Newnham College 2021

Omg hi, I’ve been waiting for this thread to appear haha.
I’m Ria and I’m applying to do HSPS probably at Newnham but I’m not 100% sure yet.

HEY!

Me too honestly I lost patience so thought I'd take the plunge myself. I'm applying for History and am pretty 100% sure its Newnham or nothing.

I am going to update the post in a couple of minutes to add a cheesy get-to-know quiz for anyone in the thread. You can answer if you want but its not compulsory. Just an interesting point for conversation starters

Haven't seen a discussion for this yet (hope this is okay)

Anyone applying to Newnham College starting in 2021 pop up in here. Never too early to get to know others, especially in strange and often isolating times brought on by the C word

About you (Optional)-

GCSE*:
Current A-Levels*:
School/College Type:
EPQ:
Course applying for:
Why Cambridge?:
Why Newnham?:

Just for fun!

Favourite food:
Favourite colour:
Any pets:
Where you're from:
Languages spoken:
Favourite music/ artist:
Fun fact about yourself:

*or other qualification type

GCSEs: 88887776665 (pretty mediocre rip)
Current A levels: Politics, History, German (I want A*A*A*, but I’ll hopefully get A*A*A predicted)
I did English lit AS hopefully I’ll get a B in that
School/college type: I’m currently in a state college, I went to a tiny private school for GCSEs.
EPQ: yep, my title is To What Extent is Sexism the Reason the United States is yet to have a Female President.
Course: HSPS
Why Cambridge?: The course is unique and one of a kind, the supervision system is perfect for me, I want to be challenged, it’s gorgeous, my dad went so the family connection is nice.
Why Newnham?: Badass feminist history, stunning, great location, looks friendly, big kitchens (I love to cook). Also hopefully living with all girls will be slightly cleaner!

Favourite food: I’m a big foodie so I don’t think I can chose just one! My dad makes a mean Bolognese though and I love cooking with lemons because they are so versatile.
Favourite colour: probably like a lilac or a light green.
Any pets: nope, my little sister is enough!
Where I’m from: South Wales
Languages Spoken: English and conversational German.
Favourite music: my music taste is all over the place, mostly indie rock and the glee soundtrack.
Fun fact: I’m big into trivia, I can list all 50 states in America and all the countries in the world. I’m working on US presidents atm.

Wow lol. I can just about list the 50 states but I always miss about 20 countries. I do map quizzes for fun glad to know it’s not just me!

My EPQ is based on local history of my town and how if it was better shown off we could see an economic boost, especially as we have taken a hit with de-industrialisation. Quite unique in that sense

Seems we aren’t too far off in GCSEs. I know I could’ve done better but my predicted grades are A*A*A at A level. I’ve been state all through and more fortunate than lots, but was let down by an “Outstanding” secondary school... hoping so badly that I have a good chance at getting in, but I am not overly confident, can’t have if I don’t try though!

Are you a sporcle fan as well?
I should of done better then I did but I was emotional last year and cried and lot and then was pretty lazy, my work ethic and mental health have been much better since since I started A-levels. I hope my passion, interest and enthusiasm can make up for my lacklustre grades
Where else do you want to apply? I think I’ll be applying to Durham, York, Bath and Sussex. Although if Cambridge doesn’t work out and my results are good I’m taking a gap year anyway so I may reapply or apply to some places in the US that have good financial aid.

Sporcle yes hahaha.

Elsewhere, just local universities. Durham, York, Leeds and Teesside as a backup. If I don’t get into Cambridge I’ll probably go to York. Such a beautiful city and university, plus I can get a direct train home if I fancy visiting.

York is one of my favourites at the moment as well. I want to go further away and it’s gorgeous and not too intimidating and seems friendly. I don’t want to go to a big city or a big party uni. Bath is my closest and Sussex would be convenient if I didn’t do well in my A levels because it’s near where my grandad lives. I like the idea of Durham but it’s the furthest away and I’m not 100% on the course. I just hope that corona will end by next spring time so I can do offer holders days so I can visit a uni before going. The only one I’ve been to is Cam atm

Haven't seen a discussion for this yet (hope this is okay)

Anyone applying to Newnham College starting in 2021 pop up in here. Never too early to get to know others, especially in strange and often isolating times brought on by the C word

About you (Optional)-

GCSE*:
Current A-Levels*:
School/College Type:
EPQ:
Course applying for:
Why Cambridge?:
Why Newnham?:

Just for fun!

Favourite food:
Favourite colour:
Any pets:
Where you're from:
Languages spoken:
Favourite music/ artist:
Fun fact about yourself:

*or other qualification type

Hey!

Ok so I’ve decided to come over from that other Essay Competition thread because I want to keep my options open as even though my heart says Girton as my main application choice, I do really like Newnham.
Also there’s no harm in doing thing anyways bc it means I get to know ppl at least even if I end up picking to apply for Girton over Newnham

GCSE*: 9888777766 (the 6s were funnily enough both on a day where I was threw up during the morning exam eek)
Current A-Levels*: English Lit, Drama, Religious Studies (A*AA predicted & got that in my ‘mock mocks’ this summer)
School/College Type: Independent/Private
EPQ: didn’t do one but I wish I did - if I did I would’ve probably done one related to English Lit maybe Poetry related because poetry is my absolute fave part of English
Course applying for: English Lit
Why Cambridge?: I just think that the environment and work ethic would really work for me and the standards and competition and level of teaching (& style of teaching) and exploration of the subjects that goes on there is ideal for the way in which I work. I love to go above and beyond exploring my favourite subjects in my own time and just devoting my chill time to reading poetry and understanding poetry etc and I think that’s the kind of vibe I get from Cambridge as a place to study too it’s just full of people who have that same passion. Also it’s an incredibly beautiful city and grounds which I think gives it an overall lovely and ebullient atmosphere which I think would be so fun to live and learn in!
Why Newnham?: Before I looked at Girton I really liked Newnham for multiple reasons; the library looked absolutely amazing and as an English student I love to have a calm place like that to study, it seemed a super friendly and welcoming college (also as you guys have mentioned with that bada$$ female energy and history within its walls), it is one of the best colleges for English I think and is close by to where lectures are lol and the grounds/accommodation just looked so stunning. I do also really love Girton a lot but I’m not gonna elaborate on that as it won’t be interesting to you guys aha.


Favourite food: Quorn Mozzerella and Pesto ‘no chicken’ escalopes or veggie Caesar Salad (I’m a vegetarian as u can tell lol)
Favourite colour: probably a light blue or maybe lilac
Any pets: I have a nearly 3 month old chocolate Labrador puppy named Frank!
Where you're from: Buckhurst Hill (outskirts of London like circa 10 miles, on the central line)
Languages spoken: English, GCSE level German (so pretty basic & limited conversational), some absolutely basic French - my older brother is fluent in Spanish and French though !
Favourite music/ artist: Tame Impala is my all time fave, I like lots of different artists and songs but I generally hang somewhere between Indie and Pop genre wise
Fun fact about yourself: I do pointe in Ballet (Grade 6) though I haven’t done enough during quarantine aha, also funnily enough I can also list the 50 states and in alphabetical order (i learnt it via a cheesy song when i was in year 6 for some reason?????lol)
also sorta related to my first fact I can do the splits on both legs (but not the middle splits) and it’s always my party trick ha


Again as I said on the last thread I’m a big talker so sorry this was so long winded!!

So has anyone else started making revision resources yet. I got absolutely hounded when I started making mine in November. Lockdown has been good because I’ve nearly finished with making them and will just need to read them again and again soon

So has anyone else started making revision resources yet. I got absolutely hounded when I started making mine in November. Lockdown has been good because I’ve nearly finished with making them and will just need to read them again and again soon

Yes SAME I started making some for Religious Studies back in December and all my friends told me I’m going burn out from starting so early with them but because there’s so much content I thought that it would be best to start back then so that I have all of the first year of content in notes finished at least by this summer! With that I mainly just write up notes in Pukka pads and split them into the different topic sections.

English Lit revision is slightly more abstract for me, I’ve made some flash cards but I think I still need to condense some of my notes and also probably make some poem mindmaps (don’t judge mindmaps always seem to work best for me for poetry lol)

Drama is probably the hardest to revise for me as it’s a very ‘open’ subject in terms of revision - I find doing practise essays is the best method of revision (which generally applies to most essay subjects really if I’m being honest)

Also I agree with lockdown making things more productive! I’ve been finding I have lots of free time in which I generally sit out in the sun and do independent and extra subject reading and study!

Lucky for me Art doesn’t need revision, but History and Classics are so fact intense that they make up for it. Classics is the worst. Each module feels like an A level in itself. Augustan Rome, Homer’s Odyssey and Virgils Aeneid, then Love and Relationships in Ancient Society. On my fourth level arch folder for Classics alone. That and it’s harder to get high grades because it’s seen as a private subject, not many casual colleges have such intense and unique subjects...