Cambridge advice + A levels

Hello, I am wanting to apply for Cambridge, I am currently doing 4 A levels, including further maths, I have seen that other posts kind of view FM as almost 'Supplementary' to maths so to speak, meaning it tends to be tacked on in a sense. I have been bouncing between if I should drop down to 3 A levels, because I am on A's and A*'s, but I am predicted a little below the entry requirements (A*AAA), but I can see from all the mocks and past papers I have done, that computing is the weakest link out of all of them, mainly because I generally lack in exam technique rather than simply not knowing, which is a more difficult thing to fix as it just requires one to do as much work on them as possible, and currently the spec I do has 2 past papers, and my computer science teacher quit at the start of the year, so we spent like a month straight without a teacher and then the teacher we had could be there in every lesson. That being said, although I reckon if I could just focus my absolute all on my A levels, I could most certainly get them very high, the issue not only do I need to sit the STEP exam, I cannot afford to go to university at all if I do not start working more hours, and A levels are harder than AS, so I know my grades could potentially be at risk of degrading by a wide margin for CS. That being said, I have been thinking about dropping down to three for a while now, because all I want is to go to Cambridge, but I am concerned that dropping to three might make my application less competitive and thus reduce my chances of getting in, and although I have been told they do not necessarily consider 4 A levels over 3, this brings me to my initial point that I have seen FM and maths treated almost like one A level kind of split in two if that makes sense. Because of this, I am worried that dropping to three for what I am going for could indeed damage my chances, and I do not know what to do, I was wondering if anybody who had got in for maths/STEM subjects, has experience with admissions etc. knows how it all works, because I do not know what to do, and it has been stressing me out for ages, because I do not want to continue with computer science, as I love the subject but do not like the specification itself so I would much prefer it as a hobby, but I do not want to screw myself over by dropping it. (I am a state school student and I do maths, further maths, computing and physics since I know that context applied to the offer)

I could do with some paragraph breaks in all that - I've read it several times and am still not clear what you want to apply for

If you're a Maths applicant then you need to be doing both FM and STEP - there's no escaping that, and it would certainly look bad if you dropped FM when you've had the opportunity to study it already.

3 A levels are fine for *most* Cambridge degrees but you need to clarify what your ambitions / target subject actually are!

My apologies in regards to structure, I have read over it and it is quite spotty, my sincere apologies!

To clarify, I am doing maths FM, physics and computing, and I want to get into Cambridge for maths, but due to needing to work more hours, I am worried my grades might drop, as they are good now, but need upkeep and improvement in some places. Due to this, I have been looking into whether dropping to 3 A levels would affect my chances of getting in, because of course the same application with 4 A levels can be stronger than 3. My concern is that as I move into next year, where things will get more complex, my grades will not only be affected because of that, but also as I do more STEP prep and, if I choose to do so, my computer science NEA (Which at minimum is 50 hours). However, at the moment, I am kind of 'In between' so to speak with grades where I can see myself going either way in terms of results.

That being said, I am worried that by dropping down to three, although the grades themselves may get better, it could affect my chances of getting in, because I know Cambridge wants to see you are capable of working hard, ultimately making the choice of dropping one (Which would be computer science if I did so) worse than carrying on with four. Although I do enjoy Computer Science and I am good at it, I just cannot get the exam technique, and nearly all of my wrong marks are simply because of exam technique, and it is the only one I cannot confidently say that, given enough time and effort, I could realistically get an A/A* in for certain in the time that is left; it is possible, but nevertheless if it is not worth this risk, then I should drop it.

My apologies for the prior confusion, I hope I have made it more clear!

Hello, I am wanting to apply for Cambridge, I am currently doing 4 A levels, including further maths, I have seen that other posts kind of view FM as almost 'Supplementary' to maths so to speak, meaning it tends to be tacked on in a sense. I have been bouncing between if I should drop down to 3 A levels, because I am on A's and A*'s, but I am predicted a little below the entry requirements (A*AAA), but I can see from all the mocks and past papers I have done, that computing is the weakest link out of all of them, mainly because I generally lack in exam technique rather than simply not knowing, which is a more difficult thing to fix as it just requires one to do as much work on them as possible, and currently the spec I do has 2 past papers, and my computer science teacher quit at the start of the year, so we spent like a month straight without a teacher and then the teacher we had could be there in every lesson. That being said, although I reckon if I could just focus my absolute all on my A levels, I could most certainly get them very high, the issue not only do I need to sit the STEP exam, I cannot afford to go to university at all if I do not start working more hours, and A levels are harder than AS, so I know my grades could potentially be at risk of degrading by a wide margin for CS. That being said, I have been thinking about dropping down to three for a while now, because all I want is to go to Cambridge, but I am concerned that dropping to three might make my application less competitive and thus reduce my chances of getting in, and although I have been told they do not necessarily consider 4 A levels over 3, this brings me to my initial point that I have seen FM and maths treated almost like one A level kind of split in two if that makes sense. Because of this, I am worried that dropping to three for what I am going for could indeed damage my chances, and I do not know what to do, I was wondering if anybody who had got in for maths/STEM subjects, has experience with admissions etc. knows how it all works, because I do not know what to do, and it has been stressing me out for ages, because I do not want to continue with computer science, as I love the subject but do not like the specification itself so I would much prefer it as a hobby, but I do not want to screw myself over by dropping it. (I am a state school student and I do maths, further maths, computing and physics since I know that context applied to the offer)

55% of Engineering applicants had 4 A-Levels. https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2973443#

It would be wise to drop A-Level Computer Science now, rather than when being made an offer and God forbid which includes the condition of an A* or A grade in A-Level Computer Science?!

Maths, Further Maths and Physics would need to be achieved at a minimum of A*A*A and ideally to have a strong chance of being made an offer A*A*A*.

You would also have to take the TMUA, and this will be a factor in being made an offer too.

So please drop Computer Science.

Which College at Cambridge University do you want to apply to for Computer Science?

hello, i am wanting to apply for cambridge, i am currently doing 4 a levels, including further maths, i have seen that other posts kind of view fm as almost 'supplementary' to maths so to speak, meaning it tends to be tacked on in a sense. I have been bouncing between if i should drop down to 3 a levels, because i am on a's and a*'s, but i am predicted a little below the entry requirements (a*aaa), but i can see from all the mocks and past papers i have done, that computing is the weakest link out of all of them, mainly because i generally lack in exam technique rather than simply not knowing, which is a more difficult thing to fix as it just requires one to do as much work on them as possible, and currently the spec i do has 2 past papers, and my computer science teacher quit at the start of the year, so we spent like a month straight without a teacher and then the teacher we had could be there in every lesson. That being said, although i reckon if i could just focus my absolute all on my a levels, i could most certainly get them very high, the issue not only do i need to sit the step exam, i cannot afford to go to university at all if i do not start working more hours, and a levels are harder than as, so i know my grades could potentially be at risk of degrading by a wide margin for cs. That being said, i have been thinking about dropping down to three for a while now, because all i want is to go to cambridge, but i am concerned that dropping to three might make my application less competitive and thus reduce my chances of getting in, and although i have been told they do not necessarily consider 4 a levels over 3, this brings me to my initial point that i have seen fm and maths treated almost like one a level kind of split in two if that makes sense. Because of this, i am worried that dropping to three for what i am going for could indeed damage my chances, and i do not know what to do, i was wondering if anybody who had got in for maths/stem subjects, has experience with admissions etc. Knows how it all works, because i do not know what to do, and it has been stressing me out for ages, because i do not want to continue with computer science, as i love the subject but do not like the specification itself so i would much prefer it as a hobby, but i do not want to screw myself over by dropping it. (i am a state school student and i do maths, further maths, computing and physics since i know that context applied to the offer)