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Original post by Christ's Admissions
This is a very common problem, in fact, and we are quite used to see applications for Land Economy with a UCAS personal statement focused on Economics; it won't hurt your chances at all. If you can find a way to sneak a reference to something vaguely Land Economy related into your UCAS personal statement (e.g. a mention of some reading or a topic that would be both of interest to an Economist and a Land Economist), so much the better, but if not you can just use the Supplementary Application Questionnaire. That has a section where you can write a personal statement specifically for Cambridge.


I see! So just to clarify, my chances for Land Econ would not be affected if I structure my main UCAS personal statement purely on Economics, and write a short personal statement within 1,200 characters in my SAQ to indicate my interest in Land Econ?
Original post by harryjon
I see! So just to clarify, my chances for Land Econ would not be affected if I structure my main UCAS personal statement purely on Economics, and write a short personal statement within 1,200 characters in my SAQ to indicate my interest in Land Econ?


That's correct, yes.
Original post by Christ's Admissions
Hi everyone, I'm the Admissions Tutor at Christ's College, and I'm here to answer any questions you might have about applications or admissions to the University of Cambridge, or to Christ's College specifically, until August 08. So please fire away!


can you reveal what kind of score on the NSAA granted an interview? or at least was viewed as good? for natural sciences (physics/chem route)
Original post by bruh2132
can you reveal what kind of score on the NSAA granted an interview? or at least was viewed as good? for natural sciences (physics/chem route)


At Christ's, we didn't use the NSAA score to decide who was interviewed, except in cases where we had little or no other evidence to suggest that the applicant was likely to make the standard Cambridge offer and/or they performed in the bottom 5-10% of our applicants. So our interviewees came with a very wide range of scores, and I think this will probably remain the case until the NSAA is out of its pilot phase and we have firm evidence that performance on the NSAA is a good predictor of performance on the Cambridge degree course.

In terms of what was viewed as "good", our *offer-holders* performed, on average, significantly above the University mean in Section 1 Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Advanced Maths, though there were outliers (several people did very badly in one section, and exceptionally well in another), and all of them ranked in the top half of applicants to Cambridge in Section 2. We placed a large number of students with high scores in the NSAA in the Winter Pool, and some of them were taken, and some were not, which suggests that other Colleges are still viewing the NSAA with caution too.

(PS I'm assuming in the above that you mean Physical Natural Scientists - prospective chemists can also come via Biological Natural Science, though lots seem to forget that!)
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by Christ's Admissions
At Christ's, we didn't use the NSAA score to decide who was interviewed, except in cases where we had little or no other evidence to suggest that the applicant was likely to make the standard Cambridge offer and/or they performed in the bottom 5-10% of our applicants. So our interviewees came with a very wide range of scores, and I think this will probably remain the case until the NSAA is out of its pilot phase and we have firm evidence that performance on the NSAA is a good predictor of performance on the Cambridge degree course.

In terms of what was viewed as "good", our *offer-holders* performed, on average, significantly above the University mean in Section 1 Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Advanced Maths, though there were outliers (several people did very badly in one section, and exceptionally well in another), and all of them ranked in the top half of applicants to Cambridge in Section 2. We placed a large number of students with high scores in the NSAA in the Winter Pool, and some of them were taken, and some were not, which suggests that other Colleges are still viewing the NSAA with caution too.

(PS I'm assuming in the above that you mean Physical Natural Scientists - prospective chemists can also come via Biological Natural Science, though lots seem to forget that!)


Thank you, and yeah physical natural sciences was what I was looking at, could I also ask though is EPQ viewed very highly? (in my AS year instead of doing further I did normal maths and FP1 along with an EPQ- although I know most FM content now) will this put me at a disadvantage to someone who has done 6 modules in their AS year?(i am planning to do 8 modules next year to complete further maths a level anyway). also one last question I recently got a copper in a chemistry challenge and as it's pretty low I was debating putting it into my personal statement, do you think its worth it?
Original post by bruh2132
Thank you, and yeah physical natural sciences was what I was looking at, could I also ask though is EPQ viewed very highly? (in my AS year instead of doing further I did normal maths and FP1 along with an EPQ- although I know most FM content now) will this put me at a disadvantage to someone who has done 6 modules in their AS year?(i am planning to do 8 modules next year to complete further maths a level anyway). also one last question I recently got a copper in a chemistry challenge and as it's pretty low I was debating putting it into my personal statement, do you think its worth it?


You shouldn't be at a disadvantage, no; having done any Further Maths at all will strengthen your application, and the EPQ is useful evidence of your willingness to push your interest in the subject beyond the A-level curriculum. Where the copper is concerned, I guess it depends how much space you have left in your personal statement when you've mentioned everything else you want to (and saying you participated in the challenge is probably more important than saying you got a copper).
Original post by Christ's Admissions
You shouldn't be at a disadvantage, no; having done any Further Maths at all will strengthen your application, and the EPQ is useful evidence of your willingness to push your interest in the subject beyond the A-level curriculum. Where the copper is concerned, I guess it depends how much space you have left in your personal statement when you've mentioned everything else you want to (and saying you participated in the challenge is probably more important than saying you got a copper).


thank you!
Reply 147
Is it true that those applying with achieved A Level grades should exceed the standard offer in order for their application to be considered competitive?
What is the view on an A-level student applying in their gap year but also having to take re-takes in a subject - if their grades matched the required grades? Would it be highly unlikely that this candidate would be offered an interview/place or does it depend on the profile of the candidate?
Original post by Christ's Admissions
The only real disadvantage to dropping AS Further Maths is that it narrows your choice of Maths options on the first year of our degree course. It won't disadvantage you at all at the application stage, and actually very few of our successful applicants for Biological Natural Sciences at Christ's have AS- or A-level Further Maths.


Thank you for your response! I was just wondering, what maths options specifically would I not be able to do by just doing AS maths?
Hi, sorry if this question has already been asked in this thread but there is a lot to read so I haven't checked properly. In the past few weeks this has been discussed with me, @Doonesbury and @Reality Check but they said I should ask a college when a thread comes up.

I want to apply for physical natural sciences and I have just completed AS maths, further maths, physics and chemistry. I want to continue all four into A2 but I am worried that, as well as this being a larger workload, my chances of getting in are smaller as I am risk of having a four grade offer. Is this likely the case and what decides if the offer should be 3 grades or 4? Do you know what views other colleges have on this?

Also, I noticed before that you said that the average applicant has 5 A*s (1 with distinction) which I do have but does this still count when I have 5 Bs (effectively cancelling out the A*s) and 3 As as well? I resat English language this year (B achieved last year), will it look bad if I achieve the same grade?

How much do you use personal statements to decide on places given out?

Lastly, I applied for special consideration for my exams (I haven't been informed if it was successful), should I still fill out an extenuating circumstances form when applying to the university or is it not necessary if my marks are already increased?

Thanks a lot!
(edited 6 years ago)
Hi,
Would you mention mitigating factors in a personal statement, or just leave it to the referee? I have adhd and I don't know whether to emphasise it in my personal statement or not. Thank you :smile:
Original post by Christ's Admissions
1. The change occurred in 2016. Before that, some candidates who came to Cambridge for interview sat the TSA, some sat an essay test, and some did neither, while candidates interviewed in Singapore completed a modified version of the TSA and an essay question.

2. That's correct.


May I know when will the TSA Cambridge be held in Singapore this year?
Original post by Christ's Admissions
It's always better to submit evidence before results come out, rather than afterwards. If you're worried about the impression you may create, then ask a third party to submit evidence on your behalf, which will come across as far more neutral.


Thank you for the advice. Would you suggest to send as much evidence as possible for instance tutors from my current college Newnham, or doctors evidence or letter of hospitalisation a few days before exam etc, I was also seeing a university counselor throughout the year to help me with all the anxiety from my mother's illness, or do you think sending too much would seem as a nuisance? Also, what are my chances of keeping the offer if i do not get the required grades? What else would they take into consideration? It just seems so unfair to be rejected by just this when i have good grades in my MBs and MPhil and I had done past A levels with A, A* grades...and extensive work experience and voluntering.... could I lose my offer solely due to A level?
Original post by edzay
Is it true that those applying with achieved A Level grades should exceed the standard offer in order for their application to be considered competitive?


No, not necessarily. It is true that many of our successful applicants do exceed, or have exceeded, the standard offer, but a significant number hit it "on the nail", so to speak.
Original post by orlagh.brennan
What is the view on an A-level student applying in their gap year but also having to take re-takes in a subject - if their grades matched the required grades? Would it be highly unlikely that this candidate would be offered an interview/place or does it depend on the profile of the candidate?


It would depend on the profile of the candidate.
Original post by daisy746
Thank you for your response! I was just wondering, what maths options specifically would I not be able to do by just doing AS maths?


You'd be limited to Mathematical Biology or Mathematics A; you couldn't do Mathematics B. Having said, that, this is more of a hypothetical restriction than an actual one, since the majority of Biological Natural Scientists do Mathematical Biology anyhow!
Original post by AspiringUnderdog
Hi, sorry if this question has already been asked in this thread but there is a lot to read so I haven't checked properly. In the past few weeks this has been discussed with me, @Doonesbury and @Reality Check but they said I should ask a college when a thread comes up.

I want to apply for physical natural sciences and I have just completed AS maths, further maths, physics and chemistry. I want to continue all four into A2 but I am worried that, as well as this being a larger workload, my chances of getting in are smaller as I am risk of having a four grade offer. Is this likely the case and what decides if the offer should be 3 grades or 4? Do you know what views other colleges have on this?

Also, I noticed before that you said that the average applicant has 5 A*s (1 with distinction) which I do have but does this still count when I have 5 Bs (effectively cancelling out the A*s) and 3 As as well? I resat English language this year (B achieved last year), will it look bad if I achieve the same grade?

How much do you use personal statements to decide on places given out?

Lastly, I applied for special consideration for my exams (I haven't been informed if it was successful), should I still fill out an extenuating circumstances form when applying to the university or is it not necessary if my marks are already increased?

Thanks a lot!


We don't make offers based on four A-levels at Christ's; we would make an offer based on three grades only. This would be true at most other colleges too, I think.

GCSEs are really only a minor piece of the puzzle, so if you have 5A*s, you're fine, and shouldn't worry too much about the As and Bs (including the B in English language).

The personal statement can certainly strengthen an application, but we are much more interested in your AS-/A-level record and predictions, reference, performance in the pre-interview assessment, and performance at interview.

If your marks have already been increased, I would think that the ECF is superfluous; you should only submit it if your application for special consideration was unsuccessful or the situation that affected you during your exams is on-going.
Original post by Christ's Admissions
Hi everyone, I'm the Admissions Tutor at Christ's College, and I'm here to answer any questions you might have about applications or admissions to the University of Cambridge, or to Christ's College specifically, until August 08. So please fire away!


Hi there,
I'm hoping to apply to study engineering at Cambridge in 2018 (i.e. put in UCAS applications in the coming months).
My profile:
I've got 11 A*s at GCSE and am doing Double Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Geography for A-level (predicted all A*s). However, I know that Cambridge takes into account engineering work experience/projects quite significantly. I have only managed to get a Scientific Computing placement (i.e. not engineering) at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory for 4 weeks and am thinking of doing my own project using Arduino along with extra reading over the rest of the summer.

At Christ's (or even other colleges), how much do they value this down to earth work when it comes to engineering and what do you recommend to strengthen my application instead?
Original post by sammorgan99
Hi,
Would you mention mitigating factors in a personal statement, or just leave it to the referee? I have adhd and I don't know whether to emphasise it in my personal statement or not. Thank you :smile:


It really depends what else you have to say in the personal statement - if you find you are up to the maximum word limit without mentioning the ADHD, then you could leave it to your referee, and I wouldn't recommend devoting more than a line or two to it anyway.