Summer Schools

Hi, i was just browsing the forums and came across the Oxford and Cambridge Summer Schools and they seemed like good idea if you're thinking of applying to oxbridge by the application date for the Sutton Trust Summer Schools was March 14th so i was wondering if anyone new of anything similiar to these over similiar?

Reply 1

JoMo1

Villiers Park also run a series of courses in the vicinity of Cambridge. Worth a look but they cost £200 and I doubt they're as good as the university run summer schools, e.g. I'm going to the Senior Physics Challenge at Cambridge and my friend has applied to the Villiers Park Physics course, mine looks far superior if only by the fact that it takes place at the university itself.

Reply 2

Joseph L.

Aaah, that's what I'd feared really.

Reply 3

JoMo1

Still worth it though, a few days with a bunch of like-minded people studying something you love, I'm applying for the maths Villiers Park course along with the SPC, you may as well get as much stuff as you can done.

Reply 4

shinyhappy

One bit of advice I'd give anyone looking at these courses, is that the university does not generally look at paid courses as positive personal statement points. Although this doesn't mean that they'll look down on them at all - (and the courses might give you good help and advice in terms of applications and interviews) - don't expect them to have the same kudos as the sutton trust/access scheme stuff. The reason going on these courses is a good application point, is that to get on them, you have to prove you're from a disadvantaged school/background. If you can get on any means-tested courses, its a much more worthwhile way to spend your time.

Reply 5

Zoedotdot

I did Linguistics at Villiers Park last summer and it was fantastic! The teaching was excellent and it was great to be with like minded people :smile:

My school paid for it out of their G&T fund, which is always something worth probing into if you can (I managed to get probably around £300 out of them last year :p:

) I can't really say what kind of level I was being taught at, as Linguistics isn't a subject currently taught at A level (although it's in the pipeline!) but the lecturers told us that we were brighter and more interested than some of their university students :biggrin:

Means tested courses might look better, but I do think that giving up a week of your summer to go and study your subject at a fairly high level demonstrates a certain level of commitment.