Cambridge college choice - tactical

[eggsbenedict23]

Is there any point looking at admission statistics for Cambridge colleges to see where is more likely to get in?

Is it worth choosing colleges tactically or does the pooling system eliminate this need?

My idea is that for Economics Trinity and Kings would be very very popular choices.

Definitely worth a look! Statistics are variable.

Not Cambridge but Oxford - DS put in an open application because having seen half a dozen colleges they all had pros and cons. He decided that the college was less important than Oxford itself.

Is that an option?

I think it matters more, if your child is coming from a private school. Private school students don’t get pulled out of the pool statistically.

The pooling system exists to make this unnecessary, possible exception trinity maths. For econ I don’t think college choice would make a difference.

It makes very little difference to admissions. Where it does make a difference is support during a degree. A more generous or richer college will provide better bursaries, facilities and potentially more one to one tuition

The idea of the pool system is to give good candidates an equal chance of an offer regardless of which college they applied to. Nearly 20% of offers end up being from a different college. If your student really doesn't mind then an open application is a reasonable option.

Of course as PP has said if they want to do maths at Trinity they need to apply to Trinity as they have so many applicants they don't ever seem to take from the pool.

It will be interesting to see whether the decision of only six colleges to interview in person this year makes any difference to the application numbers.

It's quite fun to play around with the graphs but I'm not sure there are really any meaningful patterns. https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/apply/statistics

My brother got into Cambridge (Computer Science) and he left the college option open. He ended up at Queens College.

I had an interview at Cambridge for Law (which I totally screwed up) and also left the college option open.

Maybe leaving it open makes it more likely to get an interview/offer?

DS got 4A* s predicted I'm confident he'll get the interview.

It's the interview -> offer that is hard.

DS goes grammar and not private.

Why would going to private school mean you wouldn't be picked from the pool?

i think the problem with the statistics is that if a particular college has a high application to acceptance ratio for a subject one year, that tends to reverse the following year because everyone sees that statistic!
i think it might help in ruling out some colleges which are consistently uber-popular for particular subjects (the Maths at Trinity example) but otherwise i would not place too much reliance on the stats in deciding likelihood of getting in. They are useful for some purposes though, e.g. seeing how many students they tend to take for particular subjects - my preference many years ago was for a college which had more than 1 or 2 doing my subject.

i think it is worth putting together a shortlist based on preferences (e.g. location, size, numbers for subject) then using the stats to maybe rule one or two out and then just going on instinct. My DD would not have put in an open application because she was adamant she did not want an all female college, for example, and preferred one was a decent balance between STEM and humanities.

Does he have to do an assessment exam as well?

My child had to score well enough in the NSAA to get an interview.

I think they are scrapping the tests maybe

Economics at Cambridge is very mathematical and quite right wing.

@eggsbenedict23 He might not get an interview. Yes, he’s predicted top grades, but so have everyone else who applies and they won’t all get an interview.

I went to Peterhouse. I loved it!

From what I've read TMUA is A-level maths?

DS was taught the whole year 12& year 13 syllabus this year (he does the maths + FM combo) He's been practising.

I've read that Cambridge try and interview as much as possible. Like 80%?

Girton.

Just apply to Girton.

They definitely interview more than oxford.

A student who had this stat :"
11 9s, 1 A* GCSE
Predicted 4 A* A-L
S in STEP II taken in June a year early in Y12
2 distinctions BMO1, 1 merit BMO2
Top gold BPho
Gold UK Chem Olympiad
Along with several other awards"
didn't get the interview last year.

My nephew is hoping for Trinity for maths, he’s definitely putting Trinity down.

What subject was he applying for?

@User11010866

How do you find out which are the rich colleges?

Trinity math. https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7289986

Trinity, St John’s, Kings, Jesus, Peterhouse deffo all rich but that does not mean they all want private school kids. Many actively trying not to

They can’t take all the students with top grades as so many apply

At least an interview should be given for such a strong applicant.

If the applicant can’t work that out, they won’t be going so…