Hi! I just got my AS results, and am planning on applying to Cambridge for straight philosophy in October. I'm currently struggling to decide which college to apply to, and would be very grateful for some help.

I'd really like to go to Trinity - I find it beautiful, it is brilliant for philosophy and in general it seems very suited to me. I got 98 UMS average in my AS results (100 in philosophy and English, 96 in Latin and Maths). However, I'm aware of Trinity's fierce reputation and was just wondering if it was worth applying there. The statistics for philosophy aren't awful there (about 4 applications for every place), but I'm sure that in general the applicants are very, very strong. I do not consider myself a brilliant student, though I am quite hard working and very passionate about Philosophy. However, I'm not sure that I would stand up to the calibre of student applying there.

Do you think I should apply to Trinity? I'm also considering St. John's, Christ's and Peterhouse.

Which college you apply to has very little effect on your chances of getting in due to the pooling system -- if you are good enough for the university as a whole but not one of the strongest applicants to Trinity then you will be pooled to another college. Your AS results sound very strong, so you aren't at risk of not getting an interview from Trinity, so if you prefer it to other colleges I'd apply there. The only case in which I wouldn't recommend that is if you slightly prefer Trinity to the other three you mention, but for some reason really hate all the other colleges, in which case you might be safer applying to e.g. Christ's to increase your chance of getting into your first choice college.

Reply 4

Claree

17

Original post by theravadaz

Hi! I just got my AS results, and am planning on applying to Cambridge for straight philosophy in October. I'm currently struggling to decide which college to apply to, and would be very grateful for some help.

I'd really like to go to Trinity - I find it beautiful, it is brilliant for philosophy and in general it seems very suited to me. I got 98 UMS average in my AS results (100 in philosophy and English, 96 in Latin and Maths). However, I'm aware of Trinity's fierce reputation and was just wondering if it was worth applying there. The statistics for philosophy aren't awful there (about 4 applications for every place), but I'm sure that in general the applicants are very, very strong. I do not consider myself a brilliant student, though I am quite hard working and very passionate about Philosophy. However, I'm not sure that I would stand up to the calibre of student applying there.

Do you think I should apply to Trinity? I'm also considering St. John's, Christ's and Peterhouse.

Congrats on your AS results! :biggrin:

The above poster has sound advice. :smile:

I was in a similar position when I applied to Trinity. Had I applied to a different college though out of fear of the competition at Trinity, and got in, I would have always thought "what if" I'd gone for Trinity.

I think the competition (in terms of quality of the applicants) for arts students applying to Trinity is in general not as high as for science/maths, since Trinity has a reputation for maths/physics. The college have been trying to increase applications from strong prospective arts students. Though I've no idea about competition for philosophy in particular.

I was under the impression that Trinity particularly favours high AS UMS, so that would put you in good standing. :smile:

The application process isn't so much a series of hoops to jump through, whereby you have to pass every hurdle. Rather, they look at the overall picture of you, and try not to put too much weight on any one aspect of the application process.

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Reply 5

gasfxekl

8

No.
Everyone who applies to Trinity is rejected

Reply 6

Doones

21

Original post by theravadaz

Hi! I just got my AS results, and am planning on applying to Cambridge for straight philosophy in October. I'm currently struggling to decide which college to apply to, and would be very grateful for some help.

I'd really like to go to Trinity - I find it beautiful, it is brilliant for philosophy and in general it seems very suited to me. I got 98 UMS average in my AS results (100 in philosophy and English, 96 in Latin and Maths). However, I'm aware of Trinity's fierce reputation and was just wondering if it was worth applying there. The statistics for philosophy aren't awful there (about 4 applications for every place), but I'm sure that in general the applicants are very, very strong. I do not consider myself a brilliant student, though I am quite hard working and very passionate about Philosophy. However, I'm not sure that I would stand up to the calibre of student applying there.

Do you think I should apply to Trinity? I'm also considering St. John's, Christ's and Peterhouse.

As per the others, apply to the college you most want to go to.

And you are clearly a strong candidate anyway.

Carpe diem!

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Reply 7

Tabstercat

14

Original post by theravadaz

I got 98 UMS average in my AS results (100 in philosophy and English, 96 in Latin and Maths).

Original post by theravadaz

I do not consider myself a brilliant student

this says it all really

Reply 8

theravadaz

OP

6

Original post by Tabstercat

this says it all really

I'm good at memorising information and learning exam technique. I don't think this says much about my intellectual ability and whether I'm suited and would do well at Cambridge

Reply 9

Tabstercat

14

Original post by theravadaz

I'm good at memorising information and learning exam technique. I don't think this says much about my intellectual ability and whether I'm suited and would do well at Cambridge

alright, I get that line of thinking. but with your grades you're probably in the top 0.1% of AS grades so saying you're not a brilliant student is pretty silly. you have to have some good intellectual ability to get that even if you're good at exam technique and memorisation. If you're not sure how you'd cope at cambridge, see how your interview goes - its meant to be a bit like a tutorial so if it feels right then maybe you'll suit tutorials as well.

Reply 10

Claree

17

Original post by theravadaz

I'm good at memorising information and learning exam technique. I don't think this says much about my intellectual ability and whether I'm suited and would do well at Cambridge

For courses apart from maths (where STEP is better), Cambridge have found AS UMS to be the best predictor they have of degree performance.

I've found that working hard, keeping on top of work (such that you fully understand the material), memorising masses of material (or actually not memorising all that much, I practise deriving most stuff quickly instead, as memorising's so boring!) and getting good at exams by doing loads of past papers can still get you far at Cambridge, which are the same skills that get you high UMS at AS. I'm not sure how applicable my study methods are to philosophy though as I do a science subject. But if you've been able to work out how to get good at one exan system, you're likely to also be able to work out how to get good at the Cambridge tripos.

I thought similarly to your post before I got here. I actually still feel that I only do well in tripos because I work hard and have worked out how to prepare best for Cambridge exams, rather than it being intellectual ability. Though it took me quite a bit of time (at least all of first year tbh) to work out how best to work here. It's generally only the brightest students who are able to call AS's just memorising and exam technique, a lot of people look at you like you're mad when you say that, as to them, just understanding the concepts is hard. :tongue:

There are a handful (and I mean a handful, don't go thinking everyone in Cam is like this!) of students here who I was in awe of as a fresher because I thought they must have some insane inate intellectual ability in order to have e.g. won gold medals in international olympiads, or already know the contents of the course, and then come top in their subject...but over time, I've seen how they work, and for the majority, having worked hard (and worked in a productive way) at it for years is a better descriptor than genius, even though genius is what we end up seeing as a result.

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(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 11

username1865079

14

Original post by Claree

For courses apart from maths (where STEP is better), Cambridge have found AS UMS to be the best predictor they have of degree performance.

I've found that working hard, keeping on top of work (such that you fully understand the material), memorising masses of material (or actually not memorising all that much, I practise deriving most stuff quickly instead, as memorising's so boring!) and getting good at exams by doing loads of past papers can still get you far at Cambridge, which are the same skills that get you high UMS at AS. I'm not sure how applicable my study methods are to philosophy though as I do a science subject. But if you've been able to work out how to get good at one exan system, you're likely to also be able to work out how to get good at the Cambridge tripos.

I thought similarly to your post before I got here. I actually still feel that I only do well in tripos because I work hard and have worked out how to prepare best for Cambridge exams, rather than it being intellectual ability. Though it took me quite a bit of time (at least all of first year tbh) to work out how best to work here. It's generally only the brightest students who are able to call AS's just memorising and exam technique, a lot of people look at you like you're mad when you say that, as to them, just understanding the concepts is hard. :tongue:

There are a handful (and I mean a handful, don't go thinking everyone in Cam is like this!) of students here who I was in awe of as a fresher because I thought they must have some insane inate intellectual ability in order to have e.g. won gold medals in international olympiads, or already know the contents of the course, and then come top in their subject...but over time, I've seen how they work, and for the majority, having worked hard (and worked in a productive way) at it for years is a better descriptor than genius, even though genius is what we end up seeing as a result.

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I think my daughter'd have a lot of empathy for what you've said.
Though she'd always been among the top group of her year in most of subjects all through her school days, but there was always someone in the group who seemed like they could achieve splendid results without putting too much effort in at all. So she always believed the only way to keep her there was through shear hard work and hef ability of memorising things.

.......then, she met a lot of other students who were just like her when she started Cambridge. And as you said, in fact most of them were just like her.

During the three years she was there, some of students she knew were really struggling with their work, a couple of them were actually came very close to be kicked out or a possibility of only being able to graduate as an 'affiliate' student' , not full degree.
And almost all in those cases, she (and other friends who knew them) felt the primary reason for their performance was because they were not working as hard as others; in some cases it's because they could get great results and became the top of their class without working very hard when they were at school, so they expected the same thing would happen at Cambridge. A few of them were committing themselves too much on non-academic activities.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 12

notamadman

1

You should probably apply to Trinity college, you have an excellent applicant profile. However I'd just remind you to do it for the right reasons. Obviously Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell add prestige to the college for philosophy, which might be a good enough reason to apply. However keep in mind that they're long dead, and you're applying to the college in the present day. Make sure that you love enough about the college as is to make it your preference, rather relying on the rep of those greats. Good luck.

Reply 13

theravadaz

OP

6

Original post by notamadman

You should probably apply to Trinity college, you have an excellent applicant profile. However I'd just remind you to do it for the right reasons. Obviously Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell add prestige to the college for philosophy, which might be a good enough reason to apply. However keep in mind that they're long dead, and you're applying to the college in the present day. Make sure that you love enough about the college as is to make it your preference, rather relying on the rep of those greats. Good luck.

Wittgenstein lives on through your personal statement x

Reply 14

RugileRar

1

Original post by sweeneyrod

Which college you apply to has very little effect on your chances of getting in due to the pooling system -- if you are good enough for the university as a whole but not one of the strongest applicants to Trinity then you will be pooled to another college. Your AS results sound very strong, so you aren't at risk of not getting an interview from Trinity, so if you prefer it to other colleges I'd apply there. The only case in which I wouldn't recommend that is if you slightly prefer Trinity to the other three you mention, but for some reason really hate all the other colleges, in which case you might be safer applying to e.g. Christ's to increase your chance of getting into your first choice college.

It's a lie and I have experienced it. Your first choice college is very important as all of them have different pooling systems. I was pooled by a VERY good college (so as "considering I was good enough for the university" :wink:

then reapplied with obviously stronger application and improvement in all areas and got straight rejected by an intermediate but tiny one. What I got after asking? "Well, college X doesn't usually pool international candidates". Think carefully - if you jump too high, it can be on one hand too difficult to convince them that you're woth to be accepted, on the other it may be beneficial to apply to a bigger one which at least cares about their applicants.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 15

Doones

21

Original post by RugileRar

It's a lie and I have experienced it. Your first choice college is very important as all of them have different pooling systems. I was pooled by a VERY good college (so as "considering I was good enough for the university" :wink:

then reapplied with obviously stronger application and improvement in all areas and got straight rejected. What I got after asking? "Well, college X doesn't usually pool international candidates". Think carefully - if you jump too high, it can be on one hand too difficult to convince them that you're woth to be accepted, on the other it may be beneficial to apply to a bigger one which at least cares about their applicants.

Was this for medicine? Medicine has a NHS imposed quota for applicants, the only course that does. Nothing to do with applying to College X.

Reply 16

iishai

4

I think you should definitely try, at least you won't regret not trying. Who knows you might get into Cambridge.

Pick the uni's you really want to go to! Your results are great

Reply 17

RugileRar

1

Original post by jneill

Was this for medicine? Medicine has a NHS imposed quota for applicants, the only course that does. Nothing to do with applying to College X.

Nope, NatSci. I don't think it's worth talking about it again but it's important to understand that it is impossible to create a completely objective standards when so many people are involved so thinking that there is totally no difference in which college you apply and it won't affect your chances is very naive.

Reply 18

Doones

21

Original post by RugileRar

Nope, NatSci. I don't think it's worth talking about it again but it's important to understand that it is impossible to create a completely objective standards when so many people are involved so thinking that there is totally no difference in which college you apply and it won't affect your chances is very naive.

Think about it: why would a college NOT pool international applicants? After all, their fee income is higher so the university would overall benefit. Also any post-qualification applicant with A*A*A* or IB 42 (HL 776) or better MUST be pooled whether international or not (except medicine or maths).

Reply 19

RugileRar

1

Original post by jneill

Think about it: why would a college NOT pool international applicants? After all, their fee income is higher so the university would overall benefit. Also any post-qualification applicant with A*A*A* or IB 42 (HL 776) or better MUST be pooled whether international or not (except medicine or maths).

This doesn't apply for internationals (aka those who took only national examinations). According to official conversion table, my results would equal IB 7,7,7,7,6.5 (i know this doesn't exist but my result is intermediate).

Is it worth applying to Trinity College (Cambridge)

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