Applying
In this section we will cover the application process, the interview and how to prepare for it and the big letter. It is worth reading this even if you have an older sibling or friend who has gone through the application process in recent years, as numerous changes were made in 2008. If you are not yet in Year 12 don't worry if there are things in this section that you don't understand, it will all be explained by your school in due course.
Before going into detail, it is worth addressing the common concern that if Peterhouse is the smallest college, it has fewer places and therefore applying here will leave you with a vastly reduced chance of getting into Cambridge. This is absolutely not the case. Smaller colleges receive proportionally fewer applicants, and it is also possible to make an 'open application' whereby the university assigns you a college, and this system is used to appoint applicants to colleges which have received fewer than usual that year. Bear in mind that applying as an open applicant will not improve or worsen your chances of receiving an offer. Beyond this, it may be the case that a great number of applicants have gone for the same college and subject as you in your year of application- the university uses the Pool (see below) to even out these discrepancies.
WRITING YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT
It is a common misconception that to get into Cambridge you have to have done loads of extra-curricular activities (ECAs), be an Olympic standard athlete and an world-class musician. This is absolutely false, Cambridge is not interested in anything except your academic achievements and potential. If you are musically gifted you might want to look into Choral and Organ Scholarships, which involve a separate procedure- but whether or not you get one has no bearing on your academic application. Some teachers and online resources will tell you to write a personal statement about your captaincy of the rugby team and your talent for the violin, and for some universities this will help you. But it will not enhance your Cambridge application. You are restricted for space, so keep it relevant and academic. By all means mention relevant activities, but briefly. Medicine is the exception, and for this subject, ECAs and work experience are more important.
THE APPLICATION
As many of you will already know, applying to Cambridge is slightly different than applying to most other British universities, although as of 2008/09 the process has been greatly simplified. You can now just apply through UCAS, making your college choice in the "Campus Code" section. However, please note that although you no longer have to send off a separate Cambridge Application Form, the deadline for applying to Cambridge online through UCAS is still the 15th October. If you are applying for a course which is offered at Cambridge and not at your other choices, such as Archeology and Anthropology, or Natural Sciences, you can send a more relevant replacement personal statement to your chosen college (don't bother 'tailor-making' a separate personal statement if you are applying for the same course everywhere, like languages or economics, it won't make a difference to your application).
You will then be emailed a link to an online form to complete called the Supplementary Application Questionnaire (SAQ). This has to be done within two weeks, and it will take you roughly two hours. On it you have to answer a few questions (essentially for administrational purposes- don't worry it's not a test!) and fill in your AS-Level UMS scores. You should probably try to get this done before half term, in case you need any help from your school.
CAMBRIDGE SPECIAL ACCESS SCHEME (CSAS)
The CSAS is essentially designed to help people with the "academic potential" (a term you will read a lot in the official literature) to study at Cambridge, but whose education has been compromised in some way. The information will be taken into account by the people who make the ultimate decision on your application, and in some circumstances, you may be given a slightly reduced offer. The following remarks constitute the official university position on who is eligible. It includes people who have underperformed in exams as a result of specific "personal, social or educational disadvantage". According to the university website, you fit the bill if:
"Very few people from the your school/college proceed to higher education and your family has little or no tradition of entry to higher education to study for a degree." OR "Your education has been significantly disrupted or disadvantaged through health or personal problems, disability or difficulties with schooling."
It is basically the university's way of making the system a bit fairer, and making sure that everyone who has the desire and ability to study here has an equal chance. If you think this might apply to you, read the official information online, and discuss it with your parents and the relevant person at your school. More information can be found on the university website, and the link below has the crucial details as well as the form that has to be printed, filled in and posted to your chosen college.
http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/apply/forms/csas.pdf
PREPARING FOR INTERVIEW
In the few months before you apply, start thinking about and reading around your subject. Explore areas that interest you beyond the A-Level syllabus, and be prepared to discuss, explain and justify things you have written in your personal statement. Keep up to date with current affairs that affect your subject, especially for subjects such as sciences and law. If you are applying for maths, brush up on you're A-Level stuff, if it's languages, go over your grammar, if you have mentioned books on your personal statement, make sure you have read them and are prepared to discuss them. Remember that you do not need vast amounts of knowledge, but having a few things to talk about will make you more confident going into the interview. Be prepared to think on your feet. Also think about basic questions like 'Why Cambridge?' (although you should not be asked to justify your college choice).
When you meet the other applicants, some will have had eight million practice interviews, some will have paid hundreds of pounds to go on 'Oxbridge Preparation Courses', and you, like myself and most other people I know, may have done neither. It is not up to us to tell you what you should and shouldn't do to prepare, but having done neither of these things will certainly not leave you at a disadvantage. Many will do both and not get in. When people say you can't prepare for interview, they generally mean that someone who has been extensively coached and learnt off paragraphs of clever things to say about their subject can get caught out. Interviewers don't want to hear what your parents or teachers know, they want to learn about you and how your mind works, they want to get a sense of your passion for your subject, and find students who will be hard-working and motivated.
Bear in mind that all colleges have different ways of assessing applicants. It also varies by subject. Some ask you to submit a sample of written work from throughout A-Level year, some ask you to complete a written test when you come for interview, and some just interview you and nothing else.
THE INTERVIEW
Cambridge, unlike Oxford, interviews most of the people who apply. Nearly everyone with a realistic chance of getting in is given an interview. A little while after you send off your application, you will get a letter, which will let you know whether or not you have been invited for interview. If you have, it will have times and place names and the name(s) of your interviewer(s). The great thing about the interview is that you get to live in college accommodation for free and you get free food in Peterhouse hall, so it is a chance to get some experience of what life here is like. If you live nearby you might not have to stay over at all, but college is very happy to accommodate applicants for as long as necessary. You may have more than one interview, and a written test, and they may be on different days so you might be there for a while (if you are as unlucky as I was it will be drawn out over four days!) Since it is an intimidating experience for most people, we'll go through it in detail.
There are a lot of myths surrounding the interviews, which produce good stories but are often very misleading. One applicant allegedly walked through the door and immediately had a rugby ball fired at him- he caught it and was given a place. Another turned up to find no chair was there for her, done to see how she would react. Another arrived to find their interviewer engrossed in a newspaper- after five minutes of his presence being ignored, he took out a lighter and set fire to the newspaper in the interviewer's hands, and was given a place. Nothing like this will happen. A quick internet search will also throw up rafts of difficult questions which have apparently been asked. Did 2+2=4 in the past? Do you see me like a camera? Does a slug think? What shape is an egg? Don't panic. These are nearly always cited out of context to make them seem more wacky and interesting. Your questions will be related to your subject, and you probably won't be asked anything like this. In the rare instances where you are, you aren't expected to give a 'right' answer, they are designed to make you think and to show your interviewers how your mind works. Don't be embarrassed about going through your thought processes aloud- in fact you are actively encouraged to do this.
You may bring your parents or a friend to Cambridge with you if you like, but they will have to sort out their own accommodation. In my experience most people didn't- you'll want to spend your free time exploring the college and meeting the other applicants. So, you turn up at Peterhouse, and your first port of call is the Porters' Lodge. They will give you the keys to room (which will probably be in SPT) and a current student will take you there. If you are there for a while, you'll have received meal vouchers with your invitational letter. Don't worry about navigating, it is difficult to get lost in Peterhouse and if you do or if you have any other problems, the Porters' Lodge is the place to go.
Make sure you get a good night's sleep before the interview. Relax, don't stay up all night cramming, don't explore the bar too much and don't drink too much caffeine. You can wear a suit/formal clothes if you want- about half do and half don't. Turn up in shorts and a T-shirt if you like, it really doesn't matter. Jeans aren't frowned upon, and wear what you feel comfortable in, but my advice would be to avoid both extremes- most people find a half-way house between nightclub and church attire. Although bear in mind your interviewers are human, and while they won't explicitly judge you on what you wear, you may want to think about the impression you wish to create.
You'll have a room number and the porters or students will give you directions. Wait outside until you are called in. For some subjects (and definitely for MML) you will be given a passage to read and prepare beforehand. You'll get about twenty minutes to do this. Once you go in, relax, and don't worry too much. Your interviewers will be sympathetic, they see hundreds of nervous applicants every year. Don't let the occasion get on top of you, think before you speak, don't take criticism of what you say personally (remember they are there to challenge you mentally, and they aren't trying to start a fight) and big smiles at the end. Finally they will ask if you have any questions about the course. Asking one won't win you any points, and if you don't, then don't bother trying to make one up. Once you leave, put it out of your mind. Don't torture yourself about what you have said or what you wish you'd said, and don't try to assess yourself. You won't be able to tell accurately how it has gone. Don't tell any other applicant the details of questions of your interview as you could be disqualified for this. Don't post any of your questions on the internet either, people have lost their place for this. And at the end of the day you are competing with other applicants for places, it's in your interest not to say too much! Other than that, just try to enjoy the experience and take the opportunity to explore Cambridge.
AFTER THE INTERVIEW
A few days after New Year's, a letter will arrive in the post for you. There are a number of possible outcomes:
1. You have received a place conditional on you're A-Level results (the only people who get unconditional offers are those who have already completed their A-Levels, and those EE offers are generally only given out to a tiny number of people, and usually only by Christ's.) Congratulations! It will take a while to appear on UCAS, but all you have to do is confirm it as your Firm choice and then start revising to meet the offer.
2. You have not received an offer, but you have been placed in the 'Pool'. You may be placed in the Winter Pool automatically by virtue of your grades, or because they thought you were really good but there wasn't room for you at that college. In this second case, it is the college's way of saying you probably deserve a place but there were too many good applicants this year. Every year colleges receive different numbers of applicants for different subjects (remember, though, that smaller colleges receive proportionally fewer applicants anyway so your chances are unaffected). The pool takes place over three days (usually 2nd-4th January), when other colleges have the opportunity to look at your application. You may be given another interview, or just awarded an offer straight away by another college- either way, unless you have been rejected, you should hear something by the following Monday. The entire process, including the next round of interviews, is completed by 16th April.
3. You have not received an offer and not been placed in the Pool. Remember that Cambridge receives four applicants for every single place. Thousands of straight-A students are rejected every year. There is an element of luck as well. Don't be too disappointed, and if you wish, you can take a gap year once you finish your A-Levels. Many people do, and being a re-applicant will not harm your chances.
We hope that this guide has helped to clarify the reality and debunk the mythology surrounding applying to Cambridge. If you have any questions left unanswered, there is a lot of information online. The University pages and the college pages are helpful, and there are also application statistics published for every academic year. Stick to official sites, because there is a lot of misinformation out there. There aren't any secret tricks or codewords that are available in non-official literature, so I would advise you not to waste your money on books about applying to Oxbridge colleges. Some I have seen are positively misleading, and none have anything particularly useful or interesting to say. Other than that, it only remains to us to wish you good luck with your application!
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