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Cambridge university

I'd like to apply for psychological sciences. My a levels are psychology classics and English. At gcse I have a 9 in biology and chemistry and 8 in maths. I see that in some colleges they prefer maths or biology A level. Is it risky applying? Anyone on here get in with only psychology A level?
Reply 1
Applying will be "risky" regardless of your A level choices, I think the question to ask yourself is "Do I want to go to Cambridge to study psychological sciences?" if you are set on that as your top choice and you have grades close enough to what they ask for, then my recommendation would be to apply - at best you'll get an interview and get in and at worse you'll be accepted by another university and have a great time there. With 8s and 9s at GCSEs, if you are doing well in A levels, you can be pretty sure you'll get into a good uni for the degree you want to do, so don't write off Cambridge just because most psych applicants do maths or biology at level and you don't - if you can justify why this is the case and if you do well in the admission test/interviews, it probably won't matter.
(edited 11 months ago)
Original post by Looloo55
I'd like to apply for psychological sciences. My a levels are psychology classics and English. At gcse I have a 9 in biology and chemistry and 8 in maths. I see that in some colleges they prefer maths or biology A level. Is it risky applying? Anyone on here get in with only psychology A level?

I think it's unlikely honestly. Bear in mind that the psychology courses there spun out of the psychology options taken by natural sciences students, and those are also still options for students on the course. In general the psychology department there leans very heavily on the scientific/experimental side of psychology and correspondingly my understanding was that there is a preference towards those with a scientific background.

However, it's one choice out of your five on UCAS, so as long as you choose your other choices appropriately there's little reason to believe having one long shot choice in there is going to make you not be likely to get any offers! But I would suggest approaching it as a long shot/dice roll and not invest yourself too much in it to avoid excess disappointment if you aren't successful.
Reply 3
Original post by Mikesh-777
Applying will be "risky" regardless of your A level choices, I think the question to ask yourself is "Do I want to go to Cambridge to study psychological sciences?" if you are set on that as your top choice and you have grades close enough to what they ask for, then my recommendation would be to apply - at best you'll get an interview and get in and at worse you'll be accepted by another university and have a great time there. With 8s and 9s at GCSEs, if you are doing well in A levels, you can be pretty sure you'll get into a good uni for the degree you want to do, so don't write off Cambridge just because most psych applicants do maths or biology at level and you don't - if you can justify why this is the case and if you do well in the admission test/interviews, it probably won't matter.


Thank you so much.
Reply 4
Original post by Looloo55
I'd like to apply for psychological sciences. My a levels are psychology classics and English. At gcse I have a 9 in biology and chemistry and 8 in maths. I see that in some colleges they prefer maths or biology A level. Is it risky applying? Anyone on here get in with only psychology A level?


Is this for the PBS Tripos? Generally, if the Entry Requirements for some colleges (here I think it's about 50% of them just from a quick scan of the pdf file) specify that certain subjects are preferred then it's usually a strong hint that those subjects will give you a definite advantage; or conversely, if you don't have at least one of those subjects then you may struggle with some aspects of the course. It looks like some of the colleges that don't specify Maths or Biology actually ask for a higher offer (A*A*A) than those who do, so it would still be a risk for you.

Are you applying as a mature student btw? I looked at your profile to see if you'd previously supplied any more details on your A levels and predicted grades and was a bit surprised to see that you were apparently applying for Medicine courses a couple of years ago, which suggested you would have had Chemistry A level at least...
Reply 5
Original post by davros
Is this for the PBS Tripos? Generally, if the Entry Requirements for some colleges (here I think it's about 50% of them just from a quick scan of the pdf file) specify that certain subjects are preferred then it's usually a strong hint that those subjects will give you a definite advantage; or conversely, if you don't have at least one of those subjects then you may struggle with some aspects of the course. It looks like some of the colleges that don't specify Maths or Biology actually ask for a higher offer (A*A*A) than those who do, so it would still be a risk for you.

Are you applying as a mature student btw? I looked at your profile to see if you'd previously supplied any more details on your A levels and predicted grades and was a bit surprised to see that you were apparently applying for Medicine courses a couple of years ago, which suggested you would have had Chemistry A level at least...


-: ) this is my mum's login that was used for my brother who eventually got into medicine. Haha. I wondered if this might confuse someone.
Reply 6
Original post by Looloo55
-: ) this is my mum's login that was used for my brother who eventually got into medicine. Haha. I wondered if this might confuse someone.

Kings college says it will take either biology or maths A level or a 9/8 in 2 or more science GCSE'S. You would hope they wouldn't write those requirements if they didn't mean. I'll have to do better in the assessment than those with biology or maths A level then

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