My Journey to Chemical Engineering at University of Cambridge

By Daniel Sanchez Mosqueda - University of Cambridge

I have always been interested in science and maths, especially chemistry. When

researching Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at Cambridge, this course

appealed to me as it would allow me to learn more about all the sciences in more

depth and come out with an extremely valuable degree.

I applied to and received offers from Imperial College London, Bath,

Birmingham and Nottingham. In this article, I will cover what I did during my uni

application and try to give some helpful advice along the way.

The application process

In the UK, you need to apply through a website called UCAS, which allows you to

apply for up to 5 courses without having to apply to each university separately. You

will need to fill in your personal details, followed by a personal statement – a 4000-

character letter describing your interest for your chosen course. I was required to sit

the ESAT, an admissions test for engineering courses at Cambridge and Imperial in

mid-October, and then was invited to an interview at these universities in early

December.

Personal Statement

My best advice with the personal statement would be to get a first draft done quite

early, ideally before the summer – it does not need to be perfect! This gives you

plenty of time to adjust as it is very likely that your finished product will look very

different to your first draft. On my personal statement, the main things I talked about

was work experience with an engineering company, and a lecture that I attended,

from which I delivered a presentation to my physics class on a topic that was

mentioned. I also initially wrote about a book that I read, however later decided to

remove this section as I did not have enough characters. It is much better to write

about a few topics that interest you in depth rather than giving lots of examples and

not elaborating.

You can find example personal statements online, however it is important to

remember that every one will look different, so try not to replicate them.

Also, Cambridge has a form that you need to fill out once you apply called the ‘My

Cambridge Application’, which asks you for some more personal details, then gives

you the option to add more to your personal statement if you ran out of space,

however this is not compulsory.

Admissions test

For the ESAT, I started looking at practice material during the summer, and then

properly prepared in the few weeks leading up to the exam. I think the most

important aspect of this exam is the very tight time pressure, so make sure to

practice under timed conditions. The content in the ESAT was mostly GCSE level,

however it often required you to think more outside of the box than you would

previously at this level. The exam is non-calculator, so make sure to practice your

written arithmetic. I believe the best way to prepare for any exam is by doing past

papers, so I did lots of past NSAA papers, and timed myself each time. The ESAT is

a new exam, but the questions are very similar to the old NSAA. I achieved 7.0, 6.0,

6.4 in maths 1, maths 2, and chemistry, which I was very pleased with.

Interview

My Cambridge interviews were online, and I had 2 on the same day, about 30

minutes each with the chance to ask questions at the end. I personally quite enjoyed

my interviews, as they allowed me to apply my current knowledge beyond what I

currently knew.

A common piece of advice, but it is extremely important to share what you are

thinking out loud with the interviewer, as this allows you to quickly identify and

correct any small mistakes that you may make. For STEM interviews, make sure you

are comfortable with graph sketching and calculus because these topics often are

the foundation of questions. Before your interview, be sure that you are comfortable

with your personal statement as you could be asked about it, however they did not

for me.

I highly recommend https://i-want-to-study-engineering.org/ for tricky problems to

practice.

Final advice

While you need to demonstrate a strong passion for your subject through your

personal statement, ultimately the most important factors in making a competitive

application are your grades, admission tests, and performance in interview. I highly

recommend working hard consistently throughout your A-level/IB journey, as your

predicted grades can play a big role in whether you are offered a place at a top

university. Having strong predicted grades also saves a lot of trouble with asking

your teachers to possibly raise them if they are not as high as you hoped they would

be.

The Oxbridge application process is very challenging, and no matter the outcome of

your application, you will have learned much more about your subject than before

applying. I encourage everyone who has thought about applying to apply as no

matter the outcome, it is a very rewarding experience. Good luck!