The Big "Are My Grades Good Enough for Cambridge?" Thread (Mk1)

Scroll to see replies

That's great for you but my questions were what UMS scores you've achieved in any modules taken so far? Extra-curriculars never damage your application but they're fairly irrelevant to Cambridge without sufficient academics to back it up, especially in Economics which is one of the most competitive courses.

I took c1c2m1 in jan and got 70 70 30

Obviously i'm retaking them all and using the mark scheme published 24hrs after i know i've got c1:90 m1:100 c2:? so far (hopefully will get 90-100 in C2). Also in s1 i took friday i got 98. Economics unit 1 i got 70 and retaking, think i got ~80 on friday when i retook.

Those are results so far

Reply 9061

Oromis263

Original post by jameshewitt

bronze/silver/gold DofE completed, county rower, youngest briton to climb highest mountain in europe (Mt Elbrus), walked across england in 3 days and raised £2.5k for cancer research doing so, great north run in sept raising ~£1.5k, massive amount of experience with public speaking

haha i'm basically listing extracts from my personal statement :wink:

In terms of your grades, your GCSEs are fine. A little bit below average, but AS results are where it counts. It would be useful to know your UMS results so far in Maths. Other than that, good luck! EDIT: I see you've posted your UMS. So far, they look pretty strong, although you will have to put down your January scores. However, Cambridge do state that they understand some schools use January modules as a practise, and aren't taken as seriously (unless January is the only time you sit that paper, of course).

Oh, by the way as a little bit of advice, if that was you paraphrasing your extracurriculars on your PS, I would recommend cutting it down. Those few sentences amounted to 282 characters, which is roughly 7% of your whole personal statement. There is no denying that some of those achievements are amazing, but I would strongly recommend you consider whether or not they are really relevant to your course. Obviously, that all depends on what other universities you are considering, and where they stand on personal statement/extra-curriculars. In any case, some is good, but too much may mean you can't fit enough other things in!

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 9062

jameshewitt

Original post by Hypocrism

Your A*A*AA is fine-GCSEs are a little downside. But be careful in your PS. Cambridge will care very little about any of these things you mentioned compared to academia, and you will be better off if you ensure you put showing that you're passionate about economics and maths at a higher priority than describing these great things you've done.

will do, i've got sufficient evidence to show how passionate i am about econ/maths

Reply 9063

jameshewitt

Original post by Oromis263

In terms of your grades, your GCSEs are fine. A little bit below average, but AS results are where it counts. It would be useful to know your UMS results so far in Maths. Other than that, good luck!

Oh, by the way as a little bit of advice, if that was you paraphrasing your extracurriculars on your PS, I would recommend cutting it down. Those few sentences amounted to 282 characters, which is roughly 7% of your whole personal statement. There is no denying that some of those achievements are amazing, I would strongly recommend you consider whether or not they are really relevant to your course. Obviously, that all depends on what other universities you are considering, and where they stand on personal statement/extra-curriculars. In any case, some is good, but too much may mean you can't fit enough other things in!

I will keep this in mind, thank you for your advice. Planning to run PS by various teachers at my school before sending off to ensure it's perfected.

Reply 9064

HeyyImRyan

Original post by jameshewitt

will do, i've got sufficient evidence to show how passionate i am about econ/maths

Well then I'd personally suggest using that evidence which relates to your subject over climbing mountains or walking cross-country, when it comes to writing your personal statement.

Reply 9065

sam belknap

Hey guys,
Had a bit of a problem in my physics unit 1 test on the 17th of may where I got the times wrong and turned up 4 mins out over the hour mark so i have been widthdrawn (But sat the exam anyway) so i dont get a U, and retake it in janurary. Will this not help my chances of getting into oxbridge? i am predicted an A, and it was an honest mistake. And help would be much appreciated

Reply 9066

sam belknap

Oh btw I am looking to take either physics/engineering at uni at cam/ox and got 87/100 in c1 and 93/100 at s1 and doing as further maths next year :smile:

Reply 9067

George_

Here's a scenario: you don't do as well as you hoped in your AS levels. You know you could have done better, so you take deferred entry and try with you much better A2 results.

Does this affect the Cambridge application process. Is there a definite need to go off your AS level results, or can you take deferred entry and wait for your A2s?

Reply 9068

HeyyImRyan

Original post by George_

It wouldn't really be deferred entry I don't think, unless you have already been offered a place at the university (in which case, if accepted, your place will be ready and waiting after your year out of education). I assume you're really referring to just skipping the usual ucas cycle and applying on your gap year, in which case you will have A2 grades and I should imagine they would take precedence in your application in comparison to AS grades.

Meeting the entry requirements with your actual A2 grades however still won't guarantee you a place, it still comes down to your overall application, passion for the subject and how you fare in your interview. :smile:

Reply 9069

epilogueofyouth

I was about to ask this! Halfway through my exams, I'm fairly certain that I've failed History AS, my other subjects are French, Italian and English Literature.

I want to do Modern Languages, and I am worrying slightly as History is kind of linked. Would it heavily work against me? I am predicted very high grades in my other AS subjects, and so far it seems I've doing well, but would it, for example, completely deter Cambridge from offering me a place, if indeed it got to that stage?

Reply 9070

The Mr Z

Original post by George_

Yes entirely possible (though technically it's not deferred, deferred is applying for entry in two years rather than one)

You may want to find something related to your course to do on your gap year however, especially for mathematically focused subjects like the sciences, to improve your chances - taking a year out can be a disadvantage if you don't have something useful to do in it because you get rusty (especially with regards to your maths)

Doesn't mean you can't got travelling, but either find something for the other half or go travelling somewhere you are doing something productive, rather than treating it as a holiday.

Also - what you think of as bas AS grades may not actually be disadvantaging at application - if they are then you'll have a long way to catch up to meet the entry requirements with your A2s. You can always apply both years, don't be put off that because there's a lot of misinformation about what standard is needed to make a realistic application.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 9071

ErHi?

Hey Guys.

I'm new to TSR and want to apply to Cambridge next year for History, however I am highly doubtful I will even obtain an interview.

I achieved 3.5A* 3As and 3 Bs at GCSE but I am predicted 4 As at AS.

My UMS score for my January modules are :

History - 96 UMS
Biology - 92 UMS

What do you guys reckon?

Thanks.

Reply 9072

The Doggfather

Original post by ErHi?

My friend got 10 A's at GCSE (no A*'s) and got AAAB at AS Level
He got an interview at Oxford for History

Not sure about what Cambridge would accept

Reply 9073

Oromis263

Original post by ErHi?

What was the Biology out of? To be fair, if your other two subjects are more relevant, they won't mind that much, so long as you don't get a horrific result. Ultimately, you have acceptable GCSEs, and so long as you achieve similar UMS results this summer, you should be fine for an interview (PS and reference assumed to be good). Really, there isn't much else anyone can advise until you get yours results in August! Good luck for your results. :smile:

Reply 9074

ErHi?

Original post by Oromis263

I meant 82 sorry! And it was out of 90. I always get confused because of that history being out of 100 -_-

Erm I do English Lit and Economics as the other two subjects but didn't do any Jan modules.

I always worry about my GCSEs because my friend is applying for Economics and he has 8A*s and 2As.

I hope my UMS will be roughly the same, just gotta revise!

And thanks :smile:

Reply 9075