Extracurricular for cambridge

I have recently been rejected from a extracurricular for Cambridge and am in year 12, I am wondering whether it is necessary for me to do extracurriculars this year especially if im looking to be applying to Cambridge and imperial for maths. If so could anybody please send me links to supercurricular at any of the following universities; Cambridge, imperial, lse, warwick.

Reply 1

FrontierMum

Original post

by Anonymous

If you want to apply for Oxbridge then you should definitely be doing super curriculars in year 12, but these don't have to be events set up by universities , they can be books, articles, lectures from a range of sources. Also, loads of Oxbridge colleges do outreach events but they vary how competitive they are. Some are much easier to get into than others. The key is to apply to a few. Keep looking at different college websites for outreach events and apply to anything that interest you - you are highly likely to get into something. The same thing also applies for other unis you are interested in ( except obviously don't have colleges!). Good luck!

Reply 2

cara.9

hey!! i am in the same position as you. i am currently in year 12 and will (hopefully) be applying to imperial and cambridge for mathematics. have you applied for stem smart at cambridge ?? applications close on the 31st october and apparently its very good, i have applied myself. there is also oxford summer school through UNIQ which is completely free. im not too sure but i think applications open in january?!! i think im going to apply for that too. also i have started to read books about mathematics and data science , i can recommend some if you would like. there is also the K+ course at kings college london, however i think you need to live near london so if you do definitely apply for that. maybe also ask your teachers to compete in the senior maths challenges. i am currently studying maths , further maths , physics and history and i am doing the physics olympiad and the senior maths challenge. i am still looking for more extra curriculars and work experience so i will let you know if i find anymore. also (out of curiosity) what career path are you thinking of going down?

Reply 3

‎♡₊˚ ୨୧・₊✧

Original post

by Anonymous

hi! the advice so far has been really good so i'd agree with what people have already said. it's really important to do your supercurriculars in year 12 because you'll be applying for cambridge in october next year, so you won't have time to do much once year 12 is over (and writing your personal statement from scratch in the year 12 summer is too much stress). i'm in year 13 (applied to cambridge) and i did consider applying to maths at the start of year 12 so did a few maths-related things:

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leaf's the maths of morality course was the first supercurricular i ever did and it was really worth it! i think the best part of it is the discussion. i'd never really been around people who were 'into' maths so it was really inspiring to meet like-minded people. the staff and cohort also were so supportive and this is a really good way to find out about other supercurriculars as a lot of what i did later on was based on recommendations other people on the course gave me

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if you take physics, the COMPOS follow along programme is the next best thing i'd recommend. unfortunately, the main programme's deadline passed but honestly, i think the follow along programme would be just as valuable. the really good thing about this is that they actually use past STEP and PAT questions in assignments so this is preparing you for entrance assessments while improving your overall mathematical fluency

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if you're female or non-binary, it all adds up was a lovely day at oxford's maths department. this is just one example so i would recommend signing up to the mailing lists of the universities and colleges you're interested in, so that you can hear about taster days and sign up for one

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i believe that for maths, 'doing' stuff is slightly better than reading books (that's not to say don't read, but it's less important than for other courses. also, please don't put fermat's last theorem in your personal statement, unless you really genuinely adore it, as it's about the most cliche maths book you could choose) so doing any competitions is great - british physics olympiad and senior maths challenge are great

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it could be worth writing papers on any topics you're interested in and trying to publish them, even if it's only in a school newsletter. similarly, running clubs related to maths is a good way to show that you're interested in maths. realistically, you're not going to be doing anything ground-breaking at this stage; it's more important to show that you're able to learn and grow as a student, and that you have passion for your subject

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it's good to note that you don't have to only do maths-related things. if you can tie your other interests to maths, then that can offer a more interesting perspective that will help you to seem authentic in your personal statement. for example, it would be great to explore something like statistical biology, or to look into the relationship between maths and music

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when doing this things, try to have a critical mindset as this will help with writing your personal statement. i would recommend keeping notes of everything you participate in so that you don't forget by the time you get to writing your ps. it's important that your experiences build upon each other: ask questions and always try to explore things that you finding interesting more deeply