Showing posts with label ucas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ucas. Show all posts
Monday, May 17, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
The UCAS application process
To apply to UK, you need to have a UCAS online account, as well as your school’s buzz-pass, which the college counselor will provide. For every other school in UK (I think), all you need to do is to fill up the UCAS form, choose the school, and click submit.
Except, of course, for Oxbridge. Personally, I applied to Cambridge, so I will do a write-up later on applying there. As you should know by now if you are applying this year, you may only apply to either Oxford or Cambridge to do an undergraduate degree, not both. Oxford and Cambridge are traditionally the most sought after schools in the UK, so you can imagine why they have this policy, especially considering that they have a more detailed selection process for candidates.
The UCAS form has several sections. The “Personal details’ one is quite self explanatory, except for the “Date of first entry to UK”. If you have been to UK before, write… the date which you entered it. Otherwise, put the approximate date of entry into the UK if you were to matriculate into the college of your choice which has the earliest starting date (you may choose five colleges to apply to).
For the Residential category, put ‘other’ if you are a non EU member like me. And before I forget, in the section where you register your name, there’s this drop down list where you can choose your title. There’s a huge selection of titles to choose from, including titles such as ‘Lord’, ‘Lady’, ‘Prince’, ‘Your Royal Highness’, ‘Admiral’, etc. As the college counselor told us at the briefing last year, choose ‘Mr’ if you are male, ‘Ms’ or ‘Miss’ if you are female (I assume you are unmarried here), or good luck with trying to get in!
For the ‘Student Support’ category, choose ’09 Overseas Agency; if you are planning to pay your way through college by getting a scholarship from some Singapore government agency like me, or the title which best describes your financial plans.
“Nominated access”: This is what you put in case UCAS has urgent need to contact you but is unable to for some reason. Your nominee will receive the information on your behalf and pass it to you, so put a family member or school staff member you know will be willing to do this for you.
For “My choices”, I choose:
1. University of Bristol; Mathematics with Physics
2. University of Cambridge, Churchill College, Mathematics
3. Imperial College London; Physics with Theoretical Physics
4. University College London (University of London); Mathematics with Mathematical Physics
5. The University of Warwick; Mathematics with Physics.
For “courses”, you can choose up to five different courses, but do not choose courses which are too radically different from each other as you cannot modify your application to suit each college on UCAS. For US applications, however, this is possible. My courses, while different, allowed me to talk about why I wanted to study Mathematics and/ or Physics, which are quite closely interlinked anyway. What I am saying is do not ask to apply for PPE in Oxford but Chemical Engineering in Imperial College, or you will have to sacrifice something when writing your UCAS essay – to write about why you want to do PPE or why you wish to study Chemical Engineering?
In all choices, I said I did not want to live at home (impossible for me when my permanent address is in Singapore) and did not wish to defer entry. Guys should list differently from me on whether they wish to defer entry or not. Even if you are only interested in applying to say, Oxford, I’ll advice selecting four more colleges to apply to anyway, since you are going to pay the same amount for the application even if you only applied to Oxford alone. It’s always advisable to apply to more than fewer schools due to the uncertainty inherent in college applications in any case.
Education: List everything that gives you bragging rights here. If it’s not listed in the drop down list of qualifications, put if under “Other (International Non-EU Qualifications)”. If you are unsure which school to list them under, put it under NUS High, or the school you were studying in when you earned that qualification. For example, if I got Silver in the Singapore Chemistry Olympiad in 2008, the drop down list does not have such a qualification. So what I did was list in under “National University of Singapore”, under “Other (International Non-EU Qualifications)”, and type the name of the competition and the results I obtained there.
When you want to list you NUS High Results, list the average CAPs you have attained so far. When you apply to UCAS, you likely have not got your NUS High Diploma yet.
“Employment” If you have not held a paid job before, check the box but leave the section blank. Most Singaporeans are not employed at this time in their lives, so don’t worry too much about leaving the section blank. If you are already in NS by the time you apply, presumably you can list this fact down here.
“Personal Statement”: I’ve already uploaded the personal statement I wrote when I applied, as did Ying Zhen, so go have a look if you want examples on how to craft it. UCAS gives guidelines on how to write a personal statement here: http://www.ucas.ac.uk/students/applying/howtoapply/personalstatement/ Please type your personal statement separately and review it before uploading to UCAS, since the system has a timer which will log you out if you are inactive on a UCAS page for too long. The UCAS website also states “You can enter up to 4000 characters (this includes spaces) or 47 lines of text (this includes blank lines), whichever comes first.” So mind you be careful of how much you write as you go along, or you’ll have to do some serious editing when you try to upload your essay. The system will warn you if your essay is over the character limit when you upload your essay.
After everything is done and you are happy, click “submit”. If you truly made a horrible mistake in your application, you can ask the college counselor to “return application to applicant” on his side, but please try not to do that too often as it will inconvenience the counselors.
Referees: You must ask one referee (likely your school teacher) to submit a writeup about you, also not more than 4000 characters with spaces or 47 lines of text long. You can send the application online to your referee. The referee can submit their portion online or ask the college counselor to input it for them.
After you “submit”, you have to pay a fee. See this page for the details. http://www.ucas.ac.uk/students/applying/howtoapply/cost It’s not very expensive, certainly less than the cost of applying to Oxbridge or the US.
I sent in my application in early September due to the early Cambridge deadline for international students. UCL was the first college to accept me, one month later.
When a college makes a decision about you, UCAS will automatically send you an email to inform you of the status change. To see what has happened, follow the instructions given in the email to login to UCAS Track to check your status. I got an unconditional offer from UCL. If you have been offered a place, usually the college will send you a package containing information on them and the course you choose.
Bristol was the next college to accept me. It was a conditional offer. I was asked to get CAP > 4.00, which I fulfilled, and also a score of > 6.5 for all components in the IETLS, which I eventually decided not to fulfill. The IETLS is like the UK version of the TOEFL.
In around November I was called for interviews and test for my Cambridge application, which I will write about separately. Sometime after that, I was given a letter from Cambridge asking me to sign a release form for my application to be sent to all Cambridge colleges for review in the event I was pooled. (I guess I should have figured out I had been pooled then.)
In the second week of January, the Western world reopened after the Christmas break. I got an email saying I had been pooled into Newnham College. The formal letter took a couple more weeks to come, and I realized I gotten a conditional offer: I had to achieve grade I or higher for STEP II and III, and score > 7.0 or above for all components of the IETLS.
Imperial College gave me an unconditional offer in around February or March. Warwick I think was the last to reach a decision. I got an unconditional offer from both schools. Once all my colleges had reached a decision, I was told to reply to my offers no later the 7 June, 2010.
Except, of course, for Oxbridge. Personally, I applied to Cambridge, so I will do a write-up later on applying there. As you should know by now if you are applying this year, you may only apply to either Oxford or Cambridge to do an undergraduate degree, not both. Oxford and Cambridge are traditionally the most sought after schools in the UK, so you can imagine why they have this policy, especially considering that they have a more detailed selection process for candidates.
The UCAS form has several sections. The “Personal details’ one is quite self explanatory, except for the “Date of first entry to UK”. If you have been to UK before, write… the date which you entered it. Otherwise, put the approximate date of entry into the UK if you were to matriculate into the college of your choice which has the earliest starting date (you may choose five colleges to apply to).
For the Residential category, put ‘other’ if you are a non EU member like me. And before I forget, in the section where you register your name, there’s this drop down list where you can choose your title. There’s a huge selection of titles to choose from, including titles such as ‘Lord’, ‘Lady’, ‘Prince’, ‘Your Royal Highness’, ‘Admiral’, etc. As the college counselor told us at the briefing last year, choose ‘Mr’ if you are male, ‘Ms’ or ‘Miss’ if you are female (I assume you are unmarried here), or good luck with trying to get in!
For the ‘Student Support’ category, choose ’09 Overseas Agency; if you are planning to pay your way through college by getting a scholarship from some Singapore government agency like me, or the title which best describes your financial plans.
“Nominated access”: This is what you put in case UCAS has urgent need to contact you but is unable to for some reason. Your nominee will receive the information on your behalf and pass it to you, so put a family member or school staff member you know will be willing to do this for you.
For “My choices”, I choose:
1. University of Bristol; Mathematics with Physics
2. University of Cambridge, Churchill College, Mathematics
3. Imperial College London; Physics with Theoretical Physics
4. University College London (University of London); Mathematics with Mathematical Physics
5. The University of Warwick; Mathematics with Physics.
For “courses”, you can choose up to five different courses, but do not choose courses which are too radically different from each other as you cannot modify your application to suit each college on UCAS. For US applications, however, this is possible. My courses, while different, allowed me to talk about why I wanted to study Mathematics and/ or Physics, which are quite closely interlinked anyway. What I am saying is do not ask to apply for PPE in Oxford but Chemical Engineering in Imperial College, or you will have to sacrifice something when writing your UCAS essay – to write about why you want to do PPE or why you wish to study Chemical Engineering?
In all choices, I said I did not want to live at home (impossible for me when my permanent address is in Singapore) and did not wish to defer entry. Guys should list differently from me on whether they wish to defer entry or not. Even if you are only interested in applying to say, Oxford, I’ll advice selecting four more colleges to apply to anyway, since you are going to pay the same amount for the application even if you only applied to Oxford alone. It’s always advisable to apply to more than fewer schools due to the uncertainty inherent in college applications in any case.
Education: List everything that gives you bragging rights here. If it’s not listed in the drop down list of qualifications, put if under “Other (International Non-EU Qualifications)”. If you are unsure which school to list them under, put it under NUS High, or the school you were studying in when you earned that qualification. For example, if I got Silver in the Singapore Chemistry Olympiad in 2008, the drop down list does not have such a qualification. So what I did was list in under “National University of Singapore”, under “Other (International Non-EU Qualifications)”, and type the name of the competition and the results I obtained there.
When you want to list you NUS High Results, list the average CAPs you have attained so far. When you apply to UCAS, you likely have not got your NUS High Diploma yet.
“Employment” If you have not held a paid job before, check the box but leave the section blank. Most Singaporeans are not employed at this time in their lives, so don’t worry too much about leaving the section blank. If you are already in NS by the time you apply, presumably you can list this fact down here.
“Personal Statement”: I’ve already uploaded the personal statement I wrote when I applied, as did Ying Zhen, so go have a look if you want examples on how to craft it. UCAS gives guidelines on how to write a personal statement here: http://www.ucas.ac.uk/students/applying/howtoapply/personalstatement/ Please type your personal statement separately and review it before uploading to UCAS, since the system has a timer which will log you out if you are inactive on a UCAS page for too long. The UCAS website also states “You can enter up to 4000 characters (this includes spaces) or 47 lines of text (this includes blank lines), whichever comes first.” So mind you be careful of how much you write as you go along, or you’ll have to do some serious editing when you try to upload your essay. The system will warn you if your essay is over the character limit when you upload your essay.
After everything is done and you are happy, click “submit”. If you truly made a horrible mistake in your application, you can ask the college counselor to “return application to applicant” on his side, but please try not to do that too often as it will inconvenience the counselors.
Referees: You must ask one referee (likely your school teacher) to submit a writeup about you, also not more than 4000 characters with spaces or 47 lines of text long. You can send the application online to your referee. The referee can submit their portion online or ask the college counselor to input it for them.
After you “submit”, you have to pay a fee. See this page for the details. http://www.ucas.ac.uk/students/applying/howtoapply/cost It’s not very expensive, certainly less than the cost of applying to Oxbridge or the US.
I sent in my application in early September due to the early Cambridge deadline for international students. UCL was the first college to accept me, one month later.
When a college makes a decision about you, UCAS will automatically send you an email to inform you of the status change. To see what has happened, follow the instructions given in the email to login to UCAS Track to check your status. I got an unconditional offer from UCL. If you have been offered a place, usually the college will send you a package containing information on them and the course you choose.
Bristol was the next college to accept me. It was a conditional offer. I was asked to get CAP > 4.00, which I fulfilled, and also a score of > 6.5 for all components in the IETLS, which I eventually decided not to fulfill. The IETLS is like the UK version of the TOEFL.
In around November I was called for interviews and test for my Cambridge application, which I will write about separately. Sometime after that, I was given a letter from Cambridge asking me to sign a release form for my application to be sent to all Cambridge colleges for review in the event I was pooled. (I guess I should have figured out I had been pooled then.)
In the second week of January, the Western world reopened after the Christmas break. I got an email saying I had been pooled into Newnham College. The formal letter took a couple more weeks to come, and I realized I gotten a conditional offer: I had to achieve grade I or higher for STEP II and III, and score > 7.0 or above for all components of the IETLS.
Imperial College gave me an unconditional offer in around February or March. Warwick I think was the last to reach a decision. I got an unconditional offer from both schools. Once all my colleges had reached a decision, I was told to reply to my offers no later the 7 June, 2010.
Monday, April 12, 2010
UCAS Personal Statement
One of R. L. Stein’s books I read when in Primary Five detailed a twelve year old boy who turned sixteen overnight and was horrified that his textbook was on “Advanced Math: Calculus”. That got me thinking about what was so scary about Math. I went home and opened my sister’s (then Secondary One) textbook and looked at it. Somehow I was drawn to the problems there, and soon finished the textbook. I began to apply algebra to math problems, which was more efficient than the tedious trial and error tactics taught in school.
That was when I realized I liked Mathematics. It didn’t hurt that I just have this innate talent for it either. In my last year of high school I accelerated a compulsory module, Complex Numbers. What I love most about Math is the delight upon successfully solving a tough problem, and learning about elegant proofs. Recently, I co-authored an essay on “Hunting for proofs from THE BOOK – two millennia before Erdös” with a classmate, which won the top prize in the Singapore Mathematical Society Essay Writing Competition 2009.
Physics is another great love of mine, but my first experiences with it were saddled with difficulties. NUS High School taught us Physics concepts at A Level standard when we were only in Secondary Three, which went totally over my head. The only thing that kept me going was a casual comment by my uncle. He said he expected me to be good at Physics because I was good at Math and the two subjects coexisted with one another. Somehow his words resonated in my head whenever I wanted to give up and placed an invisible pressure on me. It wasn’t until Junior College 1 that I became interested in Physics for the beauty of it. I had been selected for Physics Olympiad Training in school, but initially I didn’t have the confidence to go for it. Finally, one teacher said “Make your decision, and stick with it”, and I decided to throw caution to the winds and sign up. Luckily, the trainer was an exceptional teacher. His enthusiasm for the subject was infectious. He was so knowledgeable he never needed any lecture notes at all, only a whiteboard and marker for his performances. Inspired, I worked harder than ever, scoring one of only eight gold medals given out in the 2008 Singapore Physics Olympiad.
Research is my main interest. I took on a research project on organic chemistry under the Science Mentorship programme, where I synthesized a novel compound with two photon properties. I also worked on a project on microfluidic devices under the Science Research Programme. This project was graded Excellent for my Advanced Research Project. Recently, I took up an attachment at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology where I worked on tissue scaffolding. It was my first time working at a professional research institute and I really enjoyed myself as I had camaraderie with the researchers. But I realized what I really wanted was to do research in the mathematical sciences, so I transferred to the Defence Science Organization to work on Electromagnetic Compatibility and Interference.
Another outstanding teacher I have had was my erhu (Chinese violin) trainer in Nanyang Girls’ High School. A veteran in his craft, everyone who passed under his watchful eyes achieved quantum leaps in standard as he was extremely strict about practice. He lectured us on practicing to the point where we felt guilty if we did not practice for a day. Long after I left his tutorship, I still carry that expectation of myself, though I’ve come to realize that usually it’s not how long you spend working on something that matters, but how much effort you put in while working, an attitude which has served me well in both in and out of school.
That was when I realized I liked Mathematics. It didn’t hurt that I just have this innate talent for it either. In my last year of high school I accelerated a compulsory module, Complex Numbers. What I love most about Math is the delight upon successfully solving a tough problem, and learning about elegant proofs. Recently, I co-authored an essay on “Hunting for proofs from THE BOOK – two millennia before Erdös” with a classmate, which won the top prize in the Singapore Mathematical Society Essay Writing Competition 2009.
Physics is another great love of mine, but my first experiences with it were saddled with difficulties. NUS High School taught us Physics concepts at A Level standard when we were only in Secondary Three, which went totally over my head. The only thing that kept me going was a casual comment by my uncle. He said he expected me to be good at Physics because I was good at Math and the two subjects coexisted with one another. Somehow his words resonated in my head whenever I wanted to give up and placed an invisible pressure on me. It wasn’t until Junior College 1 that I became interested in Physics for the beauty of it. I had been selected for Physics Olympiad Training in school, but initially I didn’t have the confidence to go for it. Finally, one teacher said “Make your decision, and stick with it”, and I decided to throw caution to the winds and sign up. Luckily, the trainer was an exceptional teacher. His enthusiasm for the subject was infectious. He was so knowledgeable he never needed any lecture notes at all, only a whiteboard and marker for his performances. Inspired, I worked harder than ever, scoring one of only eight gold medals given out in the 2008 Singapore Physics Olympiad.
Research is my main interest. I took on a research project on organic chemistry under the Science Mentorship programme, where I synthesized a novel compound with two photon properties. I also worked on a project on microfluidic devices under the Science Research Programme. This project was graded Excellent for my Advanced Research Project. Recently, I took up an attachment at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology where I worked on tissue scaffolding. It was my first time working at a professional research institute and I really enjoyed myself as I had camaraderie with the researchers. But I realized what I really wanted was to do research in the mathematical sciences, so I transferred to the Defence Science Organization to work on Electromagnetic Compatibility and Interference.
Another outstanding teacher I have had was my erhu (Chinese violin) trainer in Nanyang Girls’ High School. A veteran in his craft, everyone who passed under his watchful eyes achieved quantum leaps in standard as he was extremely strict about practice. He lectured us on practicing to the point where we felt guilty if we did not practice for a day. Long after I left his tutorship, I still carry that expectation of myself, though I’ve come to realize that usually it’s not how long you spend working on something that matters, but how much effort you put in while working, an attitude which has served me well in both in and out of school.
Monday, January 11, 2010
The Pushguide for UK universities
http://www.push.co.uk/
Useful for people intending to find out more about UK universities. Gives information about the university, percentage of international students there, and insider information. Tells a mostly unbiased view about the universities there as well.
Useful for people intending to find out more about UK universities. Gives information about the university, percentage of international students there, and insider information. Tells a mostly unbiased view about the universities there as well.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
An essential guide for all who would like to go to the UK for studies.
Which way UK - published by the Independent and UCAS.
http://www.independentezines.co.uk/whichwayuk/2009/
http://www.independentezines.co.uk/whichwayuk/2009/
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
A few clarifications.
I just thought I would make a few clarifications to my previous post, I should have talked about colleges.
Before colleges though, let's answer a few questions that my dear readers have with regards to CAP. Typically, whenever you apply for scholarships, schools, etc you fill out your results in that format as shown below. English, Mother Tongue, Math Major, Math Major with Honours, etc. So, Q & A:
1. Are honours modules, etc counted towards your overall CAP? Do we get extra credit for taking Higher Chinese instead of Chinese?
No. Our school does not weight our CAP.
2. Why does my CAP below show a blank for Major with Honours Chem?
At the point of submission (which was September), I hadnt done a single chem hons module (since they were in semester 2) but I completed 1 bio hons module, which was BL6401 Functions and Adaptations, so yes, I got an A- in that - hence the 4.5 CAP. You will see a more complete profile for the US universities because the school year was done by the time my application was submitted.
3. Must you put in your CAP for humanities?
I dont know. All my humanities modules were in history and lit, so it made sense for me to put them there. However on most applications the proper thing to put is your subject CAP for "humanities", not "history" or "lit" unless that's your major.
4. How accurate is your information?
Well, I try to make it accurate but obviously the college counselling office will be more accurate than me. With regards to CAP, I think things might change for subsequent batches and you will probably be given a briefing in time to come. In the meantime try to do well in your major modules (probably only English left isnt it) and your honours modules as well so that you dont regret it when the time comes.
Now for the rest of the information.
1. So what's this college thing in Cambridge and Oxford? Arent they colleges themselves?
Cambridge and Oxford are universities. From how I see it, college is a term for undergraduate education, and university is a term for undergraduate and graduate studies. So because Camb and Oxford are so big, they have individual colleges within the university - think of them as "houses" like in the Harry Potter movie. So you have your "house", you study there, you live there, but ultimately you are from Cambridge.
Each college has its own uniqueness. Cambridge has a site which lists down the websites of all the colleges. A few are reserved for graduate school, a few are female only, a few (like Homerton) are further away from the main campus. There is no ranking for Cambridge colleges (even though Trinity is widely regarded as the 'best' for science) but there is one for Oxford, known as the Norrington Table: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norrington_Table
2. Eeeek, only 5 out of 20+!
Well there were a few who applied to Cambridge medicine which is VERY HARD to get in, typically they accept only about, 10+ internationals? So I think all the people who applied medicine from our school to Cambridge were among those who were rejected. Then we had 5 people ranked top 10 from our batch who all applied to the same college, Trinity. Trinity is very popular for people doing sciences because they produce a lot of Nobel laureates, and that means more competition. Cambridge has 20+ colleges, ideally you would try to apply to a college that no one wants to apply to because you would stand out better - instead of competing with other qualified people in your batch - one of the reasons why I chose Homerton. In any case, even though Cambridge says on their website that you arent disadvantaged because you are applying to a college where others from your school are applying there, I wouldnt try for Trinity unless I am dead confident about my chances.
If you want to know, out of the 6 people who applied to Trinity, 3 were rejected, 1 was pooled, and I dont know what happened to to the last 2 people.
3. Pooled?
Ah, pooled. Let's just say for instance that I am a very qualified applicant, but not qualified enough to make it into, say Trinity. But Trinity thinks that I am good enough for other colleges. I will then be 'pooled', and after all the other colleges have taken others in, they will look at qualified people in the 'pooled' pile and possibly take me in. So pooled means you have a chance of admission, just not in the college you applied for.
Post any more questions you might have and I will try to answer them.
Before colleges though, let's answer a few questions that my dear readers have with regards to CAP. Typically, whenever you apply for scholarships, schools, etc you fill out your results in that format as shown below. English, Mother Tongue, Math Major, Math Major with Honours, etc. So, Q & A:
1. Are honours modules, etc counted towards your overall CAP? Do we get extra credit for taking Higher Chinese instead of Chinese?
No. Our school does not weight our CAP.
2. Why does my CAP below show a blank for Major with Honours Chem?
At the point of submission (which was September), I hadnt done a single chem hons module (since they were in semester 2) but I completed 1 bio hons module, which was BL6401 Functions and Adaptations, so yes, I got an A- in that - hence the 4.5 CAP. You will see a more complete profile for the US universities because the school year was done by the time my application was submitted.
3. Must you put in your CAP for humanities?
I dont know. All my humanities modules were in history and lit, so it made sense for me to put them there. However on most applications the proper thing to put is your subject CAP for "humanities", not "history" or "lit" unless that's your major.
4. How accurate is your information?
Well, I try to make it accurate but obviously the college counselling office will be more accurate than me. With regards to CAP, I think things might change for subsequent batches and you will probably be given a briefing in time to come. In the meantime try to do well in your major modules (probably only English left isnt it) and your honours modules as well so that you dont regret it when the time comes.
Now for the rest of the information.
1. So what's this college thing in Cambridge and Oxford? Arent they colleges themselves?
Cambridge and Oxford are universities. From how I see it, college is a term for undergraduate education, and university is a term for undergraduate and graduate studies. So because Camb and Oxford are so big, they have individual colleges within the university - think of them as "houses" like in the Harry Potter movie. So you have your "house", you study there, you live there, but ultimately you are from Cambridge.
Each college has its own uniqueness. Cambridge has a site which lists down the websites of all the colleges. A few are reserved for graduate school, a few are female only, a few (like Homerton) are further away from the main campus. There is no ranking for Cambridge colleges (even though Trinity is widely regarded as the 'best' for science) but there is one for Oxford, known as the Norrington Table: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norrington_Table
2. Eeeek, only 5 out of 20+!
Well there were a few who applied to Cambridge medicine which is VERY HARD to get in, typically they accept only about, 10+ internationals? So I think all the people who applied medicine from our school to Cambridge were among those who were rejected. Then we had 5 people ranked top 10 from our batch who all applied to the same college, Trinity. Trinity is very popular for people doing sciences because they produce a lot of Nobel laureates, and that means more competition. Cambridge has 20+ colleges, ideally you would try to apply to a college that no one wants to apply to because you would stand out better - instead of competing with other qualified people in your batch - one of the reasons why I chose Homerton. In any case, even though Cambridge says on their website that you arent disadvantaged because you are applying to a college where others from your school are applying there, I wouldnt try for Trinity unless I am dead confident about my chances.
If you want to know, out of the 6 people who applied to Trinity, 3 were rejected, 1 was pooled, and I dont know what happened to to the last 2 people.
3. Pooled?
Ah, pooled. Let's just say for instance that I am a very qualified applicant, but not qualified enough to make it into, say Trinity. But Trinity thinks that I am good enough for other colleges. I will then be 'pooled', and after all the other colleges have taken others in, they will look at qualified people in the 'pooled' pile and possibly take me in. So pooled means you have a chance of admission, just not in the college you applied for.
Post any more questions you might have and I will try to answer them.
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