What is it like to study natural science at Cambridge? What kind of career prospects does it give you?
I did NatSci. I now work in the semiconductor industry. Because of the broad base of the NatSci syllabus, when things get interdisciplinary I can follow - I can translate between the chemists and the physicists in my group without getting confused. Because of the academic rigour of Cambridge, I’m not left behind in discussions of pure physics. Also I have done more maths than most of my colleagues.I nearly became a chemist in my second year. I could have, if I decided physics wasn’t for me. That wouldn’t have been nearly as possible at another university.Those of my classmates with whom I am still in touch - some work in the City, some teach either at secondary or university level, some are academics and keep popping up in prestigious-looking places, at least one is a professor, some are in industry like I am, some went into the Civil Service fast track.What was the degree like?Intense, in a word. The terms are short but hard. The people are amazing. Never before or since have I been so sure I was the dumbest person in a large room (I’m more used to a creeping suspicion that I might be the smartest). Best years of my life.If you get in, and you are tall, try rowing. I did and it changed my life.
What makes Oxford and Cambridge graduates different from us who are not?
Full disclosue: I spent seven and a half years earning four degrees from the University of Cambridge in physics and chemistry.You need to be careful to distinguish between people who did undergrad degrees at Cambridge and those who did postgraduate degrees there.People who did undergrad degrees at Cambridge passed a gruelling admissions process. They are high calibre people when they arrive and then they spend 3 or 4 years bouncing ideas off other high calibre people, learning at an incredible rate. Hence they are very high calibre when they graduate.Sadly this is not true of postgraduates at Cambridge (and, I assume, Oxford). Former undergraduates are actually selected against in favor of fresh blood. Moreover, professors often look for PhD monkeys who will do their experiments for them in return for a cheap qualification. Consequently, Cambridge PhD students are generally average PhD students. The only notable exception is the few who did their undergraduate degrees at Cambridge.Some people claim that supervisions give students 2-on-1 time with a professor. When I was at Cambridge I had no supervisors who were professors. Most of my supervisors were PhD students who had never studied the topic they were teaching and had no idea what they were talking about. I was even given a PhD supervisor who could barely speak English. Even when I had supervisions with faculty members I found that they sometimes knew less about the subject than their supervisees. However, I did get some excellent supervisors as well.Other people claim that all UK universities are moderated against each other but this is obviously not true at Cambridge because, despite gruelling entrance requirements, the proportion of first-class honours graduates is the same as at other universities.
How can I further prepare for the Cambridge Natural Sciences Admissions Assesment (nsaa) test?
The very first thing you want to do is to read through the specification for the NSAA test - the specification can be found on the uni website; Undergraduate StudyTo be best prepared, you want to be familiar with most, if not all of the criteria for the subjects you are doing! Whilst the content should be based on GCSE and AS content, the exam is tested to push top students and so getting familiar with A level content in advance will definitely help - using your revision guides e.g CGP should be sufficient for this!However, knowing content isn't enough. Especially in Section 1, speed is essential. You need to practise scanning questions, looking for the relevant information - doing timed practise questions is essential for this. If you have already done the NSAA papers available, similar questions can be found on the UK Maths Challenge, or the Biology, Chemistry, Physics equivalent. Also, since section 1 in non-calc practising your mental maths will help!End of the day, the more confident you feel, the better the exam will go. However, don't stress out if there is a question you cannot do - make a logical guess and move on!I offer tutoring if you are interested; Are you looking for NSAA and/or A level Biology/Chemistry tuition?Hope that helps!
Is it worth it to transfer to Cambridge University?
I went to Oxford so can probably provide a bit of insight into how things work. Whilst it is possible on rare occassions to transfer between some UK universities, you won't be able to just transfer into an institution as prestigious as Cambridge. If you want to attend Cambridge you will have to go there from the beginning and complete the whole of your degree there. You also need to remember that Cambridge is one of the best universities in the world, on a par with American institutions such as Harvard and Yale. You really need to be in the top 5% of students to have a chance of getting in. Unfortunately because we take different exams to you in the form of GCSEs and A levels I can't tell you the type of qualifications that you'll need, but if you email one of the colleges I'm sure they'll be more than willing to help. I'm not entirely sure if you're clear on the way our university system works. Here we don't go to university, take a range of classes and then major in one subject and minor in another. When we apply to university we do so to study one subject and when we get there that is all we study. Therefore, you won't be able to major in one subject; you will have to decide what you want to study from the outset and there is the risk that it might be a little restrictive if you want to go back to the US and study medicine. We also don't have this concept of undergraduate and graduate school like you do; instead they're pretty much combined into one. For example, if you want to study medicine, you study medicine from the outset; if you want to be a lawyer, you study law from the outset. Therefore, if you come to Cambridge wanting to be a doctor you would study medicine from the very beginning of the course, study it for 5-6 years and then not need to go to grad school. Given your plans, you might therefore need to assess how everything fits together.
In the comic, does bruce wayne have a college degree?
According to the story "The Man Who Falls" he attended several colleges, which he actually failed. In the foreword to the comic,"Year One: Batman/Ra's Al Ghul" giving a synopsis of Batman's history, it states Bruce audited courses at Cambridge and the Sorbonne, which means he more than likely did not receive full credit. However, he did study criminology, forensics, and the psychology of the criminal mind. Yet, in short, no. He did not earn a degree. If you can find the Deluxe Edition DVD of Batman Begins, it might come with a copy of "The Man Who Falls" if it's still in stock. Or just pick up the comic novelization of the movie; it has the story republished after the main story in the book.