Cambridge NatSci A-Level advice?

2

Hi! I'm really hoping to apply for the Cambridge Physical Natural Sciences course as it looks really interesting and I like the variation in the course, however I have seen that 90% of those who are accepted take chemistry. This is making me nervous as I would prefer to take Physics, Maths, Further Maths and French rather than Physics, Maths, Further Maths and Chemistry, because I feel like I would enjoy having a break from STEM and am slightly better at French than Chemistry (although I got 9s in both).

My teachers are telling me not having chemistry will not make a difference to my application as none of the courses I would like to take in first year require it and I satisfy the uni requirements, but I don't see why they would offer a place to someone without chem over someone with chem, especially when everyone who applies has such high grades and having chemistry will surely have some advantages in understanding some of the course content, such as in materials sciences.

Any advice would be very much appreciated as I am really unsure which to take.

Reply 1

ConfusedPenguin1

13

It is possible to get accepted for nat sci without chemistry a level, I'm sure plenty of people have done it. It's just quite hard - you're correct that admissions will likely prefer someone with chemistry, and on top of that it limits your options when taking the ESAT and when doing an interview. Beyond that, actually studying the course without a strong background in chemistry would be a challenge. There is no chemistry stream for natural sciences, like there is for physics or biology, and this is largely because chemistry is expected foundational knowledge for both streams.

If you are set on taking french, would you be open to dropping further maths, and taking chemistry instead? Just thought I should offer an alternative.

Reply 2

melancollege

Universities Forum Helper

19

Original post

by ConfusedPenguin1

It is possible to get accepted for nat sci without chemistry a level, I'm sure plenty of people have done it. It's just quite hard - you're correct that admissions will likely prefer someone with chemistry, and on top of that it limits your options when taking the ESAT and when doing an interview. Beyond that, actually studying the course without a strong background in chemistry would be a challenge. There is no chemistry stream for natural sciences, like there is for physics or biology, and this is largely because chemistry is expected foundational knowledge for both streams.

If you are set on taking french, would you be open to dropping further maths, and taking chemistry instead? Just thought I should offer an alternative.

If OP is aiming to study Physics, then Further Maths would be more useful.

Also, to OP, "I would enjoy having a break from STEM" - note that you will not have a break from STEM during your studies. Obviously not all of your university experience will be studying but in a Natural Sciences degree, all that you study will be Natural Sciences.

I should also say, as someone who did mostly STEM (Maths, Further Maths and Chemistry A-Levels) as well as A-Level French and then went onto Cambridge (albeit to do a Maths degree), A-Level French is hard. The grade boundaries and marking is tough, much more so than GCSE. A-Level Chemistry was also not super easy but has a nice synergy with other subjects.

Cambridge NatSci A-Level advice?

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