PI: How to Cambridge

Today we have a post by Lim Yi Heng, an incoming Cambie freshie.
A timely article for the Cambridge application season.

Tips on getting into Cambridge

by Lim Yi Heng

I have always wanted to study at a good university when I was little and the notion was strengthened when I came across the photos of Cambridge University, arguably one of the best universities in the world. The medieval buildings, singular traditions and the supervision system unique to only a few universities in the U.K. are the factors that make me so fixated on the prospect of studying at Cambridge. Along the journey of my application, I had received help and advice from seniors studying there for which I am very grateful, and I hope with this essay, I may be able to help the future applicants a little. I applied to read Engineering at Christ’s College, and the conditions that I was offered were A* in Further Maths, A*/A in Chemistry and Physics in either order, and grade 1 in STEP 1. I will expound on 3 key points here, namely the entrance test, the interview, and STEP. 

1) The entrance test for whoever applies to Engineering AND chooses to be interviewed in Malaysia consists of 2 parts, first of which is a 1.5 hour Thinking Skill Assessment (TSA) and second of which is a 0.5 hour essay. The TSA is essentially similar to what you may have learnt in A-Levels Thinking Skill, but perhaps the questions are designed in a more convoluted way. You may find the past papers here (only Section 1). (Disclaimer: I do not know what’s the difference between Cambridge and Oxford TSA section one, but I personally think they're the same and I did them as practice). You may also find the A-Levels past papers useful. While for the essay, it is related to your field of study, and you will be given 5 different topics (all related to your field of study, which is, in this case, Engineering) from which you have to choose 1. I did not prepare much for the essay back then, but now I feel that reading The Economist may be of great help. 

2) The interview is normally 20-minute long, in which you will be asked academic questions. For me, the interviewer started by asking me some stuff I wrote in personal statement and COPA (some of which were academic while the others were not), perhaps to calm me down a little. I believe many of you will be intimidated by the thought of making some silly mistakes in the interview and fear that that will ruin your chances of getting in. However, based on my personal experience, I think the interviewer has already expected you to make some mistakes due to the solemn atmosphere and the nervousness of the interviewees. In my case, if I remember correctly, out of 7 or 8 questions that I was asked, I was initially wrong in 3 of them. However, as cliche as it may sound, try working out your solution so that the interviewer knows what you are doing (like what I did), raise any questions that you would like to seek clarification, and from there the interviewer will guide you. The first problem that the interviewer gave me was to draw a very simple graph based on the equation he gave (which was actually kind of an introductory graph in A-Levels Further Maths) but I flopped the question. However, I did tell the interviewer what problem did I face and he gave me a hint, and from there I solved the question.The last question that the interviewer asked me was something we learnt in SPM. I don’t know which went wrong (natural physics principle or Malaysian education) but apparently what we learnt in SPM was wrong. Strangely, I somehow kept telling the same answer to the interviewer repeatedly however many times he hinted me and guided me to reach the answer and halfway through the struggle, he said something like (I’m not too sure though!) “I tried to teach you but you seemed to hold on to the principle you knew and not let me teach”, to which I responded by asking him to repeat the entire hints again and fortunately from there I found the right answer to the problem. After that, when he continued asking me questions related to the principle, again I gave the initial wrong answer! However, I guess the interviewer understood that interviewees might be nervous so some mistakes could be excused. 

3) STEP is the acronym for Sixth Term Examination Paper, and it consists of 3 papers, namely STEP 1, STEP 2, and STEP 3. For engineers who apply to Christ’s College (and for some who apply to Peterhouse), you will need to sit for STEP 1. The required grade is normally 1 (which is the second highest grade), and the past papers can be found online. Do not be set aback when you first practise on the papers, they are really difficult. Assign at least half an hour for a question and try to figure out the solution without referring to the answers. However, do trust your instinct, if you feel you can by no means solve a particular question (for it is related to a particular field of maths which you are not good at), then you may very well skip that and look at the solution. Each of the 3 STEP papers is a 13-question and 3-hour paper, which includes 8 pure maths questions, 3 mechanics questions, and 2 statistics questions. 20 marks are allocated to each question with the absolute maximum score caps at 120. With that said, the examiners will mark all the questions that you attempt, but only the marks of the 6 questions in which you score higher will be counted.

When there is a will, there really is a way. Have confidence in yourself and you will do fine. You do not have to be top in your class or even school to be able to stand a chance to get an offer. To be frank, I wasn't even the top student in my class alone back in A-Levels as the competition was so intense, but eventually I am fortunate to have received an offer (a total of 3 students including me from my class received an offer, and few others were pooled). As such, I hope whoever wants to apply to Cambridge do not stress yourself too much to emerge top, as long as you put in the effort in your study and are determined to study there, after all, they don't just accept only one student, right?

And that's the Golden tip being given by this incoming Cambridge fresh grad, work hard and never underestimate yourself!

SUTD and the Imperial interview

The view outside my hostel!

The story of SUTD

How did I stumble upon SUTD was a funny story, it all began with Collegeboard, the SAT administrator. Back when I registered for the SAT, I clicked on a feature to let colleges and universities mail me with any offers and advertisement they had, and SUTD had sent me a mail with a big hook - apply for free!

I know that this wasn't a great factor but it did interested me. After paying fees to apply to 12 universities worldwide, it was refreshing to see a university that didn't ask you to pay something to attempt to enter. Although I haven't heard of this university before but there was nothing to lose in applying to SUTD. In fact, it was great practice in case I need to apply to other universities as well. With that thinking in mind, I completed the application and awaited the other offers.

Around March, SUTD gave me an interview invitation. I remember being interviewed by Prof. Ate and Prof. Jer Ming. They asked me everything that I wrote in the essay, including my chess club leadership, my Leo Club leadership and what I did in my brief stint in robotics club. They seemed to emphasize the last point because SUTD was after all, a tech school. I thought the interview went pretty well as compared to my Cambridge interview. I remember not rehearsing anything for the interview and just being myself. I didn't think much of SUTD then.

Imperial College Interview

In February, I received an interview invitation from Imperial College London (IC). It was to be my first Skype interview but not my last one. I was interviewed by Dr. Connor Myant for IC's newly minted design engineering program. At that time, the Public Service (JPA) department's scholarship was converted into a local scholarship and I was very demotivated. At that point I was thinking what was the point to take the interview anyway. Even if I get accepted, I may not get enough finances to go. I was pretty cynical at that time.

Even with that frame in mind, I still prepared for my interview. I asked for time off from my manager Arun (I was working in Singapore) and prepared my calculator and writing tools. The interview however was not what I expected (I had Cambridge style interview in my mind). Being an interviewer for the design course, Dr. Myant instead asked me to talk about my favourite gadgets and their intelligent design. Then he asked me to design a chair. This was totally different than the Cambridge interview as I felt like I was having a nice long chat with the professor about the products that I liked and their features. There were some mathematical questions of course, but they were not as intense as the Cambridge questions. At the end of it, I even managed to ask Dr. Myant about the possibilities of a scholarship. He said a bit embarrassingly that chances were low.

The Offers

In March/April the results were out. I got offers from both Imperial and SUTD but SUTD offered me much more. They offered me a scholarship together with an exchange program to UCB. I was as elated as I was worried. If I have never heard of SUTD before, chances are will employers out there would never heard of it as well. Will the course even be rigorous? I have been dreaming to study abroad for so long, but I was longing more for countries across oceans, not just across the Causeway. Will SUTD be a good fit? Is it well recognised?

I realized that my problems were SUTD is due to the lack of information on my part. Just looking at the online brochures does not teach me much about SUTD so I visited the campus. After all, I was working in Singapore. I also contacted a Malaysian senior who is studying there and had a nice long chat with him. Through him and my own eyes, I found SUTD to be a very nice place. In place of the traditional science labs, SUTD has fabrication labs for you to manufacture your own products. The library lets you use Kindle to access e-books and the whole campus gives you a modern vibe. The industry has recognized SUTD well as its first batch of graduates (in 2015) were reported to have the highest starting salary. The partnership with MIT ensures that the coursework would be interesting and tough. And as a plus it has the course that I wanted - product design.

Most importantly, if I accepted SUTD's offer, I would have something which is much more valuable - a peace of mind. After applying to 14 universities and not finding a viable path, I was getting exhausted and frustrated. I felt that my life was just a never ending application to colleges. With little support from my parents (in terms of application advice) and mentors, I had been doing this ala lone ranger mode and it was tiring me out. Accepting the offer would mean that I will finally end this uncertainty once and for all and I will have the peace of mind that has enticed me for so long.

There were a few things that I need to consider before saying yes, and that were the possibilities of better options. With SUTD's offer deadline in May, I need to accept it before I even knew the results of my NUS/NTU offers or the replies from the various corporations which I have asked for scholarship. After carefully analyzing the situation and doing some deep soul searching, I reasoned that no offer would be better than this - even scholarship offers to good universities overseas would bond me to their company for long periods. As a result, I have come to the conclusion that SUTD would be the best choice after all.

About my reluctance in accepting the offer, realisation struck that I have not diminished my dream but rather I have attained it. Given the circumstances, it was one of the best outcome that I could have instead of languishing in some place I don't like. It was kind of like "reach for the stars, if you can't do it, you can at least grab the moon" concept. And as young kid from Raub to have achieved this stage of life all by himself, all I can say is that the kid is somehow proud of himself.

At the end of the day, don't give up on your dreams. You might find it to be very hard, but the struggles will eventually make you a better person. Who knows? You might even find yourself amongst the stars some day

"reach for the stars, if you can't do it, you can at least grab the moon."

PI: Facing the MIT Interview

Chill man! Every question is not a test. In this post we have Anzo who was accepted into MIT class of 20 who will debunk the MIT interview myth. (He wrote a very nice post on rejecting the offer though) Unlike the Cambridge interview where they will literally drill you on academic questions, MIT interview is on a more casual format. In this second issue of Project Insight, Anzo will seek to shed light on the MIT interview. 

Facing the MIT Interview

by Anzo Teh

Background

First, please read this link:

http://mitadmissions.org/apply/freshman/interview

MIT does conduct interview to understand applicants better, but there’s no guarantee that you will get one. For me, my interview as shown in MyMIT was waived until Professor Ewe Hong Tat (head of Malaysian MIT club) contacted me via email that he would be conducting an interview for me. Even though you don’t get one, don’t worry: there had been people admitted without going through an interview.

Pre-interview preparation                             

I got the interview email on 31 January and was given the options of 2, 3 or 5 February, with the same venue: Starbucks Coffee at IOI Mall.

Only a day of two to prepare, so I looked up on special things about MIT like its hacking culture, and practiced in front of my father.

The interview

I picked 2^nd Feb, 7:30pm. We arrived IOI mall quite early (5:30 pm if I recalled correctly), and thankfully we did that because it took me a while to look for Starbucks (even with signboard!) A quick dinner, not too heavy before I waited outside the building a 7:20, and Prof. Ewe arrived shortly after that. He recognized me as I waved my hand to him, and we quickly settled down after ordering drinks.

His first question: “Why must MIT take you?” A loaded question, but luckily I had a powerful weapon: my experience in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), for four years. I thought it was right to just say about how I stumbled upon the IMO, how I rose from the second IMO onwards, how I met the bottleneck, and how I finally won a gold medal in IMO 2014. I even went on to tell about some cool things I had done, like training the IMO juniors, composing my high school graduation song and graduation performance in Sunway. Alas, guess he wasn’t particularly impressed when he knew that I didn’t take courses outside my IMO scope (like the edX) and we got into Q&A session quite fast.

The middle of the Q&A session saw a pivotal change, as Professor advised “explore deep into what you really like, don’t do math just because of studies or competition.” He further encouraged creating math problems on my own, which I grabbed the opportunity to tell about Junior Olympiad of Mathematics (JOM), a project initiated by Justin and me, inspired by the Experimental Lincoln Mathematical Olympiad. A lot to say, but I knew I was on the right track when he said “now things are getting more interesting.” He allowed me to say another interesting, which I said about the presentation I had made in Economics classes under my teacher’s supervision. To answer the “interesting” element, I commented on the knowledge beyond textbook gained, the escaping of the cocoon of studying only for exam, and the freedom of speech witnessed in class (that could hardly be seen in high school).

The interview ended with not-so-critical topics like Chinese New Year, financial aids, and JPA’s slashing of scholarship. Professor asked for my resume through email before ‘rushing’ me off (at 8:40pm) as there was another candidate after me.

Tips

1. FIX A DATE AS FAST AS POSSIBLE! Although it sounded like all dates are possible but some other candidates may fill the date faster than you do. Luckily Prof. Ewe could slot in two candidates in a day during my time, but that’s not a guarantee in general.
2. Unlike interviews by Cambridge or Oxford, interviews by MIT (or by most other US universities) are a bit casual in settings. In particular, mine is in Starbucks so suit-and-tie attire is not needed (I wore a black collared T-shirt and slack pants and court shoes).
3. Another important thing: practice before the interview! Do think of current issues, especially those that impacted you the most (for me, it was the slashing of JPA’s sponsorship to overseas universities). Anticipate more questions like “why must MIT admit you”, “why are you the top 8% of the applicants” (admission rate nowadays had been hovering around his figure), “why do you like MIT”, etc.
4. Referring to (3), there’s no right or wrong answer but please make sure that the answers are sensible. For example, answering “I applied MIT out of random choices” to “why did you apply to MIT” will never please your interviewer, while answering “I had 2400 on SAT, straight 100’s in my A-Level, perfect 45 on IB” to “why should MIT take you” will make you sound as if you didn’t understand what does MIT look for.
5. Prepare some questions on your own, too, so that your interviewer knows that you are interested in (no, you must be passionate about) MIT. Avoid asking questions that are available on the official website (like when to submit February Updates and Notes) : I made that mistake by asking if I need to take Biology classes while this question has been answered in General Institute Requirement webpage. You can, however, ask your interviewer’s opinion on hacking culture, for example.
6. Be punctual to your interview. Show your interviewer that you care about being admitted into MIT and hence care about the interview. Excuses like traffic jam or overslept are just too contrived.
7. Get to know your interviewer beforehand (especially his/her appearance) so that you will not be in the awkward position of not knowing with whom should you sit.
8. Courtesy alert: show your interviewer that you are willing to pay for your food/drink (you can ask “how much should I pay”). Chances are, he/she will pay for you but it’s always good to leave a good impression. That said, don’t go overboard by relentlessly insisting on paying (like how your parents and their close friends behave while having meals together). Just reply with a “thank you” after your interviewer agreed to pay for you.
9. If your interview is a lunch/dinner, it’s advisable to order only snacks since you want to focus your attention in speaking, not eating.
10. Be yourself. Talk about things that you are truly passionate about, not things that you think that will impress your interviewer. If you talk about things that you don’t really know about or things that you lack passion in, the interviewer can sense it with years of experiences in interviewing.
11. That said, be sure to grab the opportunity to talk about something your interviewer is waiting for if there is something in your mind, even though you can sense that the interview is about to end (if the time constraint is tight then that’s different story). I would have screwed my interview and admission if I stay silent and not talk about JOM during the Q&A session.
12. Control your adrenaline in your head! We tend to speak fast when we talk about something we are passionate about, but that’s the time we lost our words too. I remembered my piano teacher advising me not to have my mouth faster than brain during oral test, because we might lost track on what we are about to say (which may show signs of nervousness). In any case, this is not the only way to show passion: you can always slow down and accentuate words or phrases when necessary.
13. Courtesy alert 2.0: don’t wait for waiters to remove paper cups or plates for you; do it yourself. For me, I forgot about this until Prof. Ewe hinted me that I could take away my cup as I wish. If I didn’t, the cup may remain until the second interviewee came in and things might go very awkward.
14. Courtesy alert 3.0: be sure to thank your interviewer on email! Do submit your form (like resume for my case) ASAP too.

Any questions? Please leave a comment below. The post by Celine Wan on MIT admissions is also fascinating to read.