Cambridge uni questions
1. if i start 6th form taking 4 a levels and then drop 1 will that damage my application by showing Cambridge that i struggle to keep on top of a large workload?
2. do i need lots of extracurriculars to show I'm a well rounded student or do they care more about grades?
3. What do super curriculars usually consist of and do i need to come up with one. Will it make my application look better?
4. if when applying I choose a very popular college as my first preference will that decrease my chance of getting into the university or just my preferred college?
5. are there any books on engineering that people recommend to help prepare for uni?
6. if I am doing 4 a levels do I need to do an epq as well, bearing in mind the 6th form I want to go to doesn't offer them so I would need to find somewhere outside of school to do it?
That's all I can think of at the moment, thank you for any help.
Reply 1
1. if i start 6th form taking 4 a levels and then drop 1 will that damage my application by showing Cambridge that i struggle to keep on top of a large workload?
2. do i need lots of extracurriculars to show I'm a well rounded student or do they care more about grades?
3. What do super curriculars usually consist of and do i need to come up with one. Will it make my application look better?
4. if when applying I choose a very popular college as my first preference will that decrease my chance of getting into the university or just my preferred college?
5. are there any books on engineering that people recommend to help prepare for uni?
6. if I am doing 4 a levels do I need to do an epq as well, bearing in mind the 6th form I want to go to doesn't offer them so I would need to find somewhere outside of school to do it?
That's all I can think of at the moment, thank you for any help.
2) Not at all. Cambridge doesn't care about your extracurriculars or if you're well-rounded (sports, leadership positions etc), they care about academics. I think I had one line about my extracurriculars (and the skills I gained from them) in my personal statement, but it's not necessary to include them at all. If you do, I'd advise a couple lines maximum, not entire paragraphs.
3) Supercurriculars, on the other hand, are absolutely essential. Almost everyone applying to Cambridge is gonna have top grades, so supercurriculars are necessary if you want to stand out in any way. Supercurriculars include basically anything that has (remotely) to do with your chosen subject. Think about books you've read, projects you've done (for example being in engineering clubs or teams), contests/competitions, relevant work/volunteering experience, documentaries you've seen... Even your EPQ (if you choose to do one) can count as a supercurricular if it's related to engineering. Of course, you don't have to do all of this, but I'd advise to at least read some extra books so you can discuss them in your personal statement, and anything else you do can give you an extra bonus.
4) First of all, assuming you're applying for an undergraduate degree, you only get one choice of college; you don't apply to the university and make a list of preferred colleges afterwards (like they do at Durham for example), but you apply directly to the college. Overall, if your application is strong but your college is too competitive, there's a big chance that you'll be pooled to another college after your interviews. Thus, your college choice doesn't matter that much. The only exception is if you have a fairly "weak" application; then you might be deselected before the interview stage if you apply to a very popular college, while a less popular college might have given you a shot. Since pooling only happens after the interviews, your application would then be unsuccessful. I'd honestly just apply to the college you vibe with the most, chances that it's gonna affect your application are minimal.
Hope this answers some of your questions!
Reply 2
3) Supercurriculars, on the other hand, are absolutely essential. Almost everyone applying to Cambridge is gonna have top grades, so supercurriculars are necessary if you want to stand out in any way. Supercurriculars include basically anything that has (remotely) to do with your chosen subject. Think about books you've read, projects you've done (for example being in engineering clubs or teams), contests/competitions, relevant work/volunteering experience, documentaries you've seen... Even your EPQ (if you choose to do one) can count as a supercurricular if it's related to engineering. Of course, you don't have to do all of this, but I'd advise to at least read some extra books so you can discuss them in your personal statement, and anything else you do can give you an extra bonus.
4) First of all, assuming you're applying for an undergraduate degree, you only get one choice of college; you don't apply to the university and make a list of preferred colleges afterwards (like they do at Durham for example), but you apply directly to the college. Overall, if your application is strong but your college is too competitive, there's a big chance that you'll be pooled to another college after your interviews. Thus, your college choice doesn't matter that much. The only exception is if you have a fairly "weak" application; then you might be deselected before the interview stage if you apply to a very popular college, while a less popular college might have given you a shot. Since pooling only happens after the interviews, your application would then be unsuccessful. I'd honestly just apply to the college you vibe with the most, chances that it's gonna affect your application are minimal.
Hope this answers some of your questions!
that's really helpful tysm
Reply 3
1. if i start 6th form taking 4 a levels and then drop 1 will that damage my application by showing Cambridge that i struggle to keep on top of a large workload?
2. do i need lots of extracurriculars to show I'm a well rounded student or do they care more about grades?
3. What do super curriculars usually consist of and do i need to come up with one. Will it make my application look better?
4. if when applying I choose a very popular college as my first preference will that decrease my chance of getting into the university or just my preferred college?
5. are there any books on engineering that people recommend to help prepare for uni?
6. if I am doing 4 a levels do I need to do an epq as well, bearing in mind the 6th form I want to go to doesn't offer them so I would need to find somewhere outside of school to do it?
That's all I can think of at the moment, thank you for any help.
There are a lists of suggested supercurriculars at
https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/super-curricular_suggestions.pdf
https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/suggested-subject-resources
they cut across several of your points. They dont care about extracurriculars and it will simply take up space in your ps where you could talk about supercurriculars.
3 a levels is ok. They shouldnt infer that you couldnt handle the load if you dropped down from 4 to 3 at the end of y12 to do the as if thats normal for your school, Id contact the college youre applying to and ask for their advice. Obv do maths/further maths/... Similarly for the epq.
About the only thing to mention for engineering colleges is peterhouse, next door to engineering, require you to take step 2 at the end of y13 as well as esat. Prep for esat and doing harder engineering/maths questions (isaac physics, ....) will eat up a fair bit of time.
Reply 4
1. if i start 6th form taking 4 a levels and then drop 1 will that damage my application by showing Cambridge that i struggle to keep on top of a large workload?
2. do i need lots of extracurriculars to show I'm a well rounded student or do they care more about grades?
3. What do super curriculars usually consist of and do i need to come up with one. Will it make my application look better?
4. if when applying I choose a very popular college as my first preference will that decrease my chance of getting into the university or just my preferred college?
5. are there any books on engineering that people recommend to help prepare for uni?
6. if I am doing 4 a levels do I need to do an epq as well, bearing in mind the 6th form I want to go to doesn't offer them so I would need to find somewhere outside of school to do it?
That's all I can think of at the moment, thank you for any help.
Hi!
Regarding your first question, I have a conditional offer for a totally different subject (TRPR) and am literally just a random y13 lol so please keep that in mind!
1.
I applied with 4 a-levels and wanted to drop down to three due to extenuating circumstances and they weren't thrilled about it, partially because I wanted to drop a language when i was also taking a science and a language is more relevant to the course I had applied for. They eventually let me drop my language after I explained my situation further but I think for a really competitive course like engineering, try to stick with 4 a-levels for as long as possible if you're going to apply with 4.
1.
Supercurriculars seem to be more about showing how passionate you are about your subject - the best thing to do is just try to engage with and immerse yourself in the subject as much as possible to build up your knowledge and ability to think creatively about your subject. Cambridge as well as other universities hold lots of subject webinars which I found great to get a good academic overview of a subject and a point to jump off from for further research. essay competitons are also really good for this, even if you don't win them it's a great opportunity to really dig into a subject (that you can then talk about on your personal statement) and practice your academic writing with a deadline to motivate you!
My school told me that the best thing to do for supercurriculars on your personal statement is to not just list things you have done, but talk about what you did with the knowledge you gained from that webinar or book or essay you wrote and how that led you to other topics in your subject and why you found it interesting.
2.
When choosing a college the best thing to do is visit in person and choose the one you feel the most at home at, or the one that fits your wants and needs. I guess the smaller colleges have more time to assess each application but again, especially for a very competitive course like engineering it's best to follow your heart - the only way you guarantee that you don't get an offer from a college is if you don't apply! Plus, if your application is still very strong but there aren't enough places in the college for your course, you can be 'pooled' and other colleges can pick you up.
1.
For books, try looking at the university or college reading lists - they should have some recommendations there. Other universities also have good reading lists. Also, if you can get to open days I really recommend speaking to or even e-mailing faculty members and asking them for advice or about what they're interested in, they're usually really nice and passionate about their subject and are very happy to direct you to good books or resources.
Reply 5
Regarding your first question, I have a conditional offer for a totally different subject (TRPR) and am literally just a random y13 lol so please keep that in mind!
1.
I applied with 4 a-levels and wanted to drop down to three due to extenuating circumstances and they weren't thrilled about it, partially because I wanted to drop a language when i was also taking a science and a language is more relevant to the course I had applied for. They eventually let me drop my language after I explained my situation further but I think for a really competitive course like engineering, try to stick with 4 a-levels for as long as possible if you're going to apply with 4.
1.
Supercurriculars seem to be more about showing how passionate you are about your subject - the best thing to do is just try to engage with and immerse yourself in the subject as much as possible to build up your knowledge and ability to think creatively about your subject. Cambridge as well as other universities hold lots of subject webinars which I found great to get a good academic overview of a subject and a point to jump off from for further research. essay competitons are also really good for this, even if you don't win them it's a great opportunity to really dig into a subject (that you can then talk about on your personal statement) and practice your academic writing with a deadline to motivate you!
My school told me that the best thing to do for supercurriculars on your personal statement is to not just list things you have done, but talk about what you did with the knowledge you gained from that webinar or book or essay you wrote and how that led you to other topics in your subject and why you found it interesting.
2.
When choosing a college the best thing to do is visit in person and choose the one you feel the most at home at, or the one that fits your wants and needs. I guess the smaller colleges have more time to assess each application but again, especially for a very competitive course like engineering it's best to follow your heart - the only way you guarantee that you don't get an offer from a college is if you don't apply! Plus, if your application is still very strong but there aren't enough places in the college for your course, you can be 'pooled' and other colleges can pick you up.
1.
For books, try looking at the university or college reading lists - they should have some recommendations there. Other universities also have good reading lists. Also, if you can get to open days I really recommend speaking to or even e-mailing faculty members and asking them for advice or about what they're interested in, they're usually really nice and passionate about their subject and are very happy to direct you to good books or resources.
thank you! good luck in your a levels x
Reply 6
https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/super-curricular_suggestions.pdf
https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/suggested-subject-resources
they cut across several of your points. They dont care about extracurriculars and it will simply take up space in your ps where you could talk about supercurriculars.
3 a levels is ok. They shouldnt infer that you couldnt handle the load if you dropped down from 4 to 3 at the end of y12 to do the as if thats normal for your school, Id contact the college youre applying to and ask for their advice. Obv do maths/further maths/... Similarly for the epq.
About the only thing to mention for engineering colleges is peterhouse, next door to engineering, require you to take step 2 at the end of y13 as well as esat. Prep for esat and doing harder engineering/maths questions (isaac physics, ....) will eat up a fair bit of time.
thank you!
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