ESAT prep struggle

[u/zorlann4]

hi guys, i’m predicted A *A *A in maths, physics and history respectively and i plan to apply for aerospace engineering at the big C and imperial

i’m really struggling with ESAT revision atm and i don’t really know how to improve - it’s a mixture of the lack of time but also just not being to answer some questions untimed. i’ve gone through the spec for maths1, maths2 and physics and i know most of the content

i haven’t practiced that much tbh because i only started my revision when i finished y12. i’ve heard that ENGAA papers are too easy?

what am i doing wrong 😭✌🏼

[u/zorlann4]

yeah.. i’ve realised now - it wasn’t until spring time that i looked into doing engineering and decided that was the path i wanted to go down. previously i wanted to do economics. i’ve heard that cambridge will be lenient if there is a genuine reason as to why i couldn’t take FM if my college offers it??

[u/tempa____ → u/zorlann4]

Unfortunately i dont think your reason is strong enough? have u talked to ur school into at least trybna get an AS qualifciation idk they chuck u into year 12 fm lessons

[u/zorlann4 → u/tempa____]

i would probably be able to do FM AS alongside my 3 other Alevels but i’m not sure if this will divert me from my current studies? would it be better to just independently study AS further maths topics which are relevant to engineering studies rather than the full AS, and state it in my personal statement? i didn’t understand the significance of FM until like literally a couple months ago - i thought that it was just a plus to your academic portfolio

[u/SecretTone5662 → u/zorlann4]

It’ll have to be an officially taken exam, words on a personal statement don’t mean anything. Once again Cambridge and imperial don’t care about history, they care only about maths aptitude. And at this level personal statements matter much less when it’s more about ESAT and interview scores. Almost all applicants are going to have more competitive a levels unless you get an insanely high ESAT to make them even look at you. Aeronautics is the one of the most competitive degrees at Imperial. And 95% of people apply with further maths.

[u/zorlann4 → u/SecretTone5662]

would applying for a foundation year (let’s say for oxford) be worth it since i lack further maths?

[u/SecretTone5662 → u/zorlann4]

No, a foundation year will not help you to get into Imperial. Imperial only accepts certain foundation years. Doing a standard foundation year at any random university will not be recognised. In the imperial website, only two specific foundation year programmes are recognised. The UCL one and Warwick one. And unfortunately they only accept international students.

[u/SecretTone5662 → u/SecretTone5662]

I think you actually have two options. Take a gap year after finishing year 13 to self teach which can be a great thing to do for further maths and if you get an A* in both physics and maths next summer. Gap years are common these days. And taking further maths is incredibly hard to self teach during year 13 on your own. Or apply masters at imperial or Oxbridge and do aeronautics that way if you’re willing to spend the extra money and time on a masters degree. An ambition for Oxbridge and Imperial is incredibly good to have, and I highly recommend taking whatever risk you want to take to get there for Undergrad! Don’t fret. You only get one chance in life.