Ask an Admissions Tutor XIII 18 June - 12 July

No part of the application is 'counted' in the sense of given a specific weighting. We evaluate every piece of information that we're given and doing well in olympiads and Physics challenges would certainly be seen as a positive. Just how positive would depend on a number of factors, including other aspects of your application and what individual admissions tutors or directors and studies felt about the worth of such things.

Hi. How long does it usually take for a school to prepare for an admissions exam? I find out my results on the 7th of August but I really want to avoid bringing up the word oxbridge in front of teachers or friends until I know I have the right grades for an application. The issue is that I don't return until the 22nd from summer holidays. In short: would telling my teachers I want to apply on the 22nd be too short notice?

Ah I see. So if for example, I get a roentegenium award (the highest award you can get) in the cambridge chemistry challenge, should I apply to st catz (as they are the college that run it)?

Ah I see. So if for example, I get a roentegenium award (the highest award you can get) in the cambridge chemistry challenge, should I apply to st catz (as they are the college that run it)?

question from my girlfriend who doesn't have tsr: hi I'm a year 12 student looking to apply for hsps but I don't have a particularly strong GCSE profile (a mixture of A B and C grades) partly due to extenuating circumstances (severe mental health issues) nor do I have particularly academic a level subjects, i take sociology English language and photography (due to neither me nor my teachers recognising my academic potential until about mid year 12)

however I have really flourished in my a levels due to sorting out my mental health and am predicted A*A*A (A in English language). would you say it is worth applying with these subjects and grades or would you recommend swapping one of my subjects for a more academic a level and retaking year 12? are there any subjects you would recommend for hsps? or would this put me at a disadvantage due to having done my a levels over 3 years?

I'm a year 12 student doing Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Computer Science, predicted A*A*A*A respectively. I think realistically I'll get A*A*AA with the stars in both maths.

However, I had to restart year 12 after achieving AS grades of ABC in computer science, maths and media studies respectively. My old school didn't let me change media to further maths after me asking them, and as my parents were getting divorced they weren't bothered to go to the school to fix it. I was also diagnosed with migraines during last year, so my grades weren't my best work.

I want to do computer science at one of the following unis:

Cambridge
Imperial College London (with cyber security)
Southampton (with cyber security)
Warwick
York

However I'm worried that by applying to Cambridge I'm effectively wasting a space. I emailed Churchill college a while ago and they said my application would be considered as normal provided I give them an extenuating circumstances form, but I'm pretty sure it will lead to rejection anyway.

Is it worth applying to another uni in its place for safety (such as Bath), or going for it anyway? If I can get offers from at least Warwick and York, I could well apply to Cambridge and start preparing for the CSAT, but is it worth it?

I've done loads of extracurriculars and supercurriculars for computer science, such as work experience, workshops, Udemy courses, MOOCs, extra reading, making my own website etc. I am also improving my fluency in Russian.

I guess my questions boil down to this:

1) Am I extremely likely to get offers from Warwick and York?

2) If the answer to above is yes, should I still apply for Cambridge or be on the safe side?

Thanks for reading.

Hi. How long does it usually take for a school to prepare for an admissions exam? I find out my results on the 7th of August but I really want to avoid bringing up the word oxbridge in front of teachers or friends until I know I have the right grades for an application. The issue is that I don't return until the 22nd from summer holidays. In short: would telling my teachers I want to apply on the 22nd be too short notice?

Perhaps, if you like Catz, but it’s not quite as simple as that. I’ve run essay competitions in the past, for instance, where the winner has applied to the college and not been successful. We really do try to look at things holistically and not to place too much emphasis on any single part of an applicant’s profile.

How would you view someone who does 6-alevels? I've heard you frequently reject them, I myself take 6 (and am most likely getting 5 A*s and 1 A, with one A2 done a year early). I have done a lot of supercurricular work and extra reading around what I want to do (natsci), so I am not sure how my application would be looked at.

I want to do computer science at one of the following unis:
Cambridge
Imperial College London (with cyber security)
Southampton (with cyber security)
Warwick
York

Thank you for the questions. I’ll respond as if to her directly if that’s ok?

There is clearly significant improvement in your academic performance from GCSE to 6th Form and that is encouraging. An extenuating circumstances form will help us to contextualise your GCSE results in the light of what you have faced.


Your combination of subjects is unusual but HSPS is an open access subject and if you can show that you are engaged outside the classroom in areas covered by HSPS then I think you would still be a decent candidate and I wouldn’t suggest retaking the year to add in a more ‘academic’ subject.

I hope that helps and do feel free to ask more.

But would you say there are more who have done well in these college run challenges and whatnot who have then got a direct offer from them, than not? If I were an AT/DOS and I saw that an applicant has done well in a thing that I might have even created (or at least known about), I'd probably like them as an applicant (but that's just me of course). And with regards to the holistic approach, would doing well in multiple Olympiads (e.g. chemistry olympiad, BPhO, C3L6) be still a 'single part' per se (although of course it would look better than doing well in just one).

I’m an international student who is self teaching at home, currently in year 12 and I would like to apply for economics. I’m doing A level maths, further maths, physics and economics. So I spent two months studying A level maths and physics and got an A* in A level maths and an a in AS level physics in January. This summer I took A level further maths exams and AS level economics. So when applying I’ll get two full grades for A level with two predicted grades in physics and economics.
My questions are listed below.
1) Typically universities require three A level in their conditional offers(like A* A* A). But given that I would already get two full grades in my AS year, will Cambridge ask for two more grades? Like A* in economics and physics? Or just an A* in economics?
2)There is a probability that I’ll get high UMS in my AS further maths but relatively low UMS A2 further maths due to the fact that I suffered from depression a lot before A2 exams, which means I might only get an A in further maths, but I’m pretty sure that after retaking I’ll definitely get an A* because when doing past papers most of time I got almost full marks.
So my question is will the low A2 UMS affect my application? I’m quite confused because actually you only ask for AS grades not full A level grades.

I hope you can understand, thanks!!!

again from my girlfriend: thank you so much for your response! I have read a lot of books on politics and social theory and have spent a week shadowing my local MP and have been invited to and have attended various political functions organised by him. are there any other super curricular activities you would especially recommend for an hsps applicant?