[Official] Cambridge Computer Science Applicants 2020
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Original post by _Alchemist_
Do you need to have advanced knowledge of python for this, and what do you think is the best way to learn python considering I’ve pretty much forgotten all the syntax.
It’s incredibly easy to use. If you just run the online notebook, all you need is a text file - it is possible to customise the code but not necessary and each section of code has instructions on how it works to make it easier to adjust.
I’d say it’s as complex as you make it. You can use it without any previous knowledge of programming if you use his colaboratory notebook, or you can read his more detailed notes on how it works and learns, and get a deeper understanding of it/how to program it yourself.
Original post by jtkai
Friday best day 
I’m mostly interested in Queens’ but will also be checking out Clare and Jesus, Wbu?
I’m mostly interested in Queens’ but will also be checking out Clare and Jesus, Wbu?(Queens’, good choice
)Original post by _Alchemist_
Do you need to have advanced knowledge of python for this, and what do you think is the best way to learn python considering I’ve pretty much forgotten all the syntax.
Regarding your second question, if you already have some programming experience and it’s just the syntax you forgot, best tactic is to just do some project using the language and look up stuff as you go.
Original post by CompSciCat
Regarding your second question, if you already have some programming experience and it’s just the syntax you forgot, best tactic is to just do some project using the language and look up stuff as you go.
I'll try and do this over summer. I'm hoping I don't get asked questions that are very specific in terms of compsci, considering I don't do it for A-level.
Original post by _Alchemist_
I'll try and do this over summer. I'm hoping I don't get asked questions that are very specific in terms of compsci, considering I don't do it for A-level.
I wouldn’t worry, they will be aware of what you did in school because of the SAQ, so for any specific questions they might ask they’ll give you the information you need (in my experience)
Original post by CompSciCat
I wouldn’t worry, they will be aware of what you did in school because of the SAQ, so for any specific questions they might ask they’ll give you the information you need (in my experience)
In terms of general programming at a decent level are you expected to just code fluently with barely any help. For example, for my GCSE coursework we were allowed no internet or resources and I kept on making stupid errors and had to try and memorise parts.
Original post by CompSciCat
(Queens’, good choice )
)May I ask what your interview experience was like?
Original post by _Alchemist_
In terms of general programming at a decent level are you expected to just code fluently with barely any help. For example, for my GCSE coursework we were allowed no internet or resources and I kept on making stupid errors and had to try and memorise parts.
The course technically doesn't require you to be able to code at all, much less fluently (though of course most people have at least some experience)
And interviews are much more likely to be focused on maths than programming
(off topic but coursework that doesn't allow resources? wtf half of my software developing job is googling lol)
Original post by jtkai
May I ask what your interview experience was like?
Unfortunately can't really go more into detail than what the website already says (one interview is half talking about your PS and stuff you've done, half logic/CS questions and the other one is maths), it was really fun though and the interviewers were quite nice
I came out of them with a mixed feeling because on the one hand as I said I had fun but I also thought they felt too easy and I made very stupid mistakes hahaIf you end up staying overnight I wholeheartedly recommed going to the pub quiz in the evening (if they do one again) or in general try to just hang out with people, made me much more comfortable going into the interview
Original post by CompSciCat
The course technically doesn't require you to be able to code at all, much less fluently (though of course most people have at least some experience)
And interviews are much more likely to be focused on maths than programming
(off topic but coursework that doesn't allow resources? wtf half of my software developing job is googling lol)
And interviews are much more likely to be focused on maths than programming
(off topic but coursework that doesn't allow resources? wtf half of my software developing job is googling lol)
Yh that whole coursework was basically hell, I pretty much relied on stack overflow before to fix my program. They ended up cancelling it nationally because you weren't allowed to discuss/share the question outside of lessons. However, as expected nobody followed the rules, (this is OCR btw)
1) GCSE grades:
99996 (6 was eng lan)
2) A-levels being taken and predicted grades?
Maths, chem, bio (no predicted grades yet, waiting for AS results)
3) Why Cambridge?
Because cambridge? (silly answer i know) the vibe seems more appealing to me than oxford and it has what is most likely best CS course in the UK.
UCAS specifically:
5) What other universities are you considering?
Imperial, St Andrews, UCL, King's
6) Which open days do you plan on attending?
Imperial, UCL, King's (although UCL and king's are same day. Not sure about cambridge atm since it seems only college open days between now and the app deadline.
7) What super/extra curricular activities are you doing to strengthen your application?
Harvard's CS50x on edX. Wanted to finish it this summer but doubt i will at this stage.
8) Thoughts on the admission test now being the TMUA (Test of Mathematics for University Admissions) for 2020 CS entry?
Honestly: very little thought on it. Doesnt seem too intimidating from the little I've seen... Thinking of it as just another maths exam except no calculator.
99996 (6 was eng lan)
2) A-levels being taken and predicted grades?
Maths, chem, bio (no predicted grades yet, waiting for AS results)
3) Why Cambridge?
Because cambridge? (silly answer i know) the vibe seems more appealing to me than oxford and it has what is most likely best CS course in the UK.
UCAS specifically:
5) What other universities are you considering?
Imperial, St Andrews, UCL, King's
6) Which open days do you plan on attending?
Imperial, UCL, King's (although UCL and king's are same day. Not sure about cambridge atm since it seems only college open days between now and the app deadline.
7) What super/extra curricular activities are you doing to strengthen your application?
Harvard's CS50x on edX. Wanted to finish it this summer but doubt i will at this stage.
8) Thoughts on the admission test now being the TMUA (Test of Mathematics for University Admissions) for 2020 CS entry?
Honestly: very little thought on it. Doesnt seem too intimidating from the little I've seen... Thinking of it as just another maths exam except no calculator.
Wow - you've got a pretty good CV there. I've also published some apps for the iOS/Android app stores and, out of curiosity, I was wondering if you could share/PM the link to your games?
Original post by Tonymaloney
1) I'm doing the European Bac, so I don't have any.
2) 95.9/100 in my 6th year report. These will be used as predicted grades and are equivalent to A*A*A*. I also am doing Advanced Maths which is the equivalent of Further Maths.
3) I think they're Computer Science Department is quite a bit better than the one at Oxford. I really enjoyed the open days and think that I would like going to Cambridge.
5) St. Andrews and Edinburgh definitely. Maybe Nottingham, Durham or Warwick. I don't want to go anywhere in London. Feel free to make any suggestions.
6) /
7) I have done a lot of programming. I've made games for the PC and Android using Unity and C#. I've also made Android Apps with Java and have got over 10'000 downloads on the Play Store. I've also read a lot about Computer Science. An Introduction to Algorithms by CLRS, Deep Learning, AI A Modern Approach and The Elements Of Computing Systems.
I've completed Andrews Ng's Machine Learning Course and Nand2Tetris Part 1 and 2. I've also implemented a lot of machine learning and deep learning algorithms in python, mainly SVM's, Deep Feedforward Networks and Convolutional Networks. I've done a lot of Data Science competitions on Kaggle and also other programming competitions and puzzles on Hackerrank and Leetcode. I'm also working on making a social network using php and mysql and implement a recommender system to suggest friends.
8) The CTMUA seems ok, but some colleges still require the CSAT so some people will have to take two tests, which is unfortunate.
2) 95.9/100 in my 6th year report. These will be used as predicted grades and are equivalent to A*A*A*. I also am doing Advanced Maths which is the equivalent of Further Maths.
3) I think they're Computer Science Department is quite a bit better than the one at Oxford. I really enjoyed the open days and think that I would like going to Cambridge.
5) St. Andrews and Edinburgh definitely. Maybe Nottingham, Durham or Warwick. I don't want to go anywhere in London. Feel free to make any suggestions.
6) /
7) I have done a lot of programming. I've made games for the PC and Android using Unity and C#. I've also made Android Apps with Java and have got over 10'000 downloads on the Play Store. I've also read a lot about Computer Science. An Introduction to Algorithms by CLRS, Deep Learning, AI A Modern Approach and The Elements Of Computing Systems.
I've completed Andrews Ng's Machine Learning Course and Nand2Tetris Part 1 and 2. I've also implemented a lot of machine learning and deep learning algorithms in python, mainly SVM's, Deep Feedforward Networks and Convolutional Networks. I've done a lot of Data Science competitions on Kaggle and also other programming competitions and puzzles on Hackerrank and Leetcode. I'm also working on making a social network using php and mysql and implement a recommender system to suggest friends.
8) The CTMUA seems ok, but some colleges still require the CSAT so some people will have to take two tests, which is unfortunate.
Original post by Scott943
Wow - you've got a pretty good CV there. I've also published some apps for the iOS/Android app stores and, out of curiosity, I was wondering if you could share/PM the link to your games?
Yeah sure, I'll send you a PM. Thanks for showing interest
)
Nice to see chats getting more active
What's every ones plans for this summer?
For me its mainly starting and getting a good draft for my personal statement and completing my super curricular: reading AI: a modern approach, hands on ML with sci-kit and Tensor flow, Discrete maths for computing and listening to podcasts/ videos as usual. May finish CS50x and this other CS course i found and apart from that creating GANs and CNNs.
What's every ones plans for this summer?
For me its mainly starting and getting a good draft for my personal statement and completing my super curricular: reading AI: a modern approach, hands on ML with sci-kit and Tensor flow, Discrete maths for computing and listening to podcasts/ videos as usual. May finish CS50x and this other CS course i found and apart from that creating GANs and CNNs.
Hey! I have no idea how I didn't see this thread for months haha.
1) GCSE grades (I'm in Scotland so they're N5s)
A1 A1 A1 A1 A1 A1 A2 A2
2) A-levels being taken and predicted grades? (Again, Scotland is a bit different)
Last year I did Higher (AS) Physics, Chemistry, Biology and French, and I did Advanced Higher (equivalent to A2 I think?) Pure Maths a year early. Results day is next Tuesday so my predicted grades for this year will depend on those. This year I'm doing Advanced Higher Physics, Mechanics and Statistics.
3) Why Cambridge?
I've wanted to go there for so long omg and having visited it during the open days it is absolutely incredible. The town and the university are so pretty, and so is the college I want to apply to (King's). Also it's an amazing university and the courses are high intensity which I think I'd quite enjoy.
UCAS specifically:
5) What other universities are you considering?
St Andrews and Imperial so far; yet to decide on my other 2
6) Which open days do you plan on attending?
I went to the Cambridge ones, and I went to St Andrews last year but I'm planning on going again this September. I'm also planning on going to the Imperial one in September.
7) What super/extra curricular activities are you doing to strengthen your application?
I've made a few websites like a revision website for AH maths that was used by about 2000 people last year and a dashboard site for my school's DofE department for my Gold Volunteering. I went to an EDT Headstart Computer Science summer school in Sheffield and I'm talking about our group project in that in my personal statement. I did work experience at a company called Cirrus Logic and I'm talking about what I did and learned during that. I'm also talking about maths competitions I've done.
8) Thoughts on the admission test now being the TMUA (Test of Mathematics for University Admissions) for 2020 CS entry?
I don't really mind it tbh, though I don't really like the fact that it's multiple choice because with the CSAT they were assessing your thinking style more than your final answer which is more important imo. There is a very limited number of past and spec TMUA papers though so most of my revision is with CSAT and STEP. Does anyone have any other advice on CTMUA prep?
1) GCSE grades (I'm in Scotland so they're N5s)
A1 A1 A1 A1 A1 A1 A2 A2
2) A-levels being taken and predicted grades? (Again, Scotland is a bit different)
Last year I did Higher (AS) Physics, Chemistry, Biology and French, and I did Advanced Higher (equivalent to A2 I think?) Pure Maths a year early. Results day is next Tuesday so my predicted grades for this year will depend on those. This year I'm doing Advanced Higher Physics, Mechanics and Statistics.
3) Why Cambridge?
I've wanted to go there for so long omg and having visited it during the open days it is absolutely incredible. The town and the university are so pretty, and so is the college I want to apply to (King's). Also it's an amazing university and the courses are high intensity which I think I'd quite enjoy.
UCAS specifically:
5) What other universities are you considering?
St Andrews and Imperial so far; yet to decide on my other 2
6) Which open days do you plan on attending?
I went to the Cambridge ones, and I went to St Andrews last year but I'm planning on going again this September. I'm also planning on going to the Imperial one in September.
7) What super/extra curricular activities are you doing to strengthen your application?
I've made a few websites like a revision website for AH maths that was used by about 2000 people last year and a dashboard site for my school's DofE department for my Gold Volunteering. I went to an EDT Headstart Computer Science summer school in Sheffield and I'm talking about our group project in that in my personal statement. I did work experience at a company called Cirrus Logic and I'm talking about what I did and learned during that. I'm also talking about maths competitions I've done.
8) Thoughts on the admission test now being the TMUA (Test of Mathematics for University Admissions) for 2020 CS entry?
I don't really mind it tbh, though I don't really like the fact that it's multiple choice because with the CSAT they were assessing your thinking style more than your final answer which is more important imo. There is a very limited number of past and spec TMUA papers though so most of my revision is with CSAT and STEP. Does anyone have any other advice on CTMUA prep?
Original post by sbneelu
8) Thoughts on the admission test now being the TMUA (Test of Mathematics for University Admissions) for 2020 CS entry?
I don't really mind it tbh, though I don't really like the fact that it's multiple choice because with the CSAT they were assessing your thinking style more than your final answer which is more important imo. There is a very limited number of past and spec TMUA papers though so most of my revision is with CSAT and STEP. Does anyone have any other advice on CTMUA prep?
I don't really mind it tbh, though I don't really like the fact that it's multiple choice because with the CSAT they were assessing your thinking style more than your final answer which is more important imo. There is a very limited number of past and spec TMUA papers though so most of my revision is with CSAT and STEP. Does anyone have any other advice on CTMUA prep?
MAT papers (especially the multiple choice section) look very relevant, more so than STEP (most STEP questions will be too hard) and probably more so than CSAT too (which is just a bit random).
Also, I'm a current Cambridge CompSci (going into 4th year), feel free to ask or PM me if you have any questions.
Hi guys!
1) 999999999A*A*
2) Maths: A* Physics: A* Further maths: A*
3) I love the course as it's slightlty more theoretical and I like the new module idea where the fellows do random modules on topics they're researching. I also think the facilities are amazing - compared to some of the unis I've been to, the Bill gates building is insane. Also, can't forget the reputation as it was the first university to even offer the CompSci degree.
5) Imperial, Durham, Warwick and Baths
6) I went to Cambridge, Imperial, Durham, Bath and Bristol this summer, and probably Warwick in October
7) I can program in python and do lots with this organisation called Stemettes, I did work experience at a ML company called Benevolent AI, super-curricular reading (obvs), UKMT challenges and the bebras challenge, I'm doing an EPQ where I'm making a robot and I've done the CyberFirst Advanced course
8)I'm so relieved - I think it's more accessible than the CSAT because there's a clear right or wrong, rather than the examiner marking your thought process, and I agree - it takes a lot of pressure off of interview day. As there aren't a huge amount of past papers, how are you guys prepping for it?
1) 999999999A*A*
2) Maths: A* Physics: A* Further maths: A*
3) I love the course as it's slightlty more theoretical and I like the new module idea where the fellows do random modules on topics they're researching. I also think the facilities are amazing - compared to some of the unis I've been to, the Bill gates building is insane. Also, can't forget the reputation as it was the first university to even offer the CompSci degree.
5) Imperial, Durham, Warwick and Baths
6) I went to Cambridge, Imperial, Durham, Bath and Bristol this summer, and probably Warwick in October
7) I can program in python and do lots with this organisation called Stemettes, I did work experience at a ML company called Benevolent AI, super-curricular reading (obvs), UKMT challenges and the bebras challenge, I'm doing an EPQ where I'm making a robot and I've done the CyberFirst Advanced course
8)I'm so relieved - I think it's more accessible than the CSAT because there's a clear right or wrong, rather than the examiner marking your thought process, and I agree - it takes a lot of pressure off of interview day. As there aren't a huge amount of past papers, how are you guys prepping for it?
Original post by sweeneyrod
MAT papers (especially the multiple choice section) look very relevant, more so than STEP (most STEP questions will be too hard) and probably more so than CSAT too (which is just a bit random).
Also, I'm a current Cambridge CompSci (going into 4th year), feel free to ask or PM me if you have any questions.
Also, I'm a current Cambridge CompSci (going into 4th year), feel free to ask or PM me if you have any questions.
Ah amazing, thank you so much!
Original post by sbneelu
I went to an EDT Headstart Computer Science summer school in Sheffield and I'm talking about our group project in that in my personal statement.
No way, it's Neelu! Sheffield was fun wasn't it?
I'm talking about the group project in my statement too. How's yours coming along? I'm stuck shortening it to the line limit.
(edited 4 years ago)
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