Cambridge A101 2020 Entry

I am aware that Cambridge doesn't need any admission tests. But what exactly are they looking for? How do I know that I am a strong candidate and might have a chance of getting an interview and ultimately the offer?
Many thanks😊

Hi there. I'm currently on the course, and would highly recomend emailing one of the colleges or the course level administrators/tutors. I had similar questions to you when I applied and actually got very good and detailed responses. The website also has decent information if I recall correctly.

In my opinion, and it is just my opinion, they do seem to rate good previous academics and also related work or voluntary experience. Some of the experience can be medical related (i.e volunteering in a care home etc), but actually it doesn't all have to be. When you apply there's an extra form to fill in and one of the pages has an experience log where you are meant to write what kind of stuff you've done and *most importantly* your reflections on that and why it helped you develop a particular skill or want to be a doctor. You'll also need an extra reference different to your UCAS one for the form, so it's worth thinking about who that might be.

If you get an interview, it's MMI (mini stations lasting 5ish minutes). In my year, there were 3 science/maths ones - broadly speaking biology, chemistry and maths and then 6 others which included stuff like ethics, understanding of the NHS, communication skills and so on. For the science/maths ones, the level of questions asked is nothing beyond what you'd find in the BMAT. It's important to show your working to the interviewer at that station. For the others, it's harder to prepare for, but I'd say just make sure you have thought about why you want to be a Doctor and also to have some idea of how healthcare in the UK works. If you are worried about the ethics station, I'd recomend reading the short introduction to ethics book. It's very short, and will give you a good framework of core principles. After that, as I understand it, you get points from each of the stations from the interviews and this is looked at within your application as a whole.

Let me know if you had any other questions. I can probably help more on the structure of the course and what it is like to be here. Questions on the admisisons process are best aimed to the admissions tutors, as they can give you more certain information! Good luck.

Hi there. I'm currently on the course, and would highly recomend emailing one of the colleges or the course level administrators/tutors. I had similar questions to you when I applied and actually got very good and detailed responses. The website also has decent information if I recall correctly.

In my opinion, and it is just my opinion, they do seem to rate good previous academics and also related work or voluntary experience. Some of the experience can be medical related (i.e volunteering in a care home etc), but actually it doesn't all have to be. When you apply there's an extra form to fill in and one of the pages has an experience log where you are meant to write what kind of stuff you've done and *most importantly* your reflections on that and why it helped you develop a particular skill or want to be a doctor. You'll also need an extra reference different to your UCAS one for the form, so it's worth thinking about who that might be.

If you get an interview, it's MMI (mini stations lasting 5ish minutes). In my year, there were 3 science/maths ones - broadly speaking biology, chemistry and maths and then 6 others which included stuff like ethics, understanding of the NHS, communication skills and so on. For the science/maths ones, the level of questions asked is nothing beyond what you'd find in the BMAT. It's important to show your working to the interviewer at that station. For the others, it's harder to prepare for, but I'd say just make sure you have thought about why you want to be a Doctor and also to have some idea of how healthcare in the UK works. If you are worried about the ethics station, I'd recomend reading the short introduction to ethics book. It's very short, and will give you a good framework of core principles. After that, as I understand it, you get points from each of the stations from the interviews and this is looked at within your application as a whole.

Let me know if you had any other questions. I can probably help more on the structure of the course and what it is like to be here. Questions on the admisisons process are best aimed to the admissions tutors, as they can give you more certain information! Good luck.

Hi there. I'm currently on the course, and would highly recomend emailing one of the colleges or the course level administrators/tutors. I had similar questions to you when I applied and actually got very good and detailed responses. The website also has decent information if I recall correctly.

In my opinion, and it is just my opinion, they do seem to rate good previous academics and also related work or voluntary experience. Some of the experience can be medical related (i.e volunteering in a care home etc), but actually it doesn't all have to be. When you apply there's an extra form to fill in and one of the pages has an experience log where you are meant to write what kind of stuff you've done and *most importantly* your reflections on that and why it helped you develop a particular skill or want to be a doctor. You'll also need an extra reference different to your UCAS one for the form, so it's worth thinking about who that might be.

If you get an interview, it's MMI (mini stations lasting 5ish minutes). In my year, there were 3 science/maths ones - broadly speaking biology, chemistry and maths and then 6 others which included stuff like ethics, understanding of the NHS, communication skills and so on. For the science/maths ones, the level of questions asked is nothing beyond what you'd find in the BMAT. It's important to show your working to the interviewer at that station. For the others, it's harder to prepare for, but I'd say just make sure you have thought about why you want to be a Doctor and also to have some idea of how healthcare in the UK works. If you are worried about the ethics station, I'd recomend reading the short introduction to ethics book. It's very short, and will give you a good framework of core principles. After that, as I understand it, you get points from each of the stations from the interviews and this is looked at within your application as a whole.

Let me know if you had any other questions. I can probably help more on the structure of the course and what it is like to be here. Questions on the admisisons process are best aimed to the admissions tutors, as they can give you more certain information! Good luck.

Hi! How are you finding it there?

College choices! Which college did you choose and why?

Does the SAQ have to be filled for this course too, because there is another form for the course isn't there?

Thanks!

Sorry, I'm not actually sure what the SAQ is? But there is another form you fill out in addition to your normal UCAS application.

I chose Hughes Hall because of its location tbh, and the fact that it has decent college-owned accomodation options. It's a good mature (21+) college and I'd say it's reasonably active as a place? I'd definitely recomend going to the open days and seeing how you feel, but I like Hughes Hall and I really like the collegiate system. I think it's nice being in a smaller autonomous community. (On a more practical note, Cambridge has some good financial support options in terms of uni wide bursaries and/or college bursaries - so research that too!)

The course is good in that it allows you to do some clinical stuff early. Having done 1 degree already, the preclinical years can feel a bit sloggish at times, but that will be the same everywhere. As for potential cons, I'll repeat what I said above or maybe on another thread somewhere else; Cambridge really loves its students to know the most preclinical things - so the syllabus and what you learn is a bit bigger than some other unis... so make sure you want to do that level of science. A good antidote to all that is the supervision system here; basically you have small group (3-4 people) teaching in all the subjects every week.

In terms of general uni choices, just think practically about where you want to be, and probably more importantly where suits your own personal strengths as a candidate. Every medicine offer is hard to come by and a huge achievement! Ultimately, we'll all end up in the same hospitals, so just make sure you choose whatever is best for you. Good luck! And any other q's - hopefully I can answer.

From reading last year’s thread, it seems they sent out invites on Monday 12 Nov for interviews on Tue and Wed of the following week (20-21). I’m assuming this means we will all find out on Monday - 548’s spreadsheet (above) doesn’t have any entries yet so hoping that’s the case 😊

Got an invite too for the 20th. Heard back at 12:50 this afternoon

Everyone who got an interview, please can I know your a level results, your most recent academic achievement and your university results.

Yay, well done! Hope it goes well Love your name by the way!


I put mine on the spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...gid=1212968231

I can’t seem to be able to access the spreadsheet. It says error not found.

I applied as an undergrad in third year, obvs got rejected. A*AA, alevel and predicted first. Decent work experience.