So you think you can apply to Cambridge? Round 2!

Say hello to So you think you can apply to Cambridge? Round 2! The written test!

If you asked to be interviewed in Malaysia, you are probably going to walk the same path as mine. After filling in the COPA and SAQ as detailed in my last last post, you will received an email detailing your interview date, venue, interviewer as well as any written tasks that you have to take. Contrary to what the official college webpages say, we Malaysians asking to be interviewed in Malaysia will take a different format of entrance tests. Instead of multiple interviews in a number of days, we only have one and only one interview here in Malaysia. Also, we won’t be doing the written tests as detailed in the website. The only way to know what type of test you have to take is to wait until the official email is received, but I doubt that the format ever changes. Usually Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Nat Ski (Natural Science) students will take the TSA (Thinking Skill Assessment) which was what I took. To get a better idea of what I am saying, I will show you an excerpt of the e-mail:

All applicants being interviewed in Malaysia (except for medics and vets who take the BMAT), are expected to take one of a range of Written Tests which will be held on xxx on yyy. You do not register separately for these tests and no additional fee is payable.  All the Tests will be of 2 hours total duration and your test will be the appropriate one from the following list.

a)  If you are applying for a place for Chemical Engineering, Classics (4 year course), Computer Science, Economics, Education, Engineering, Natural Sciences, or Psychological and Behavioural Sciences you will take the TSA (Thinking Skills Assessment).  This test is in two parts: first you will take a 90 minutes multi-choice Thinking Skills Assessment Test, then additionally you will be expected to choose and answer ONE essay or other question selected from at least three questions relevant to your intended subject as specified in a supplementary 30 minute Paper.  Further information on the multi-choice part of the Test including a sample paper can be found on the internet at: www.tsacambridge.org.uk  Those taking the TSA will require a soft pencil and an eraser.  For the 30 minute supplementary essay paper a pen of some sort is recommended and will be more appropriate.
b)  Cambridge Law Test: this is of 2 hours duration and Law applicants will be expected to answer two questions (one an essay and the other a comprehension test) relevant for someone with an interest in Law.  Law applicants who are interviewed in Cambridge take a shorter one-hour version of this test.  Specimen questions and further information may be found at:  http://ba.law.cam.ac.uk/applying/cambridge_law_test/For all the following tests there are no specimen questions or past papers available and no syllabus is published.  This is designed to ensure so far as possible that all applicants may take the test on an equal basis.  
m)  Mathematics: this Written Test is of 2 hours duration and applicants will be expected to answers questions selected from a range covering many areas of Mathematics.  There will be 6 questions altogether and candidates will be expected to answer the first question plus two out of the remaining five questions.

All applicants need to bring a photo ID to the test and this may be inspected.  You may NOT use a calculator or a dictionary (book or electronic) for any of the papers. Also, mobile phones, even if switched off, may not be brought into the examination room or to an interview.

TSA

I believe that the letter regarding the written test is pretty much self-explanatory on the format. In the excerpt above, there is a link to some TSA sample tests but it won’t be enough. There is only one Cambridge TSA sample there if you search the ATS (Admission Testing Service - provider of the tests) website but there are 4 Oxford TSA samples also by ATS, so use them and now you have four samples. If you are in need of more exercises, the Cambridge A-Levels thinking skills paper are good practice although the current papers focus more on the problem solving (IQ questions) and not the critical thinking (argument) part. So I borrowed a book on arguments and studied on it which I found useful. Although in my practice I scored pretty bad on the TSA practice, I find that the practice trained me to work faster through the questions. Time constraint is really a big problem on the test, as usually people can’t finish the test in time and those who are well prepared can also just finish it in just the nick of time. Another advantage of doing practices is that you can readily identify the types of questions that will come out instead of getting paralysed by the ‘impossible questions’.

TSA

The Essay

Unbeknownst to most people, there is a second part to the TSA – the essay. In 30 minutes you are supposed to write a well-developed essay which can be quite challenging (if you did the SAT essay you will know what I mean). Usually the topics will be on something related to your intended major, for example engineering applicants will get questions on the future of robots or renewable energy. In this part, there are also some past papers (Oxford's) that you can practise on especially if you are an A-Level student who haven’t wrote an essay in ages. There is no format for the essay so feel free to write your views and opinions here on the subject that you are most familiar with.

After asking a senior, he informed me that the weightage for Cambie's interview and written test is roughly like this:  20% each for your grades, personal statements, recommendations, written tests and interviews, so be sure to excel in each and every part of these five factors!

That's all for written tests. Care to share any tips and tricks? Any questions? Thanks for reading!

TIPS

1. Don't panic on the day of the test. Do a lot of practices beforehand to familiarize.

So you think you can apply to Cambridge? Round 1!

Welcome to 'So You Think You Can Apply to Cambridge?'
Round 1!

This is just the preliminary round, nothing more than what to fill and what to do before applying to Cambridge. I have not entered Cambridge, so I cannot detail the life of a Cantabrigian, but I still remember the harrowing process that was ‘trying to enter Cambridge’. Celine Wan's blog post, though dated, described the whole process beautifully.

The first step to an Cambridge application is through UCAS – the portal. You need to select the University of Cambridge as one of the choices together with your choice of college and course. At this stage, you will need to do the following: Find the course that you want to apply, list down the Cambridge college you want, write the personal statement and ask for a reference, all before the month of September.

Why September? I hear you ask.

For those who wants to be interviewed in Malaysia, you need to submit another two applications called the COPA (Cambridge Online Preliminary Application) and SAQ (Supplementary Application Questionnaire), all before the 20th of September. You will be asked via e-mail to complete these applications, which costs 30 pounds. The COPA is a supplement to your UCAS application where they will ask you extra questions on you.

There are a few questions worthy of attention in COPA, including an additional personal statement on why you want to study at Cambridge. You will also be asked to detail your A-Levels studies, as well as any specific career plans (300 characters) and how you have kept your interest in the subject that you are going to study (another 300 characters). you would also need to upload your transcript, i.e your SPM results and its translation.

The SAQ is strikingly similar to COPA, however, once you click 'I have filled in COPA' box, it would automatically be 90% complete with only two parts you need to fill. In another respect, SAQ is actually like COPA, only COPA is more complete (and its for international students trying to go to Cambridge, if I'm not mistaken).

I cannot advise on writing the personal statement and course selection but I do have some advice on choosing your college. On choosing colleges, there are a few factors that you can weigh on. First, accommodation. Some colleges will allow you to stay at the hostel there throughout your undergraduate studies, whereas some can only house you for two years and after that you'll need to find accommodation outside of the college like that. So do check the accommodation conditions at your college before making a choice.


Secondly, funding. If you don't know what to aim for, aim for the rich colleges at Cambridge such as Trinity and St. John. By being rich, they can actually offer you cheaper boarding and other opportunities such as exchange program abroad. Thirdly, proximity. Echoing the real estate mantra, location, location, location. Some universities are nearer to certain features than others. For example, Peterhouse is practically next to the Department of Engineering. I initially chose Peterhouse for some this reason too, but after finding out that one of my classmates is applying there as well, I immediately withdrew and applied to Gonville and Caius - my second choice college. Not because I was afraid of losing out, but to maximize the chance for both of us. I forked up 130 pounds for the interview and the COPA and I am not going to waste it competing with my overqualified friend.


In reality, these factors are actually just peripheral benefits; it does not in any way diminish the Cambridge experience. After all, all the colleges are Cambridge colleges. You still have supervisions and attend the same lectures. Each college actually has its own pros and cons. For example, you might need to stay at home everyday eating Hall food from Gonville and Caius but they will make it up for you by providing you with their pretty library. If you can't make a decision, you can actually make an open application to the University of Cambridge, where the computer system will match you with one of the colleges there. You will be treated like a first-choice applicant to that college and they won't be able to tell the difference contrary to what other people says.

Nevertheless, some people believe in the statistic games using this website. They also believe that certain colleges are "course-inclined" meaning that if you're studying certain courses at certain colleges you would have better admission chances, some also believe that some of the lesser known colleges have better admission rates. Well, I can neither deny or confirm this rumour. Of course some better colleges will have more applicants and hence tougher competition but I think that the university wide admission rate of 20% is quite accurate. Personally for me, I just use the website to get a better picture of the admission statistics as well as the student population.

However if you can readily discern what you like about a specific college, then don't hesitate to do so. Besides finding out more about Cambridge which will definitely pique your interest in applying there, you could also answer the "why Cambridge?" question more convincingly in the interview.

That's all for part 1. Stay ready for part 2!

TIPS:

1. If you can choose a specific college, go for it! You would have some fodder to talk about during Cambridge interviews (i.e. I like this xxx college because of its yyy atmosphere) but this is just something minor.
2. The admission statistic is no manual to enter Cambridge, don't rely on it too much!