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Official Cambridge 2020 Applicants Thread

Mod edit:
Please update the Decisions Thread if you have an Offer or Rejection.
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6299148

And thanks to @tedinbed we have an Offers spreadsheet

Please add your offer here:
https://forms.gle/VVWkejGQg1uJwjsR9

And you can check all offers received so far here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WuWO8zBGSBdwTqStuNWNpUaqj8nD8pR 1UdQbk3zZmeE/edit?usp=sharing
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Please note the following (Directly Taken from Trinity College's Website):

"Decision letters will be posted to all applicants on Wednesday 15 January 2020 (University-wide communication day). Emails will also be sent on the same day. We are unable to give any decisions over the telephone. UCAS Track will only update once the central Cambridge Admissions Office has given the decisions to UCAS (they will do this by the end of January)."

I have set up this thread to start of a conversation about 2019 Cambridge applicants. Currently, most of us will be in year 12, having started our A-Levels for no more than 5 weeks and although uni application, UCAS and personal statement may seem far away its not bad to start having a think around the unis you might want to apply and although this thread is about Cambridge Uni specifically, please feel free to share any advice - after all we are all in the same boat.

So to get this thread started introduce yourself:
1)What A-levels are you taking and what grades are you hoping for?
2)What subject are thinking of applying for at Cambridge?
3)What are your GCSE Grades?
4)Why Cambridge?

About UCAS specifically:
5)Besides Cambridge what other unis are you thinking of applying?
6)Have you gone to any of the open days for Cambridge?
7)What are you currently doing (academically especially) to make your application stronger.
8)Would you have to sit an admission test, if so, which one.

I will be updating this thread with information and advice as I go along.

MAJOR UPDATE:

Hi guys - it has been a while since I have posted on this thread but I have been thoroughly impressed at how we have all collectively helped each other and ensured we are respectful but realistic in our conversations! Its been great to see the teamwork and hardwork spirit.

For those of you who have already had the interview - I know that you will be anxiously waiting for the admissions decision. I wanted to let you know that decision date for Cambridge is 15th January.

"Decision letters will be posted to all applicants on Wednesday 15 January 2020 (University-wide communication day). Emails will also be sent on the same day. We are unable to give any decisions over the telephone. UCAS Track will only update once the central Cambridge Admissions Office has given the decisions to UCAS (they will do this by the end of January)."

Best Of Luck to all of you!

UPDATE (14/10/2018):

Cambridge University, like any other university, releases its admission statistics for graduates and undergraduates on its website. These undergraduate admission statistics show the success rate for all subjects as well as success rate depending on subgroups such as the type of school successful applicants attended, gender, predicted A-Level grades, region in which they live, the college they chose. Undergraduate statistics are important because they help you to identify how competitive your course is as well as enable you to apply strategically to specific colleges at Cambridge.

To access Cambridge University's admission statistic page click here

Click below to access the admission cycles statistics for each year

2017 Admissions cycle

2016 Admissions cycle

2015 Admissions cycle

2014 Admissions cycle

2013 Admissions cycle

2012 Admissions cycle

2011 Admissions cycle

Applications, Offers

Update (30/11/2018):

As @otherdan mentioned in his recent post on this thread, Cambridge University is doing a Q&A hour starting at 9pm covering almost everything from student life and colleges to the admission process so this is a great opportunity for anyone considering applying to Cambridge to clear any doubts you might have about almost anything concerning Cambridge Uni. Don't Miss Out!

Update 2 (30/11/2018):

I am sure most of you might have come across these videos but just in case some of you have not I have attached the link to some YouTube Videos which essentially give you an idea of what the interview stage entails, its nature and what the interviewers are looking for in a strong candidate. If you haven't seen them before I would suggest watching some of them - the information contained in them is INVALUABLE!

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUwN6GI-0EQ (General Tips)
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6NR6YQcxyA (Medicine Specific)
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3lYdO0XYL4 (Engineering Specific)
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npEcenV-Y08 (Law Specific)

The below video, which I found to be extremely useful, gives you an overview of the process of choosing a college and the consequences that might have on your uni life and also helps to clear the myths that certain colleges are better then others in a specific subject.

[video="youtube;BgwHQCaqJc8"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgwHQCaqJc8[/video]

UPDATE (17/12/2019):

As you might have seen in the posts below, Cambridge University is offering a free residential event called The CanBridge Residential 2019 and applications are now OPEN. This is a fantastic and unique opportunity to explore what being an undergraduate really means. These events are taking place at 4 different colleges in Cambridge (please visit each College's website to check the eligibility criteria). Please also note that according to Cambridge University, these events are only available to "applicants in Year 12 in England or Wales, Year 13 in Northern Ireland or S5 in Scotland".

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Update (17/12/2018):

Throughout the "applying to Cambridge University" journey, our first and foremost aim will be to receive an interview offer. That is what we are all hoping for and what we, I am sure, will try our hardest to achieve and if you do indeed receive an interview by Cambridge then by all means WELL DONE! But, after the overwhelming emotions of immense joy and immeasurable happiness wear off you are constricted to a single thought - what is the nature of the interview stage really like. And so, we all try and create an objectively inaccurate fiction in our heads. Maybe you are optimistic and might be looking forward to the interview stage or, maybe like me, you are the kind of person who is immediately intimidated by the "myths" of the interview stage. After all, it's impossible to have missed the rumours and "conspiracy theories" regarding the nature of the interviews themselves. Some say they are incredibly difficult while others hold a subjectively extreme viewpoint and instead argue that some of the questions are impossible but these are simply a fictional reality.

While its true that the interview stage can be challenging (after all you ARE applying to perhaps the BEST University in the world :u:

) I felt that it would be helpful for you all to try and clear some of the misconceptions and share with you all some of the extremely useful information that I myself have read.

Firstly, I advise you all to check out these two amazing videos published by Cambridge Uni. They help give you some info about the interview stage in general as well as a few tips and pointers to ensure your performance is as best as it can be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S4rTLibYQw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUwN6GI-0EQ

Secondly, take a look at this Guardian article, titled, 'People are always too cold': How to survive a Cambridge Interview. In the article, Sam Lucy, director of admissions at Cambridge, shares her advice on how best to approach the interview, how preparing too much and overthinking can lead to pitfalls and how best to deal with the nerves and anxiety. Click HERE to visit the article.

Last, but not least this next info might be the best info that I have come across but sharing it could be considered as treason of the highest order ( :o:

) however, Oxf*rd University has shared some of its past subject-specific interview questions as well as some comments on what interviewers look for in a "good" answer. Personal feelings aside, the style and difficulty of the questions asked at Oxbridge is relatively similar hence I would urge you to take 5-10 minutes to read over some of the questions asked and the comments added by the Uni itself because the info they provide is invaluable. Please click HERE to visit the web page.

And Remember: Interviewers AREN'T LOOKING FOR PERFECTION.

UPDATE (17/12/2019) - Personal Statement!

Hi guys! I know I haven't updated this thread for a while but I have been very busy! Anyways, I have decided to make some new and hopefully helpful updates. This first one is about personal statements so lets get right into it...

We have all heard that your Personal Statement is a crucial part of your application but just how crucial is it? Well, a research study conducted by UCAS (in which they looked at over 300,000) revealed that your personal statement (along with the-then AS grades) were the most important and influential factor in determining whether an applicant was successful. In short, your PS matters ... A LOT! But where do you start?

Well, your personal statement is the perfect place for you to show, as UCAS puts it, "passion and purpose" - passion for the subject you are applying for and the reason why this passion exists in the first place. The two are somewhat complementary to each other - think of it as the two ingredients you must have to make a delicious cake but just having them is not enough, you need to know how to use them at the right proportion because, just like the cake metaphor, if you add too much or too little that cake won't be as good - that is to say, your personal statement will not be as impressive.

Having been to Cambridge myself on taster days, masterclasses and residentials, it has become clear to me that Cambridge place a lot of emphasis on the HOW rather then the WHAT! What I mean is that Cambridge like to see HOW you show passion about your subject. So In other words, HOW do you show to the admissions tutors who are reading your application that you are committed to your subject, that you love and are enthusiastic about your subject and that you plan to be the best at your subject - remember Cambridge is looking for individuals who are enthusiastic, can think out loud, are prepared to learn (and often that means making mistakes) and people who have high personal standards!". Henceforth, you need to SHOW all these qualities in your personal statement! But HOW do you show these qualities in your personal statement?

First, you need to jot down anything that is, in some way, academically related to your subject. This includes:

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Wider Reading

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Work Experience

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Essay Competitions

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Taken part in academic challenges such as the Olympiads

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EPQ - if you have done one/are going to

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Attending lectures

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Attending masterclasses

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Applying for taster days/residential events

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Tutoring others - either at school or privately as part of paid work

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Many OTHERS!

Once you have listed all the things you have done, (and don't worry you don't have to have pages after pages of them) you then need to decide which events best exemplify you commitment, love, passion, enthusiasm and aspiration for the degree you have applied for! But, this is still not enough - the thing that will set your PS apart from the rest is by being CRITICALLY REFLECTIVE on those experiences. This means talking about how those things that you have done made you passionate and enthusiastic about your subject! See my mediocre ( :smile:

)example below.

For example, let's say you read a short book regarding the subject you are interested about - in this case Chemistry. One way to be critically reflective on this "experience" would be to say this" Having read general Chemistry, I have developed a deeper and more meaningful outlook and understanding of chemistry. The author postulates questions that somewhat defied my basic understanding of bonding and structure. The difficulty of the information presented was well above that of an A-level textbook but the challenge and opportunity of being able to enhance my apprehension of chemistry at its very core was exciting and encouraged me to engage with simple, basic ideas in a more critical manner!"

This is just an example I made up but it does get across my point because that short part about reading the book General Chemistry gets across all the key points that I mentioned above:

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It shows, rather then just state, that you are passionate and eger about exploring you subject.

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It tells the admissions tutors that you have tried to explore your subject by doing some wider reading- i.e. exemplified commitment.

•

It also shows to the admissions tutors that you clearly enjoy chemistry and like to actively and critically engage with your subject!

Make sure that you try and be as reflective about your experiences as you can - it will help you a lot and make you stand out! Also, as a side note, once you have finished a draft of your PS give it to your teachers, friends and parents to read and ask for their opinion - ask for improvements and take ALL opinions on board because they will view your PS from a new perspective. I would advise, in my unprofessional and personal opinion, that you keep 70-80% of your PS academic and 20-30% personal.

Before I wrap things up, please click here to go the UCAS Personal Statement TOOL, which helps you build a draft of your PS by asking you various questions. Also click here to go to the UCAS page for more advise on PS.

(edited 4 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

New Wonder

Lets get this thread started guys.

Applicants' Threads for Cambridge Colleges:

Christ's
Clare
Downing
Emmanuel
Fitzwilliam
Gonville and Caius
Homerton
Jesus
King's
Magdalene
Murray Edwards
Newnham
Pembroke
Peterhouse
Robinson
Selwyn
Sidney Sussex
St Catherine's
St John's
Trinity

Applicants' Threads for Cambridge Courses:

Computer Science
English
HSPS
Land Economy
Law

There's also lots of threads for anyone applying to your course across any university, along with threads for other universities you may be applying to. You can find all of these in TSR's Massive Index of Applicants threads here. :biggrin:

(See also official interviews thread.)

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 2

New Wonder

Can't see a thread for your course or college?
Feel free to set one up using this link here.

Tag @04MR17 in it and he'll add it to this list.

Found a thread for your course or college not on this list?
Tag 04MR17 and link it below

(edited 4 years ago)

You start first

Original post by astroworld

You start first

1)What A-levels are you taking and what grades are you hoping for?

I am taking Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics. Predicted to get 4A* and that's what I am hoping to also get.

2)What subject are thinking of applying for at Cambridge?

Medicine

3)What are your GCSE Grades?

A*s (9/8) in all my subjects except English= :frown:

4)Why Cambridge?

Well, a couple of reasons! I like the course structure - doing preclinical first and gaining the necessary knowledge before going into clinical. The lectures which are backed up by supervision system is also a key factor that made me want to apply to Cambridge. I also like the city - not too crowded!

5)Besides Cambridge what other unis are you thinking of applying?

Imperial and Edinburgh. Not sure about my 4th choice - maybe UCL!

6)Have you gone to any of the open days for Cambridge?

Yes - visited the city a few times actually.

7)What are you currently doing (academically especially) to make your application stronger.

Wider Reading, Attending Lectures, Work Experience, Masterclasses, Was offered a place in one of the residential events at Cambridge, Olympiads, did an EPQ in Year 12.

8)Would you have to sit an admission test, if so, which one.

BMAT

Here is mine @Doones

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 5

astroworld

Original post by New Wonder

What about you then?

1)What A-levels are you taking and what grades are you hoping for?

I am doing/Hoping To Get:
Biology- A*
Chemistry- A*
Maths- A

2)What subject are thinking of applying for at Cambridge?

Medicine

3)What are your GCSE Grades?

8A*s and 2As

4)Why Cambridge?

Cambridge don't care too much about GCSEs whereas Oxford does. I prefer Oxford to Cambridge but Oxford has a considerably smaller intake of students (like 149) compared to Cambridge (like 253-ish). Cambridge offers dissection whereas Oxford offers only prosection ( :frown:

). Lol this paragraph is just me talking about the differences between Cambridge and Oxford.

5)Besides Cambridge what other unis are you thinking of applying?

UCL, Oxford, Kings, Keele, Bristol, Imperial

6)Have you gone to any of the open days for Cambridge?

Nope- next year!

7)What are you currently doing (academically especially) to make your application stronger.

Work Volunteering at hopsital 6+ months
Shadowed haematologists and spoke to patients with thalassaemia

Shadowed consultant kidney transplant surgeon and observed a live donor kidney transplant

I've read all of Atul Gawande's works (I love him so much) and some of Oliver Sacks' work

6 months volunteering with year 7s in my school with reading sessions

Work exp at the Crick (soon)

Biology Youtube vids (possibly)

8)Would you have to sit an admission test, if so, which one.

BMAT and UKCAT

Reply 6

New Wonder

Original post by astroworld

That's a pretty strong application - well done!

Reply 7

Doones

Original post by New Wonder

I have set up this thread to start of a coversation about 2019 Cambridge applicants. Currently, most of us will be in year 12, having started our A-Levels for no more than 5 weeks and although uni application, UCAS and personal statement may seem far away its not bad to start having a think around the unis you might want to apply and although this thread is about Cambridge Uni specifically, please feel free to share any advice - after all we are all in the same boat.

So to get this thread started introduce youself:
1)What A-levels are you taking and what grades are you hoping for?
2)What subject are thinking of applying for at Cambridge?
3)What are your GCSE Grades?
4)Why Cambridge?

About UCAS specifically:
5)Besides Cambridge what other unis are you thinking of applying?
6)Have you gone to any of the open days for Cambridge?
7)What are you currently doing (academically especially) to make your application stronger.
8)Would you have to sit an admission test, if so, which one.

I will be updating this thread with information and advice as I go along.

Moved to the Cambridge forum. Although I'm sure there's already a 2020 thread here. I'll merge this into it when I locate it...

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 8

New Wonder

Original post by Doonesbury

Moved to the Cambridge forum. Although I'm sure there's already a 2020 thread here. I'll merge this into it when I locate it...

Posted from TSR Mobile

Okay, thanks!

Reply 9

CompSciCat

You may want to edit the thread title, as much as cats are great animals, I never heard of applicats before :wink:

Reply 10

New Wonder

Original post by CompSciCat

You may want to edit the thread title, as much as cats are great animals, I never heard of applicats before :wink:

Lol, thanks - didn’t even notice!

Reply 11

Doones

Original post by CompSciCat

You may want to edit the thread title, as much as cats are great animals, I never heard of applicats before :wink:

Original post by New Wonder

Lol, thanks - didn’t even notice!

Retitled

Reply 12

New Wonder

Original post by Doonesbury

Retitled

Thank You 🙏

Reply 13

swaus

1) maths, physics, chemistry, biology
2) Natural Science (BioChem)
3) 8-7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6
4) Really nice course structure / modules, one of the few universities that do natural sciences apart from a single science degree.
5) Durham, Exeter, UCL not too sure on a fifth choice yet tho.
6) Nope
7) Lots of reading -- really interested in metabolism/aging in particular around biochemistry.
8) The NSAA (not really familiar with what that will be like at all yet...)

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 14

username3766892

1) maths fm & physics & chemistry for AS but maybe A2 and am hoping for A*A (preferably A*) A* and A in chem or A* if taking to A2
2) natural sciences
3) 99998887766C
4) because I can study loads of cool stuff and still come out w a physics degree, bc I guess it's just 1 of the best, bc Oxford doesn't offer such a diverse course, but still haven't 100% decided between camb n ox
5) thinking of applying for imperial ucl n honestly idk but st Andrews looks nice n there r others but honestly dunno
6) nope but I went once for brilliant club
7) I'm going to all the ucl lectures n will just read loads of books I dunno what else to do I'll figure it out I guess
8) yh the natsci 1

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 15

tiff.wxng

1)What A-levels are you taking and what grades are you hoping for?

Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Economics A*A*AA

2)What subject are thinking of applying for at Cambridge?

Maths

3)What are your GCSE Grades?

1 x 9, 2 x 8s, 1 x 7, 2A*S, 5As – I know, not Oxbridge worth, but it’s better to try and not get in, than to regret not trying later. I might waste a valuable university space, but you can’t say that I didn’t try

4)Why Cambridge?

Because it’s the place that I’ve wanted to go for the past 3 years. I’ve always been encouraged by my family to go and ‘do the best that I can do and carry on learning and stretching myself’, which in my dreams is attending a high ranking Russell Group. They really have a work hard play hard attitude which I admire and I’m really interested in the research they undertake. As a why Cambridge and not Oxford, Cambridge is a much more university-based city as opposed to Oxford. As well as the maths course at Cambridge is much ‘better’ and is more based on pure maths, whereas Oxford have lots of stats-based maths. Research at Cambridge is also a lot more well known and all the professors there are some of the best in their fields. All in all, I just like the atmosphere there.

About UCAS specifically:

5)Besides Cambridge what other unis are you thinking of applying?

Imperial, UCL, LSE, KCL

6)Have you gone to any of the open days for Cambridge?

Not yet, but will be going during the summer. In the meantime, there are Cambridge masterclasses that you can attend, unfortunately, the math masterclass isn’t offered this term, but hopefully will be during the next.

7)What are you currently doing (academically especially) to make your application stronger.

Lots and lots of wider reading, going to evening lectures, visiting museums, taking part in UKMT and other various maths challenges. In terms of more soft skills, I do a lot of music and music related clubs, as well as taking part in Gold DofE.

8)Would you have to sit an admission test, if so, which one.

STEP is required for Cambridge and is widely accepted in all the universities I’ve looked at. Having said that Imperial and Warrick do prefer MAT, which is the Oxford admissions test, but after emailing them, Imperial have said that STEP and AEA is accepted.

Reply 16

sbneelu

1) What A-levels are you taking and what grades are you hoping for?

I'm in the Scottish education system so it's not quite the same thing but I'm doing Higher (equivalent to AS Levels) Physics, Biology, Chemistry and French and Advanced Higher (equivalent to A2 I think?) Maths. Next year I'm planning on taking Advanced Higher Statistics, Mechanics (which is comparable to Further Maths from what I hear), Physics and Chemistry. I'm hoping for A1 (about equivalent to A* or an upper A) for all of them but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

2) What subject are thinking of applying for at Cambridge?

Computer Science with Maths

3) What are your GCSE Grades?

Again, Scottish system but the GCSE equivalent here is National 5s and I got 6 A1s and 2 A2s (about equivalent to an average to low A I think) - A2s in English (80%) and Chemistry (88%). I'm quite happy with English but I'm not sure what happened with Chemistry because it was one of my best subjects but the grade boundaries for it were quite high so that might be the reason.

4) Why Cambridge?

I've been wanting to go to Cambridge for years but it's always been quite an abstract goal and it's quite scary that we'll be applying next year this time but I think the main reason is that I really like the collegiate system and it'd be amazing to go to such a good university with all the resources and everything else it has to offer. I prefer Cambridge to Oxford because I just prefer the town to Oxford and I agree with @tiff.wxng about it being a lot more University-oriented and I think that'll be quite nice.

5) Besides Cambridge what other unis are you thinking of applying?

Edinburgh, Imperial, and possibly St Andrews and/or Warwick

6) Have you gone to any of the open days for Cambridge?

Not yet, I'm planning on going next year.

7) What are you currently doing (academically especially) to make your application stronger?

Honestly this is the bit that worries me most because I don't think I have enough yet. I've done computer programming in my free time since I was like 12 or 13 and I make websites instead of posters and stuff for school assignments and things but I imagine most people who apply will be in largely the same scenario. I'm doing the UKMT individual and team challenges and the Scottish Maths Challenge and I hope I do well in those because I have a feeling that'd be really useful. Apart from that though I don't really know though because I've got extra curriculars like DofE Bronze and Silver and I'm planning on doing Gold this year and some unrelated volunteering experience but I don't really have anything else related to the field so I'm trying to figure out what else I can do.

8) Would you have to sit an admission test? If so, which one?

I'll have to sit the STEP and CSAT for Cambridge and the STEP for Imperial.