Cambridge Medicine Conditional Offer Pressure?

OP

Original post by tomahawker314

I can safely say i have never felt more inadequate in my life. Offer holder for Churchill maths need A*A*A* 11 in STEP 2 and 3 and am genuinely terrified tbh. how am i dealing with stress? badly is the answer

A*A*A*?! Isn't a typical offer A*A*A? :frown:

How are you in terms of revision?

Reply 3

tomahawker314

10

Original post by XxxvatxxX

A*A*A*?! Isn't a typical offer A*A*A? :frown:

How are you in terms of revision?

Well the A* in maths shouldnt be a problem and i am fairly confident on further maths but physics ans STEP is the real stress. I only got a B in physics mocks in january so have been really wokring on it last couple of months, am seeing improvements so hopefully that continues. Ive basically realised that the best way to deal with the pressure is to just do more work.

Reply 4

HeadHoncho

14

A level grade boundaries are not bad at all - they way grade boundaries are formulated hasn’t really changed so if you do well and typically would have got an A* in the old spec papers, it’s equally likely if not slightly more likely that you’ll get an A* in the new spec. Gratned I only did 2 new spec papers last year but managed to be well in the A* boundary in both

Reply 5

OP

Original post by HeadHoncho

A level grade boundaries are not bad at all - they way grade boundaries are formulated hasn’t really changed so if you do well and typically would have got an A* in the old spec papers, it’s equally likely if not slightly more likely that you’ll get an A* in the new spec. Gratned I only did 2 new spec papers last year but managed to be well in the A* boundary in both

Maybe right know I might be oblivious to the leniency but when doing topic questions, they really are not that easy and seeing the boundaries made me realise how much work has to be put in for that grade! But still, AS content right now should be relatively straight forward.

Reply 6

Original post by XxxvatxxX

For anyone who has got a conditional offer from Cambridge this year (or any other subject really), do you not feel pressure in delivering A*A*A at A Level?
And if you do, how are you dealing with the stress?

For someone like me hoping to apply next year and because I am doing only 3 A Levels, Maths Chem Bio, it kinda scares me that even if I get past the interview stage, how will I manage such an offer?! Also aren't the grade boundaries insane for OCR, atleast, for those subjects?? :redface:

Any opinions on this and any offer holders would be very interesting :smile:

Most actually exceed their offer (i.e. get A*A*A*+). If Cambridge has enough confidence in a candidate to give them an offer then the candidate should have confidence in themselves to achieving it :smile:

Yes there's a bit of (usually self-imposed) pressure to hit it, but it's really no different to the pressure high-achieving students put on themselves at GCSE/AS level.

Oh, and the % of students acheiving A* isn't hugely different between the exam boards. Approx 17% get A* in Maths, 8% in Bio, 9% in Chem., every year. It's perfectly achievable if you maintain your current level of working.

Reply 7

OP

Original post by Doonesbury

Most actually exceed their offer (i.e. get A*A*A*+). If Cambridge has enough confidence in a candidate to give them an offer then the candidate should have confidence in themselves to achieving it :smile:

Yes there's a bit of (usually self-imposed) pressure to hit it, but it's really no different to the pressure high-achieving students put on themselves at GCSE/AS level.

Oh, and the % of students acheiving A* isn't hugely different between the exam boards. Approx 17% get A* in Maths, 8% in Bio, 9% in Chem., every year. It's perfectly achievable if you maintain your current level of working.

Ah I see. Thanks!

But I do not get why Cambridge varies in its offers. Like Oxford just have a standard offer in each course and I am pretty sure they stick to that, but why doesn't Cambridge? Is it not always a standard 3 A Level offer?

Reply 8

nexttime

22

Its hard work and a lot of people have a healthy amount of stress regarding achieving it. But in realty, the rate at which people miss offers is very low, much lower than at other unis.

The exception being Cambridge maths, of course, where they use STEP as their real differenciator.

Original post by XxxvatxxX

Ah I see. Thanks!

But I do not get why Cambridge varies in its offers. Like Oxford just have a standard offer in each course and I am pretty sure they stick to that, but why doesn't Cambridge? Is it not always a standard 3 A Level offer?

The colleges have more independence at Cambridge, and they're left to do their own offers, to an extent. Not so at Oxford.

Reply 9

xxxxvvvxcc

8

Original post by XxxvatxxX

For anyone who has got a conditional offer from Cambridge this year (or any other subject really), do you not feel pressure in delivering A*A*A at A Level?
And if you do, how are you dealing with the stress?

For someone like me hoping to apply next year and because I am doing only 3 A Levels, Maths Chem Bio, it kinda scares me that even if I get past the interview stage, how will I manage such an offer?! Also aren't the grade boundaries insane for OCR, atleast, for those subjects?? :redface:

Any opinions on this and any offer holders would be very interesting :smile:

Pretty sure A*A*A is still relatively hard to achieve and also the colleges may ask for them in specific subjects...

Reply 10

Original post by xxvvvxxc

Pretty sure A*A*A is still relatively hard to achieve and also the colleges may ask for them in specific subjects...

It's not supposed to be easy... but it *is* supposed to be completely achievable. You don't get an interview unless they think you are a realistic candidate in the first place, and you don't get an offer unless, in the professional and experienced opinion of the DoS and the Admissions Tutor, they consider you are likely to make the offer and more importantly, be successful at Cambridge when you get there.

The professionals fully expect offer holders to be capable of making their offers. It's up to offer holders to have that same belief too :smile:

Reply 11

ImprobableCacti

15

Original post by XxxvatxxX

For anyone who has got a conditional offer from Cambridge this year (or any other subject really), do you not feel pressure in delivering A*A*A at A Level?
And if you do, how are you dealing with the stress?

For someone like me hoping to apply next year and because I am doing only 3 A Levels, Maths Chem Bio, it kinda scares me that even if I get past the interview stage, how will I manage such an offer?! Also aren't the grade boundaries insane for OCR, atleast, for those subjects?? :redface:

Any opinions on this and any offer holders would be very interesting :smile:

OCR Sciences... the unified papers oh my lord they are hard ://

Reply 12

username1865079

14

Original post by XxxvatxxX

Ah I see. Thanks!

But I do not get why Cambridge varies in its offers. Like Oxford just have a standard offer in each course and I am pretty sure they stick to that, but why doesn't Cambridge? Is it not always a standard 3 A Level offer?

Various reasons.
Sometimes they give you stricter offer because 1) they see some weakness in your ability, so higher offer gives them some assurance, or 2) they think you can too easily achieve the standard offer and they don’t want you to ‘cruiese’ too easily, so hoping a higher offer will get you keep on working hard, etc.

They really look at each candidate individually and varied offer is a part of that, too.

Reply 13

OP

Original post by ImprobableCacti

OCR Sciences... the unified papers oh my lord they are hard ://

Omg dont even get me started on them! :s-smilie:

Reply 14

OP

Original post by vincrows

Various reasons.
Sometimes they give you stricter offer because 1) they see some weakness in your ability, so higher offer gives them some assurance, or 2) they think you can too easily achieve the standard offer and they don’t want you to ‘cruiese’ too easily, so hoping a higher offer will get you keep on working hard, etc.

They really look at each candidate individually and varied offer is a part of that, too.

Then why do they have on their website A*A*A? Why can't they say beside it that this the minimum a conditional offer is at Cambridge and that sometimes they can ask for higher grades?

*They might do but I just cant find it :s-smilie:

*

Reply 15

Original post by XxxvatxxX

Then why do they have on their website A*A*A? Why can't they say beside it that this the minimum a conditional offer is at Cambridge and that sometimes they can ask for higher grades?

*They might do but I just cant find it :s-smilie:

*

It does. It specifically says: "Typical offers" and that's what many people will be asked for.

It also says: All undergraduate admissions decisions are the responsibility of the Cambridge Colleges so, in addition to the guidance below, check College websites for College-specific requirements.

https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/medicine

Reply 16

OP

Original post by Doonesbury

It does. It specifically says: "Typical offers" and that's what many people will be asked for.

It also says: All undergraduate admissions decisions are the responsibility of the Cambridge Colleges so, in addition to the guidance below, check College websites for College-specific requirements.

https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/medicine

Ah thanks.

Also "All undergraduate admissions decisions are the responsibility of the Cambridge Colleges" ..
does that mean what the colleges use in judging candidates may also be weighted different in each college, due to the partial independence they have?

Reply 17

Original post by XxxvatxxX

Ah thanks.

Also "All undergraduate admissions decisions are the responsibility of the Cambridge Colleges" ..
does that mean what the colleges use in judging candidates may also be weighted different in each college, due to the partial independence they have?

There's no specific weighting - everything is holistic.

Reply 18

OP