Caius Explore in Cambridge
Anubhav (Year 13) speaks about the 'Caius Explore' essay competition which was recently held in Cambridge.
'Caius Explore' is an essay competition run by Gonville & Caius College in Cambridge. Seven of us from Year 13 were invited to the college after our submissions were deemed ‘excellent’ on the subjects of Economics, Engineering and Politics.
The question prompts were:
- Economics - Are financial crises inherent to modern economic growth?
- Engineering - How should the UK be building its houses?
- Politics - Analyse the concept of democratic backsliding.
In the morning, we had a question-and-answer session where we had the opportunity to ask a member of the staff about the application process. Following this we were given tours of the college and learned about its history and the workings of the college. After that, we had lunch with the admissions tutors and existing students which gave us valuable insight into the course structure, applications and what it takes to study at Cambridge. In the afternoon we received a talk on personal statements, detailing what Cambridge is looking for and examples of strong super-curricular work. We were then taken to see the student accommodation and subtly encouraged to apply to Caius. The highlight of the day was having academic conversations with different people of similar interests from a number of schools across England as well as the directors of studies for our respective subjects.