This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

How to most effectively use your gap year in order to impress

Hi,

I'm a Cambridge reject planning to take a gap year and reapply to the NatSci (Bio) for entry in 2010. However, I have heard they don't particularly like science applicants who are taking a ''year out.''
Therefore I intend to make the most of this year- academically- in order to show them I do not just sit around all day and really am interested in my subject.
I have given the issue some thought and have decided a year in industry (or something similar) would probably be best for me. Being an Austrian student I would like to do this preferably in England, in order to improve my language skills.
What would you suggest me to do? It should definitely be something that shows my enthusiasm to make the most of the year and hence ''impress'' the admissions tutor (or the interviewers...).

Any advice, help will be greatly appreciated!!

Reply 1

xps.systems

13

I'd suggest maybe working in a laboratory? Joining some kind of research project? Seeing if you can do a long-term 'internship'/business placement with a pharmaceuticals company - approaching companies directly with CV, covering letter etc. to see if you can assist with some kind of project on their behalf - also subscribe to Nature reviews and try and read some scientific papers although I'm not sure how easy this is if you aren't registered with a university.

Reply 2

jw366

I think you should take a gap year that you will enjoy and look back on fondly, whether or not you are admitted to Cambridge.

Reply 3

groovy_moose

1

Tbh, as long as you use it constructively in some sense or other they're unlikely to care that much. Just make sure you have a good year - it would really suck to gear the whole thing around getting into cambridge if you were subsequently rejected again... (not, of course to say thta you will be...)

Reply 4

gyyy2807

14

Bio_Science

Hi,

I'm a Cambridge reject planning to take a gap year and reapply to the NatSci (Bio) for entry in 2010. However, I have heard they don't particularly like science applicants who are taking a ''year out.''
Therefore I intend to make the most of this year- academically- in order to show them I do not just sit around all day and really am interested in my subject.
I have given the issue some thought and have decided a year in industry (or something similar) would probably be best for me. Being an Austrian student I would like to do this preferably in England, in order to improve my language skills.
What would you suggest me to do? It should definitely be something that shows my enthusiasm to make the most of the year and hence ''impress'' the admissions tutor (or the interviewers...).

Any advice, help will be greatly appreciated!!

I'm in the same situation as you, but I'm applying for economics.

I'm applying for internships about banks and accountancy firms in order to enhance my application. So maybe you could try get an internship at a biomedical company or something.

Reply 5

Bio_Science

OP

1

Yes, I suppose that's exactly what I'll do. The only problem there might be is how expensive such an internship apparantly is. I have searched the internet and found that for only four weeks it would cost me around 1500 Euros (including accomodation)...
Do you think this is a normal and reasonable price?

Reply 6

ukebert

13

A gap year is a massive undertaking. Don't kid yourself that you can last for a year in a boring job and not go mad, most can't. If I were you I'd approach some of the bigger pharmaceuticals (GSK springs to mind) to see whether they would be willing to take you on for 6 months. That might be really bad advice though, I have no idea what the market is like for potential science students in doing a year in industry. You could always apply to YinI of course, although I don't know how much of what they do is catered to science students as opposed to Engineering ones.

Reply 7

shadowsintherain

9

ukebert

A gap year is a massive undertaking. Don't kid yourself that you can last for a year in a boring job and not go mad, most can't.

This is exceptionally important advice and everybody considering a gap year should heed it unless they just want a long holiday. Personally, I got in this year to Cambridge after working in a solicitors office. I had no particular desire to go travelling but I am going around Europe anyway with the money I have earned. But I have been working since August and although it has probably helped with my application, the work I do is usually extremely boring and demeaning (although things did improve after I informed everybody of my success).

My decision to take a gap year was not just to reapply to Oxbridge - it was a complete change of subject. For this reason, even if I would have got a rejection from Cambridge I would have been glad I took a gap year even though it has been the loneliest, most boring, and depressing time of my life. But if I would have got rejected having reapplied for the same subject I would be kicking myself for making such a stupid decision.

So before you reapply you need to consider a few things. Are you applying for the same subject? If so, is your only reason to get into Cambridge? If it is, I would advise heavily against taking a gap year. However, if you want to go travelling and at the same time want to reapply it may be more worthwhile. But bear in mind that unless you have extremely rich parents, you will have to work for the first part of your gap year, and when all your friends have gone off themselves to university this will be an extremely empty and upsetting time in your life - I speak from experience. So think very carefully before comitting yourself to anything, and do not take a gap year just to get into Cambridge. You might not get in again and remember that you'd do anything to claim back a year when you are sitting on your death bed...

Reply 8

~Viola~

14

Something that you want to do, will enjoy and that will be helpful/look good. You seem to have it sussed

Reply 9

J4GGYBoss

13

how about working and making the most amount of money possible, possibly starting your own business or living your life the way you want to and then buying yourself into camebridge!

Reply 10

ukebert

13

shadowsintherain speaks the truth. Having all your friends depart and start living their lives as independent adults in university whilst you are stuck in some boring job, often living at home, is not a particularly pleasant one. It didn't bother me terribly, it was the tedium of the office life that really got me. Having said that, after working for 6 months (which was the right length of time for me, it fulfilled my industrial experience requirement, made it look as if I had stuck it out for ages and most importantly earned me enough money to finance the next 6 months) I did have some of the best months of my life travelling and walking all over the place.

So yeah, gap years can be fun. But don't expect the work of someone newly out of school, untrained, unqualified, to be particularly rewarding. Sometimes it is, but a lot of the time it won't be.

Reply 11

J234

shadowsintherain

This is exceptionally important advice and everybody considering a gap year should heed it unless they just want a long holiday. Personally, I got in this year to Cambridge after working in a solicitors office. I had no particular desire to go travelling but I am going around Europe anyway with the money I have earned. But I have been working since August and although it has probably helped with my application, the work I do is usually extremely boring and demeaning (although things did improve after I informed everybody of my success).

My decision to take a gap year was not just to reapply to Oxbridge - it was a complete change of subject. For this reason, even if I would have got a rejection from Cambridge I would have been glad I took a gap year even though it has been the loneliest, most boring, and depressing time of my life. But if I would have got rejected having reapplied for the same subject I would be kicking myself for making such a stupid decision.

So before you reapply you need to consider a few things. Are you applying for the same subject? If so, is your only reason to get into Cambridge? If it is, I would advise heavily against taking a gap year. However, if you want to go travelling and at the same time want to reapply it may be more worthwhile. But bear in mind that unless you have extremely rich parents, you will have to work for the first part of your gap year, and when all your friends have gone off themselves to university this will be an extremely empty and upsetting time in your life - I speak from experience. So think very carefully before comitting yourself to anything, and do not take a gap year just to get into Cambridge. You might not get in again and remember that you'd do anything to claim back a year when you are sitting on your death bed...

I'll be seeing you at Downing next year :smile:

To the OP, I wholeheartedly agree with the part in bold. Yes, travelling will be great fun but the other side of the coin is paying for it. It's in those months when you may be working in a dead end job that you'll need to be able to justify to yourself taking a gap year was the right thing to do. In hindsight, if I had got rejected I'm not sure whether I could have justified this year. In the end, I was lucky, but I'd advise you not to make a similiar mistake.

You've also got to consider the social side of taking a gap year. As shadowsintherain says, all your friends will be heading off to their independant life and you're turning down your offers (I turned down UCL and Warwick) on the offchance you'll be accepted. Once all your friends are gone, it'll be getting a hell of a lot more lonely. Thankfully I had a gf in the year below, so this wasn't too much of a problem, but don't underestimate the difference. You're going from having lots of friends you see everyday, to having to travel for hours at a weekend to see just a couple. 6 months might not seem like a managable time now, but once you've embarked on this trip it might end up seeming that way.

Good luck wherever you end up :smile:

but make sure you get planning now. And enjoy the travelling!

Reply 12

ukebert

13

The other thing is that taking a gap year will get you out of practice of using your brain. It took all of my first term for me to get back into the swing of working and learning and I am still picking things up and completing work a lot slower than everyone else.

Reply 13

FadedJade

15

I would just like to give my experience as while gap years can be like those above, I absolutely loved mine, and yes I was working in a dead end job.

They are assuming that all your friends are going to uni, is this the case for you? A lot of my friends didn't go to uni at all, but I still didn't really see them in my gap year, I spent a lot of time hanging out with people I met at work instead.

I did retail work, and yeah ok it wasn't what I wanted to do as a career, but I enjoyed it and made the most of it - at the end of the day its only for a year, which isn't long. It really isn't as bad as people are making out, or at least mine wasn't. I wasn't planning to have a gap year, but I'm really pleased I did.

Reply 14

Bio_Science

OP

1

Thanks a lot for the advice!

I am very aware doing an internship or working elsewhere can be extremely boring. Also I absolutely agree with you that seeing all your friends entering higher education can be really frustrating and depressing.
All of that is certainly true...
I have decided that if I am offered a place at Imperial (I applied for two courses there) I will definitely not take a gap year and study there.
However, I am not very happy with my offer from UCl. Although UCL has a very good reputation, some of its courses (especially Biology) are not very highly regarded.
So if I don't get an offer from Imp, I'll almost certainly take a gap year and reapply to Cambridge (and Imp., of course).
I have already organised a four- week internship in a biomedical company in August, which I am very interested in.
I would definitely do one more internship somewhere in the UK for the duration of maybe four to six weeks.
The rest of the year I would spend travelling and giving private violin lessons, as I'm a very good player myself :wink:

One more advantage of a year out is that I will have the opportunity to apply to the famous American unis too, which I intend to do.

So, I'll continue waiting for Imperial's reply and hoping for the best.

Reply 15

ukebert

13

Bio_Science

The rest of the year I would spend travelling and giving private violin lessons, as I'm a very good player myself :wink:

Very good player =/= very good teacher :wink:

How good are you? :smile:

Reply 16

MC REN

14

Whatever you do (mainly if it involves travelling) be sure to tell everyone about it all the time, try and get it into every conversation during fresher's week at least

Reply 17

ukebert

13

MC REN

Whatever you do (mainly if it involves travelling) be sure to tell everyone about it all the time, try and get it into every conversation during fresher's week at least