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| Welcome to 'So You Think You Can Apply to Cambridge?' Round 1! |
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!
2. The admission statistic is no manual to enter Cambridge, don't rely on it too much!
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!
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