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I did bad in the pre interview assessment

Good morning,
I did the Cambridge pre interview Natural Science assessment (NSAA) and it went bad. Is still there a chance I'll be invited for the interview?

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Reply 1

eloquent45

So, how bad is bad actually?

Reply 2

black1blade

Describe exactly how bad. Say if you got in the bottom 10-20% you might not get an interview.

Reply 3

wolfmoon88

Sometimes students think the admissions assessment went very badly but it wasn't as bad as you may think... the interview assessment has passed so I wouldn't worry too much. I would start focusing on the next chapter/ business i.e. preparing for an interview even if an invitation does not come.

Reply 4

eloquent45

Original post by black1blade

Describe exactly how bad. Say if you got in the bottom 10-20% you might not get an interview.

Add that if you’re among the lowest cohort in all of the three parts, there’s a slight chance they’ll reject you before interview. But I think to be f*cked up in (two or) three parts you should be doing really bad, like really really bad.

Reply 5

CormaniF

Results are not out yet, but I think I got around 20-30%

Reply 6

David888

The average entry line is a bit above 50%. I think you might still get an interview but would need good predicted grades and to really shine at interview. The exact percentage score doesn't mean that much because people can have different amounts of luck in guessing the multiple choice questions, so two identical candidates could easily have a difference of 10% in their score based on lucky or unlucky guesswork.

Reply 7

Doones

Original post by CormaniF

Good morning,
I did the Cambridge pre interview Natural Science assessment (NSAA) and it went bad. Is still there a chance I'll be invited for the interview?

Original post by CormaniF

Results are not out yet, but I think I got around 20-30%

Original post by David888

The average entry line is a bit above 50%.

No.

There's no pass mark (and you won't get results, if at all, unless you request post-Decision feedback.)

It's just one part of the consideration of your application. People last year with very low scores had offers nevermind interviews.

If the rest of your application is strong then you should be fine. You'll know for sure in a few weeks...

Good luck :smile:

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 8

David888

Original post by Doonesbury

No.
There's no pass mark

An average entry mark is not the same thing as a mandatory entry requirement, but it is a rough gauge of the competition. Glad to hear that it's not the be all and end all, though, as my son also found this tough.

Reply 9

Doones

Original post by David888

Well also consider that these assessments are specifically written to "test" the top 2% of the A-level population. It's likely that nearly everyone finds them pretty tough and it will be the first time that a previously "Straight A*" student will be properly "pushed" by a test. :smile:

Also focussing on an "average entry mark" can be rather misleading - the spread is honestly *very* wide.

Good luck to your son (and you :wink:

, as a parent I know what it's like... ) :smile:

Reply 10

David888

Thank you so much for providing an 'inside' perspective. I only posted my 'I think ....' because I was struggling to find such guidance before you posted. My son's teacher had given him the 50%+ figure based on last year, but from your comments it clearly isn't that helpful, even if accurate. Your comments will certainly reassure my son, as he was asking broadly the same question as Cormani yesterday evening.

Good luck to everyone who's having a go - while we may or may not get in to Cambridge, there are enough science problems out there in the big wide world to keep us all busy!

:goodluck:

Reply 11

Doones

Original post by David888

No problem at all. And I have a chart somewhere showing the spread of marks for applicants Vs offer holders for the ENGAA (Engineering). I'll dig it out asap. All the AAs will show a similar profile.

PS. My son is already at Cambridge (Engineering) and started before these assessments came in. But he did do STEP so I know what "hard" feels like for a DC and a parent... :smile:

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Reply 12

CormaniF

Thank you everyone for your responses!!

Reply 13

Doones

Original post by David888

Here's that ENGAA chart:
ENGAA - S1 - Apps v Offers.jpg

The spread of marks for Offer holders is 1.6 to 9.0
And the coefficient of correlation for Scores and Offers is 0.39 (that's officially "weak").

Reply 14

David888

Thanks Doonesbury, that gives a much more useful picture than an average entry mark. I wish your son strength, happiness and a rewarding career :smile:

Reply 15

Doones

Original post by David888

Thanks Doonesbury, that gives a much more useful picture than an average entry mark. I wish your son strength, happiness and a rewarding career :smile:

Good good.

And you're very kind. So far he's on target :smile:

Hopefully your DS will join him next year.

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(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 16

Mingsan9

Original post by Doonesbury

Here's that ENGAA chart:
ENGAA - S1 - Apps v Offers.jpg

The spread of marks for Offer holders is 1.6 to 9.0
And the coefficient of correlation for Scores and Offers is 0.39 (that's officially "weak" :wink:

Do you also have a chart for Natsci applicants and their NSAA scores?

Reply 17

Doones

Original post by Mingsan9

Do you also have a chart for Natsci applicants and their NSAA scores?

Nope. But I guarantee it will be similar.

Reply 18

bazinga19

Original post by Doonesbury

Nope. But I guarantee it will be similar.

Doonesbury, I did well on the section 1 on the ENGAA and also did well on the paper 2 which required working but unfortunately for the paper 2 I forgot to shade in my answers in the beginning of the paper. Does the college review that paper since it required working? If I get a 0 does that mean I dont get an interview?