Ask an Admissions Tutor IX, 4th August - 2nd September

Hello everyone and welcome to a new Ask an Admissions Tutor thread, back for its fourth year.

I will be here for the next month to answer your questions about admissions to Cambridge, especially if you are planning to apply this year but also to help those already holding an offer for this year and waiting for your results.

Do please fire away and I'll answer them as well and as quickly as I can.

Hi. I have two questions regarding portuguese qualifications and how they are evaluated.

I finished high school this June with 18,5/20 and was planning to apply for 2017 entry.

17/20 in Physics/Chemistry, Biology/Geology and Philosophy unfortunately lower my overall score (19s and 20s on other disciplines); even then, I believe the grades I obtained on the national exams, for Physics/Chem and Biology/Geology (18,5 and 18,8, respectively) show better aptitude at these subjects than the school grades suggest.

Any insight on how admission officers weight portuguese school grades vs exams scores? My exam scores are overall much better than school grades and I am worried my application won't be competitive enough if judged based on the last.

I understand most UK schools consider a 18/20 equivalent to an A. By that reasoning, is a 19/20 an A+ and a 17/20 an A-?

Hello, Thanks for opening this thread. I am an International student keen to start Computer Science (2017 entry). I am expecting predicted IB score of 39-40 (7/7/5 or 7/6/5) HL subjects being Physics, Comp. Science,Maths. Sadly, Maths is where I might get a 5. I know a lot goes in an application – Personal Statement, CSAT etc., but what would be the weightage of these grades? I do have some programming experience but don’t find Maths to be a barrier on live projects.

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Hello and thanks for your question. The standard IB offer is 40-42 points, with most colleges offering at 41 or 42 points so you really need to be aiming for that level at least. I'm afraid that if you are predicted a 5 in HL Maths then you won;t be called for interview. Your offer would almost certainly specify a 7 in Maths.

We don't weight specific parts of an application and for different people different things end up as more important.

Hi

How much do you value the EPQ - especially if the majority of your school takes it? I'm thinking of applying to Medicine and will be studying Biology, Chemistry, Maths and FM. Since I am taking 4 A Levels, the EPQ, which would have been compulsory if I took 3, is an optional qualification for me to take. As it is time-consuming, I was wondering if it is even worth doing if you do not value it much as a qualification.

Thanks

Hello. I wanted to know whether I can apply for Maths at cambridge and Maths with Statistics at other universities?

Hi , i am hoping to apply for Bsc Economics (L100) at Cambridge this year. I am taking the full maths a level this year and the further maths a level next year aswell as 2 further maths modules this year aswell. If say i get an a* in maths but a C in both further maths modules, yet be predicted an a* for further maths, and do well in the admissions test will those C grades be looked down upon?

I know you discourage over-preparing for admissions tests, but I don't want to go in and do anything without preparation (I struggle with mind blanks for a few seconds/minutes when i first start exams). How could I go about being more comfortable with the admissions tests, and practise/prepare a little in advance?

I'm wanting to apply for History.

Also, I'm highly talented at History and even wrote a degree standard essay when I was age 12. I also have a burning passion for it and want to be a History professor in a university when I'm older. But I'm scared I've messed up my English exams, despite being second highest in the subject, (and highest for History). I'm thinking of applying regardless, but if I re-apply post A2 with the required A-Level grades, and hence take a gap year, would the gap year be looked down upon?

Regarding the pre-interview assessments, are the currently available specimen papers an accurate representation of the difficulty of the real papers?

Yes, absolutely. You can apply for any other subject you like at other universities - we will consider you for the subject you apply for here and don't know what else you've applied for.

Hello and thanks for your questions. Always good to see someone interested in History!

Taking a gap year would not be looked down upon. Lots of students do this, I usually have at least one historian at Christ's every year who arrives from a gap year.

In terms of preparation for the History Admissions Assessment, you will see from the specimen that what is expected is source analysis and comparison. So if you wish to practice then analysing sources, especially sources discuss similar topics, is what you should do.