A GUIDE TO ADMISSIONS IN ENGINEERING

GEOFF PARKS

DIRECTOR OF UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS

A GUIDE TO

ADMISSIONS IN

ENGINEERING

ADMISSIONS

•  29 Colleges admit undergraduates to

read Engineering

•  4 Colleges admit only mature students (Hughes Hall, Lucy Cavendish, St Edmund’s

and Wolfson)

•  3 Colleges admit only women (Lucy Cavendish, Murray Edwards and

OPEN APPLICATIONS

•  You can apply to a particular College or

make an Open application

•  If you make an Open application, your

application is allocated to a College that has fewer than the average number of applications in your subject

•  Saves you the bother of choosing a

College

•  Evens out the interviewing load for us

•  Makes no difference to your chances of

getting a place at Cambridge

•  The form should be used where your

education has been seriously disrupted or disadvantaged through health or

personal problems, disability or difficulties with schooling

•  The form is completed and submitted by

your school/college (or a care professional) •  This then enables the Cambridge Colleges

to assess your application fairly

ADMISSIONS PROCESS I

Apply to UCAS by October 15

Interview

(normally in December) Decision

(early in January) Complete online SAQ

ONLINE SAQ

•  You are asked to complete this online

after you have applied

•  Space for you to supplement your

UCAS personal statement

•  Enables you to provide us with useful

information not on the UCAS

ADMISSIONS PROCESS II

REASONS FOR POOLING

•  To ‘sell’ applicants squeezed out by

the competition to other Colleges •  To allow reassessment of applicants

where indicators disagree

•  To allow moderation – comparison of

applicants across Colleges before offers are made

ADMISSIONS PROCESS III

CHOOSING A COLLEGE I

•  Colleges are much more alike than

they are different

•  Whatever your College, the lectures

you go to and the coursework you do will be exactly the same

•  If you stop 100 current Cambridge

students and ask them to recommend a College, 99 will recommend their own

CHOOSING A COLLEGE II

•  Do not pick a College because you

think it will be “easier to get into” – all subjects have moderation procedures to ensure that the best applicants

across the University are admitted

•  Do not attach too much importance to

the differences in admissions

procedures between the Colleges

CHOOSING A COLLEGE III

Factors you might consider: •  Age, size or location

•  Provision of accommodation

•  Provision of sporting, musical or drama

More factors you might consider:

•  The number of Engineering students

typically admitted each year

•  The number of Engineers on the

Fellowship

•  The types (mature, women only) of

students admitted

CHOOSING A COLLEGE IV

CHOOSING A COLLEGE V

Factors you should consider: •  Academic requirements

ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS

•  All Colleges require Maths and Physics

A Levels (or their equivalent)

•  All Colleges require Chemistry for Chemical Engineering

•  All Colleges strongly prefer applicants to

be doing 3 Science/Maths/Technology A Levels

•  A balance of academic and vocational

qualifications also acceptable, e.g. Maths A Level + BTEC National Certificate

3

_{A LEVEL SUBJECT}

COLLEGE PREFERENCES

Strongly Somewhat Preferred Preferred Desirable Chemistry 0 9 20

Computing 0 3 24

Design & Technology 0 3 22

Electronics 0 6 23

Further Maths 27 2 0

Economics 0 0 3

Modern Language 0 0 2

Further Maths A Level is normally required by 8 Colleges Further Maths AS Level (including M1 and M2) is normally required by 20 Colleges

FURTHER MATHS (FM) I

•  In practice, about a third of the students

admitted to study Engineering at

Cambridge have not done FM A Level •  What Colleges are looking for is high

ability in maths

•  Colleges are aware that not all schools/

colleges offer FM A Level, and will not

discriminate against applicants who have not had the chance to take it

FURTHER MATHS (FM) II

•  If your school/college does offer FM, you

should seriously consider taking it

•  If you have recognised the desirability of

FM too late to take the full A Level… if you take FM AS Level in Year 13 and

concentrate on FP and M units, you will not be at a serious disadvantage

•  Students in England and Wales should be

able to get support for the study of FM from the Further Mathematics Support Programme

•  A Levels: A*A*A or A*A*AA or A*A*AB

•  Welsh Bac: A*A*A on A Level

components

•  Advanced Highers: AAA

•  International Baccalaureate: 40 points

with 776 in Higher Level subjects

•  Cambridge Pre-U: D2 or D3 in Principal

Subjects

TYPICAL OFFERS

•  Some Colleges may include the

requirement to take STEP or AEA in Maths in their conditional offers for Engineering

•  Details of Colleges’ attitudes on this are

given in the Guide to Admissions in Engineering

DEFERRED ENTRY

•  4 Colleges strongly encourage deferred

entry for Engineering

•  2 Colleges encourage deferred entry

•  23 Colleges are neutral on the issue

•  0 Colleges discourage deferred entry

for Engineering

INDUSTRIAL PLACEMENT

COORDINATOR

•  CUED has a full-time Industrial

Placement Coordinator, whose role is to help deferred entrants and

undergraduates find suitable industrial experience

•  He will help students holding

(conditional or unconditional) offers to find gainful gap year employment

GAP YEAR PLACEMENTS

•  There are a number of organisations

offering gap year placements to

budding engineers, most notably the Year in Industry

•  If you are a Cambridge calibre

engineering student, you are pretty much guaranteed to be able to find a suitable placement

• High achievement in relevant

subjects

– Maths (including Further Maths)

– Physics

– Other science/technology subjects

HIGH ACHIEVEMENT?

• Enthusiasm for and commitment to

Engineering

– Relevant hobbies and interests;

– Participation in the Engineering Education

Scheme, Headstart and/or similar activities; – Relevant work experience placements;

– Planned participation in the Year In Industry or

similar schemes;

– The seeking of industrial sponsorship.

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

• Thinking skills

– Can you use existing knowledge in unfamiliar situations?

– How well do you assimilate new information?

– Can you see the connections between different but related situations?

– Can you link your Maths and Physics knowledge to develop mathematical models of real-world

situations?

– Are you willing to experiment with new ideas?

– If given a hint, can you ‘run’ with it or do you need to be ‘spoon fed’?

• Understanding

– Can you demonstrate understanding of

basic principles or do you only ‘think in equations’?

• Analytical skills

– Are your basic mathematical/analysis skills

sound or is your working inaccurate/error-prone?

• Time management skills

– Can you handle a demanding workload?

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

MORE ADMISSIONS INFORMATION

•  Guide To Admissions In Engineering †

•  Cambridge University Undergraduate

Prospectus

•  Individual College Admissions Offices

and websites

† available on CUED website:

ANOTHER USEFUL WEBSITE

http://i-want-to-study-engineering.org/

•  Go to the Directors of Studies desk in

LR4 (2.15-4.45)

•  Try to catch me later

•  E-mail:

[email protected] •  Ask now (if there is any time left)