Cambridge but with only 3 AS??

You need really strong UMS to stand a chance.

Reply 3

OP

Original post by Compost

Sorry, highly unlikely. They normally expect straight As and high As at that. The only possible way I can imagine your redeeming yourself from only having 3 ASs would be to have full, or very nearly full, UMS on all 3.

Even if my prediction grades are an A*A*A?? Btw it's for mechanical engineering.

Reply 4

Jkizer

Original post by sagar448

Even if my prediction grades are an A*A*A?? Btw it's for mechanical engineering.

Predictions will mean jack all since most people will have predictions similar AND really high UMS

Reply 5

Chlorophile

20

Original post by sagar448

Hi guys,

I just had a simple question, I wanted to know if I still would be accepted or at least get an interview in Cambridge university with only 3 AS? It's a long story of why I couldn't take 4, it's not because I'm not capable but, something else. Anyway I wanted to know if let's say I got AAB in AS would I still get an interview or acceptance?

P.S it's for mechanical engineering

Thanks for the help. :biggrin:

The problem isn't that you've only done 3 AS levels, the problem is the AAB prediction. You could definitely get an interview with just 3 AS levels but unless you've got serious extenuating circumstances, you probably will not get an interview with AAB at AS. The average UMS of interviewed people is around 92% and the average UMS of accepted people is around 96%. Unless that B is borderline A and those As are virtually 100%, your average UMS will be well below average. As far as I know, it's very rare for someone with below 85% to be interviewed and practically impossible for someone with below 85% to get an offer, especially for Engineering which is one of Cambridge's most competitive departments (they don't have a degree in Mechanical Engineering, you apply for general Engineering). The fact that your prediction is A*A*A won't really change the fact of the matter that those AS levels simply aren't good enough. Apply if you want, but I'm sorry to say that your chances are low.

Reply 6

OP

Okay guys, thanks for the reply I'm going to go cry now. :biggrin:

Reply 7

Compost

19

Original post by sagar448

Even if my prediction grades are an A*A*A?? Btw it's for mechanical engineering.

What A levels are you doing? I assume it must be Maths, Further Maths and Physics, in which case I can't see an excuse for not getting near full UMS (as the marking is not really open to interpretation).

Reply 8

OP

Original post by Chlorophile

The problem isn't that you've only done 3 AS levels, the problem is the AAB prediction. You could definitely get an interview with just 3 AS levels but unless you've got serious extenuating circumstances, you probably will not get an interview with AAB at AS. The average UMS of interviewed people is around 92% and the average UMS of accepted people is around 96%. Unless that B is borderline A and those As are virtually 100%, your average UMS will be well below average. As far as I know, it's very rare for someone with below 85% to be interviewed and practically impossible for someone with below 85% to get an offer, especially for Engineering which is one of Cambridge's most competitive departments (they don't have a degree in Mechanical Engineering, you apply for general Engineering). The fact that your prediction is A*A*A won't really change the fact of the matter that those AS levels simply aren't good enough. Apply if you want, but I'm sorry to say that your chances are low.

Thanks for your help, actually that B is a borderline A and one of the As is really really high close to 100 and the other A is quiet low actually. But I mean it isn't really my fault for doing only 3, my school didn't allow me to do further maths which was the 4th subject I picked because they thought I got a B in GCSE maths in canada, when they actually read it wrong and I had an A* in maths. :C

Reply 9

OP

Original post by Compost

What A levels are you doing? I assume it must be Maths, Further Maths and Physics, in which case I can't see an excuse for not getting near full UMS (as the marking is not really open to interpretation).

I'm doing maths, physics, and computing. A in maths, A in physics and I'm pretty sure high B in computing.

Reply 10

Jkizer

Original post by sagar448

Okay guys, thanks for the reply I'm going to go cry now. :biggrin:

You probably stand a very good chance at other good engineering places like Birmingham, UCL, Manchester, Southampton (depending on what type)

Reply 11

Chlorophile

20

Original post by sagar448

Thanks for your help, actually that B is a borderline A and one of the As is really really high close to 100 and the other A is quiet low actually. But I mean it isn't really my fault for doing only 3, my school didn't allow me to do further maths which was the 4th subject I picked because they thought I got a B in GCSE maths in canada, when they actually read it wrong and I had an A* in maths. :C

I don't know what your precise UMS scores are but if for the sake of argument we assume the borderline B/A is 79, the high A is 95 and the low A is 85, then your average UMS percentage is 86%. It's not a physical impossibility for you to get an interview with that, but it is still very unlikely. I'm very sorry about that misunderstanding. If you apply to Cambridge, they have a special questionnaire thing you can fill in where you can mention that since the admissions tutors will want to know why you haven't studied Further Maths. So by all means apply, but just bear in mind that your chances are very low.

Also, you might want to consider doing AS Further Maths in Year 13, either in school or self-studying.

Also remember that not getting into Cambridge isn't the end of the world. There are lots of other absolutely outstanding institutions that you have a very good chance of getting into, some of which have better career prospects than Cambridge.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 12

OP

Thanks for the reply guys, okay if Cambridge isn't a possibility is Imperial? Or Oxford or MIT? I mean except for the grades I have a gold crest award, a silver crest award, I build robots at home, I have a robot Youtube channel, I did a 4 week research placement at a software image feature company, I was selected from my class to represent the school in British Airways where I did another week of placement relating to maths. I mean I can go on more but so does this mean these have no meaning? :C

Reply 13

Bloxorus

Original post by sagar448

Thanks for the reply guys, okay if Cambridge isn't a possibility is Imperial? Or Oxford or MIT? I mean except for the grades I have a gold crest award, a silver crest award, I build robots at home, I have a robot Youtube channel, I did a 4 week research placement at a software image feature company, I was selected from my class to represent the school in British Airways where I did another week of placement relating to maths. I mean I can go on more but so does this mean these have no meaning? :C

Those extracurriculars will help but unless you have ideally 90+ ums average as well then you have a very slim chance. If you can't get 3 As at AS then how do you expect to keep up with the Cambridge workload?

Bear in mind that there are many people each year who have 5+ AS's, 95+ UMS average across them and have a good interview but still get rejected. I know someone who had a 98% average and was still rejected.

You may stand a better chance at Imperial but unless you have AAA at least its very unlikely.

Reply 14

Chlorophile

20

Original post by sagar448

Thanks for the reply guys, okay if Cambridge isn't a possibility is Imperial? Or Oxford or MIT? I mean except for the grades I have a gold crest award, a silver crest award, I build robots at home, I have a robot Youtube channel, I did a 4 week research placement at a software image feature company, I was selected from my class to represent the school in British Airways where I did another week of placement relating to maths. I mean I can go on more but so does this mean these have no meaning? :C

Imperial will be difficult - not as hard as Cambridge, but I still wouldn't say your chances are spectacularly high. Definitely worth an application, but again don't set your hopes up for Imperial since they're arguably better than Cambridge for Engineering in many respects. Oxford will also be difficult, but they have a higher emphasis on your GCSE results so this could be a good or bad thing depending on what your GCSE results were. I don't know about MIT but I'm guessing that would be at least as hard as Cambridge?

Definitely mention all of those ECs in your PS, but don't expect them to help you that much. They're all very good and definitely not worthless, but they're not replacements for exam results, at least not for Oxbridge.

Reply 15

OP

Original post by Chlorophile

Imperial will be difficult - not as hard as Cambridge, but I still wouldn't say your chances are spectacularly high. Definitely worth an application, but again don't set your hopes up for Imperial since they're arguably better than Cambridge for Engineering in many respects. Oxford will also be difficult, but they have a higher emphasis on your GCSE results so this could be a good or bad thing depending on what your GCSE results were. I don't know about MIT but I'm guessing that would be at least as hard as Cambridge?

Definitely mention all of those ECs in your PS, but don't expect them to help you that much. They're all very good and definitely not worthless, but they're not replacements for exam results, at least not for Oxbridge.

I forgot to mention the most important thing, I'm such a dummy, the thing is before I did my AS in UK I had done some AS in Canada too, so in Canada I did Chemistry, Computer engineering, religion. And I achieved a B in Chem, an A in computer engineering and an A in religion. So with those 3 plus the three in Uk how does that affect my chances???

Reply 16

thelusa

11

Original post by sagar448

Hi guys,

I just had a simple question, I wanted to know if I still would be accepted or at least get an interview in Cambridge university with only 3 AS? It's a long story of why I couldn't take 4, it's not because I'm not capable but, something else. Anyway I wanted to know if let's say I got AAB in AS would I still get an interview or acceptance?

P.S it's for mechanical engineering

Thanks for the help. :biggrin:

Hi, I applied to Cambridge this year. I would say that you need a very good UMS to stand a chance. Even though it is not impossible to get interview with UMS lower than ~88% it is not very likely and it's even less likely to get an offer. The average UMS for an offer holder is ~95%. The predicted grades don't mean that much. (I was predicted 5 A* and got rejection without interview by Bristol, lol ) :biggrin:

Reply 17

OP