi, does anybody know how FM is considered when applying to medicine at Cambridge? I'm currently in year 12 and studying Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics (to be completed this year), Further Mathematics (to be completed next year) and Spanish.

When they ask for A*AA in 3 sciences/maths (which one must be chemistry) would they consider that I will have already completed a Mathematics A-Level in year 12? If I hopefully manage to obtain at least an A in A-Level Mathematics and if everything goes well concerning BMAT and interviews, and they gave an offer, does anybody know whether they would ask for a minimum of A*A In two sciences (including chem) considering that I would already have an A in Mathematics or would they ask for A*AA excluding the A-Level I have already completed?

I'm a bit confused really because if that's the case, what about if I completed A-Level Maths this year and didn't do FM next year?

Many thanks in advance

Reply 1399

*Liana*

1

Original post by a rusH

Hi, does anybody know how FM is considered when applying to medicine at Cambridge? I'm currently in year 12 and studying Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics (to be completed this year), Further Mathematics (to be completed next year) and Spanish.

When they ask for A*AA in 3 sciences/maths (which one must be chemistry) would they consider that I will have already completed a Mathematics A-Level in year 12? If I hopefully manage to obtain at least an A in A-Level Mathematics and if everything goes well concerning BMAT and interviews, and they gave an offer, does anybody know whether they would ask for a minimum of A*A In two sciences (including chem) considering that I would already have an A in Mathematics or would they ask for A*AA excluding the A-Level I have already completed?

I'm a bit confused really because if that's the case, what about if I completed A-Level Maths this year and didn't do FM next year?

Many thanks in advance

When I applied I believe there were other people with 'AA' offers because they'd already finished Maths. This was in 2005 though, so hopefully something more recent can help.

Cambridge Medicine Students and Applicants

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