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cambridge uni 1st year biochemistry student | 18 | she/her | find me on yt and insta ;) 

[mid-afternoon-studies]

✧･ﾟ: * welcome to my blog! *:･ﾟ✧

updated 19/8/22

youtube: mid-afternoon-studies / instagram: mid.afternoon.studies

⬇️ get to know me

name: you can call me ‘mid’ like the first bit of my blog :d

pronouns: she/her

current study: Natural Sciences (biochemistry) at the University of Cambridge

previous study: did A levels in 2022 - bio, chem, maths, physics, further maths (AS), EPQ (A*A*A*AAA)

languages: english, japanese, chinese (currently studying HSK6). intermediate spanish

favourite music:

massive radiohead fan!!!

i also enjoy the smiths, joy division, pink floyd

japanese songs- i like TK, king gnu :)

my hobbies: (my dms are always open!)

drawing

drinking tea 🍵

calligraphy - english, and giving a go at japanese calligraphy

reading manga and watch a bit of anime

guitar

penpalling

my favourite blogs!

@chazza-studies-alevels @adelinestudiess @milkie-studies @peachblossomstudy @s3lunelog @studycandi @minimalistmedic @stargazingjellyfish @clinquant-afternoon @mattstudies @thatstudyblr-on-tea @studyartsy @captainofstudies

(i’ve probably left some out)

[mid-afternoon-studies]

17.04.23 | mathematical biology notes

+ photos of emmanuel college and trinity college on a foggy day

[mid-afternoon-studies]

6.4.23 | hitting up the cambridge history library

discovered humanities libraries. they’re absolutely massive compared to science libraries!!!! i’m hiking up to sidgewick site more often for sure

[mid-afternoon-studies]

Hi! Can I get some info on the requirements to get into Cambridge?

ofc i'll try my best!

I believe the standard offer is A*A*A, but most people will apply with predicted grades higher than this. usually successful students will attain higher than their offer their final exams anyway (most people I know have at least 3A*). all the courses are competitive so it's good to think about A*A*A as the minimum.

in addition a lot of courses have their own entrance exam - for example for my course (Natural Sciences), we had the NSAA exam. these exam results will also be taken into account when the college organises interviews.

[mid-afternoon-studies]

30.3.23 | a visit to the cambridge history of science museum

bit hard to find (down a road i literally never noticed despite walking past it everyday), but entry is free and has a lot of cool stuff! so many microscopes. 

[mid-afternoon-studies]

28.3.23 | study sesh at the emmanuel college, cambridge library

this main old room is the Fane room - good study vibes. usually it’s quite empty out of term so it’s lovely to study in. now that it’s warming up it’s also a good temperature (the room has absolutely no insulation and is freezing during winter)

my instagram

[mid-afternoon-studies]

hello, i love you blogs, keep it up

thank you anon!!

[mid-afternoon-studies]

26.3.23 | mathematical biology notes

catching up to math bio lectures!

my second 2am lecture marathon >>

my instagram

[mid-afternoon-studies]

20/1/23 | first days of Lent term

made some fried rice. you may call me a culinary prodigy.

[mid-afternoon-studies]

Heyyyyy, I'm extremely grateful to u for sharing all this. It really makes my study sessions much more enjoyable. I joined uni this week and I'm enjoying lining alone. Thank u for existing. Btw I'm Aniruddh (India)

awe :)) thank you!

[mid-afternoon-studies]

24.11.22 | mid-lab photo

synthesised benzocaine, did an IR spec and TLC as well :)

i can’t believe it’s already the end of term AKA time for bridgemas! cambridge has this tradition of celebrating ‘bridgemas’ on 25th november and there’s so many formals and fun events coming up :) perfect because it’s getting cold and dark and rainy

[mid-afternoon-studies]

1.11.22 | lunch break and physiology notes

can’t believe it’s already halfway through my first term at uni! ngl it’s difficult to stay on top of everything, it feels like i’m trying to keep up with a moving train ;v;

for halloween i caught up on 3 maths lectures in one sitting. high-key very scary.

i have 2 essays due this week (since when was biochemistry an arts subject?) and 2 questions sheets. but i only have one 6-hour lab so i actually have time to finish the essays and i’m so grateful for that :)

my instagram

[mid-afternoon-studies]

a day as a Biochemistry student at The University of Cambridge #shorts

vlogged my day as a first-year Biochemistry student at Cambridge. 2 lectures, long lab, and had a formal dinner at another Cambridge college :)(my first yout...

a 1-day vlog in 50 seconds :) enjoy!!

[mid-afternoon-studies]

20.10.22 chemistry question sheet

i think in uni i probably won’t have time to make the pretty notes that i used to make, so my blog aesthetic will change a bit. but that’s fine! studyblrs change as the student changes :)

i’m really enjoying chemistry lectures so far! my current lecturer actually wrote one of the books i read last year which is just crazy haha (he wrote ‘Why Chemical Reactions Happen’, which is a Personal Statement favourite for any chemistry, biochemistry students).

he’s really great at explaining concepts - i wasn’t looking forward to learning about spectrometry and analysis but it’s been really interesting

my instagram

[mid-afternoon-studies]

some photos from around cambridge, uk

first look around cambridge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9-DVfdcjgE&t=3s

my instagram

[mid-afternoon-studies]

hiya! just watched your sketchbook video and wanted to drop in and say that your art is utterly amazing 😮 the realism is so cool (might be a little jealous of that ability, haha). also, good luck with the start of uni <3

ahh thank you chazza :) and you too!! can't wait to see more uni updates on your blog <3

[mid-afternoon-studies]

You can ignore this if you want but I just need to ask someone this question

So I'll be applying to universities this year and most of the grade requirements are AAB. However, at the end of year 12 I got ACD and my teachers predicted that I'd get ABC at the end of year 13.

Do you think I'll get rejected because I don't meet the grade requirements?

hi, i'll try my best to answer - keep in mind my answer will be purely based on my experience applying to unis in this cycle of UCAS

the recent few UCAS cycles have been very very competitive (more students deferring, more intl students applying, inflated grades, etc, many different reasons).

from what I've seen, the grade requirements are the minimum grades they expect from an applicant. I know some people who applied to unis that required ONE GRADE higher and they got rejected (eg. apply to AAB with ABB)

honestly, I think it's quite unlikely that the uni will consider your application if you're 2 grades below (ABC instead of AAB). the university will probably have hundreds or even thousands of other candidates that are AAB or higher.

you could put one of these AAB unis as a 'reach' choice, but I'd recommend you choose 4 unis that are ABC at most. you want at least 2 unis that are below ABC (so you're 1-2 grades higher than what they expect) as safe options.

but definitely have a look at the uni's past application statistics. it may be that the applicant:offer ratio is quite low then it may look alright

like I mentioned, the past few years have been very competitive, so it's best to play safe. I know people who applied to 5 unis that were below their predicted grades and only got 1-2 offers. this year I applied to an AAA uni with 4A*2A prediction and got rejected lol

don't mean to be such a downer but hope this was helpful