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Would I stare a chance of getting into Cambridge?

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Original post by Vlad1711
Also I'm going to push myself to do an epq on something along lines of reality if there being chance of escaping black holes and using Stephen hawking concepts


I would still retake english language as if you ever want a finance job and you dont have at least a B (normally an A), you will be automatically filtered out, before anyone sees it, even HR. Try to aim for something Classical Mechanics related.
Reply 61
Original post by Jai Sandhu
I would still retake english language as if you ever want a finance job and you dont have at least a B (normally an A), you will be automatically filtered out, before anyone sees it, even HR. Try to aim for something Classical Mechanics related.

What do you mean by classical mechanics related can you give me few examples? And yes I will try to push myself to an A in English gcse.
Reply 62
Original post by Jai Sandhu
I would still retake english language as if you ever want a finance job and you dont have at least a B (normally an A), you will be automatically filtered out, before anyone sees it, even HR. Try to aim for something Classical Mechanics related.

Also I'm considering a research job in future I.e phd
I say yeah. I think it's really snobby of any university to turn down great students just because they went through a bad time and doesn't have a perfect set of everything.
Reply 64
Original post by draculaura
I say yeah. I think it's really snobby of any university to turn down great students just because they went through a bad time and doesn't have a perfect set of everything.


Agreed, and that's why Cambridge would certainly consider the OP. They aren't snobby...

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Original post by Vlad1711
I know what you mean but I just feel like that doing 6 will get me a better chance of doing well as because of my GCSEs and I feel when I for example start everyone will be like I got 20 A*s or something along that and then I will only be able to say that I achieved Cs and Russian is an easier option for me to take instead just dropping it and achieving a better grade. So should I just basically then can do maths, further maths, Russian (ik only doing exam without lessons as I said to school I don't need any), and epq or is it expected you do 4 subjects with teaching? And if so what subjects will be more relevant for my degree in maths?
Thanks


Russian won't help first of all, and even if you do minimum work for it you could be doing more important A level work in that time, plus doing 6 won't be a huge advantage I think unless you apply post-A levels and get 6A*s.
And no one says they have 20A*s or something- don't exaggerate, it won't work in your favour here.
I think some people self-teach some maths modules but I don't do A level maths so I can't say specifically. As far as I've heard I don't think Cambridge mind if you've done a good job of teaching it to yourself.
Reply 66
Original post by c_english2017
Russian won't help first of all, and even if you do minimum work for it you could be doing more important A level work in that time, plus doing 6 won't be a huge advantage I think unless you apply post-A levels and get 6A*s.
And no one says they have 20A*s or something- don't exaggerate, it won't work in your favour here.
I think some people self-teach some maths modules but I don't do A level maths so I can't say specifically. As far as I've heard I don't think Cambridge mind if you've done a good job of teaching it to yourself.

What subject then would help more if you say Russian won't help?
Original post by Vlad1711
Hello,
I'm currently living in England and I've come here 5 years ago when I had no English knowledge at all and it was my third language my first language is Latvian and second is Russian. I also suffered from mental health issues while I was doing my GCSEs and my results for those were:
Russian- A*
Maths-A(2 marks of an A*)
IT- Distinction
Double science -AB(best in whole school)
French-C(2 marks of a B)
Art-C
English literature -C( 2 marks of a B)
Religious studies -C
Music-D
History-D(1 mark of a C)
English language-E( it was igcse exam board even though I gotten 24/50 in the exam that was a U so I was a little upset with that)
I'm hoping to do maths at Cambridge btw.
My current a levels and predictions are:
Maths:A*
Further maths:A*
Russian:A*
Psychology:A
Biology:B
So do you think with an extremely good personal statement would I even stand a chance of getting an interview at girton college in Cambridge?
Thank you a lot for responses it means a lot.

Hey there mate, I'd say you definitely still stand a chance, though you'd need to absolutely ace your A levels; I'm also a Cambridge hopeful, hoping for A*AA at A levels to do Law at Cambridge, I achieved pretty similarly disappointing GCSE'a (1A*, 3As, 2Bs, 2Cs, 1D1, 1E) and I'm retaking Maths which I achieved a B in. I got an A in English Langauge, which is considered one of the two most important GCSEs so I'd say definitely retake it. All mine were within 5 marks of the next grade which is extremely disappointing, which seems sort of similar to you, so best of luck to you, and you should definitely not give up.
Reply 68
Original post by AnonymousEric
Hey there mate, I'd say you definitely still stand a chance, though you'd need to absolutely ace your A levels; I'm also a Cambridge hopeful, hoping for A*AA at A levels to do Law at Cambridge, I achieved pretty similarly disappointing GCSE'a (1A*, 3As, 2Bs, 2Cs, 1D1, 1E) and I'm retaking Maths which I achieved a B in. I got an A in English Langauge, which is considered one of the two most important GCSEs so I'd say definitely retake it. All mine were within 5 marks of the next grade which is extremely disappointing, which seems sort of similar to you, so best of luck to you, and you should definitely not give up.

Aw thanks a lot
Reply 69
Original post by AnonymousEric
Hey there mate, I'd say you definitely still stand a chance, though you'd need to absolutely ace your A levels; I'm also a Cambridge hopeful, hoping for A*AA at A levels to do Law at Cambridge, I achieved pretty similarly disappointing GCSE'a (1A*, 3As, 2Bs, 2Cs, 1D1, 1E) and I'm retaking Maths which I achieved a B in. I got an A in English Langauge, which is considered one of the two most important GCSEs so I'd say definitely retake it. All mine were within 5 marks of the next grade which is extremely disappointing, which seems sort of similar to you, so best of luck to you, and you should definitely not give up.

What a levels are you doing? And which college you want to go to in Cambridge ?
Original post by Vlad1711
What a levels are you doing? And which college you want to go to in Cambridge ?


I just want to go to Cambridge University, don't know about colleges, I currently study Englisj Literature, History and Religious Studies. How about you?
Reply 71
Original post by AnonymousEric
I just want to go to Cambridge University, don't know about colleges, I currently study Englisj Literature, History and Religious Studies. How about you?


I'm also not sure about college but I study maths,further maths,biology,Russian, psychology and next year taking epq as wel
Original post by Vlad1711
I'm also not sure about college but I study maths,further maths,biology,Russian, psychology and next year taking epq as wel


Well, for starters that is absolutely ridiculous, 3 is the average, and 4 is considered exceptional, unless your a straight A* student you don't do 5, almost nobody does it, 6 is unheard of and stupid. Drop at least 2, otherwise your looking at all Es and Ds, the workload is unimaginable.
Reply 73
Original post by AnonymousEric
Well, for starters that is absolutely ridiculous, 3 is the average, and 4 is considered exceptional, unless your a straight A* student you don't do 5, almost nobody does it, 6 is unheard of and stupid. Drop at least 2, otherwise your looking at all Es and Ds, the workload is unimaginable.


I'm predicted 3 A*s 2As and a B so not Es or Ds
Original post by Vlad1711
I'm predicted 3 A*s 2As and a B so not Es or Ds


I strongly advise that you drop to 3 A levels and an EPQ, then focus on STEP. A lot of the people commenting, although have good intentions at heart, may not appreciate the Cambridge Maths entry system to its full extent. Your 3rd A level honestly doesn't mean crap, neither do your GCSE's (to an extent, but they do matter for jobs so seriously retake english, you dont know for sure you want to do a PhD, if you decide you dont, you're screwed), get solid predicted grades, 100% your AS levels (i.e. dont drop below 95% avg in AS M and FM) following which if you get an interview and then an offer, you wont have time for any of these other A levels outside of M, FM and Russian because you need to spend every waking moment of your U6th career doing STEP revision.
Reply 75
Original post by Jai Sandhu
I strongly advise that you drop to 3 A levels and an EPQ, then focus on STEP. A lot of the people commenting, although have good intentions at heart, may not appreciate the Cambridge Maths entry system to its full extent. Your 3rd A level honestly doesn't mean crap, neither do your GCSE's (to an extent, but they do matter for jobs so seriously retake english, you dont know for sure you want to do a PhD, if you decide you dont, you're screwed), get solid predicted grades, 100% your AS levels (i.e. dont drop below 95% avg in AS M and FM) following which if you get an interview and then an offer, you wont have time for any of these other A levels outside of M, FM and Russian because you need to spend every waking moment of your U6th career doing STEP revision.


I also Finnish my Russian a level this year is that allowed to Finnish your a level earlier or is that really bad to do?
Thanks
Original post by Vlad1711
I also Finnish my Russian a level this year is that allowed to Finnish your a level earlier or is that really bad to do?
Thanks


I think I heard somewhere that they like you to do 3 A levels in 1 year, but regardless, I don't think a Russian A-level will affect your chances of getting into Cambridge for Maths
Reply 77
Original post by Vlad1711
I also Finnish my Russian a level this year is that allowed to Finnish your a level earlier or is that really bad to do?
Thanks


That's fine. But you will need to complete 3 A-levels in Y13. (Plus STEP.)
Reply 78
Original post by Vlad1711
I'm predicted 3 A*s 2As and a B so not Es or Ds
You are in year 12 not year 13 so at this point predictions are pretty meaningless. They will be based on what the teacher thinks you are capable of individually not collectively.

You are not listening to what the experienced members on this forum are trying to tell you - that is that you do not need to take 6 A levels. You do not even need to take 5 A levels. If you achieve A*A*A*A* or even A*A*A* and get good STEP results combined with a good Personal Statement then there is no reason why you should not get an interview at Cambridge. As has already been pointed out, for Cambridge it is quality over quantity.
Reply 79
Original post by jneill
That's fine. But you will need to complete 3 A-levels in Y13. (Plus STEP.)


Is that full a levels so I need to do another one ? Or is doing an epq fine?

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