The Student Room Group

Chances For Admission To Trinity?

I am currently a 12th grade student and I hope to apply for admission for 2019/Engineering to Trinity College. I am an international and I will be taking the AP exams without taking the courses as they are not offered at my school. I am currently self-studying for 5 AP's (Calculus BC, Physics C Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism, Chemistry and Biology) and I hope to get 5's on all of them. I will graduate with over 99.5 out of 100 GPA/average and I am the top student in my school but other than these, I do not have much else. 5 AP's will not make me a very competitive candidate but apart from Biology, those are the hardest 4 AP's out there. As I understand, I will also need to take the ENGAA exam and I hope to also do well on that. But I do not have any major international awards, from for example the ISO olympiads or anything and I do not think that these qualifications make me a competitive applicant. I really have my heart set on Trinity but am I better of applying to another college so as to be able to slightly increase my chances of admission to Cambridge?

I do have one other question: I will need to apply by October 15 but since I graduate this year, I will need to take a gap year. I do not feel like taking one, however, I would like to continue my studies so will doing a year at a prestigious EU university negatively affect my chances for admission while I wait for my admissions decision?? Would the colleges not look favorably on that?

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated, thanks a lot...
Original post by Mephistopheles07
I am currently a 12th grade student and I hope to apply for admission for 2019/Engineering to Trinity College. I am an international and I will be taking the AP exams without taking the courses as they are not offered at my school. I am currently self-studying for 5 AP's (Calculus BC, Physics C Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism, Chemistry and Biology) and I hope to get 5's on all of them. I will graduate with over 99.5 out of 100 GPA/average and I am the top student in my school but other than these, I do not have much else. 5 AP's will not make me a very competitive candidate but apart from Biology, those are the hardest 4 AP's out there. As I understand, I will also need to take the ENGAA exam and I hope to also do well on that. But I do not have any major international awards, from for example the ISO olympiads or anything and I do not think that these qualifications make me a competitive applicant. I really have my heart set on Trinity but am I better of applying to another college so as to be able to slightly increase my chances of admission to Cambridge?

I do have one other question: I will need to apply by October 15 but since I graduate this year, I will need to take a gap year. I do not feel like taking one, however, I would like to continue my studies so will doing a year at a prestigious EU university negatively affect my chances for admission while I wait for my admissions decision?? Would the colleges not look favorably on that?

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated, thanks a lot...


I think the biggest worry I'd have is that the US curriculum in Maths will be weak compared to the students who would've have done A Level Maths, Physics and Further Maths. These students have solely being studying maths/science for the last year or two.

Make sure you've read the specification of the ENGAA.

Make sure you meet the SAT cutoff.

Extracurriculars don't matter.

Other than that, good luck.

see if you can do these questions, this is the sorta level you need to be at

http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/408716-question-paper-unit-4729-01-mechanics-2.pdf

http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/408718-question-paper-unit-4730-01-mechanics-3.pdf

Rest of papers can be found here http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/as-a-level-gce-mathematics-3890-3892-7890-7892/

C1-C2 and M1-M3 is the knowledge base of a lot of the questions
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by Kyber Ninja
I think the biggest worry I'd have is that the US curriculum in Maths will be weak compared to the students who would've have done A Level Maths, Physics and Further Maths. These students have solely being studying maths/science for the last year or two.

Make sure you've read the specification of the ENGAA.

Make sure you meet the SAT cutoff.

Extracurriculars don't matter.

Other than that, good luck.

see if you can do these questions, this is the sorta level you need to be at

http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/408716-question-paper-unit-4729-01-mechanics-2.pdf

http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/408718-question-paper-unit-4730-01-mechanics-3.pdf

Rest of papers can be found here http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/as-a-level-gce-mathematics-3890-3892-7890-7892/

C1-C2 and M1-M3 is the knowledge base of a lot of the questions


Thanks. Although I do not think that it is required, would doing the STEP be of any help?
Hi there! I'm not that knowledgeable about the AP exam structure and how it works, but I'd say that your exam results and academics look great! I applied and was fortunate enough to be admitted to Trinity this year for economics, but I was almost certain that I would be rejected. I'd say that for Cambridge (and top UK universities more generally), it is very important to be academically strong compared with your year group, which you certainly are! Trinity perhaps does attract a higher average scoring candidate than other colleges (especially for engineering, natural sciences, maths etc.) but applying to Trinity overall will not affect your chance of being admitted to Cambridge (due to the pooling system meaning that your chance of being admitted to Cambridge is equal regardless of which college you apply). My advice would be to focus on your AP exams and the ENGAA but don't worry too much about international competitions (UK universities care far less about these than American ones). Instead, make sure you can demonstrate your interest in engineering and make sure your personal statement reflects your passion and interest. Also, make sure you convey this at interview and maybe practice some tricky maths/physics questions to prepare you for this. Based on your results alone, I'd say you definitely have a very good chance of being admitted to Trinity!

About the gap year, I don't think Cambridge minds what you do as long as it is relevant to your course, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Anyway, best of luck with your application!!
Original post by Mephistopheles07
Thanks. Although I do not think that it is required, would doing the STEP be of any help?


For a few colleges, IIRC, otherwise no - it's mostly a maths requirement.
Original post by matthewleechen
Hi there! I'm not that knowledgeable about the AP exam structure and how it works, but I'd say that your exam results and academics look great! I applied and was fortunate enough to be admitted to Trinity this year for economics, but I was almost certain that I would be rejected. I'd say that for Cambridge (and top UK universities more generally), it is very important to be academically strong compared with your year group, which you certainly are! Trinity perhaps does attract a higher average scoring candidate than other colleges (especially for engineering, natural sciences, maths etc.) but applying to Trinity overall will not affect your chance of being admitted to Cambridge (due to the pooling system meaning that your chance of being admitted to Cambridge is equal regardless of which college you apply). My advice would be to focus on your AP exams and the ENGAA but don't worry too much about international competitions (UK universities care far less about these than American ones). Instead, make sure you can demonstrate your interest in engineering and make sure your personal statement reflects your passion and interest. Also, make sure you convey this at interview and maybe practice some tricky maths/physics questions to prepare you for this. Based on your results alone, I'd say you definitely have a very good chance of being admitted to Trinity!

About the gap year, I don't think Cambridge minds what you do as long as it is relevant to your course, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Anyway, best of luck with your application!!


Thanks!
Original post by Mephistopheles07
Thanks. Although I do not think that it is required, would doing the STEP be of any help?


**just to add**

Given that you are self teaching APs, and having not studied maths & FM A-Level, sitting STEP may not be the best idea as Cambridge get the results no matter what - if you do badly this may go against your application.

:smile:

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