💬 Which Cambridge Colleges Are Friendly to Reapplicants for Maths?

Hi everyone,
I'm a Chinese female applicant currently on a gap year, planning to reapply for Mathematics at Cambridge for 2026 entry. I’ll be 19 at the time of entry, and this is my second application.
Last year I applied to Selwyn, and although I had strong preparation and interview performance overall, I received an unusually low first interview score (~5.x/10) and my second interview score was about 9/10), despite fully solving the problems. I was pooled but not picked. I later learned that Selwyn admitted around 80–85% of students from UK state public schools last cycle, and I'm wondering whether that influenced outcomes for international applicants.
Since then, I’ve strengthened my profile:
STEP II & III predicted: S(about 110/120), S(about 100/120)
A-levels: 4 A*s (Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry – all full real exams)(while last year I submitted 3 predicted alevels)
Strong school support; I was initially assessed to have a ~85% chance of offer based on last year’s interview preparation
Finished self studying four IA math courses early this year.( mathematical analysis, number and sets, vector calculus, dynamics and relativity)
Probably will write a paper on my own research in math by the end of the year.
I’m now reconsidering my college choice. While Cambridge officially allows reapplicants, I understand that some colleges are more friendly or flexible, especially for Maths, than others.
I’d be really grateful if anyone could share:
Which colleges are known to be more welcoming to Maths reapplicants?
Which colleges are best avoided based on past data or culture?
Any examples of successful reapplications, especially from international/gap year students?
Are smaller colleges (e.g. Peterhouse, Queens’, Pembroke) more reasonable compared to ultra-competitive ones like Trinity?
Thank you so much for reading — I’d deeply appreciate any thoughts, advice, or personal experience 🙏
Happy to DM or connect privately if you’re also reapplying or have been through a similar process.

Applying to smaller colleges won’t do much, but Trinity is known for being ultra competitive for maths. There is no quota on how many state school students a college has to admit and the numbers are generally high in STEM subjects due to the fact that a lot of students from state schools apply for STEM subjects. How many state school students they take has no impact on your application.
For gap years, make sure you detail how you’re keeping up with your maths. You mentioned doing courses and this is a great thing that you should mention. Evidence of good STEP grades will drastically help your application too.
Afaik there are no college-specific views on gap year applicants for maths, but you could email the outreach accounts of colleges that you’re looking at. If there’s any sort of virtual open day or webinar for international students (pretty sure Christ’s runs one), then ask to put your mind at ease. Best of luck with your application.

Bit late to this post, but I am also taking a gap year to reapply to Cambridge, as a home applicant. I am going for Engineering, and I know that some colleges specifically like students to take a gap year and get work experience ( I have a year-long internship) but I don't know if the same is true for maths. In my experience, each college website usually comments on their attitude to gap year students somewhere, though that might be course specific. I am going for Peterhouse for this reason. It is definitely wise to watch out for the state school / private school ratios per college, but I assume the home applicant / international applicant ratio is more relevant to you. In my school there have been many success stories for reapplying international students. I had a friend that applied to Trinity for Engineering on round 1, got rejected, then tried again the next year with a more strategic college choice and now has his place. Hope this helped. If you have figured out ay other strategies or ideas for success on reapplication, please let me know.

Hey I just wanted to ask were you successful?
I’m thinking of doing similar thing to you. If you don’t mind me asking, what type of field or company you did your internship with?

I know that some colleges specifically like students to take a gap year and get work experience ( I have a year-long internship) but I don't know if the same is true for maths.