Cambridge - change course after first year?

[Scrabble65]

Any experiences of this (humanities)? Is it too late and how often do they allow you to continue straight into yr2? A bit late in the day but DC suddenly broached this and now very stressed out about the possibility of even having a choice. Move would be from Hsps to Hispol and so in reality only half the papers would change (history). Don’t know how high risk it would be? Thanks

If she wants it, she'll have to advocate for it with her tutor and director of studies. It's possible, but you have to get the ball rolling yourself. Would likely need to go back to first year to complete history modules she has missed this year.

Ok so it’s unlikely they’d be able to continue into year 2?

I thought the tripos system meant you could (with tutor and DoD support) change without having to go back and do the modules missed in previous year. When I was there (admittedly a long time ago) one guy did NatSci in his first year, then economics second year and law in third year! (And, remarkably, got a first each year)

Another here who thought the Part 1/Part 2 system was designed to allow sensible switches. My best friend switched from MFL to SPS and another person in our year switched from philosophy to natural sciences. But I think this was pre-planned, at least for my best friend, so was discussed and approved during her first year. Can’t hurt to ask but it sounds like this is a sudden change of plan?

Goodness that sounds extreme and I don’t think could happen now! think for example that a move to law necessitates repeating first year.

@Scrabble65 - agreed that it must depend on the subject. I don’t see how a student could miss Part I of law.

@Dery yes it is sudden but I think it’s because they haven’t wanted to admit that the subject they loved in 6th form hasn’t been what they hoped at Cambridge. History was always a close 2nd. Obviously a change of course carries the risk of it affecting results because of having missed a year of history methodology so that’s what worries me.

@Scrabble65 - yes, I can see that’s disappointing for your DD. It can’t hurt to ask and your DD still has several weeks to do relevant reading including on methodology.

With tutorial and DoS support, you can change course after a year. Your DC should speak to their tutor asap and should be interviewed by the DoS for them to assess how they might manage the switch and to look for gaps in their knowledge. It will be for your DC to handle the catch up. The switch proposed shouldn’t be problematic.

@Dery it is possible to go straight into year 2 Law (part 1b) without having done year 1 (part 1a).

@Hillarious - I stand corrected 😀!

@Scrabble65 - noting what Hillarious says about law, your DD’s switch should be manageable also.

So, in the case I know of, a reasonably high bar was put in place.

Student needed to achieve 65% in Part I to be able to transfer directly to year 2.

Student didn't reach this target, so was given the option of starting from scratch on the new course or staying and progressing to second year on existing course.

I'm sure there's a YouTuber who did exactly this. He's quite well known, rather entitled and bitchy and very - shall we say - 'open' about HSPS . I think he swapped to psychology. I'll see if I can track down evidence of this vague memory I have !

I'd like to look this up, as ds is interested in HSPS. Could you share the name or DM me? 🙏

I've just looked an I can't find his videos. This was about 4 years ago and there's been quite a glut of Cambridge making very positive HSPS videos since so I think theses 'spill the tea' type videos have got a bit buried. His big USP was that eh was a gay,BAME, working class student (well that's three USPs) . He was a bit tedious in his self absorption but he catalogued his journey so was interesting to watch. I'll keep looking.

From the description, I'm guessing it's IbzMo

He seems to have shuttered his YouTube channel now that he's graduated and working as a lawyer

Oh, well done! Yes!

Thanks. What were his issues with HSPS?

@Scrabble65 I hope your dd gets to change her course. Would you be happy to share a bit from your dd's experience? My ds is seriously considering this. I know he'd enjoy the breadth of studies but it also seems a bit 'right on' and possibly navel gazing. I myself have done a module on anthropology as part of my Master's course and detested it - even though I'd have thought it was my kind of thing. The inconclusiveness and subjective angle pissed me off 😂- guess who went into statistics..

I think they do a lot of politics to be honest. IbzMo's issues were very personal to him, I feel.

My DS applied for HSPS and actually the modules didn't appear very modern, 'woke' , progressive , varied etc at all and there wasn't a huge amount of sociology. It was hard to even locate the anthropology. I think this changes in second year when routes get opened up.

It's become a really popular degree. I think in part because some applicants view it a Cambridge's spin on PPE.

Thanks all for your input. Pros and cons being weighed up here and I’m still hoping that the decision will be to stick with current course.
@hubbdubbmummie happy to answer questions re Hsps if you want to pm me.

Obviously, your dd needs to talk to their director of studies ASAP about this, no one else can authoritatively advise. Sometimes it's allowed, sometimes not - in part it depends on how strong the student is and if the "new" department think they will offer something. It's definitely not a given, but hispol is less popular than HSPS so it's more realistic to try that switch than the other way round.

What did he graduate in?

Degree certificate (unless you study a few specific subjects- I think Medicine/engineering) doesn't state what subject(a) you read. It just says "BA Hons. (Cantab)"