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Oxbridge and Imperial
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Is grade 5 an acheivement? as i'm taking that next.
Jonty99
Why would you leave it out? ECs should be mentioned on a medicine personal statement (dunno about earth science).
I'm sorry I didn't explain myself properly: I meant leave it out with regards to medicine, not leave it out completely if she wants to put it in the 'interests' section.
I'm in a similar boat - I'm going to apply for medicine at imperial and oxbridge.
Although I don't have as much EC stuff as you, I'm making a point of doing relevant stuff. So far by far the most valuable thing I do is shadowing a GP - I'm actually learning something. The hospital and nursing home volunteer placements I have involve making tea, so I'm going to see if I can swing for some caring jobs, since they will help me more than brewing a hot beverage.
I also have started reading New Scientist (because it's interesting), but a friend of mine who wants to do Chemical Engineering was warned against it, because it is more simplistic than other scientific journals. Perhaps something like the British Medical Journal would be more appropriate.
I hear that awareness of current issues is a factor in interviews, so publications like The Week could be handy (if you find newspapers hard-going).
Although I don't have as much EC stuff as you, I'm making a point of doing relevant stuff. So far by far the most valuable thing I do is shadowing a GP - I'm actually learning something. The hospital and nursing home volunteer placements I have involve making tea, so I'm going to see if I can swing for some caring jobs, since they will help me more than brewing a hot beverage.
I also have started reading New Scientist (because it's interesting), but a friend of mine who wants to do Chemical Engineering was warned against it, because it is more simplistic than other scientific journals. Perhaps something like the British Medical Journal would be more appropriate.
I hear that awareness of current issues is a factor in interviews, so publications like The Week could be handy (if you find newspapers hard-going).
goji09
I'm in a similar boat - I'm going to apply for medicine at imperial and oxbridge.
Although I don't have as much EC stuff as you, I'm making a point of doing relevant stuff. So far by far the most valuable thing I do is shadowing a GP - I'm actually learning something. The hospital and nursing home volunteer placements I have involve making tea, so I'm going to see if I can swing for some caring jobs, since they will help me more than brewing a hot beverage.
I also have started reading New Scientist (because it's interesting), but a friend of mine who wants to do Chemical Engineering was warned against it, because it is more simplistic than other scientific journals. Perhaps something like the British Medical Journal would be more appropriate.
I hear that awareness of current issues is a factor in interviews, so publications like The Week could be handy (if you find newspapers hard-going).
Although I don't have as much EC stuff as you, I'm making a point of doing relevant stuff. So far by far the most valuable thing I do is shadowing a GP - I'm actually learning something. The hospital and nursing home volunteer placements I have involve making tea, so I'm going to see if I can swing for some caring jobs, since they will help me more than brewing a hot beverage.
I also have started reading New Scientist (because it's interesting), but a friend of mine who wants to do Chemical Engineering was warned against it, because it is more simplistic than other scientific journals. Perhaps something like the British Medical Journal would be more appropriate.
I hear that awareness of current issues is a factor in interviews, so publications like The Week could be handy (if you find newspapers hard-going).
But I doubt that the proper journals are targetted at AS students (yes I know NewScientist isn't either, but it's likely to be more understandable).
ScotlandStandUp
I might be mistaken but do Oxbridge or Imperial really care about how many musical instruments you can play?
My musicianship came up in my Oxford interview.
monkeyytastic
Is grade 5 an acheivement? as i'm taking that next.
Yes and no. It depends on how long you've been playing for but you might want to note that only grade 6 and above score UCAS points — so that could be seen as the level to aim for by the end of year 13, I suppose.
goji09
I also have started reading New Scientist (because it's interesting), but a friend of mine who wants to do Chemical Engineering was warned against it, because it is more simplistic than other scientific journals. Perhaps something like the British Medical Journal would be more appropriate.
The news and features sections of journals such as the BMJ and Nature are worth looking at, but I wouldn't buy them as they aren't worth it for that content alone. The academic papers themselves will simply be beyond sixth-formers so that's a whole part of the journal that is useless.
I love the way people do all these ECs just to look good to put on their personal statement/CV...OP sounds like a right idiot.
I've just finished Upper 6th & im holding offers from Cambridge & Imperial, all im waiting on is results. (for the record, i've applied for maths, my cambridge college is Gonville & Caius & the offers are AAA at A-level plus grade 1s in STEP II & III for cambridge, AAA at A-level for imperial).
I have no idea what baccalaureate offers are like but i can promise you that if you want a to go to oxbridge all they really care about is how good you are at your chosen subject.
I sat two interviews for maths at cambridge (none for Imperial). Even though id been practising answering 'obvious' questions for weeks (ie questions to clarify personal statement, questions such as why you chose the subject/what you like about the subject, why you chose the university/college), as well as various other general questions about maths & about me, a lot of it was wasted in the end coz all i did for both my interviews was sit down between two maths professors & solve maths problems.
The point was to see how i could apply what i did know to a type of question i had never seen before. Its about understanding the subject & being able to think on your feet, coz they don't really want people who just recite facts without really understanding them.
from a different angle, i performed well at GCSE level (all A*s except ICT which was an A), my predicted grades for a-level were all As & I had done well in my Yr 12 modules for all subjects. I expected that all of this would count enormously in my favour, but (to my dismay) it soon became very clear that they really only cared about the maths. it doesn't matter if you can sing like an angel, speak french like a native or swim like an olympic champion if your grades in your chosen subject aren't well above average. All of my offers for maths were based on A-level maths, further maths & physics. I studied french as well, but I can get a U in that, for all cambridge care.
bottom line is, focus on the academic side of your life, and in particular on your chosen subject. its fine to have some extra stuff to put in your personal statement such as music lessons or work experience, but they would rather have someone who is fantastic at that one thing than someone who is generally quite good at everything. also you can't risk spreading yourself too thinly. it can be better to do too little than too much. After all, from their point of view, if you spend so much of your time on extra-curricular activities, when are you going to have time for your work? its not in their advantage to take on a student who isn't going to put all their energy into their studies.
sorry that was such a motherload of information, but i hope its helpful
I have no idea what baccalaureate offers are like but i can promise you that if you want a to go to oxbridge all they really care about is how good you are at your chosen subject.
I sat two interviews for maths at cambridge (none for Imperial). Even though id been practising answering 'obvious' questions for weeks (ie questions to clarify personal statement, questions such as why you chose the subject/what you like about the subject, why you chose the university/college), as well as various other general questions about maths & about me, a lot of it was wasted in the end coz all i did for both my interviews was sit down between two maths professors & solve maths problems.
The point was to see how i could apply what i did know to a type of question i had never seen before. Its about understanding the subject & being able to think on your feet, coz they don't really want people who just recite facts without really understanding them.
from a different angle, i performed well at GCSE level (all A*s except ICT which was an A), my predicted grades for a-level were all As & I had done well in my Yr 12 modules for all subjects. I expected that all of this would count enormously in my favour, but (to my dismay) it soon became very clear that they really only cared about the maths. it doesn't matter if you can sing like an angel, speak french like a native or swim like an olympic champion if your grades in your chosen subject aren't well above average. All of my offers for maths were based on A-level maths, further maths & physics. I studied french as well, but I can get a U in that, for all cambridge care.
bottom line is, focus on the academic side of your life, and in particular on your chosen subject. its fine to have some extra stuff to put in your personal statement such as music lessons or work experience, but they would rather have someone who is fantastic at that one thing than someone who is generally quite good at everything. also you can't risk spreading yourself too thinly. it can be better to do too little than too much. After all, from their point of view, if you spend so much of your time on extra-curricular activities, when are you going to have time for your work? its not in their advantage to take on a student who isn't going to put all their energy into their studies.
sorry that was such a motherload of information, but i hope its helpful
(this is for medicine)
i agree that listing a load of EC is pointless, but i dont agree that they do not mean anything, as others have mentioned they want to see that you are not just academic that you can do other things so when it comes to uni you will not just spend your life studying.
It is different for other courses like maths, Economics etc. They are much more academic and EC mean less. Howwever, i believe for medicine they are more important. And EC does not mean work experince or voluteer that is a different thing, EC means clubs, sports music etc
i agree that listing a load of EC is pointless, but i dont agree that they do not mean anything, as others have mentioned they want to see that you are not just academic that you can do other things so when it comes to uni you will not just spend your life studying.
It is different for other courses like maths, Economics etc. They are much more academic and EC mean less. Howwever, i believe for medicine they are more important. And EC does not mean work experince or voluteer that is a different thing, EC means clubs, sports music etc
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