Ask an Admissions Tutor applying age 21+

Hello, I am an offer holder for graduate antry medicine at Hughes, and I am 29 years old. My conditions were to resit A level chemistry and get and A (because mine were over 7 years ago, in which I had an A*), and to complete my current MPhil in genomics medicine (Newnham college) this year. I have a first class BSc (2:0) Neuroscience from Kings College London and my MPHil grades average above 75 at this point, excluding dissertation. My mother is terminally ill with brain tumour with only few months left at most, this was very sudden, we only knew about it in November and since then I have flied home 5 times (weeks stay each) to see her and help my father who is her sole carer and in desperate need of support. During the day of one of my A level exams (out of the 2 A2 papers I was requeired to resit), I was distressed because my mother was hospitalised again 2 days before. Plus I had to pass 2 modules of my MPhil on that same week as this A level exam (I got 77 and 73 in those modules). I have let known the college of extenuating circumstances, my New nham tutor wrote a letter to them for me, however I do not know if it will make any difference in case my one exam grade is really bad and not a near miss. If I lose this offer, I might not be able to reapply next year as there might not be funding for EU students any more. My family does nto and cannot support me financially if I fail, so I will be left without anything. I wish to ask you if there is any instances that students get accepted even having missed one of the conditions, I am extremely frustrated and do not know what else to do. Should I write to admissions today myself as well, before results are out? I am seriously anxious and do not know what to do. I have excellent academic record and I fear I might lose everything because of 1 hour i was distressed about my terminally ill mother. Thanks.

Hi there, we have all your application in mind the whole way through the process. Your interview may well refer to personal statement and this is your opportunity to let us know what interests you academically. We base offers on the application as a whole.

Thanks for the question

Are there different weightage given I.e. Interview has a greater weightage compared to the personal statement and the written test ?

Hi there,

I want to apply to English at Lucy Cavendish.

I completed 310 ects of a BA in Journalism from a Portuguese university (2014) and am debating whether A levels or Access to HE would be the best route.

I'm not really sure what would prepare me best for doing English at Cambridge - I was thinking A level English Literature, French and Philosophy or History, but am also unclear on whether 3 A levels are the minimum number to be considered or if I could just do English Literature?

I'm tempted by the idea of doing an Access to HE diploma as it would make more sense money-wise. Would an Access to HE diploma in Humanities and Social Science make sense?

Thank you!

Hi,

I'm an international applicant from Canada, and I am planning to study Medicine at Cambridge. I graduated from high school 2 years ago, but have not yet attended university, due to documented health issues, the likes of which I've only recovered from now. I did not perform so well in my science courses during my final high school years out of a lack of interest, although my overall GPA was good (low 90's), and I could not take any AP classes as they were not offered at my school. However, during this extended "gap year", I've found an interest in studying Medicine. So, my question is this, is it possible that Cambridge will accept SAT subject tests (in Biology, Chemistry and Physics) that I have done this year in place of A-Levels, given my situation of having left school 2 years ago and not being able to retake those science classes?
I know it is stated on the website that "SAT Subject Tests are not normally viewed as being equivalent to A Level/IB Higher Level/Advanced Placement (AP) Tests," however can an exception be made in this case?

Thanks.

Hello,

I'm hoping to apply for an MPhil starting in Autumn 2018. I've completed my undergraduate degree (strong first class, 85% weighted average in an essay-based subject, with a couple of academic prizes) and will be taking an MA at another university for the 17/18 year. My problem is this: it's a full year MA, with submission of the dissertation not taking place until the end of August 2018. From what I've read, it's typical for offers to include successful completion of any current courses (either with or without a specified classification). In the event that I was offered a place, I wouldn't be able to meet the conditions by July 31st, or even obtain a confirmation that I had submitted all work and was on-track to pass.

So - are offers ever made without these sorts of conditions? If not, I suppose my only option would be to try to complete and submit the dissertation by mid-July, well ahead of the deadline, which is why I'm looking at my options this early! Any advice you could provide would be helpful.

...
Or am I being too ambitious in thinking someone like me can go to Cambridge and maybe need to lower my expectations?

Would I have any chance at all?

Many thanks in advance!

You would both have a chance.

Hi I have two questions:

I wanted to apply for Computer Science and did A-levels at a college over the last two years whilst working, I ended up with an A* in Maths and AAA in Biology, Econ and Physics. The standard offer is A*A*A, so I'm wondering if my application would be competitive or not.

I did GCSE and AS-levels over 7 years ago with mediocre grades and I can only locate a few of the certificates, if I applied would I be needed to buy replacements from the exam board?