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Applying to Cambridge/ELAT/Chances.

Post resolved :smile:
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by AnnieBooks
Hi!So I surprised myself and achieved 3 A's at AS levels in English lit, History and Media (and a C but lets not talk about that), these results have led to my school becoming keen on me applying to Cambridge. However, i feel as though all the odds are stacked against me, I performed especially poor in my GCSE's, 1A, 6B's and 4C'S, so this will hinder my chances greatly. i just did not bother at GCSE and rarely even attended school, until I realised my future would be bleak if I did not step up the game. Nonetheless, I gained some great AS levels grades and would love to apply to Cambridge to study English Literature. I am currently practising some ELAT sample papers, and to be quite frank, I am *****ing myself. I'm just so worried that my ideas are not perceptive enough, and I will just be making a fool out of my self. I really want to get past this stage though, as I feel like, although the interview is exceptionally hard and extremely frightening, it will probably be the most important factor for me personally, as it will really give me the chance to discuss Literature, and really show the admission tutors how much I truly enjoy English, it's just getting to this stage. I will also most likely be predicted 2 A*'s and 1A. My references will be lovely, as I get on with my teachers so well, they're almost like family now. I will ensure that my personal statement is exceptional, and my AS level grades are a strong signifier that I am capable of hard work and intellectual curiosity. So, what do you think my chances are looking like? I have extensive curricular too, so hopefully that helps, I teach English lit to lower years, have worked at the BBC in the book review part on the radio and teach Ballet, along with many other things. The only issue is my crappy GCSE results and the stressful ELAT. Also, my A in English AS was quite low actually, so that won't help a great deal.

Also, if anyone could help with my personal statement then that would be absolutely fantastic. I am currently struggling with what authors/poets/playwrights to mention, I was thinking of Beckett and Pinter, as I am a huge fan of absurdist/existentialist plays. I will also mention Chaucer, as I am doing my EPQ on him, and learning middle english. I was also thinking of mentioning romanticist novels, as they're naturally my favourite, however, I feel as though Austen and Bronte are just way too cliche to mention? Can anyone recommend me other authors? I was also thinking of mentioning some of Aristotle's works, such as Antigone and Oedipus Rex. Is it also worth mentioning the books on my syllabus and how they influenced me to read other books, such as Gatsby led to me to read Eliot's The Wasteland and also a few of other Fitzgerald works, and A Streetcar led me to read Gone with the Wind, and The Tempest led me to read A Midsummer Nights Dream, Aristotle's poetics and so on.

This has basically been a cambridge essay in itself haha, thank you if you have read all of this.

AnnieBooks


Hi AnnieBooks! Great to hear your thinking of applying!

Do not let your GCSEs put you off - there is no GCSE requirement for English. Going from lower GCSEs to great AS results and A level prediction says (to us at least) that you've coped really well with the step up to A level and are thriving with the extra workload and difficulty of A levels which suggests that great things may be to come at whichever university you end up at.

The interviews and the ELAT are difficult as they are really designed to stretch very high-achieving students in a way you might not be used to. Remember though that the interview will be an academic teaching/learning experience mostly so I think it's really encouraging that you're getting excited about discussing literature - this is exactly the right attitude to take.

Think of the personal statement as a love letter to your subject - why are you excited to devote 3 years of your life to books and reading the best that's ever been written? It seems like you have lots of ideas of how to do this which are worth exploring but remember that the personal statement is short and you might not be able to do justice to every book you've read. We don't just want a list of books - we have enough of those already!
Reply 2
Thank you for the advice!
(edited 7 years ago)
hey! sorry to be the obnoxious correcting person, but antigone and oedipus rex are by sophocles, not aristotle :smile: it's probably just a slip of the mind but i don't want you to write a mistake on your application! good luck with everything :smile:))
Reply 4
Original post by idiotgriffin
hey! sorry to be the obnoxious correcting person, but antigone and oedipus rex are by sophocles, not aristotle :smile: it's probably just a slip of the mind but i don't want you to write a mistake on your application! good luck with everything :smile:))


A bit late... Cambridge application deadline was 15th October :wink:

#PedantsUnited
Reply 5
Original post by jneill
A bit late... Cambridge application deadline was 15th October :wink:

#PedantsUnited


Haha :smile: I already applied a while ago. This post is old now.
Reply 6
Original post by idiotgriffin
hey! sorry to be the obnoxious correcting person, but antigone and oedipus rex are by sophocles, not aristotle :smile: it's probably just a slip of the mind but i don't want you to write a mistake on your application! good luck with everything :smile:))


Oops, I was actually talking about Aristotle quoting Sophocles three Theban plays as his use of mimesis of literature :smile:
Thank you though! Slight typo 😂
Reply 7
Original post by AnnieBooks
Haha :smile: I already applied a while ago. This post is old now.


That's good.

You might like to join the Applicants thread:
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3164815

:smile:

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