Supercurricular Advice
I’m in Y12 currently, and I want to apply for computer science at top unis. I’m most interested in Imperial and will most likely apply to Oxbridge but i’m also interested in UCL, KCL, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Southampton.
After looking at past applicants, I’m concerned that i’m not doing enough right now. I’ve started TMUA prep but I’m not that confident in my maths skills I doubt that i can get above 6.5/7 so I want my ps to make up for it.
I’m an IBDP student, so I’m trying to link as many of my IAs (coursework) to CS but I’ll have only done half of them by UCAS applications in October. I’ll put the rest of the stuff that I’m doing as well as stuff I’m applying for but I’d really appreciate advice on what to do.
STATS:
GCSEs - 9999998887 (7 in Eng Lang)
predicted (nov) - 37/42
IB HL - CS, Maths AA, Spanish
IB SL - Eng Lit, Econ, Philosophy
CS EE on cryptography
essay competitions (I’ve entered one and plan to enter at least two more)
UNIQ
nuffield research placement
project euler + adventofcode
python, java, c/c++, html/css, sql, bash
two medium-scale personal projects (I have ideas but I’m very open to take advice on how best to do them)
run python club (teach programming skills to younger students and create small projects w them)
a few coding comps in Y10/11
read one book about quantum computing (should i read a maths/cs book as well?)
After looking at past applicants, I’m concerned that i’m not doing enough right now. I’ve started TMUA prep but I’m not that confident in my maths skills I doubt that i can get above 6.5/7 so I want my ps to make up for it.
I’m an IBDP student, so I’m trying to link as many of my IAs (coursework) to CS but I’ll have only done half of them by UCAS applications in October. I’ll put the rest of the stuff that I’m doing as well as stuff I’m applying for but I’d really appreciate advice on what to do.
STATS:
GCSEs - 9999998887 (7 in Eng Lang)
predicted (nov) - 37/42
IB HL - CS, Maths AA, Spanish
IB SL - Eng Lit, Econ, Philosophy
CS EE on cryptography
essay competitions (I’ve entered one and plan to enter at least two more)
UNIQ
nuffield research placement
project euler + adventofcode
python, java, c/c++, html/css, sql, bash
two medium-scale personal projects (I have ideas but I’m very open to take advice on how best to do them)
run python club (teach programming skills to younger students and create small projects w them)
a few coding comps in Y10/11
read one book about quantum computing (should i read a maths/cs book as well?)
Reply 1
i did girls who code summer self-paced program and read "the code book" by simon singh.
but this is a lot and rlly good!
but this is a lot and rlly good!
Reply 2
Best advice is to just keep at it with TMUA but save the resources for now do other maths related things to get better, it’s probably your best shot , ps Is overhyped it’s not that important
You probably don't need to do all of those things, although if you are interested it won't hurt to have done them. I wouldn't recommend doing any more than the things you have listed. You may not realise it now, but you will have less and less free time for supercurriculars as you progress through y12 so don't try to be overambitious in that respect and make sure you are prioritising the things that actually matter, i.e. entrance exam prep and A-Level prep. As for the supercurriculars you have decided to do:
essay competitions (I’ve entered one and plan to enter at least two more) - One or two at most is enough
UNIQ - Very good
nuffield research placement - Good
project euler + adventofcode - Interesting depending on what you write about it. If you just say 'I did x number of project euler questions' then thats not really all that interesting
python, java, c/c++, html/css, sql, bash - Good, but what about it? They don't care how many languages you think you can write in, they want specific concrete examples of coding
two medium-scale personal projects (I have ideas but I’m very open to take advice on how best to do them) - Good
run python club (teach programming skills to younger students and create small projects w them) - Good
a few coding comps in Y10/11 - Good depending on how you write about it
read one book about quantum computing (should i read a maths/cs book as well?) - Only mention if it links to something else you have done, or you are willing to expand on what you learned from the book.
Overall you have the ingredients to a good personal statement. But as I think I alluded to, its also about how you write about these things.
essay competitions (I’ve entered one and plan to enter at least two more) - One or two at most is enough
UNIQ - Very good
nuffield research placement - Good
project euler + adventofcode - Interesting depending on what you write about it. If you just say 'I did x number of project euler questions' then thats not really all that interesting
python, java, c/c++, html/css, sql, bash - Good, but what about it? They don't care how many languages you think you can write in, they want specific concrete examples of coding
two medium-scale personal projects (I have ideas but I’m very open to take advice on how best to do them) - Good
run python club (teach programming skills to younger students and create small projects w them) - Good
a few coding comps in Y10/11 - Good depending on how you write about it
read one book about quantum computing (should i read a maths/cs book as well?) - Only mention if it links to something else you have done, or you are willing to expand on what you learned from the book.
Overall you have the ingredients to a good personal statement. But as I think I alluded to, its also about how you write about these things.
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