Cambridge MML applicants 2018

What languages are people applying for, & and what colleges?
I applied for (post A-level) French & Spanish, at Magdalene, but Cambridge is such a long shot for me; I’ll be really happy if I even get an interview.
What did people do for the admissions essays? Magdalene wanted one in a foreign language and one in English, and mine were 1800 and 1200 words respectively. Does anyone know if that’s in the ballpark of the right length?
Also, has anyone heard about interviews, and how are you prepping?

Reply 1

jw563

Hi -

Applying for post A-level Spanish and German at St Catharine's... interview is on the 6th December, properly bricking it. I guess just doing the specimen papers, couple of mock interviews?

Reply 2

bethan._

Original post by jw563

Hi -

Applying for post A-level Spanish and German at St Catharine's... interview is on the 6th December, properly bricking it. I guess just doing the specimen papers, couple of mock interviews?

Where did you find the specimen papers?

Reply 3

bateaux

Original post by bethan._

Where did you find the specimen papers?

They're on the MML course page!

Reply 4

pronounsshorsha

french and ab initio italian. ******** BRICKS hbu!!

Reply 5

xleo.norx

I'm applying for Spanish and Arabic! I'm surprised I even got an interview after how badly the AMES test went for me! I'm looking forward to the interviews though, I think they might be fun, but bricking it for yet another test!

Reply 6

username3168114

Hello MML applicants! Thought it'd be nice to try and revive this thread so that we can discuss how MML interviews went and any feelings before Wednesday 10th. Feel free to reply using the format below.

Languages: French and Russian ab initio
College: Christ's
How were your interviews?: Russian not really sure about, there were a few moments where I realised I could have given a better answer. French was great! Really enjoyed it, especially the unseen passage.
How was the admissions test?: Felt like it went okay, didn't find the text a particular strain but who knows if "okay" is good enough!
Overall thoughts on chances?: I'm 65% sure I won't get in, for me the first interview was just not good enough. Always good to keep a bit of hope though

Reply 7

sunny181113

Languages: Spanish and Portuguese ab initio
College: Downing
How were your interviews?: The portuguese one I felt was incredible tough and I'm quite worried [mod edit: please don't discuss specific questions :smile:

], but the Spanish one although tricky was much more enjoyable.
How was the admissions test?: The test was ok, the Spanish part went well but ran out of time for the English and didn't write much at all.
Overall thoughts on chances?: Honestly can't tell...I don't think I have a high chance but also don't want to rule it out, as I still want a bit of hope if that makes sense, so I really cannot predict Wednesday's outcome but fingers crossed!

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 8

username3168114

Original post by sunny181113

I'm the same!! It's so hard to know but I'm leaning towards thinking I'm not gonna get in. Bracing myself and keeping a little bit of hope!

Best of luck tomorrow, let me know how you get on. :smile:

Reply 9

sunny181113

Original post by bsckp

I'm the same!! It's so hard to know but I'm leaning towards thinking I'm not gonna get in. Bracing myself and keeping a little bit of hope!

Best of luck tomorrow, let me know how you get on. :smile:

Really, you also going for Spanish & Portuguese at Downing? Awesome! Yup same trying not to think too much about it overnight, you let me know too! x

Reply 10

username3168114

Original post by sunny181113

Really, you also going for Spanish & Portuguese at Downing? Awesome! Yup same trying not to think too much about it overnight, you let me know too! x

Aha no I meant I feel the same about my interviews! I applied for French and Russian ab initio at Christ's. Good luck!! x

Reply 11

sunny181113

Original post by bsckp

Aha no I meant I feel the same about my interviews! I applied for French and Russian ab initio at Christ's. Good luck!! x

Good luck to you too! Feel free to private message me tomorrow if you wanna chat, whatever the outcome is I'm here to talk :smile:

also even though I didn't particularly like my interviews, it's not the only thing they look at: for MML they have our references, grades, submitted work, personal statement etc (atleast that's what I'm trying to tell myself...) so hopefully it works out for us :smile:

Reply 12

Saracen's Fez

Current third-year MMLer here dropping in. I'm willing to ask any questions about MML or Cambridge in general – just tag me!

Reply 13

j240519

Hello,
I'm actually in Year 11 but I visited Trinity Hall last week on a school trip and was very impressed! I'm aiming to study French and German at either Oxford or Cambridge (pending the school trip to Oxford), but I want to start preparing early. I'm currently just trying to go over the GCSE vocab and make sure I'm up to scratch, but I wondered if there is a reading list available or any books you would recommend? Any other tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you :smile:

Reply 14

Saracen's Fez

Original post by jacktns

Assuming you're referring to reading fiction books, the reading lists for Cambridge are available on the MML faculty website (under Undergraduate study IIRC) but they're not exactly tailored to a Year 11 GCSE student. If you do want to try reading a novel or similar then you could look at the A-level syllabuses and read something from one of them. You might also be interested in the films that are on the syllabus, which will probably be more accessible with subtitles. (Also if you have Netflix or Amazon Prime there is almost certainly some French- and German-language stuff on there, but I can't vouch for its quality.)

What I would recommend to put you in a good place for A-level study is to start to check out the news in the French- and German-speaking world. Do read news websites in the language, but from a cultural perspective (and to access more detailed news analysis from the countries) you might also be interested in The Local, which is an English-language news site in several European countries – they have editions for France, Belgium and Germany I know.

Reply 15

poqari

I'm going for the MPhil in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics - undergraduate of Computer Science here (Bsc)

Hoping to specialise in NLP and do more computational linguistics-related stuff, anyone here know anything about this/are doing the same?

Reply 16

poqari

Original post by Saracen's Fez

Current third-year MMLer here dropping in. I'm willing to ask any questions about MML or Cambridge in general – just tag me!

Any advice for a postgraduate going for the MPhil in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics? Current UG of computer science, so Im looking more into NLP and things like that