Ask an Admissions Tutor X: 20 September - 21 October

Dear Dr Spencer,
Many thanks for running this thread. I have a query about the extenuating circumstances form. During Year 12, I had anorexia which had a significant impact on my studies. I still did well in my AS levels but my UMS probably suffered a bit. I am considering submitting an extenuating circumstances form but I'm a bit worried that declaring my illness might count against me in my application, if the admissions team took this as evidence of unfitness to undertake the course. I'm actually well on the road to recovery although not quite there yet. I'll be applying for deferred entry so fully expect to be fit and healthy by then which I appreciate is very important given how intense the Cambridge course is.

My other question is whether it is OK for my medical specialist to complete the form instead of school as they know much more about it than school.

Can you lend any insights into interviews for economics? Sorry to ask another question.

Hello again TSR. My name is Dr Andrew Spencer and I am the Admissions Tutor at Murray Edwards College in Cambridge. Welcome to my tenth Ask an Admissions Tutor thread, this time in my new guise as Murray Edwards Admissions. The @Christ's Admissions profile, which I ran for the last three years, will continue under my successor but for the next month before the application deadline for Cambridge, I'll be answering your questions here so please fire away.

Is there even the slightest chance?

Hello and thank you for your question. I am very sorry to hear of your illness and I am glad that you are tackling it. I can assure you that your illness will not be held against you in your application. The ECF is there to provide context, the more we know the better the decisions we can make and, crucially, the better prepared we can be to support students when they get to Cambridge if their circumstances are on-going. It would be both illegal and unethical to use the information provided in the ECF to disadvantage an applicant. ECFs are only here to help applicants, not to hinder them in any way. Your condition is not unknown in Cambridge, a lot of high achievers suffer from it, and colleges are used to supporting students with it.

You are obviously being very sensible in giving yourself time, by taking a Gap Year, to tackle your condition and prepare yourself for the demands of study at Cambridge, so well done. Yes, it's fine for the ECF to be completed by a doctor rather than your school if they are going to explain your situation better.

I hope this helps and very best of luck for the future and your application.

Regarding the NSAA paper for natural sciences.

Will cambridge be getting our scores for each topic or just section?

For instance, section 1 is made up of chemistry, physics, biology, maths and advanced maths/ physics. Would Cambridge get the score for maths, physics and chemistry or just a score for section 1 in total?

Thanks

If it's like STEP they will get the entire script.

Dear Dr Spencer,
I wish to start by saying thank you for giving up your time to run these threads; I, and I'm sure many other students, find them very valuable. I am applying to do history and modern languages.
I have a few questions:
1) I sat my IB exams this May and achieved 45 points, with 7s in HL History, French and English. However, in my Extended essay, on history, I achieved a B (although one mark off an A), and was wondering if this would be overlooked or not, given I achieved a 7 in HL History.
2) How will the essay in HAA be marked? If you do not wish to declare a guide, then that is of course understandable, but any insight would be great.

Thank you!

Hi Dr Spencer

If I am predicted A*A*A does that put me at a disadvantage against other applicants with 3A* predictions for a humanities course? One teacher seems to predict low, to keep us working hard, even though I achieved a very comfortable A grade in the reformed AS (95% of raw).

Also, just wondered if you looked at the applications as they come in? Do you peek or do you wait until after the deadline?

Hi, I'm based in Australia and will be sitting my IB exams in November. I'm afraid I haven't done as well in my mock exams, which probably means my predicted score could be less than a 776 at HL. Would I still be able to get an interview?

7A* 4C (3 re-takes at GCSE) with expected A*A*A* (inc Maths & FM) at A-Level and expected S, S, S at STEP.
Is there's any chance of doing maths?
I'm in Y12.

Dear Dr Spencer

Thank you so much for your reassurance. You have been very helpful.

Best wishes for your new role at Medwards!

Regarding the NSAA paper for natural sciences.

Will cambridge be getting our scores for each topic or just section?

For instance, section 1 is made up of chemistry, physics, biology, maths and advanced maths/ physics. Would Cambridge get the score for maths, physics and chemistry or just a score for section 1 in total?

Thanks