Last week, a select few Year 12 students spent the day at St Catherine's College Cambridge. Erin Forbes has written up an account of the day:
On the 2nd March, 14 Year 12s were lucky enough to go to St Catharine’s College in Cambridge to find out about university applications and talk to some of the students. When we first arrived, we were greeted by a staff member who took us through to the hall where we spent the majority of the day. The main area that most people see had very historical architecture, so it was quite a surprise to go through a gate and see a very modern building, where we were able to get prospectuses for the college. We were given a talk about what the college is like, and got to hear from and ask questions from a group of students, one of whom was a former TGS student. After this, we were given tours, where we got to see the very beautiful chapel and library, the latter of which we were told has been there since the building of the college. Also on the tour we saw some of the rooms, which were surprisingly big, as well as common rooms in dorms. After a quick lunch, during which we competed crosswords, one of the professors gave us a speech about applying for university, specifically for Cambridge, telling us about interviews, extra exams, and the needed grades and preferred A-level subjects.
For us, this was the end of the day, and as we drove back to school many of us discussed what we had learnt during the day and our hopes for the future. Overall, I think this was a very useful and enjoyable day. It taught me that I might be able to achieve what I hope to in the future, as well as giving me more of an insight into the application process and what the university looks for in a potential student, and if you get the opportunity to go on such a trip in the future I would highly recommend taking the school up on the offer, especially if you hope to apply to Oxbridge.