The Official Cambridge Offer Holders Thread 2017 Entry

Original post by Reality Check

I do worry a bit that you're getting yourself in a terrible tizzy about things. Do you have someone impartial you could talk to about how you're feeling about things at the moment.

I do think you'd benefit from going a little easier on yourself. :smile:

Not really unfortunately. I know I did this this time last year and then pulled out really good AS grades, so maybe part of the problem at the moment is the intensity of exams (7 in a week) when I'm feeling only 90% confident.

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Reply 2423

Original post by Steliata

Are you nervous because you don't know/haven't gone over everything yet?

If so then it's fine to not be 100% with everything at this point (hell, I'm not!) A levels get into full swing in June so mocks now aren't the time to be worrying about perfection and meeting your grades - if anything it's good to see what you can work on. And if you fail then it's not the end of the world, in fact it's probably better because then you know what to work on!

Try and relax, as hard as that sounds. Failing is not failing. It's a mock for a reason. So by all means work hard but remember you don't have to be perfect all the time 😊

I'm probably like 90% there, i know when I was talking to my chem teacher earlier she said it wasn't that I didn't know the content it was just the panic... I do think I need to take it a bit easier though

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Reply 2424

Doones

OP

Original post by an_atheist

It's pretty late, but on the student finance application do I say that my degree is a BA or an MEng?
I'm doing the Chemical Engineering degree, just really confused since the offer letter says the course is 3/4 years.

Put 4 years. It's much easier to eventually reduce it to 3 if you decide to finish after the BA, rather than extending it from 3 to 4 if you decide to stay for the MEng.

Reply 2425

SteamboatMickey

20

Is is it normal to feel undeserving or just not smart enough for your place?

My friend gave me surprises quickfire questions (just stuff like dates and pamphlets, lifted word for word from the textbook) and I got almost all of them wrong. She said it was just stress, but she's great at quickfire questions and the like. Anyway, it was just a small thing but I just feel like a dumb idiot who's going to fail her history mock tomorrow. :frown:

Normal to feel undeserving, lol?

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 2426

Forecast

16

Original post by SteamboatMickey

Is is it normal to feel undeserving or just not smart enough for your place?

My friend gave me surprises quickfire questions (just stuff like dates and pamphlets, lifted word for word from the textbook) and I got almost all of them wrong. She said it was just stress, but she's great at quickfire questions and the like. Anyway, it was just a small thing but I just feel like a dumb idiot who's going to fail her history mock tomorrow. :frown:

Normal to feel undeserving, lol?

I'm not sure I'd use the word 'undeserving' but I do feel like a lot of it was down to luck as opposed to being 'good enough for Cambridge' - a phrase that certain people love to use, often said in a way that suggests that everyone who doesn't get in is less good than everyone who does.

Having talked to some other Physical Nat Sci offer holders, I do think that college choice can really make a difference - not in terms of the applicant : offer ratio, but in terms of what your interview experience will be like and how you will perform on the day. I definitely did well in one of my two interviews: I answered the majority of the questions correctly without prompting and didn't get stuck. However, they weren't particularly demanding - nothing harder than what you might get towards the end of an A-level paper - and I'm sure that a lot of the other applicants performed similarly well. 'Coincidentally' the college pooled a lot of candidates and a lot were subsequently fished (including me). I wonder whether at a college with harder questions they would have fared as well.

Reply 2427

R T

13

A lot of people struggle with feeling underserving or feeling like a "mistake in admissions" (basically this is imposter syndrome I guess). It must be a defensive mechanism from accepting the pressure that comes with it or being uncomfortable with accepting a position of superiority or from over developed rogue thought patterns. It's difficult to deal with constant competitive (at the end of the day, external exams are a competition for grades) success when your only real perspective is how much work you personally have put in.

Dealing with failure is something that has a lot of support and help, especially in young people, especially from school and family. But dealing with success is something that is heavily overlooked.

Dealing with success is hard*. Being arrogant about it is normally severely frowned upon (outside of sport at least) - and is something that doesn't suit everyone's personality. But being humble about success can be a problem if you are constantly applying the same thought patterns. You can trick yourself into thinking that being "lucky" or "in the right place at the right time" is actually true, when obviously it can't be. It's also dangerous to get used to academic success because then failure can really hit hard. It's important to be honest with yourself about things, even if you are going to show humility publicly.

* - I think most people would sneer at this, but it's no joke. Imagine being effortlessly the best at everything, winning everything, always being right. I think it would not be a good thing. The most satisfying victories, rewards, results always come after a lot of work and/or a few failures first. It's also not good for you to constantly be praised and thanked. Everything must come in moderation.

Reply 2428

Xphoenix

18

Eek 17 days till my first exam

Reply 2429

Original post by Forecast

I'm not sure I'd use the word 'undeserving' but I do feel like a lot of it was down to luck as opposed to being 'good enough for Cambridge' - a phrase that certain people love to use, often said in a way that suggests that everyone who doesn't get in is less good than everyone who does.

Having talked to some other Physical Nat Sci offer holders, I do think that college choice can really make a difference - not in terms of the applicant : offer ratio, but in terms of what your interview experience will be like and how you will perform on the day. I definitely did well in one of my two interviews: I answered the majority of the questions correctly without prompting and didn't get stuck. However, they weren't particularly demanding - nothing harder than what you might get towards the end of an A-level paper - and I'm sure that a lot of the other applicants performed similarly well. 'Coincidentally' the college pooled a lot of candidates and a lot were subsequently fished (including me). I wonder whether at a college with harder questions they would have fared as well.

What college is your offer from?? I'm a bio NatSci with a Queens offer

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Reply 2430

Original post by SteamboatMickey

Is is it normal to feel undeserving or just not smart enough for your place?

My friend gave me surprises quickfire questions (just stuff like dates and pamphlets, lifted word for word from the textbook) and I got almost all of them wrong. She said it was just stress, but she's great at quickfire questions and the like. Anyway, it was just a small thing but I just feel like a dumb idiot who's going to fail her history mock tomorrow. :frown:

Normal to feel undeserving, lol?

Well if it isn't then I'm abnormal as well haha. I did my mocks this week and the two chem papers I've had back I got Cs in ( working on 90% is an A* down in 10% intervals, so I got between 60 and 70% on them. But I panicked, I know I did, because I was thinking how I can't possibly be smart enough for Cambridge.

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Reply 2431

wolfmoon88

Original post by SteamboatMickey

Is is it normal to feel undeserving or just not smart enough for your place?

My friend gave me surprises quickfire questions (just stuff like dates and pamphlets, lifted word for word from the textbook) and I got almost all of them wrong. She said it was just stress, but she's great at quickfire questions and the like. Anyway, it was just a small thing but I just feel like a dumb idiot who's going to fail her history mock tomorrow. :frown:

Normal to feel undeserving, lol?

Honestly, knowing quickfire questions and such will only help you in bowl competitions and perhaps multiple choice questions... they don't really have a bearing on your abilities to spin an argument in an essay or your abilities to analyse a historical source, both of which are more important in terms of ability to study history.

You are definitely deserving of your place and you are amazing :hugs:

(yes a lot of people feel undeserving as per RT's response above)

Reply 2432

an_atheist

Original post by Xphoenix

Eek 17 days till my first exam

Which exam is it?

My first is in 19 days.

Reply 2433

Forecast

16

Original post by rayofsunshine98

What college is your offer from?? I'm a bio NatSci with a Queens offer

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Phys NatSci at Jesus. Would have been ironic if I'd been pooled to Queens' given that they rejected me (for Comp Sci) last year!

Reply 2434

Original post by Forecast

Phys NatSci at Jesus. Would have been ironic if I'd been pooled to Queens' given that they rejected me (for Comp Sci) last year!

Ah fair enough, still might see you around.

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Does anyone else think that new subject grade boundaries will be lower than like 90% for anA* etc??

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Reply 2435

Forecast

16

Original post by rayofsunshine98

Does anyone else think that new subject grade boundaries will be lower than like 90% for anA* etc??

Undoubtedly, the old spec boundaries were rarely that high (with exceptions - we had two of the easiest papers last summer for OCR chemistry which were 55/60 and 87/100 for an A* respectively) and new exams traditionally have lower boundaries as everyone's still getting used to the new style. If you look at the actual grade boundaries for the old spec papers and also for the new AS papers last summer, that should give you a rough idea of where they might be this year.

Reply 2436

Doones

OP

Original post by rayofsunshine98

Ah fair enough, still might see you around.

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Does anyone else think that new subject grade boundaries will be lower than like 90% for anA* etc??

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Nobody knows... but look at the average raw marks for the equivalent A2 unit A* boundary from prior years for *some* guidance. I'm guessing it will be about 85%... it may even be lower. I doubt it's 90%.

Reply 2437

Original post by Doonesbury

Nobody knows... but look at the average raw marks for the equivalent A2 unit A* boundary from prior years for *some* guidance. I'm guessing it will be about 85%... it may even be lower. I doubt it's 90%.

Well that was my thought - AQA chem was 64% and bio was 58% for an A last summer but then I got 60% on a chem mock paper and was told I'd got a C because they are working that 90% is an A* and down in 10% jumps.. And last year's AQA Biol5 paper A* boundary was only in the 60s as well

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Reply 2438

Original post by Forecast

Undoubtedly, the old spec boundaries were rarely that high (with exceptions - we had two of the easiest papers last summer for OCR chemistry which were 55/60 and 87/100 for an A* respectively) and new exams traditionally have lower boundaries as everyone's still getting used to the new style. If you look at the actual grade boundaries for the old spec papers and also for the new AS papers last summer, that should give you a rough idea of where they might be this year.

Yeah I thought so, the old spec boundaries are quite low as were the as marks

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Reply 2439

Doones

OP