Capa Posted October 28, 2008 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 Hi,I really want to study at Cambridge, but my subjects are : Math studies, history HL, Nowegian HL, English HL, Chemistry SL, Biology SL.I am planning on stuy law, do you think I can get into Cambridge with high enough grades even though I have math studies?Capa.. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capa Posted October 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 (edited) Yes I am taking both languages as A1. This is my second year so i think it is too late to change to math SL now, however, I am only 16 still so i would not mind too much to take 1 year of another math course if that could help (after IB), but I don't know yet...Capa...btw. do you know approximately how many points i should aim for?thanks... Edited October 28, 2008 by Capa Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capa Posted October 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 Hehe, I must admit that this so far has been a 'quiet' wish from my side. I need to know a lot more about Cambridge and other things before thinking of applying. Thank you for the help...Capa... ! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deissi Posted October 29, 2008 Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 I applied to Cambridge, so I'll give a slightly different viewpoint to Mark's. First of all, entry for Law means you'll have to take the LNAT test, an aptitude test of sorts. Math Studies is fine, what they really care about are your HL subjects. History and two A1s is a very good combination, as these are all subjects pertinent to Law. Depending on the college, you should aim at 7-6-6 or 7-7-6 at HL. If you know you can't get at least a 6 and one 7 in your HLs, I can tell you there is practically no chance of acceptance. Overall, you should be looking at 41-43 points (including bonus obviously).Mark, to be honest, I have to say that the view you take on people who study in Oxbridge is very limited. Somehow you seem a bit jealous about not having the grades to go to Oxbridge. Applying there doesn't mean you are a nerd who likes to spend their time studying. I can only look at examples of people I know who go there and myself. Throughout IB, I've studied only very little and not put much effort into it. Regardless of this, I'm still ambitious enough to go to Cambridge. I know that if I get in I'll be one of those students who won't do so well but I'll still end up with a BA from Cambridge, so who cares? Now I know several people who study in Oxford (less in Cambridge). Our school has lots of the "nerds" you mentioned but also many people like me. I can honestly say that after the interviews, none of the nerds have received offers but a good percentage (well over average) of the socially normal students did end up getting offers and they now study in Oxford (mainly PPE). So what you actually might expect to meet in Cambridge is, sure, some nerds, but mostly intelligent people who also possess social skills. A university like Cambridge has the ability to choose, so they really want the social people instead of the nerds.Have you looked at any other law schools in England? If you haven't, I suggest you take a look at LSE and Warwick, especially LSE is also a school of high reputation. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capa Posted October 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 hmmm, you people got me to think very much.. I will obviously go for the highest score I can. I am NOT a kind of nerd as Mark talked about so it will be hard for me, but not impossible.I must admit that I have heard negative things about Cambrdge before, but I dont think that was from a very serious 'source'. I cannot imagine that Cambridge is not a great place, it is a world famous univerity and I expect and believe that such a place has a very good community - with some social activities.After all, I am planning on studiyng - not to party, but I doubt that there are no party-people at Cambridge.Capa... Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deissi Posted October 30, 2008 Report Share Posted October 30, 2008 I'm not jealous; I am not applying for Oxbridge anyhow although I have chances of being at least considered. Simply Oxbridge wouldn't be the greatest fit for me from what i've heared from people who went there. Oxbridge is not neccessarily heaven as many believe it to be, though it can be heaven for some people if you're into the Oxbridge style. I'm not saying Oxbridge sucks, but it's too overated in my opinion. Many people (obviously not all) think of Oxbridge as some kind of paradise, it may have a great reputation and great professors and such, but it's not the best fit for everyone in the world.Btw, how can you possibly say that you didn't put ''much effort'' into IB íf you really are predicted the grades that are shown under your comments? Only students at my school who work like hell get these kind of predicted grades...Well, I have to say, I do disagree with you about the lifestyle part . But we can agree to disagree here, both of us only really can refer to hearsay, since we don't study there . About the predicteds, with my subjects, it really doesn't involve any effort A1 Finnish & A2 English is a joke, Economics doesn't require studying, I'm done with Swedish (7) and Math is easy for me. Physics would require effort but I can't be arsed to study for it . If I would do HL sciences, I know I'd have predicteds around 35 so it really is nothing special... Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forester Posted October 31, 2008 Report Share Posted October 31, 2008 You don't need to be a nerd. But you do need to spend lots of time in front of the computer. And you would have to know how to study smart, not purely study hard.Supporting Mark's point, be sure oxbridge is a good fit for you before you apply, visit it if you can to see if it is really what you think it is.Supporting Deissi's point, if you took an ab initio language, maths studies, environmental systems instead of A2, higher level mathematics and sciences, I am sure your total IB grade would be much higher. In this case Deissi might just be naturally talented at languages and economics. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leen Posted November 1, 2008 Report Share Posted November 1, 2008 According to timesonline, Oxbridge is one of the top 20 favourite universities of students, so...Neverthless, choose the university that's right for you. I wanted to apply for Oxford but I haven't find a particular course that wowed me, nor did I have the right predicted grades. Neverthless, if you want to go to cambridge, go for it, it will certainly pay off in your later life. Who wouldn't want to hire a Cambridge graduate? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lysie-berry-cake Posted November 17, 2008 Report Share Posted November 17, 2008 hmm im not aiming for cambridge but my advice to you since you take math studies and since it is considered a soft subject try to obtain a 7 but then again try to obtain a 7 in every subject. One of the girls in my spanish Intio class got an interview with cambridge and she takes spanish intio and as far as i know it is considered a soft subject, therefore i suggest go for it. You woulnt want to be wrapped in wonder if you didnt try. Oh yes write your personal statement as if your "selling your life".i hope it helps Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capa Posted November 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2008 (edited) Ok, thank you very much for your advice.I can't imagine that I will be able to gain a 7 in every subject because I am not that bright. However, I will do my best for for sure... and then see how far I can reach.I, together with the rest of my class, feel that chemistry is the hardest subject and it is not looking too good. Right now, I would be happy to get a 5 in chemistry, which obviously is very bad. This will of course not take me into Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard or any other top university... Right now I am just focusing on completing my EE by wednesday and then do the best I can in the rest of my subjects. A realistic score for me right now I think would look something like this:Math stud: 6/7Chem SL: 4Bio SL: 5/6His HL: 6/7Eng HL: 7Norwegian HL:7EE+ToK : 1/2 Edited November 21, 2008 by Capa Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forester Posted November 27, 2008 Report Share Posted November 27, 2008 A 4 in chemistry in your mid year or final report or transcript will endanger your chances if you are applying to any ivy league schools. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 Chem SL: 4I took my IB SL Chemistry exam last year and it wasn't actually that bad. I crammed for it in the last week or so and pulled off a 7. Paper 1 should be relatively simple to pull off. There are only so many questions they can give you, so if you keep doing past papers you'll learn to actually recognize the questions and you'll know how to do it. Papers 2 + 3 are a little harder, but the same principle is behind it. I think nearly a quarter of my Paper 3 I'd seen word for word when I was doing the past year papers. I know this won't help you with the application process, but you could also consider taking a gap year and applying with your actual scores if you think you could pull them up enough? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigitteR Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 i heard that two ppl with predicted score 43 44 are turned down by Cam too this year... Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capa Posted December 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 I took my IB SL Chemistry exam last year and it wasn't actually that bad. I crammed for it in the last week or so and pulled off a 7. Paper 1 should be relatively simple to pull off. There are only so many questions they can give you, so if you keep doing past papers you'll learn to actually recognize the questions and you'll know how to do it. Papers 2 + 3 are a little harder, but the same principle is behind it. I think nearly a quarter of my Paper 3 I'd seen word for word when I was doing the past year papers. I know this won't help you with the application process, but you could also consider taking a gap year and applying with your actual scores if you think you could pull them up enough?Thank you for the advice,I am working a lot on chemistry and I will try to get something better than 4.I am actually thinking about a gap year to either imrove my exam grades or use the real grades as you suggested.Paper 3 I feel pretty confident on, because the topics seem to be easier. Paper 2 is clearly the hardest for me, and even with a lot of exam questions to practise on, I (and my whole class) feel not very confident, but i will keep practising and we will see how it goes Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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