Not-so-typical Cambridge Students/offer-holders

So I had the idea to start a thread with people commenting about their process of applying to Cambridge if they are not the typical student

This is a good idea, I'm thinking of applying but not sure if I'll be good enough. Maybe seeing responses on this thread will encourage me! What course and college did you apply and get an offer from?

I'm in my third year now, I don't know if the standards have been upped since then. Last I heard they now only interview people with UMS of 85%+ at AS (do people even do ASs now?). Anyway, at the time my application wasn't particularly competitive - but thanks to a good interview I got in anyway.

Without trying to blow my own horn, I'll also say although there is some correlation between AS UMS and your university grade, you shouldn't think you'd necessarily be worse than your peers academically once you get to Cambridge if your grades are a bit lower (last I saw the average correlation was about 0.4 between AS UMS and first-year Tripos scores; so AS UMS can account for 16% of variation in Tripos scores across the university, if you like).

My grades were:

GCSEs: 7A*s, 3As
AS levels: 3As, 1C
UMS Average for AS levels (top 3): 88%
A2 predictions: A*A*A*
A2 result: A*AA. The A* was scraped (182/200 in C3 + C4 to get the A* in maths), and both the As were 84%ish, so not spectacular.
Subject: Geography

And despite that, in my first year I got a high 2.1 (top 30% of year), and in my second year I scraped a first (top 15% of the year) - despite most of the people getting a 2.1 having 2/3+ A*s at A level.

For (some) Arts subjects at least, how well you perform at interview may be a be better indicator of performance at university than UMS scores - although I do not know if there is evidence to show that.

Good luck to you all.

This is a good idea, I'm thinking of applying but not sure if I'll be good enough. Maybe seeing responses on this thread will encourage me! What course and college did you apply and get an offer from?

You probably need to include your course and college to give some more context

But I don't think there really is a "typical applicant"... you can see that from the Offer Holders No Discussion thread already

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3815779

If you want to go to Cambridge just give it a shot! You'll regret looking back and wondering if you had gotten in if you had tried. A few teachers were very skeptical about me applying. About 14 people in my year applied and throughout the application process, I was given the least help - I wasn't given mock interviews and didn't get any help on my personal statement because no-one actually thought I could make it! Now I am 1 of 4 Oxbridge offer-holders in my year. Funny how things work out.

But this is the point! No-one thought I could make it and for some reason (I can't quite explain why) I decided to give it a shot anyway. As you can imagine, I am immensely glad that I did.

Also I applied for History - I'd rather not give my college because colleges don't make a difference - they are all of equal standard and I don't want people seeing my college and having misconceptions about it e.g. thinking it's easier to get into because I got in with less-than-stellar grades.

I hope you decide to apply - remember, Cambridge will only be 1 of 5 choices anyway so it's definitely worth a shot. Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss the process more specifically

I'm an international student and I come from an ordinary middle-class Finnish family. Going to Cambridge never crossed my mind in school; I was a top student but Finnish students in general just don't consider studying abroad. It was only really after I had decided to study abroad (a radical decision for me) anyways that I started to consider applying for a top UK university.

Even still, Cambridge still seemed to exist in a world completely detached from the world I had lived in; the simple and reliable Finnish society I had lived in for my whole life. My grandparents were farmers and my parents were the first in their family to get a university education. Even as late as a year ago I don't think anyone (including myself) had considered the option of applying to Cambridge.

I suppose what I am trying to say here is that you shouldn't think that your background excludes you from applying; it's only by applying that you can be admitted

So you got an offer or you're in? My daughter got in from a state school in France, but she had targeted Oxbridge from age 12 and formulated a strategy to get in. Cam admissions was very diligent at taking into account how the French school system worked.

I received an unconditional offer this January for economics, yes.

I'm in my third year now, I don't know if the standards have been upped since then. Last I heard they now only interview people with UMS of 85%+ at AS (do people even do ASs now?). Anyway, at the time my application wasn't particularly competitive - but thanks to a good interview I got in anyway.

Without trying to blow my own horn, I'll also say although there is some correlation between AS UMS and your university grade, you shouldn't think you'd necessarily be worse than your peers academically once you get to Cambridge if your grades are a bit lower (last I saw the average correlation was about 0.4 between AS UMS and first-year Tripos scores; so AS UMS can account for 16% of variation in Tripos scores across the university, if you like).

My grades were:

GCSEs: 7A*s, 3As
AS levels: 3As, 1C
UMS Average for AS levels (top 3): 88%
A2 predictions: A*A*A*
A2 result: A*AA. The A* was scraped (182/200 in C3 + C4 to get the A* in maths), and both the As were 84%ish, so not spectacular.
Subject: Geography

And despite that, in my first year I got a high 2.1 (top 30% of year), and in my second year I scraped a first (top 15% of the year) - despite most of the people getting a 2.1 having 2/3+ A*s at A level.

For (some) Arts subjects at least, how well you perform at interview may be a be better indicator of performance at university than UMS scores - although I do not know if there is evidence to show that.

Good luck to you all.

I would say that the type of school you went to would be a better indicator of your performance at university, as opposed to AS UMS (in comparison to a private school student with the same grades!). I remember reading somewhere that privately educated students tend to do worse than those who attended a state school.

I would say that the type of school you went to would be a better indicator of your performance at university, as opposed to AS UMS (in comparison to a private school student with the same grades!). I remember reading somewhere that privately educated students tend to do worse than those who attended a state school.

Someone who can get A*AA at a state school will, in general, have a stronger drive to succeed and perhaps have a better work ethic than a student who got A*AA at a private school. The best third year chemist in Bristol was educated at a really crap school, 100% in A level chemistry (A*A*A*A* overall), and got 99% in first year and 97% in second year. Another guy from the same school averaged 92%+ as well. (I realise these are anecdotal, but you get the point) And my flatmate who went to a comprehensive who only got A*AA averaged at least 95% who is at least in the top 4...

I'd be inclined to agree, but I doubt that admissions tutors can or would do anything about that, even if they did agree. They can only really judge you based on your application.

Not true at Cambridge though. Somebody who gets AAB may do better than AAA but by the time you get to A*A*A it is no longer true. See Cambridge's research "School background is not a factor in Cambridge degree" successhttp://www.cao.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.cao.cam.ac.uk/files/ar_gp_school_performance.pdf
And
A* at A Level as a Predictor of Tripos Performance: An initial analysis
http://www.cao.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.cao.cam.ac.uk/files/ar_predictor_of_tripos_performance.pdf
It is a mistake to equate good with private. There are many excellent grammar schools which are state and many underperforming private schools.

My post assumes that the schools attended would be bog standard really (bog standard by state and private standards respectively), I'm aware that there are underperforming private schools and excellent state schools. The underlying point of my post is that you shouldn't let your GCSE/A level grades define your academic limit at university - whilst an aptitude for the subject will obviously aid in getting that shiny first, it's not the be all and end all and the most important factor is consistent hard work.Just because you couldn't get xyz grades doesn't mean you can't get a first or do well at university!