Questions about Cambridge

Hi! I am interested in going to Cambridge for my university of choice. I know it is a high expectation which is why I have come here for advice.
I am at my final year of GCSEs and I was wondering two things:
1. What can I do in the next coming years to stand out and improve my work?
2. Is it worth emailing Cambridge to ask about the course I am interested in and any summer courses they may be holding in the next few years?

Reply 1

Paralove

Use https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/events-listing to keep up with events and stuff you can sign up for. You can filter it by year group.

For now, three things: do as well as you can at GCSE, pick suitable A-Levels, and just anything that seems interesting to you to find out more about, do it - don't worry if it is always exactly relevant to what you think you'd like to study. Now is a time to be curious and keeping open minded.

PS don't apply to Cambridge just because it's Cambridge. If you wouldn't be that keen on the course if it wasn't Cambridge then you should rethink your options...!

Reply 2

Anonymous18.

Original post by Paralove

Use https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/events-listing to keep up with events and stuff you can sign up for. You can filter it by year group.
For now, three things: do as well as you can at GCSE, pick suitable A-Levels, and just anything that seems interesting to you to find out more about, do it - don't worry if it is always exactly relevant to what you think you'd like to study. Now is a time to be curious and keeping open minded.
PS don't apply to Cambridge just because it's Cambridge. If you wouldn't be that keen on the course if it wasn't Cambridge then you should rethink your options...!

Your last point is something I’m really torn about. I am interested in Computer Science/Mathematics and I don’t know if I want to Cambridge because that is what I want or what others want.

However, I also feel really motivated to try get into Cambridge hence why I was wondering if I should email about it.

So it is a situation that I am stuck on but I feel motivated to go through the process of Cambridge!

Reply 3

Paralove

Original post by Anonymous18.

Your last point is something I’m really torn about. I am interested in Computer Science/Mathematics and I don’t know if I want to Cambridge because that is what I want or what others want.
However, I also feel really motivated to try get into Cambridge hence why I was wondering if I should email about it.
So it is a situation that I am stuck on but I feel motivated to go through the process of Cambridge!

Well you've got ages to think and explore. Just make sure you take Further Maths A-Level!

Just bc something is called computer science or maths or whatever else at multiple unis doesn't mean every course is right for you. Cambridge will be far more theoretical than you might get elsewhere for CS for example.

When you research unis, make sure you read course outlines and find the department website as well which often has even more details on course content. Have a look at stuff like: what is optional or compulsory in each year; how are you assessed; what other opportunities like study abroad or work placements are included (if any). If you look at module options, use that as inspiration for your own extra reading/activities - find a talk or whatever on it to see if that's something you might be interested in or not, which in turn helps work out what kind of course you want. And then you balance that academic side with other things you want out of your time at university.

I'd also recommend looking at joint honours courses or those that get listed as recommended when you're looking at one course for a uni - they're usually suggested because of related content, overlap or interdisciplinarity. You don't only have to commit to Maths or CS, you could do both together, or plenty of other courses that will still get you into similar or adjacent fields.

Reply 4

TheSturmanator

I would worry most about getting the best grades you can at GCSE. If you are interested in computer science, get coding! There aren’t any specific things they need to see, just someone who is really interested and good at their subject. In terms of summer camps, I would steer clear of these unless they are actually run by the university (I’m aware of only two of these, the physics and and the chemistry ones). I say this because other summer camps are frowned upon by Cambridge because they are run by people who claim that the summer camps will help get you into the uni, who then charge ridiculous amounts for very privileged students to go. Cambridge themselves say that this doesn’t give anyone an advantage. I went on Cambridge Univeristy’s Isaac Physics camp, which was run by the uni and funded by them, so completely free for me. This, I’ve been told, may be an advantage for me as it was Cambridge themselves. Rant over.
I got onto that physics camp by just studying a lot of extra physics that I liked the look of, so I became good at it. That’s all you should do for now. Read books, listen to podcasts, consume as much information as you can. You don’t need much to show for it, because the interviewers will definitely notice in the interview.

Reply 5

mqb2766

Original post by Anonymous18.

Your last point is something I’m really torn about. I am interested in Computer Science/Mathematics and I don’t know if I want to Cambridge because that is what I want or what others want.
However, I also feel really motivated to try get into Cambridge hence why I was wondering if I should email about it.
So it is a situation that I am stuck on but I feel motivated to go through the process of Cambridge!

The supercurriculum suggestions are at
https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/super-curricular_suggestions.pdf
so have a read/investigate those (and similar lists at oxford, ...) before contacting them, otherwise youre just showing that you cant be bothered to use google.

But largely, things like summer schools are not listed .... Not because they are not good, but for a couple of reasons

you learn from doing stuff yourself, not being entertained for a few days

they want to see in your ps (and revision for step/tmua) what you do yourself

So put some effort into doing supercurriculars (theyre not expecting perfection, just to demonstrate an intrest) in ~y12 and get a decent set of gcses this year

Reply 6

lalexm

Original post by Anonymous18.

Get the best GCSE grades possible, and think about what degree you want to do so that you can pick the appropriate A-Levels. There is nothing else you need to do for now. You will need super curriculars to get into Cambridge, but it’s too early to worry about them now. You can start once you’ve completed your GCSE. My daughters did not start theirs until about Apr of y12 and still got in. Summer schools don’t help you get in, particularly the paid for ones.