University of Cambridge Changing Course

I am not too sure how difficult and/or complex it is to change courses at Cambridge. I'm not really certain about what i want to study - being indecisive between natural science and engineering (mainly chemical im considering). If you can change the course, do you need to sit extra exams or do extra coursework? Thank you guys so much!!

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Ultimately it comes down to the directors of studies' in each subject within the college, but it probably varies depending what you are changing from and too. There are a few courses with "pre-established" transfer mechanisms where it should be automatically accepted provided you achieve progression criteria, one of which is chemical engineering - which can only be entered into from second year onwards.

For chemical engineering, the two pre-established routes are either after first year of the engineering tripos, or first year of the natural sciences tripos. Thus, you can do first year of natsci then move into chemical engineering, normally after applying for that particular route, or you can remain in natsci. You may be able to move into chem eng without having applied to it initially though in the same process.

Depending on the change, your background, and which courses you took in first year, your director of studies might suggest additional reading be undertaken over the long vacation. Some information for first year students at Cambridge going into chemical engineering is available here: https://www.ceb.cam.ac.uk/undergraduates/prospective-students/1a-information

Reply 2

wateryHgdrop

Thanks for answering. If I do NOT apply chem eng via natsci route, will I still be able to pick up chem eng in the second year?

Original post by artful_lounger

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 3

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by wateryHgdrop

Thanks for answering. If I do NOT apply chem eng via natsci route, will I still be able to pick up chem eng in the second year?

See

https://www.ceb.cam.ac.uk/undergraduates/prospective-students/frequently-asked-questions#qn7

and

https://www.ceb.cam.ac.uk/undergraduates/prospective-students/frequently-asked-questions#qn16

Essentially, yes, but if the course ends up oversubscribed and you didn't apply to it initially you may not be accepted onto it. Since you aren't bound to go into chemical engineering even if you do apply to it, there is little reason not to apply for it if you are interested (unless your motivation for the subject is so low that it would negatively affect your interview - in which case, chemical engineering isn't worth considering anyway).

Reply 4

wateryHgdrop

Thank you for the information. Are you familiar with the procedures of changing? Or do the procedures vary between colleges?

Original post by artful_lounger

Reply 5

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by wateryHgdrop

Thank you for the information. Are you familiar with the procedures of changing? Or do the procedures vary between colleges?

I only know what they publish on their website and/or what people have commented on here :dontknow:

Since the decision for changing between triposes other than in existing arrangements comes down to the directors of studies' in the college, it could vary between them (some DoS might be more amenable than others, perhaps) although in theory it shouldn't really be much different between them.

@Doones might know some more about that?

Reply 6

black1blade

I think it mostly depends on how well you are doing academically and how good your case is for switching. Natsci to chem eng is a standard switch so you should be fine and in fact if you do physics in 2nd year natsci, you could probs switch to another type of engineering although with non standard switches like that you'd need to do a considerable amount of catch up work. Best thing would be to apply to chem eng via natsci route like lounger suggested since you could always just continue with natsci in second year if you find don't fancy chem eng.

Reply 7

wateryHgdrop

Thank you guys so much!! I am quite passionate about both natsci and chem eng. I searched up the stats from cambridge website and acceptance rate into natsci tripo is higher than chem eng via natsci. Does this factor worth considering as well?