Extra activities for Computer Science

Hi, I am currently in year 12 doing maths, further maths, computer science and physics. ( likely to get somewhere around 4 A*s )

I am hoping to apply to Imperial and Cambridge for a Computer Science degree, and was just looking for some advice on what I should do outside of the curriculum to help me.

I know this question is asked literally all the time, but I would find it a lot easier if someone directly told me ( especially if they have experience ) so I thought why not ask anyway.

So far, I have done the SMC and achieved gold, and have been practicing my programming on websites like codeforces and euler project. I am also looking into things like advent of code.
Unfortunately my school doesn't really organise things like bebras or BIO as there aren't enough people doing CS for it to be worth the school's time, and was wondering if this will even make much of a difference at all.

I have also been trying to find some interesting books to read about CS just to develop my knowledge further. I would appreciate any book recommendations!

Finally, I am planning on trying some projects like making a compiler or an emulator just to get something cool on my personal statement.

Really my main questions here are: am I missing any opportunities which will help me get into Imperial and Cambridge? And is there any important info about CS at those Unis that I should know?

(sorry for such long blabble )

Thanks

Reply 1

oceanb1ue

I think everything you're doing right now sounds really good! It's fine if your school doesn't offer Bebras or BIO, perhaps when it comes to it in Year 13 you could get your reference writer to make it clear you weren't given these opportunities, but really there are enough alternative things you could do, it won't affect your chances.
There's no specific things that would help you get in, just make sure the bulk of what you do is coding-heavy because obviously it's a CS degree, maybe for Cambridge as it's more academic you might want to mention a couple other things that are more book-based or research-based but you don't need to, anyways here are some suggestions:

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Work experience if you can get some, if you can't don't worry, for example I did virtual with Capgemini a couple years ago and that was a really good one if you want to check it out, we did a group project working with Amazon services like AWS and Rekogniton. Work experience of course shows lots of different skills and it's mirroring the real world which shows you can work well on a real life-like project

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If you're eligible, summer schools like the Sutton Trust offer really good programmes

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Running clubs, societies, support sessions etc or leading any kind of CS-related activities in your school would be really good, shows you're a good leader as well as someone who's passionate about the subject and wants to encourage others too

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The AMSP programme could be good if you want to do some maths problems, it's 12 weeks of online after school maths sessions. Of course computer science is very maths heavy so showing you're good at maths is key, well done on your gold in the SMC!

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Essay competition MAYBE, you don't need to go overboard with doing loads of course, maybe read around to find a particular one with an interesting topic that you'd genuinely enjoy exploring further, eg. the Gonville and Caius 2024 one was on quantum computing which I personally thought was really interesting so I researched that, but of course it's not a humanities subject so you don't need to go all out with essays

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Reading some books if you want, not a necessity again but could be cool to have a couple to talk about, I don't know any off the top of my head to recommend you but do check if Cambridge have published any reading lists that are of use

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But honestly projects are the biggest thing to focus on, do a few really good ones so you have some particular things to talk about

Good luck with your supercurriculars, tell me if you want any specific advice or you have any other questions

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