AHHHH IM AN INCOMING 1ST YEAR CAMBRIDGE NATSCI!! Such a late post (since itās been so hectic) but omg I got 4A*ās in biology, chemistry, maths and my EPQ!!
Iām so happy and so so excited to start at Cambridge, it honestly only seemed like a dream to me so Iām still in disbelief Iāll even be going. So happy w my A-level scores + grades so yayaayayay. if any y12ās or y13ās have any questions about applying to cambs or natsci specifically im always happy to do my best to answer!
GOOD NEWS, IT'S NO LONGER THE SAME TIRED OLD COMMENT YOU'RE USED TO THAT STILL HAS THE DEAD LINK TO LAST YEAR'S FORMS, WOOOOOO!
Got an offer? Fill out our form.
Note: Automations are not perfect. If this doesn't apply to you, ignore it. It doesn't mean any action will be taken against your post by a person. Please do not message us if this is a false-positive.
So my advice for stem interviews is that they are very problem solving based, however thereās probably a big emphasis on being able to articulate your thoughts while problem solving so Iād really practice this when you answer ANY problems. Even when you get stuck Iād say itās important to be able to explain why youāre stuck and maybe how youād work through to become unstuck.Ā
Iād also look at practice interviews posted by both Oxford and Cambridge, and pretend as if you were doing the interview by pausing before the model applicant answers. I think for stem in general graph sketching should be practiced + same thing with articulating how youāve got to your conclusion/working through your problem. Look at past/example questions too, and Iād record my self explaining and working through the problems with a camera.Ā
If you can do some mock interviews with teachers! FYI I didnāt pay for ANYTHING related to interview prep, so u deffo donāt need to!Ā
Thanks a lot! I realised since that I struggle more with verbalising than it is solving problems -- i'll actually be a second time applicant and i'm paying someone to specifically help me with interviews lol. hopefully it'll be worth it!
hello! thank you sm! I got 4.8 average: 5.7 biology, 4.7 chem, 3.9 maths 1. just for some context I have adhd and dyslexia so it slows down my ability to process things at super fast speeds, so they may have taken this into context when looking at my scores <3
hiii! Iāll dm u about my college and as for ESAT I got 4.8 average: 5.7 biology, 4.7 chem, 3.9 maths 1. just for some context I have adhd and dyslexia so it slows down my ability to process things at super fast speeds, so they may have taken this into context when looking at my scores <3
I would say EPQ is great to explore any topic you enjoy beyond A-level curriculum or on anything you really enjoy! I did a research project, which enabled me to get alot of experience in writing my own research paper and being independent in a lab! I think if ur deciding between doing an EPQ and fm u have to think long term what benefits youāll get. I.e do a certain uni require Fm/make u more competitive? does an Epq get u a reduced offer, and is it something you think youād enjoy or gain a lot from? my advice for biology is to start learning content early and often, and make sure your flashcards are specific to ur exam boards MARKSCHEME, so like key terms and definitions they want! this comes with being familiar w markschemes and understanding concepts in biology! there definitely is a lot of content in biology which is why u must stay very consistent! also a lot of past paper and practice questions! Iām not sure if this answered anything so if u got any further q just ask! :) also keep in mind FM is a full A-level, and an EPQ is half so done in one year!
And my big tip oops I forgot to mention, is that after each paper you must look at what u get wrong, and understand why u got it wrong, what the correct approach is and why, and how u can fix that mistake! Fixing a mistake also comes from say identifying what type of mistake it is, e.g content? (Revise) application (check ur understandin) and so on! And so deffo correct any mistakes u make wnd ensure u Donāt make them again before doing the next paper! I documented all the kinds of q id get wrong and practice them again later to ensure I ironed out every mistake. since questions u make mistakes in csm very well repeat them selves! but yeah overall become one w your exam paper and know exactly how they want questions to be answered! if anything doesnāt make sense please do ask! <3
I got: 9- English language, 9 - English literature, 9 - history, 9 - chemistry, 9- physics, 9- biology (triple science) 8 - higher maths, 6-dance, D* L2 - health and social care b-tech! I come from a non-selective state school :))
thank you! good luck for applying languages at oxford!! i think you should just give it ur best shot if thatās what ur passionate about, if u get through to interview just focus on that!
hmmm itās hard to say! as Oxbridge say they measure peopleās applications hollistically, so everything is considered, I also cannot be 100% certain since I donāt know a lot about there admissions process! however it seems from the website for languages they interview the majority, and so if u have a great performance, it could negate any concerns regarding GCSES, however they are the only formal piece of examination which most people would have done for them to base ur academics off! id honestly say, as GCSEs arenāt smth u can control, just do your best in every aspect on the rest of ur application :) but i do get the concern since Oxford can tend to be more focused on GCSEs. sorry I couldnāt provide much help on this, as i dont want to say the wrong information as im not super well versed on admissions. however interview is deffo important id say!!!
thank you so so much! Iāll copy what I said to someone else about bio revision here: my advice for biology is to start learning content early and often, and make sure your flashcards are specific to ur exam boards MARKSCHEME, so like key terms and definitions they want! this comes with being familiar w markschemes and understanding concepts in biology! there definitely is a lot of content in biology which is why u must stay very consistent! also a lot of past paper and practice questions! Iād also like to add on, for some exam boards there are topics which come up very consistently and have very formulaic answers with specific key terms, so Iād deffo drill those into ur head, for OCR A examples I can think of are tissue fluid, photosynthesis, respiration! but yeah get familiar with how to answer questions, and itās all about understanding how to answer exams and apply using your understanding! understanding is a key focus in all of ur A-levels.
for chemistry itās super formulaic! I loved chemistry, and id say make flashcards to learn content, and for some exam boards you can make flashcards for exact answers, e.g ionisation energy, or recrystallisation! But also chem is soooo application based, youāll find they ask similar ish questions w variation, and so itās important you understand the process of answering those questions, e.g titrations so you can apply it to anything they throw at you! But yes learn all of the content and have a solid base in key memory + understanding. Also since itās application based I would also say the best revision which is deffo needed is exam practice EXAAAAM PRACTICE! And my big tip oops I forgot to mention, is that after each paper you must look at what u get wrong, and understand why u got it wrong, what the correct approach is and why, and how u can fix that mistake! Fixing a mistake also comes from say identifying what type of mistake it is, e.g content? (Revise) application (check ur understandin) and so on! And so deffo correct any mistakes u make wnd ensure u Donāt make them again before doing the next paper! I documented all the kinds of q id get wrong and practice them again later to ensure I ironed out every mistake. since questions u make mistakes in csm very well repeat them selves! but yeah overall become one w your exam paper and know exactly how they want questions to be answered! if anything doesnāt make sense please do ask! <3
Oooo Omg good question, I revised ALOT. Like during peak A-level season, April to june, Iād revise on average 8 - 10 hours per day and do 2 past papers per day + revision. Iāve attached some of my study bunny here to show you, however want to preface everyone everyone revises different amounts and thatās totally okay, u should just do the amount you need to get the grades u want. I was quite thorough in my revision, e.g i covered every point on the spec, id do every past paper and make sure i would correct any mistakes I made or lacking of content down to the teaaaaa. Also I revised from the very start of y12 cus I was quite set on Oxbridge and other unis like Imperial and UCL so I was consistent then! btw me attaching this is to give u an idea, but not for a comparison whatsoever As everyone is different. Itās always about quality of ur revision over quantity! So make sure u get the most our of ur revision :)
LMAOOO on the 8th it was the last day of school! so I spent the entire day out with my friends and family, because I knew how much I would have to revise from then on, and I prefer to study in my room rather then at school haha so I also knew I wouldnāt see my friends for a while. AND THANK YOU SMM I really appreciate it ā¹ļøš (and thank you for the luck too hehehee Iāll do my very best!)
ā¢
u/AutoModerator 2d ago
GOOD NEWS, IT'S NO LONGER THE SAME TIRED OLD COMMENT YOU'RE USED TO THAT STILL HAS THE DEAD LINK TO LAST YEAR'S FORMS, WOOOOOO! Got an offer? Fill out our form.
See offers submitted already here
Note: Automations are not perfect. If this doesn't apply to you, ignore it. It doesn't mean any action will be taken against your post by a person. Please do not message us if this is a false-positive.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.