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Anyone accepted into Cambridge/imperial engineering, what were your ESAT scores?

Hi there,
Currently in year 12 and want to do aerospace at these unis. I think I've got quite a few good points to talk about for my personal statement, so I'm not too worried about that aspect. i did a practise ESAT and averaged around 60%. where should I go from here and what sort of baseline should I be aiming for. any other advice about the admissions process would be appreciated too. thanks

Reply 1

I got Cambridge and am waiting for Imperial after interview for Mech Eng. I got 7.6 Maths 1. 6.4 Maths 2. 6.8 Physics. I literally just practiced by going through past papers. I did score a little lower in the actual thing as opposed to my practice runs but thats prob just because of stress.

Reply 2

Original post
by FijianCamper
I got Cambridge and am waiting for Imperial after interview for Mech Eng. I got 7.6 Maths 1. 6.4 Maths 2. 6.8 Physics. I literally just practiced by going through past papers. I did score a little lower in the actual thing as opposed to my practice runs but thats prob just because of stress.

congrats bro that's really good. how did the interview go. also do you think your personal statement had much of an impact or is it mainly the test and interview
(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 3

Original post
by redbelsham
congrats bro that's really good. how did the interview go. also do you think your personal statement had much of an impact or is it mainly the test and interview

The first interview was very structured where I pretty much had a mini lesson followed by a question. It started with a simple mechanics question and then went to a fluid dynamics problem where the interviewer explained it all to me and then gave me problem to do with it. The second interview started with a graphing question where I needed to sketch something from the equation (these are pretty common). The second question was an electromagnetism scenario where I was very confused at the start since it was far beyond the level you get to in A-level physics but the interviewer helped me break it down to see what the individual components would do and then build it up to see how they would interact. They say that the interviews are meant to imitate supervisions which I would say is true because I actually left knowing more than I did when I came in. If you feel like you learnt something in the process you will have done well.

In terms of the entire application process I think every part builds on the last and you should approach everything trying to get to the next stage. I felt that the personal statement was kind of an introduction piece to try and give some personality to your application. My tips would be don’t include anything non academic and give that to your UCAS referee to put in your teacher reference. But the biggest part is the admissions tests. I’ve looked at a lot of admission statistics and I found the average successful applicant had a 6.5 averaged across their sections. Along with that I found a list of every application made to the uni for engineering and their respective ENGAA (old version of ESAT with same scoring system) scores. If you got a 9.0 in any of your sections you were pretty much guaranteed a place statistically even with pretty average other scores. Along with that you do get numerically scored for your interviews between 1 and 5 I think so that also makes a big chunk of the application. It is also the place where you stop being just a series of exam scores. However, you are probably asked about 1 question on your personal statement so there is no space to try and take the interview in your own direction.

Sorry for getting a bit carried away but I might as well give all the advice I have on the topic since I have been rejected and accepted so know the process better than most.

Any other questions feel free to ask.

Reply 4

Original post
by FijianCamper
The first interview was very structured where I pretty much had a mini lesson followed by a question. It started with a simple mechanics question and then went to a fluid dynamics problem where the interviewer explained it all to me and then gave me problem to do with it. The second interview started with a graphing question where I needed to sketch something from the equation (these are pretty common). The second question was an electromagnetism scenario where I was very confused at the start since it was far beyond the level you get to in A-level physics but the interviewer helped me break it down to see what the individual components would do and then build it up to see how they would interact. They say that the interviews are meant to imitate supervisions which I would say is true because I actually left knowing more than I did when I came in. If you feel like you learnt something in the process you will have done well.
In terms of the entire application process I think every part builds on the last and you should approach everything trying to get to the next stage. I felt that the personal statement was kind of an introduction piece to try and give some personality to your application. My tips would be don’t include anything non academic and give that to your UCAS referee to put in your teacher reference. But the biggest part is the admissions tests. I’ve looked at a lot of admission statistics and I found the average successful applicant had a 6.5 averaged across their sections. Along with that I found a list of every application made to the uni for engineering and their respective ENGAA (old version of ESAT with same scoring system) scores. If you got a 9.0 in any of your sections you were pretty much guaranteed a place statistically even with pretty average other scores. Along with that you do get numerically scored for your interviews between 1 and 5 I think so that also makes a big chunk of the application. It is also the place where you stop being just a series of exam scores. However, you are probably asked about 1 question on your personal statement so there is no space to try and take the interview in your own direction.
Sorry for getting a bit carried away but I might as well give all the advice I have on the topic since I have been rejected and accepted so know the process better than most.
Any other questions feel free to ask.

Don't worry about it, I'd much rather an in depth accurate answer than anything else. Where did you find that list of past applicant test and interview scores? I know I don't have the best communication skills and don't really explain my thought processes amazingly so I think the interview will be most likely my weakest asset. What would deem an interview good or bad as well because I know lots of people come out thinking they've done well but find out the opposite?

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