Ask an Admissions Tutor XIV: 28 August - 14 September

OP

Original post by stuartaverage

Hi Murray Edwards,

What do you think of the HPQ over at Cambridge? At my school, we were only permitted to do 8 GCSEs and had to undertake an HPQ. As such I feel a little small -- everyone else seems to have at least 9 GCSEs. Will my HPQ at all, in any way, boost my GCSE profile... or even be recognised?

Thanks a lot! And thanks for doing the forum.

R :smile:

You won't be held back by having 8 GCSes and the HPQ. It isn't a qualification we see very often but we will judge your performance in it as the equivalent of another GCSE.

Reply 81

OP

Original post by qw1234

How important is the ECAA in the admissions process? Do you consider it more important than the personal statement? More important than the interview? How significant will it be if someone scores very well in it (like 8.0 or more)?

No part of the application is weighted and so it's impossible to say that in every case the ECAA would be regarded as more important than this or less important than that. A good score in the ECAA would certainly be regarded as a positive in an application but won't swing things on its own one way or the other. Generally the personal statement is not considered as a particularly important element on its own but, in a humanities subject, it can often form a useful part of the interview discussion.

Reply 82

OP

Original post by isiaiah d

Hi, Imperialhave reccomend I retake chemistry despite only being 1 mark off - would you also reccomend this for chemical engineering? (I have A*A*A in Physics,Maths,Chemistry and will be doing further maths in my gap year)

Our first judgement would be on how you performed in Year 13 - the retake would be difficult to assess becausee we have to make a decision before you get a mark. if you do retake, however, there is every chance that our offer would include an A* or A in Chemistry as well as in FM so we could be sure of a sufficiently high performance given that you have taken three years to complete your A Levels.

Reply 83

OP

Original post by LostElectron

Do you think id stand a better chance doing Natural Sciences at Cam or Chemistry/ Biochem at Oxford than Med because of my GCSEs.

I can't say about Oxford but your GCSEs would also be fairly low for Nat Sci at Cambridge but there are, of course, many other elements to consider too. An important question for you, however, is how strong your commitment to Medicine is if you are thinking about other courses at Oxbridge. Medicine is a big commitment of time on your part and resources on the part of the government and the university who trains you, so yo need to be sure that becoming a doctor is what you really want to do.

Reply 84

CompSciCat

11

Is a post-qualifications applicant (in particular for computer science with maths) expected to perform better in the admissions assessment and interviews not only in terms of obviously having learned more topics in the last year of school, but also in general (e.g in terms of problem solving ability)?

Reply 85

ANON xx

8

Hi Murray Edwards,

I'm applying for English at Newnham and I take A-Levels in: English Literature, History and Chemistry
My predicted grades are A*AA
I'm finding my personal statement quite hard to write - how many authors/texts do you recommend mentioning?
What are your top tips for writing a statement for English? What does 'analytically' and 'critically' even mean? :frown:

I adore my subject but I'm worried that I'm not getting that across

Thank you

Reply 86

ParentSaraG

6

Original post by Murray Edwards Admissions

Our first judgement would be on how you performed in Year 13 - the retake would be difficult to assess becausee we have to make a decision before you get a mark. if you do retake, however, there is every chance that our offer would include an A* or A in Chemistry as well as in FM so we could be sure of a sufficiently high performance given that you have taken three years to complete your A Levels.

Hi again Dr Spencer!

Other prospective applicants may find it useful to know that Imperial has a minimum offer of A*A*A (3 A level applicant) and up to A*A*A*A (4 A level applicant). They insist upon A* in Chemistry (as @isiaiah d has been told) and A* in Maths.

Broadly on this topic, may I ask about Churchill College and Chemical Engineering - is it a bit like Maths at Trinity? Churchill's history in being founded speciifically as a largely STEM college? A lot of families we know seem to regard Imperial and Churchill as the 'Meccas' of Chem Eng (and Engineering in general).

Reply 87

ParentSaraG

6

Original post by isiaiah d

Hi, Imperialhave reccomend I retake chemistry despite only being 1 mark off - would you also reccomend this for chemical engineering? (I have A*A*A in Physics,Maths,Chemistry and will be doing further maths in my gap year)

For your Chemistry, did you already ask for a re-mark? Appeal following re-mark?

Reply 88

transient life

14

Original post by Doonesbury

The 21+ thread is here:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4847762
Ask an Admissions Tutor applying age 21+

Posted from TSR Mobile

Hi I did see that, however it appears as though the thread has not been active for some months and so hasn't Lucy Cavendish :frown:

Reply 89

isiaiah d

18

Original post by ParentSaraG

For your Chemistry, did you already ask for a re-mark? Appeal following re-mark?

yeah theres definately a mark im entitled to but my paper went down 1 mark so now I need to find another on another paper which I'm not as hopeful for

Reply 90

Assembly

15

Hey Murray Edwards

I'm thinking of applying to law at Cambridge, however i'm concerned my A level subject combination and average gcses (compared to Cambridge applicants) might hold me back for a popular course like law.

I'm doing Engliah Literature, English Language and History, i'm predicted A*AA - will doing two variations of English limit my application?

As for Gcses, I got 7,7,*A,B,B,B,C,C,C,D (the two sevens were in English Lit and English Lang - so might I might look inflexible?).

Do you think those circumstances might limit my chances at getting an interview in any way?

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 91

Shazzer38

Hello and thank you for doing this!

If I got 7A*, three 9s and an 8 in RS, will that in any way put me behind other candidates if I apply for philosophy (other candidates who may have a 9 in rs gcse?)

Thanks!

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 92

Doones

21

Original post by transient life

Hi I did see that, however it appears as though the thread has not been active for some months and so hasn't Lucy Cavendish :frown:

Well they are the 21+ specialist :wink:

. And you can always email any/all of the mature colleges for their views :smile:

Reply 93

OP

Original post by sotirmali

Hello and thank you for doing this!
I'm a physical Natsci applicant and I took the AEA maths exam this summer (year 12), however I scored a Merit (5 marks off a Distinction), which I feel that it didn't demonstrate my mathematical skills. Does this penalise me?
Also, which do you think is more beneficial: an EPQ or taking STEP (although it's not required for Natsci)?
Thanks!

No, you wouldn't be penalised for only getting a merit in the AEA. your performance would still be considered a good one I think.

In terms of preparation for Cambridge, STEP is more useful than an EPQ I think but sitting the TEP exam is not going to be part of your offer. You may just find that practising it will help develop your Maths skills, which is always useful if you are serious about doing Physics.

Reply 94

OP

Original post by Fonzworth

Would it be alright to apply to HSPS with an International Relations based personal statement, or would it be better to also include more politics stuff too?

It's absolutely fine to make you UCAS personal statement about International Relations, if that is what you are applying for at other universities. There is an opportunity on the SAQ for you to write an additional, Cambridge-specific personal statement which will allow you to expand on why HSPS is right for you.

Reply 95

OP

Original post by CompSciCat

Is a post-qualifications applicant (in particular for computer science with maths) expected to perform better in the admissions assessment and interviews not only in terms of obviously having learned more topics in the last year of school, but also in general (e.g in terms of problem solving ability)?

It's something that might be in the back of our minds but is not going to be a very major factor.

Reply 96

OP

Original post by ANON xx

Hi Murray Edwards,

I'm applying for English at Newnham and I take A-Levels in: English Literature, History and Chemistry
My predicted grades are A*AA
I'm finding my personal statement quite hard to write - how many authors/texts do you recommend mentioning?
What are your top tips for writing a statement for English? What does 'analytically' and 'critically' even mean? :frown:

I adore my subject but I'm worried that I'm not getting that across

Thank you

Hello and thanks for your question. Don't worry that the personal statement is hard, you aren't the only person to feel that. There isn't one good way of writing a personal statement or of how many books you should mention. What I would say is that don't just list authors or books, it gives the reader no sense of what you thought about them.

Being analytical is moving beyond asking 'what is happening' to asking 'how is it happening' and 'why is is happening'? Being critical is going beyond thinking a particular author or critic is great and always right, not taking things on face value and discussing the things you don't like or don't agree with and saying why that is the case.

I hope that helps a little. Best of luck! :smile:

Reply 97

OP

Original post by ParentSaraG

Hi again Dr Spencer!

Other prospective applicants may find it useful to know that Imperial has a minimum offer of A*A*A (3 A level applicant) and up to A*A*A*A (4 A level applicant). They insist upon A* in Chemistry (as @isiaiah d has been told) and A* in Maths.

Broadly on this topic, may I ask about Churchill College and Chemical Engineering - is it a bit like Maths at Trinity? Churchill's history in being founded speciifically as a largely STEM college? A lot of families we know seem to regard Imperial and Churchill as the 'Meccas' of Chem Eng (and Engineering in general).

Thank you for that update on Imperial's position.

Churchill was founded with a STEM focus in mind and a higher proportion of its undergraduate intake is in STEM subjects than other colleges. Partly because of these two facts, it does get a lot of applicants for STEM subjects, including Engineering (and Comp Sci particularly). That doesn't necessarily make it *better* for Engineering or specifically Chem Eng than any other college. Students at Churchill go to the same lectures as everybody else, there are strong Engineering fellows at every college and supervisors are shared across colleges extensively.

Churchill get strong results in Engineering but they aren't the strongest in the University and these things often go up and down over time. In short, a student who would do well at Churchill, would do well at any other college and, indeed, at Imperial.

Reply 98

OP

Original post by Assembly

Hey Murray Edwards

I'm thinking of applying to law at Cambridge, however i'm concerned my A level subject combination and average gcses (compared to Cambridge applicants) might hold me back for a popular course like law.

I'm doing Engliah Literature, English Language and History, i'm predicted A*AA - will doing two variations of English limit my application?

As for Gcses, I got 7,7,*A,B,B,B,C,C,C,D (the two sevens were in English Lit and English Lang - so might I might look inflexible?).

Do you think those circumstances might limit my chances at getting an interview in any way?

Hello and thanks for your questions. Your GCSE results and predictions are not the strongest on paper that we will see and will be among the weaker ones. The application is not all about paper exam results, though, and you will have other chances to show your strengths. There is a chance that you would not get interviewed but I would expect that you would be invited.

Reply 99

OP