Cambridge Music Students and Applicants

I'm just interested after having a nosey around the site.
I would never dream of applying to cambridge as i don't think i am clever enough or there type of person!

But looking at the music course and oh my gosh its what I actully want!
Lots of historry of music, anaylsis, harmony and counterpoint :smile:

and performance is an option in the first year!! which i think is great!

And after seeing and reading this i'm kinda intreeged... But i think they would laugh at my application lol.
I mean i got A*A*A*AAABCC at GCSE, at the moment i'm doing 4 AS levels which i'm predicted AAAB and then going on to A2. and hope to get AA BorA. But thats only if i work my butt off!!
But when it comes to my music.. arrggh.. I currently play the oboe.. havent taken an exam since well 4 years ago. At the moment i'm grade 7 but i could by the time i leave college get up to grade 8. I'm thinking of getting keyboard lessons (as i no cambridge like this) and i have recently taken up the trumpet and i am teaching myself it. Its my challenge! :smile:

.
But.. looking on their site they only say keyboard skills.. no grade for your main instrument.. and if i never wanted to do performance would this actully matter...
I also play in school orch and my local one.. And also doing an OU young applicants course at the moment and hope to take a music one in october...

With my well 'below average' musical grades as i were and my GCSE results would i actully stand any chance of getting in?!!

Sorry about the long post!

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Reply 1

Rich_b

Performance isn't even an option in the first year, it's impossible. There is an option for an mock-type recital in second year and a real one in third year. But apart from that it's all academic, and if you like that then apply for it. I didn't have grade 8 piano when i applied, and only just scraped a pass in the summer of my A Levels, so practical ability is no real factor.

Go for the A grades at AS and A level if you can and with some musical knowledge and passion there is no reason why you shouldn't apply

Reply 2

rdu11

Ok thanks
i'll have a think about it then.

Reply 3

epitome

Cambridge music course is entirely academic, rather than practical (though there's a tiny practical element if you want). It's theoretical, philosophical, historical...depending on what papers you choose. Your instrumental grade is therefore irrelevant.

If you're into the theoretical & academic side of music, this is the course for you! Have a think. Your grades are good. Might be worth a try! :smile:

Reply 4

rdu11

epitome

hmm I'll definately have a think and talk to my school about it.

But the only thing in the back on my mind which is against having a go is does it show up to other uni's that you have applied to Oxbridge?
Because i know that places liek Durham will reject you as they have been put as the second choice against oxbridge..

Reply 5

Rich_b

utter rubbish. they can't see where you apply, but can prob have a good guess as you will have applied before the oxbridge deadline, much earlier than most students.

but i had an offer from all of my other unis apart from one which i withdrew from after I decided it wasn't for me and thus not worth a long trip for an interview!

Reply 6

trance addict

rdu11

they wont actually know

Reply 7

rdu11

Rich_b

Oohh ok

and at our school they like to send of all the personal statements at the middle/end of october anyways.

Reply 8

Taemon

rdu11

Because i know that places liek Durham will reject you as they have been put as the second choice against oxbridge..

I applied before the Oxbridge deadline, and Durham didn't reject me... which is good, because Cambridge did! :p:

Reply 9

faik_kheft

It would be silly for places like Durham to reject people they suspected might be Oxbridge applicants because the majority of Oxbridge applicants get rejected, so the other unis would be depriving themselves of potentially some of their best candidates.

Reply 10

Indeed.

I really want to study Music at Cambridge. That said, I haven't even got my GCSE results, but there's nothing wrong with planning ahead :smile:

Reply 11

raphr

Hiya,

I desperately need some advice. Background - 17 year old guy, going into Year 13.

for a few years now, I have been set on studying music at Cambridge, more specifically Girton College, mostly because the Director of Music is fantastic and it would be an incredible experience to learn from him through the College and not just the Tripos. I simply can't think about not going there, the course is exactly what I am looking for and the Professors who I have met are phenomenal.

I have the following qualifications in music:
Piano (Main Instrument) - Grade 8 distinction, ALCM, LTCL. Won classes in festivals, etc. Soloist at informal do at Bologna Conservatoire, Italy. Looking to do LRSM within year and a half but haven't decided when.
Percussion - Grade 8 distinction, Principal of School Orchestra, perc in ESO.
Theory - Grade 5 Distinction although am now teaching myself Grade 8 Syllabus.
Organ - will take Grade 8 Organ within next two terms, probably next.

I also enjoy composing and am studying conducting.

However, academically I have some issues.
GCSE - 6 A* 4An (including 100% in Italian)
AS - French A 282
Music A 259
Maths B 232. Have applied for remark.
Geography - low B... (C in two modules, A in the other)

I also have a complete A Level in German Grade A

I would hate for the Geog and Maths marks to stop me getting into Cambridge.

Any advice for the UCAS process, the SAQ or Cam in general?

Many thanks!

Raph

Reply 12

Anatheme

Ask musicbloke, he probably can help you :wink:

Reply 13

Roobagnall

Well...

the thing is that oxbridge will always be strict on their very high entry requirements...
Unless your an organ player, inwhich case theyll be whores. great big, fatty, whoreish whores.

But dont get your heart set on cambridge... your skills really do seem to lie in music. why not try an open day at the music colleges??

Reply 14

raphr

hi thanks for replying,

i forgot to add that I am currently at Guildhall School of M & D (Junior Dept.)
Have been to open days etc. but a music college isn't my kind of place.

Reply 15

Roobagnall

raphr

hi thanks for replying,

i forgot to add that I am currently at Guildhall School of M & D (Junior Dept.)
Have been to open days etc. but a music college isn't my kind of place.

Can i ask why theyre not??

Reply 16

raphr

I don't think my focus in life is instrumental-based although I love playing etc.

The Cam course is extremely focused on exploring music in all different ways, the history, influences, impacts, things like schenkerian analysis interest me.

Saying that, I will never stop playing or practising! It is just the Cam Tripos that I love.

Reply 17

musicbloke

Thanks for linking this guy to me, Anatheme. Am reading this on my blackberry so will respond when am home.

MB

Reply 18

musicbloke

raphr

Right, where to start. :s-smilie:

First thing's first, don't get your heart set on anything. Even if you're very much up to the course, there's still an element of luck in Cambridge admissions. There always will be, and deciding that there's only one place that you want to go is a very big mistake, and can lead to you being very pissed off about things you have no control of. Yes, it's probably the best place in the country to study the course, and yes, the teaching is awesome, but don't become too attached before you've even applied. This is for your own good.

Also, fawning over the department and the staff isn't going to do you any good either. Yes, Martin is rather excellent, and a very good teacher, but you have to remember that your DoS doesn't actually supervise you that much, and of course there's the pool so even if you go elsewhere you may end up having a perfectly good DoS who isn't Martin. Just out of interest, do you share research interests with him or something?

Right, now we've got the nasty bit out of the way, your grades are fine (unless German happens to be your mothertongue, or you're bilingual, in which case I'd be a bit concerned). Some of your performance stuff is a little irrelevant, as is distinction grade 5 theory (no-one cares about this when you can do a bach chorale in half an hour). In terms of applying, your best bet is to start drafting a personal statement, and try to keep it as musicological as you can, as this is what Cambridge like. Once you have a draft, post it in the PS Help forums, and I'll have a look at it for you.

MB

Reply 19

Agent Smith

raphr

What attracts you to Cambridge - arguably the most academic, theory-based course in the country - rather than a Conservatoire? From the sounds of it you'd have no trouble whatsoever getting into any of the music colleges.

I'll be honest with you: I disagree with MB, because I think your grades are likely to present a problem, as they stand. Not a catastrophic one by any means, but AABB is at the lower end of what Cambridge will consider, and ideally you'd want your A in Music to be exceptionally high to compensate for that.

Having said that, there's no harm in trying, and your formidable practical ability might well swing things for you. I don't pretend to understand the admissions process perfectly.

For example, there was an absolutely brilliant pianist at Girton in my year who was (relatively) unacademic, and as far as I can tell he just bummed around never going to lectures and barely passing his courses because he was doing so much playing, and I think he's now doing a postgrad at a music college. So it certainly can work out fine; I'm just not sure why you think Cambridge is the best route. I never understood why that pianist chose academia over music college, either...

As an afterthought, have you tried the Organ Scholar angle? Opinions differ as to whether it helps you get an offer, but it might be worth exploring.