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how can I fulfill my dream of going to Cambridge?

Reply 80

Be good.

" get in 2 cambridge u need a great deal of talent n be hard working to boot unless yor a natural genious n got an A in yor Gcse at the age of 7

Reply 82

d123

17

I think for Cambridge they look at module grades, so achieve as highly as possible in these for AS. So work hard! And do extra reading (if there is such a thing for maths - I'm sure there is!)

Reply 83

aKarma

11

Crimsonchilli

head of administrations.
being the pope doesn't mean you have to preach at every church does it ?
same situation here.

Why would an administrator be picking candidates for offers?
(Johns offers are decided by DOSs and the tutors)

Reply 84

Hashshashin

13

T-o dore

IT DEPENDS

For a guide, my friend got in with 11a* at gcse, 5 a's at A level (600/600 in maths and further maths), plus 1s in step 1, 2 and 3 (plus distinction aea maths). So you need to be clever.

And I got 3 A*s at GCSE, 4 As at A level and a B in a fifth AS level, a Distinction in the AEA and (2,1) in STEP I and II.

An unblemished record is certainly not needed.

Reply 85

Crimsonchilli

12

aKarma

Why would an administrator be picking candidates for offers?
(Johns offers are decided by DOSs and the tutors)

sorry that was meant to say admissions. spealt it wrong and clicked wrong option on spell check.

Reply 86

aKarma

11

Crimsonchilli

sorry that was meant to say admissions. spealt it wrong and clicked wrong option on spell check.

And I again have to say these mysterious admissions staff don't exist at Johns. It's all done by the DOSs and the personal tutors (as I keep repeating).

The only other people involved are the secretaries who handle the general admin stuff.

[Last post here as I have no desire to further spam the thread; as Tipareth said 'Dads are magic']

Reply 87

Eva2

2

mizzangelic

I have just finished yr 11. I would really love to go to Cambridge University and study mathematics, it would a dream come true. I just wanted to know if there is anything I could do now during my summer holidays to prepare for applying to Cambridge. Should I be involving myself in lots of activities, reading specific books? I just want to do all that I can to get in. :smile:

Also, what GCSE grades would be required? Could you get in with no A*s, few As majority of Bs and a few Cs, even if you've acheived the required A*AA grades at A level?

if youve just finished GCSE's you shouldnt be worrying about that now. concentrate on getting good A level grades and youll get there. but be careful what you wish for. most people visualise cambridge as a beautiful place with punting and lots of green scenery, but theres more to it than that.

Reply 88

Trevor 12345

3

Crimsonchilli

wrong
my dads head interviewer for St.Johns
obviously intellect comes first, but EC is also very important.

erm .... he obviously isn't.
Possibly one of the most immature responses to use in an argument. Well done.

Reply 89

Rainbow-Dream

15

Running Riot

I went to Cambridge and I have to say it's fairly easy to get in.

I got 3 Bs and 3 Cs (I took 6 A levels at once) but because I have a mental disorder (not diverging which one) they let me in anyway.

Sorry but you saying it's 'easy to get in' is irrelevent anyway. I am not in any way trying to devalue your grades because of your condition, however it is not 'easy to get in'. A lot of straight A* students and straight A grade a level students don't get in, so count yourself lucky

Reply 90

_tenacity_

As a lot of people have said, Cambridge will make their choice almost entirely on academic ability/ potential, so I wouldn't waste your summer doing extracurricular things unless you are actually interested in it.

What you want to be able to show is that you have a genuine interest in the subject, so relevant work experience would be useful, although possible difficult to get hold of (I know a few of my friends who went to the local uni for a week to shadow maths lecturers and help with research etc).

The other advice I would give is to do further maths a level if it is available at your school and to get involved in maths olympiads (again, if your school offers it) to give you an edge over some other candidates.

To answer your other question, a large number of Cambridge students will have straight A*s and As at GCSE, but at the same time, the uni realises that a C in art or music isn't going to affect your performance in maths at uni!

Apologies for the long post, but I hope that helps :smile:

Reply 91

Tipareth

5

Saleh394

" get in 2 cambridge u need a great deal of talent n be hard working to boot unless yor a natural genious n got an A in yor Gcse at the age of 7

God, that was appalling language use.

Reply 92

ogloom

9

Crimsonchilli

seriously
go do the DofE
and get loads of other random qualifications (life guard, sailing instructor for example)
To get into cambs you need a life aswell as intellect.
so yeah, as you said, loads of activities.

This is like the worst advice ever. Cambridge only care about one thing, intellectual prowess. They wouldn't give two ***** that you are a sailing instructor/life-guard. My interview revolved around 100% pure mathematics. No talking about projects mentioned in my ps (php/C++ coding projects)...just maths.

Reply 93

Crimsonchilli

12

ogloom

This is like the worst advice ever. Cambridge only care about one thing, intellectual prowess. They wouldn't give two ***** that you are a sailing instructor/life-guard. My interview revolved around 100% pure mathematics. No talking about projects mentioned in my ps (php/C++ coding projects)...just maths.

lol
read between the lines you fool
of course they dont
but its about showing you have a rounded personality

but fine, im not complaining. You lot live your incredibly boring lives smirking to yourselves how you know the secret how to get into cambs, laughing at all the normal people having fun and enjoying themselves. fools arnt they.
if only they knew what we did.
WoW all the way eh ?

Reply 94

User188463

17

Hashshashin

And I got 3 A*s at GCSE, 4 As at A level and a B in a fifth AS level, a Distinction in the AEA and (2,1) in STEP I and II.

An unblemished record is certainly not needed.

Neither did I claim it was, apologies for the misleading anecdote. :yep:

As a rule of thumb, though, a very high level of ability in maths is needed to get in to Cambridge maths.

Reply 95

Arrogant Git

Crimsonchilli

lol
read between the lines you fool
of course they dont
but its about showing you have a rounded personality

Mate, I did maths at Cambridge and judging by some of the people on my course if they're looking for rounded personalities they seem to be failing miserably.

Reply 96

ogloom

9

Crimsonchilli

lol
read between the lines you fool
of course they dont
but its about showing you have a rounded personality

but fine, im not complaining. You lot live your incredibly boring lives smirking to yourselves how you know the secret how to get into cambs, laughing at all the normal people having fun and enjoying themselves. fools arnt they.
if only they knew what we did.
WoW all the way eh ?

read between the lines you fool

I didn't detect any hidden subtext... so you either suck at giving advice...or you lied. Lets assume the latter.

but its about showing you have a rounded personality

Which we have just determined is unimportant when applying to cam.

You lot live your incredibly boring lives smirking to yourselves how you know the secret how to get into cambs

and now it gets personal. It seems to me that someone has had a bad run in with cambridge in the past...Perhaps an unexpected rejection? or perhaps you just had a grudge against the intelligent.

laughing at all the normal people having fun and enjoying themselves. fools arnt they.

Because the number one rule in cambridge is no fun!. If I get my grades, I'm very much looking forward to living in Cambridge. There is so much to do, so many societies and activities. The 100% work stereotype is worn out.

WoW all the way eh ?

Amount of time spent on WoW is inversely proportional to intelligence. All the WoW freaks I know are dumb as bricks. again, poor stereotyping.

Now...lets play connect the dots. I'm pretty confident you're posting terrible information in this thread because you are bitter about rejection and have adopted the: "If I go down, I'm taking you with me!" mentality. Childish.