Applying to Cambridge Law as an International Mature Student
First-year student Cameron Zhang (Trinity) discusses his admissions journey to Cambridge as a mature international student.
Rafa Esteve)
As an international student from the sunny tropical shores of Singapore, I like many other students, had the ambition of studying at prestigious universities like Cambridge since young but was hesitant as to start the process of application knowing the high levels of competition and prospects of failure.
The whole process of application involved writing a personal statement of 4000 characters, interviews, the Cambridge Law Test (CLT) which feels straightforward retrospectively but was quite nerve wracking to embark upon. Although my school was sort of a UK grammar school equivalent and sent us infographics and information as to the relevant deadlines for UCAS applications, they were ultimately constrained in not being able to offer more support in terms of application tips, mock interviews or any subject specific advice, leaving me to try and figure things out for myself. I also had two years of mandatory military service to try and sort out university options and decide on what I really want to study, so I had some latitude in delaying my application till the later cycle, rather than apply in the midst of the lead up to the A levels.
What really helped me during this relatively daunting and stressful process was Project Access (highly useful!), a non profit educational organisation dedicated to helping international students from disadvantaged backgrounds get into their dream universities.* I was put into contact with a Cambridge law student, Wojtek who was my mentor through my application process. I was given specific advice as to the books to read and how to prepare for the much dreaded CLT and actual interviews in December.
One thing that I felt was absolutely consequential for law admissions is the personal statement. Contrary to popular belief that the personal statement is a very small factor in admissions, the 4000 character personal statement is the College fellows’ first impression of you as a person and evaluation of whether you are a student they would feel like teaching. You could definitely salvage a bad personal statement with a brillant interview and performance in the CLT but having a good first impression definitely works in your favour. Reading some books is the best way to demonstrate your passion for your subject, especially when it comes to non STEM subjects, and since you are going to be doing lots of law reading when you actually get here. The personal statement is also often used as a launching pad in interviews as it was in mine, so it definitely doesn’t hurt to write something interesting and make yourself a memorable candidate!
Some books I read for my application were “What About Law?” written by current Cambridge law professors and academics, “Bleak House” by Charles Dickens, “The Rule of Law” by Lord Bingham, and “Eve was Framed” by Helena Kennedy. You don’t have to read all of them, just one or two books should suffice! Rather than skim read, try and think about how law relates to public policy and the world at large. Zero in on what you find especially interesting in the books, write that in your personal statement, and it could very well be the focal point of discussion in the interview. For me, those were equity concepts in land law (check out Professor Kevin Gray’s fascinating chapter in What About Law– this was the chapter that ultimately convinced me to choose to do law) and safeguarding individual rights against government encroachment.
As I was still in the army at the time of application, I made a conscious choice to apply to do interviews in Malaysia/Singapore which entailed an early deadline of 20 September to submit my personal statement which definitely compressed my preparation time. In usual years, Cambridge interviewers would come down to Singapore to do local interviews but it was all shifted online given the constraints of the global pandemic. I had two interviews, one by the university law admissions team and one by the Trinity law fellows, but this differs from college to college, so do check with the college you are applying to on the specific number of interviews and the format.
I genuinely enjoyed the interviews, being a rather exhilarating intellectual exercise in law and different variations of a problem scenario. Having done supra curriculum readings like “What About Law?” was also useful in helping me conceptualise the ideas discussed in the interview. By contrast, I felt quite nervous in the leadup to the CLT, having not done any exams in the past two years during my military service but it also turned out okay in the end, the question less legalistic and more of a general knowledge question designed to tease out and assess the way you think and organise your thoughts in a structured coherent format rather than requiring any prior legal knowledge.
And then it was a long wait from December to January for the outcome! It was definitely the most slow burning portion of the application cycle and I definitely didn’t enjoy it. For my application cycle, they delayed decisions by 10 days from the usual 15th Jan to 25th Jan which made the wait all the more agonising. But when the offer came, it was all worth it!
If you are unsure of whether you should apply for Cambridge, just go ahead and apply. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, and in any case, the whole application process is really an enriching process that can set the foundation for any interviews you do in the future. I hope that by demystifying the process, it can encourage more students, especially internationals to aim for Oxbridge. As long as you have a genuine passion for your subject, you are going to enjoy the process and ultimately come away having learnt more about yourself and the subject.
*Editor’s Note: If you are looking for admissions support for interview preparation, developing your personal statement etc., there are many resources that are free and widely available on this blog, departmental and college websites, the University’s undergraduate admissions website, UCAS, or non-profit endeavours like the one mentioned by the author or InsideUni. The University also offers mentored application support for disadvantaged UK domiciled students through Apply: Cambridge. The University of Cambridge does not support or encourage for-profit/fee-paying admissions support programmes.
