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Hello,
I'm an IB student applying for English. I don't have my predicted grades yet, but I have talked to my teachers and it seems I am going to meet the demanded 40-42 points. However, I have a problem with English. My teacher has a policy of not giving a predicted 7 to anyone, so I am going to have a 6. (How much) is it going to hurt my chances?
Reply 181
Avatar for cnutuk
cnutuk
7
I am only doing 3 AS levels, with one weak subject (ICT), and my GCSE grades are not so stellar, with only 5 As and 5 B grades. However this year I have been performing much better and will be aiming for the grades to get into a humanities course at Cambridge, with this subject profile and grades, is there any point in considering applying?
Original post by Peterhouse Admissions
We only expect candidates to be taking 3 A levels. It is far better to excel in 3 than do less well in 4. However, if you do decide to take 4, then which 3 are looked at most closely will depend a little on which subjects you are studying and which course you are applying for.


I'm currently studying maths, further maths, chemistry and biology at AS. Say I don't drop any and get A's in maths, further maths and chemistry, and a C in biology, would this be seen as as good as dropping biology and just getting A's in the other three subjects?

EDIT: The above is just an example of hypothetical grades. It could be different grades or a different combination.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by cnutuk
I am only doing 3 AS levels, with one weak subject (ICT), and my GCSE grades are not so stellar, with only 5 As and 5 B grades. However this year I have been performing much better and will be aiming for the grades to get into a humanities course at Cambridge, with this subject profile and grades, is there any point in considering applying?


Which course, and which A2s?
Reply 184
Avatar for quartic
quartic
Hello,
I hope to visit Cambridge for one of the July open days, and was wondering if it is possible to attend both Peterhouse's specific open day and the whole university one in the same day. If not, which would be more beneficial to attend?
Thanks!
Reply 185
Avatar for odjack
odjack
1
Original post by Peterhouse Admissions
Great to hear that you're thinking of applying for MML. The average best 3 UMS average for successful applicants over the last two years has been 91% (range 87.8-95.3). We don't get involved in discussions around relative difficulty of various subjects and I must stress that the UMS Merit Score is very far from the only metric we look at and that we look at all exam results in a detailed, module-by-module way. This detailed approach allows us to take account of subjects where a candidate is a native speaker, for example. Such subjects are generally excluded from conditional offers.

Thanks! Sorry to be a pain but would you mind sharing what the average/range of UMS was for History, please?
Is it true that you expect slightly better performance from either Privately educated or grammar schooled applicants because of the various factors that give that group of applicants certain academic advantages? I hear a lot of mixed opinions about this, would love to hear your take on it!
Original post by quartic
Hello,
I hope to visit Cambridge for one of the July open days, and was wondering if it is possible to attend both Peterhouse's specific open day and the whole university one in the same day. If not, which would be more beneficial to attend?
Thanks!


It would be great to see you at our Open Day! This year we are running a drop-in day so you can come and speak to current students, see the College and typical first-year accommodation (I promise it's typical and not the penthouse rooms!) and ask questions to us (the Admissions Team) any time you're free between 8:30 and 5:15 on either 2nd or 3rd July. If you want to see Fellows and Directors of Studies, you will have to arrive between 12 and 1 both days (details of which Fellows are coming can be found here). There will also be short Admissions Talks and Q+A with Admissions Tutors happening at 11:45 and 4 on both days (again, no booking required). Please note that you will have to book to attend the central events.
Original post by joe12345marc
Is it true that you expect slightly better performance from either Privately educated or grammar schooled applicants because of the various factors that give that group of applicants certain academic advantages? I hear a lot of mixed opinions about this, would love to hear your take on it!


We do take contextual information into account, part of which is information about your school, including: number of students in sixth form, % receiving free school meals, average GCSE results over last 5 years, progression to Higher Education over last 5 years, progression to Oxford and Cambridge over last 5 years.

This information is available for every school - our assessment of school context is done school-by-school and not on a simplistic state/independent basis.

What is expected at interview is based on your application as a whole up to that point, one part of which is school context, but also including the type of applicant (have you finished your A levels and are on a gap year? Have you already completed another degree?) your current schoolwork (for example, we can't expect you to know something from a subject you're not taking or on a topic you haven't covered in class yet), extenuating circumstances (if applicable), your personal statement (e.g. which books you say you've read) etc.
Original post by odjack
Thanks! Sorry to be a pain but would you mind sharing what the average/range of UMS was for History, please?


Sure! Average for successful applicants over last two years has been 93.2% with a range of 84-98.7% and with one third of offer-holders not taking A levels.
Original post by cnutuk
I am only doing 3 AS levels, with one weak subject (ICT), and my GCSE grades are not so stellar, with only 5 As and 5 B grades. However this year I have been performing much better and will be aiming for the grades to get into a humanities course at Cambridge, with this subject profile and grades, is there any point in considering applying?


If you're on track to achieve our typical conditional offer, we have a course you want to do and you're doing the right A levels for it then yes, you should consider applying!
Original post by zielenna
Hello,
I'm an IB student applying for English. I don't have my predicted grades yet, but I have talked to my teachers and it seems I am going to meet the demanded 40-42 points. However, I have a problem with English. My teacher has a policy of not giving a predicted 7 to anyone, so I am going to have a 6. (How much) is it going to hurt my chances?


It shouldn't harm your chances. What you describe is actually far from uncommon, would you still be predicted 776 or would it be 766? It might be something your referee could mention in your UCAS form. What we would want to see is evidence of you exploring your subject outside of the curriculum - show us that you are passionate about English and we will pay more attention to that than to predicted grades.
Original post by Peterhouse Admissions
We do take contextual information into account, part of which is information about your school, including: number of students in sixth form, % receiving free school meals, average GCSE results over last 5 years, progression to Higher Education over last 5 years, progression to Oxford and Cambridge over last 5 years.

This information is available for every school - our assessment of school context is done school-by-school and not on a simplistic state/independent basis.

What is expected at interview is based on your application as a whole up to that point, one part of which is school context, but also including the type of applicant (have you finished your A levels and are on a gap year? Have you already completed another degree?) your current schoolwork (for example, we can't expect you to know something from a subject you're not taking or on a topic you haven't covered in class yet), extenuating circumstances (if applicable), your personal statement (e.g. which books you say you've read) etc.


If we change schools, will you have (and use) data from both schools? Will the school that we have 'stayed in' longer be the one considered more heavily for this 'context', or will it be the more recent school?
Original post by Angry Tomato
If we change schools, will you have data from both schools? :P


Yes, we can see GCSE and A level school.
Original post by Peterhouse Admissions
Yes, we can see GCSE and A level school.


If you have two applicants with similar academic ability, but one is younger than the other (anywhere between half a year to one and a half years), then would the younger applicant's application be seen as stronger than the older one?
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by .-sophie-.
I'm currently studying maths, further maths, chemistry and biology at AS. Say I don't drop any and get A's in maths, further maths and chemistry, and a C in biology, would this be seen as as good as dropping biology and just getting A's in the other three subjects?

EDIT: The above is just an example of hypothetical grades. It could be different grades or a different combination.


It would depend on which course you're applying for (for a biologist a C wouldn't be great!). You would need some A* grades too (typical offer is A*A*A in sciences and A*AA for arts/humanities). If you're studying 4 A levels, we might offer based on 3 or 4 A levels, possibly specifying/excluding subjects, possibly not.

A complication with your example is combining maths and FM. If you take A level maths in Year 12 (or the equivalent number of modules) we generally like to see you taking 3 A levels in Year 13 to demonstrate that you can cope with the workload. This can mean that you end up taking 4 A levels.

It's difficult to give a specific answer without knowing which subject you're interested in, but I hope this helps!
I drew my profile avatar. I think my chance of getting in is for art is 100%
Original post by Angry Tomato
If you have two applicants with similar academic ability, but one is younger than the other (anywhere between half a year to one and a half years), then would the younger applicant be taken instead of the older applicant?


I would again point out that admissions decisions aren't really a case of "two candidates who are exactly the same but for this one thing." Two applicants in different school years or of different ages will undoubtedly have very different academic profiles, not least because they will probably be at different schools and live in different areas and differ in all sort of ways across all of the information we collect about candidates. No two candidates ever interview the same either so I'm afraid your question doesn't really take into account how we assess candidates.
Original post by Peterhouse Admissions
I would again point out that admissions decisions aren't really a case of "two candidates who are exactly the same but for this one thing." Two applicants in different school years or of different ages will undoubtedly have very different academic profiles, not least because they will probably be at different schools and live in different areas and differ in all sort of ways across all of the information we collect about candidates. No two candidates ever interview the same either so I'm afraid your question doesn't really take into account how we assess candidates.


But you would expect more from the older applicant, academically, is what I'm trying to get at. The same way you expect more from students coming from good schools instead of ones coming from weaker schools
Original post by Angry Tomato
But you would expect more from the older applicant, academically, is what I'm trying to get at. The same way you expect more from students coming from good schools instead of ones coming from weaker schools


Provided that they are in different school years, then yes we would as the older candidate will have much more background knowledge, practice, intellectual maturity etc. The fact that we have different expectations is what allows applicants in Year 13 to compete with applicants on a gap year, mature students and those with a previous degree, all on a level playing field.

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