剑桥大学招生简介.doc

Cambridge Admissions Office32 Trumpington StreetCambridge CB2 1QY UKNotes for students from CHINA who are thinking of Applyingfor Undergraduate entry to the University of CambridgeThese notes are intended for students from PRC considering applying to Cambridge and supplement information given in the University of Cambridge Undergraduate Prospectus, published annually in March. Copies of the Prospectus should be available for consultation in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing at the British Embassy and Consulates (Cultural and Education Section). If you would like a personal paper copy of the Prospectus, you should write to the Cambridge Admissions Office (address above), enclosing UK10 or US$15 to cover the cost of air-mail postage. You can also consult the online version of the Prospectus at: www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/. If you have questions not answered by the Prospectus or by these notes, you can write to the Admissions Tutor of a College (addresses are in the Prospectus) or to the China Application Centre (prchinacao.cam.ac.uk). Information on entry for postgraduate courses may be obtained from the Universitys Board of Graduate Studies at: www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/gsprospectus/.1. InterviewsCompetition for places at Cambridge is very strong especially in the most popular subjects and interviews, whether held in Cambridge or overseas, are considered an important part of selection procedures. Teams of Cambridge Admissions Tutors carry out interviews in certain countries overseas but it is not possible for them to visit all countries. This year amongst other venues it is expected that overseas interviews will be held in China (Shanghai) on 29, 30 and 31 October. If you are at school, or currently resident, in other neighbouring countries you may also be considered for an October interview in Singapore so long as the interview dates do not clash with your school examinations. Interviews will also be held in Hong Kong at the end of November but these are only for those currently resident or at school in Hong Kong.The interviews will be about 20-30 minutes in length and are designed to assess your academic potential in your chosen subject area. Most interviewed applicants will also be asked to take a short written subject test, usually on the same day as their interview in October (requiring familiarity with the current syllabus for those who are still at school). Applicants who have already left school may also be asked to take a written test though they may not be as familiar with the basic syllabus material. For most applicants the test will involve some essay-writing and/or include the Cambridge TSA (Thinking Skills Assessment) details of which may be found on the internet at .uk. Everyone applying for Medicine or Veterinary Medicine, however, has to take the BMAT (Bio-Medical Admissions Test) of 2 hours duration in November. See .uk for further information and some sample questions. Entries for the BMAT are made separately via the individual test website.2. College ChoiceThe UCAS application and the Cambridge Overseas Application Form (see paragraph 8) ask you to choose one of the 29 Cambridge Colleges as your College of preference. A strength of the collegiate system at Cambridge is that students will come into contact with those from other backgrounds and who are studying different subjects. For this reason there is no answer to the common question: What is the best College choice for a student from overseas, or applying in a particular subject? In general all Colleges accept applicants for all subjects (the few exceptions are shown in the Prospectus). If you prefer you can submit an Open Application and you will be allocated to a College. Applicants choosing a College of Preference are advised to do so after reading College entries in the Prospectus. It may be unwise to select a College solely because of the availability of a named scholarship award at that College.3.Required standard in English If your first language is not English, please note that you will be required to achieve, before entry, a satisfactory standard in the IELTS or International English Language Test taken through the British Council, normally achieving an overall score of at least 7.0 in each element of that test. However, a reasonable standard in spoken English is also essential at the time of interview, equivalent to about at least IELTS grade 6, and with additional knowledge of the technical vocabulary in English for relevant subject areas.4.DecisionsCambridge Colleges will normally write to all applicants in January to advise them of the outcome of their applications. The decision may be an acceptance or a rejection; an acceptance is likely to be dependent upon satisfying specified conditions including showing that financial support is available for the course and (for applicants still at school) achieving specified examination grades. Competition for Cambridge places is very severe: experience shows that a typical successful applicant will be well-motivated and achieving academic results in the top 1-2% of their year.5.Subject ChoiceFor all subjects it is absolutely essential that applicants should read the Prospectus and be well acquainted with the structure and contents of the course for which they are applying. If an applicant indicates at interview that they are unfamiliar with the nature of the course, this will make a very poor impression. You can be considered for any course offered by the University as listed in the Undergraduate Prospectus. Some specific points to note are:Architecture this is not considered as a purely technical subject in Cambridge and applicants usually have to bring a portfolio of artwork with them to be discussed at an extended interview in Cambridge, usually with a professional architect. In previous years very few overseas applicants for Architecture have been successful in gaining places: serious applicants are advised if at all possible to come to Cambridge for interview.Economics competition is currently very severe for places to study Economics and a good ability at Mathematics is of at least equal importance to the required interest in (and basic knowledge of) Economics.Law currently there is a lot of competition for places to read Law at Cambridge and motivation for the course is important in addition to strong examination grades. Where possible applicants should try to see the Law in action, by work experience or shadowing a lawyer, or by watching a few court cases.Medicine because of UK Government restrictions there is a maximum percentage admission at any university for overseas medical students and for Cambridge this limit corresponds to 20 new students a year as a whole. Anyone admitted as a preclinical medical student is assured of a clinical course place, subject only to satisfactory progress and health requirements, but only about half the preclinical students at Cambridge complete their course at the Cambridge Clinical School; the remainder will proceed to other Medical Schools, mainly in London or Oxford. The full cost of an entire six-year medical course of training totals at least 150,000 at current rates.6.FinanceThe total annual cost of studying at Cambridge as an international undergraduate is currently about 21,000 - 24,000 (depending on subject, and excluding travel and summer vacation living costs). Costs in future years are likely to increase at least in line with inflation, and the effect of any changes in exchange rates cannot easily be predicted. There are currently about 3,400 international students (that is coming from outside Europe) at Cambridge, including about 1,150 undergraduates (of whom about 350 undergraduates are from China). Around 25% have some financial support from bursary or scholarship schemes; the remainder are supported by other sponsors, parents and loans. The Cambridge Overseas Trusts have schemes of bursaries which may provide some support for those able to meet most of their costs from other sources. It is appreciated that when applying applicants looking for awards are unlikely to be certain of their funding situation. 7.Application ProcedureOverseas applicants to Cambridge must apply via UCAS and also submit a Cambridge Overseas Application Form (see paragraph 8). If you wish to be considered for interview overseas, you should note the two possible alternative procedures outlined below. a) A completed Cambridge Overseas Application Form should be submitted to the Cambridge China Application Centre (address below). Only if your completed application form has been received in Cambridge by 20 September 2009 can we normally consider you for inclusion in the overseas interview programme. Your UCAS application should also be submitted by this date. Not everyone who applies will get an interview: decisions on who will be interviewed will be taken by the Cambridge Colleges and applicants being called for interview will be notified about a week or so in advance. Some applicants may already be intending to come to England to visit universities in December or January and if so might prefer to be interviewed at that time in Cambridge. In such cases, they should make this clear when submitting their Cambridge Overseas Application Form. No applicant who has been interviewed overseas will also be interviewed in Cambridge in December/January.b) An alternative route of application that applies only to applicants from PRChina for entry in 2010 to study any degree subject offered at Cambridge is by a scheme organised for Cambridge by Ameson Foundation in China. Under this scheme students will be required to take written tests in Mathema