Would Cambridge ACTUALLY accept me?

Hello all you lovely people,

I would love to do History at Cambridge but I am worried I don't stand a REAL chance.

I do History, Politics and Sociology at A-level and have been predicted A*A*A*. At GCSEs I got 99877766665. I can make it up with Supercurriculars but I fear that My subject choices and GCSEs might hold me back. Really appreciate your feedback. Cheers!

Reply 1

ageshallnot

21

Original post by WilfredTC

Hello all you lovely people,

I would love to do History at Cambridge but I am worried I don't stand a REAL chance.

I do History, Politics and Sociology at A-level and have been predicted A*A*A*. At GCSEs I got 99877766665. I can make it up with Supercurriculars but I fear that My subject choices and GCSEs might hold me back. Really appreciate your feedback. Cheers!

Cambridge aren't particularly bothered about GCSEs and your A-levels are all relevant, so ..???

(edited 8 months ago)

Reply 2

toothysmile

16

You meet the entry requirements for the course so your GCSEs should be fine if you apply strategically to colleges that weigh the History Admissions Assessment (HAA) over GCSEs.

Heres a useful document:
https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/history_subject_requirements.pdf

I need to emphasise that each college has a different admissions process so research your chosen college very thoroughly before applying! (Or else if you are a qualified candidate, you might get pooled... and then its in God's hands...)

However the most important parts of the application that differentiates applicants is the interview, which is run to see if the candidates suits the tutorial teaching style, so it's VERY important to keep on top of supercurriculars (arguably more than good GCSEs)

(edited 8 months ago)

Reply 3

Johnny Valentine

14

Go for it

The only thing that’s certain is that if you don’t apply you absolutely won’t get in. If you do apply, you might. Plus… you will always wonder “what if”. Plus, just going through the process is an experience. Plus, you get 5 ucas choices so why not use one for Cambridge.

Like I said, go for it

Reply 4

WilfredTC

OP

7

Original post by toothysmile

You meet the entry requirements for the course so your GCSEs should be fine if you apply strategically to colleges that weigh the History Admissions Assessment (HAA) over GCSEs.

Heres a useful document:
https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/history_subject_requirements.pdf

I need to emphasise that each college has a different admissions process so research your chosen college very thoroughly before applying! (Or else if you are a qualified candidate, you might get pooled... and then its in God's hands...)

However the most important parts of the application that differentiates applicants is the interview, which is run to see if the candidates suits the tutorial teaching style, so it's VERY important to keep on top of supercurriculars (arguably more than good GCSEs)

God bless you! You are a legend. Thanks for the document!

Reply 5

WilfredTC

OP

7

Also, would I stand a better chance of getting in if I smash the History aptitude test for a college that requires it or would i stand a better chance applying to a college not requiring an assessment. Cheers!

Reply 6

Saracen's Fez

20

Original post by WilfredTC

Also, would I stand a better chance of getting in if I smash the History aptitude test for a college that requires it or would i stand a better chance applying to a college not requiring an assessment. Cheers!

This is quite a hard question to answer because you'll initially be competing with the other applicants to your chosen college, who will all be in the same boat (either having done the HAA or not), so it's not really relevant.

Probably only the admissions tutors could tell you whether it makes a difference at the next stage, when they choose candidates to fish from the pool, but I doubt that it does!

Reply 7

subbhy

18

Original post by WilfredTC

Hello all you lovely people,

I would love to do History at Cambridge but I am worried I don't stand a REAL chance.

I do History, Politics and Sociology at A-level and have been predicted A*A*A*. At GCSEs I got 99877766665. I can make it up with Supercurriculars but I fear that My subject choices and GCSEs might hold me back. Really appreciate your feedback. Cheers!

Your A-levels are brilliant! I know someone who did similar subjects and got a conditional offer for History!

Reply 8

WilfredTC

OP

7

Original post by Saracen's Fez

This is quite a hard question to answer because you'll initially be competing with the other applicants to your chosen college, who will all be in the same boat (either having done the HAA or not), so it's not really relevant.

Probably only the admissions tutors could tell you whether it makes a difference at the next stage, when they choose candidates to fish from the pool, but I doubt that it does!

Thanks so much for taking your time to be so helpful. Really appreciate it!

Reply 9

closetarchivist

9

Original post by toothysmile

You meet the entry requirements for the course so your GCSEs should be fine if you apply strategically to colleges that weigh the History Admissions Assessment (HAA) over GCSEs.

Heres a useful document:
https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/history_subject_requirements.pdf

I need to emphasise that each college has a different admissions process so research your chosen college very thoroughly before applying! (Or else if you are a qualified candidate, you might get pooled... and then its in God's hands...)

However the most important parts of the application that differentiates applicants is the interview, which is run to see if the candidates suits the tutorial teaching style, so it's VERY important to keep on top of supercurriculars (arguably more than good GCSEs)

May I ask, if the admissions process is different for each college, how do they make sure the pooling process is done fairly?

Reply 10

toothysmile

16

Original post by closetarchivist

May I ask, if the admissions process is different for each college, how do they make sure the pooling process is done fairly?

From what I understand, elligible candidates for the course (e.g. are academic enough to do it) but unfortunately have applied to an oversubscribed college are put in the pool so other colleges, if they don't have enough applicants can pick from the pool... It's very hard to ensure the system is 'fair' and once you're in the pool, it's all up to chance, so your best bet would be to pick a college that plays to your strengths (e.g. not a lot of applicants to your course)...

Reply 11

Saracen's Fez

20

Original post by closetarchivist

May I ask, if the admissions process is different for each college, how do they make sure the pooling process is done fairly?

Basically if you're in the pool, then the admissions tutors from all the colleges will be able to look over your file, and judge your application largely based on their standards, rather than those of the college that first assessed the application.

(In practice, I think the differences are pretty minor, and the process is human, so admissions tutors can look at applications from the pool and take into account that, perhaps, an applicant to another college hasn't done the same admissions assessment.)

The only exception might be if you apply to a college that is hugely oversubscribed for a subject compared to other colleges, where the threshold to be put into the pool might be unusually high because of the sheer volume of applications. These examples are pretty rare.

This thread might also help! :smile:

Would Cambridge ACTUALLY accept me?

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