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Cambridge Natural Sciences (NatSci) Students and Applicants

Who here has an offer for (either Biological or Physical) Natural Sciences? What is your college and conditions? Have you started thinking about first year options yet?

Well done for getting an offer! Now it's just those grades.... :afraid:

Mod Edit: I'm changing the title and location of this thread so it's for current students too - that way it'll be more useful and (hopefully) more friendly for everyone :smile:

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Hey I applied for physical, see the sig for the other stuff.

First year options wise I'm thinking definitely Chemistry and Biology but I'm not too sure between Geology and Materials
Reply 2
wow, in ur Natsci phy interview, can i ask what question they asked you?? im in year 12 and thinking about applying it at Cam (hopefully!!!)
Reply 3
Hey!
Biological NatSci here (hopefully)!

I was absolutely astounded and reeeeally pleased with my offer (AAA Bio, Chem, Maths or Phys) 'cause I thought they were gonna offer 4As if they offered anything... and my maths is er... getting more pants (pantser? :P) every time I see a number to be honest!

Also, my UMS were frankly rubbish compared to most people round here - I'm worried I'm not good enough in exams and will be discovered to be a giant fraud if I go!!

Argh pessimism, *slaps self*!

First year options I'm hoping to stick to the biology side, perhaps an odd chemistry ... depending on the maths A level!
Reply 4
im really happy for you... im feeel soo nervous already...
Reply 5
Good to see a few (there has to be more!) to-be NatScis :smile: pretzel89, there's no need to feel like a fraud at all - if the admissions tutors at Jesus thought you were worth an offer, they obviously thought you'd cope fine with the course! And pessimism - I know the feeling. :p: 5 minutes after I got my offer I started to worry whether I'll miss the grades lol.

Provided I get my grades, the only option I'll definitely do is Biology of Cells. After that it'll be a toss up between Chemistry, Evolution and Physiology - and Geology sounds pretty fascinating too! :biggrin: As for the Maths... even though I did Further Maths AS there's no way I can cope with Cambridge-level Maths, so it'll most definitely be Quantitative Biology for me.

Ahhh, must not get too ahead of myself. I still need to get the conditions. (But I'm still so excited about the course!)
Reply 6
Yay for NatScis (especially biological)! Got an offer from St. Catz after being pooled from Emmanuel. :biggrin: Be excited Excalibur, let your imagnation run wild! Worrying is for later :wink: (Unless you have Jan exams, then now would probably a good time to worry - good incentive to work your socks off!)

Not to tempt fate, but provided everything goes alright in the summer, thinking of Biology of Cells, Physiology of Organisms and Physics or Chem. Look forward to going to lectures with you all! Originally I thought "Oooh there are 3 biology modules, and you can pick 3 modules. How perfect", but I was put off after speaking to a first year at my interview, who told me 3 biology modules is quite essay intensive. I haven't written any essays in two years! I think I've forgotten how :redface:
Jiajun
wow, in ur Natsci phy interview, can i ask what question they asked you?? im in year 12 and thinking about applying it at Cam (hopefully!!!)

sorry cant, they dont let you discuss the interview questions (makes it unfair on other applicants) best of luck though :smile:
Reply 8
MaryMoo
Yay for NatScis (especially biological)! Got an offer from St. Catz after being pooled from Emmanuel. :biggrin: Be excited Excalibur, let your imagnation run wild! Worrying is for later :wink: (Unless you have Jan exams, then now would probably a good time to worry - good incentive to work your socks off!)

Not to tempt fate, but provided everything goes alright in the summer, thinking of Biology of Cells, Physiology of Organisms and Physics or Chem. Look forward to going to lectures with you all! Originally I thought "Oooh there are 3 biology modules, and you can pick 3 modules. How perfect", but I was put off after speaking to a first year at my interview, who told me 3 biology modules is quite essay intensive. I haven't written any essays in two years! I think I've forgotten how :redface:


Glad you've got in! St Catz is a lovely college - and it's probably only slightly further from the Downing Site. Not like you've been pooled to Girton or anything :p: (even though Girton is beautiful!) Well done.

I wish I had taken Physics - that's my only real regret. It would have diversified my options a lot if I had and I really miss not knowing the basic physical principles behind things.

And 3 Bio modules may not be the best idea, actually. I haven't written a proper essay (well, not in English anyway :p: I have done essays in German) since GCSE History either, so I think I might be a bit rusty on that front.

Too excited about this :biggrin:
Reply 9
My friend (who also got an offer Bio NatSci) made an open application and ended up assigned to Girton. Hehehe. But you're right, I'm sure it is really beautiful. I loved the look of Downing on the open day, the accomodation they showed us was stunning! Did you get to stay there for your interview?

Ah I love Physics, mainly because my teacher is so lovely! The sad person that I am, I got really excited when I realised that Photosynthesis works using the Photo-electric effect, :redface: Ah the shame. I think Chemistry will let you understand the physical principals in Bio more than Physics would! :p:

(and we can struggle writing essays together ^_^)
Reply 10
Excalibur
I wish I had taken Physics - that's my only real regret. It would have diversified my options a lot if I had and I really miss not knowing the basic physical principles behind things.


Physics A-level is watered down so much to the point that is quite trivial at times. You didn't miss much, of course I am speaking about my exam board (Salters Horners :mad:).
Reply 11
Excalibur
Good to see a few (there has to be more!) to-be NatScis :smile: pretzel89, there's no need to feel like a fraud at all - if the admissions tutors at Jesus thought you were worth an offer, they obviously thought you'd cope fine with the course! And pessimism - I know the feeling. :p: 5 minutes after I got my offer I started to worry whether I'll miss the grades lol.

Provided I get my grades, the only option I'll definitely do is Biology of Cells. After that it'll be a toss up between Chemistry, Evolution and Physiology - and Geology sounds pretty fascinating too! :biggrin: As for the Maths... even though I did Further Maths AS there's no way I can cope with Cambridge-level Maths, so it'll most definitely be Quantitative Biology for me.

Ahhh, must not get too ahead of myself. I still need to get the conditions. (But I'm still so excited about the course!)


If you did further maths, you'll be fine with the normal maths course.

First term you won't do anything that will be new to you.
Reply 12
Physical NatSci At Clare for me, AAA offer, fingers crossed i cant go too wrong with that!
First year options, erm definitely physics plus 2 of geology, CompSci or Materials i think!

Im not sure but soo excited now! can't wait to just get school over with!
I got an offer for natural sciences at fitzwilliam. I'll definitely do physics and computer science, not sure about what else though. Chemistry might be quite useful, but something like geology or materials science might be interesting as a bit of a new subject.
Reply 14
Hey NatSci dudes! (You will soon get used to that term btw) I'm a third year NatSci; I did Cells, Physiology, Chem and EMB (well QB in the first term) for Part IA, Chem B, CDB and Path for Part IB, and am doing Pathology for Part II. Any (sensible!) questions, ask away.
Reply 15
Cataclysm
Physics A-level is watered down so much to the point that is quite trivial at times. You didn't miss much, of course I am speaking about my exam board (Salters Horners :mad:).


i share your pain, man...
Hiya everyone!
I have an AAA (bio, chem, physics/maths) offer for bio natsci at Pembroke, it still hasn't sunk in yet really...
Reply 17
MaryMoo
My friend (who also got an offer Bio NatSci) made an open application and ended up assigned to Girton. Hehehe. But you're right, I'm sure it is really beautiful. I loved the look of Downing on the open day, the accomodation they showed us was stunning! Did you get to stay there for your interview?

Ah I love Physics, mainly because my teacher is so lovely! The sad person that I am, I got really excited when I realised that Photosynthesis works using the Photo-electric effect, :redface: Ah the shame. I think Chemistry will let you understand the physical principals in Bio more than Physics would! :p:

(and we can struggle writing essays together ^_^)


I haven't actually had a look around Downing yet. :p: I missed the open day in July & September, and I didn't stay over for interview. I also tried not to have a look around more than necessary, in case I fell in love with it and got rejected. So I don't know much about Downing yet apart from what I know from pictures! I do hope the accommodation is as nice as you say :smile:

Cataclysm
Physics A-level is watered down so much to the point that is quite trivial at times. You didn't miss much, of course I am speaking about my exam board (Salters Horners :mad:).


lol. I suppose it's the same for most subjects, though.

Robob
If you did further maths, you'll be fine with the normal maths course.

First term you won't do anything that will be new to you.


Well, because my offer doesn't stipulate anything in Further Maths, I'm thinking of dropping Further Maths after AS (i.e. after I sit the 3 modules this month). I only put down that I'm doing AS on the UCAS form in case this happened so I won't be breaking any rules...! I'm still undecided though, even though FM does my head in sometimes I still love doing Maths..... I don't know what to do!

Isn't Maths A and B designed for Phys NatScis though? I thought QB or EMB is more useful for Bio NatScis.

*Joanna*
Hey NatSci dudes! (You will soon get used to that term btw) I'm a third year NatSci; I did Cells, Physiology, Chem and EMB (well QB in the first term) for Part IA, Chem B, CDB and Path for Part IB, and am doing Pathology for Part II. Any (sensible!) questions, ask away.


Hey! Since you asked I already have a question (:p: ) - how useful was doing Chemistry in Parts IA and IB? Do you have any opinions on Evolution & Behaviour (as it's that or Physiology, I think).

Lily The Pink
Hiya everyone!
I have an AAA (bio, chem, physics/maths) offer for bio natsci at Pembroke, it still hasn't sunk in yet really...


Oooh, one my close friends at school has got an offer for bio NatSci at Pembroke! You might have met her at interview (she went on the 6th of Dec).
I still don't undertand Cambridge's NatSci Tripos. :nn:

Though I wont be applying, so ignore this post.

:rolleyes: :biggrin:
Reply 19
Excalibur
Hey! Since you asked I already have a question (:p: ) - how useful was doing Chemistry in Parts IA and IB? Do you have any opinions on Evolution & Behaviour (as it's that or Physiology, I think).


If you have even the smallest inkling that you want to end up specialising in Chemistry, you need to to it at Part I. To be able to do it in your thrid year, it is possible to have only done one of A (physical) or B (organic and inorganic) at Part IB, but it will make your life difficult. As far as I'm aware, you can't do either Chemistry in your second year if you haven't done it in you first. Hell, I did it in my first year and I still struggled in my second. It didn't really make much difference for the subjects I took, but I would imagine that if you did Biochemistry and Molecular Biology or Pharmacology at Part IB, then Chemistry B would be helpful.

I didn't do Evolution & Behavoiur, but my friends that took it loved it. It sounds very interesting, but I'm not too good with stuff that doesn't have hard evidence and I got the impression it could be rather vague. It is a very essay based subject, but if you're heading in the direction of Zoology, Ecology, Animals, then it is a useful subject. Physiology can be very interesting in some places but extremely dull in others (read:tongue:lants and kidneys). It also goes into extreme detail, but I guess all of the courses do. It's just as hard as Cells, but hard in a different way, if that makes sense!

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