Last week we were thrilled to welcome back alumna Sophie Claxton (Class of 2022) to NHEHS. Sophie kindly came in to give a talk to students about her Computer Science course and life as a first-year undergraduate at Cambridge University.

Sophie began with the application process and her choice of course. She explained that the course itself is wide ranging and includes lots of practical elements which appealed to her because she enjoyed making things and her favourite subjects at school were Computer Science and DT. To get into Cambridge she had to take an entrance paper and sit an interview which was stressful, but she advised future applicants not to get disheartened when you make a mistake in the process: the most important thing is to listen to the feedback, act on it and work through the problem, as interviewers will be looking to see how you react to setbacks when things don’t quite go according to plans.

The way of learning at university is very different from school, with a mixture of lectures (where you sit and listen to a lecturer talk but need to set aside time to process what you have heard) and ‘supervisions’ which are one-to-one or two-to-one small tutorials with your tutor and sometimes another student. These can be intimidating, and you might feel out of your depth at first, but if you are able to speak up you will get more out of it and it will help boost your confidence too. She warned that the work is very different from school and can come as a bit of a shock! Don’t expect it to be the same or easier than school – it’s not! Accept it as a challenge, work through it and it will be worth it in the long term.

Computer Science has a lot of contact hours compared to other subjects at Cambridge and there are also programming tasks to do too. Class sizes vary a lot, for example her Machine Learning class is large, but this is a positive as she enjoys sharing ideas together with the other students. Of the whole first year university cohort taking the subject, just 20% of students are girls and, in her college, Sophie is the only girl out of a Computer Science intake of 13 students.

 Coming to the end of her first year, Sophie said she enjoyed parts of the course that she didn’t expect to, for example algorithms and ray tracing (modelling of light systems) which she found complex at first but really enjoyed working through the challenges of the topics. She said this year she has realised that she enjoys a sense of fulfilment and achievement in working through things from beginning to end. Revision is also very different from school with no exam guides to help and although exams are important, she has found that focusing on things little by little has helped.

 Sophie also gave very valuable advice around not comparing your own life at university with others around you or at other universities, as everyone has their own individual experience of university and what they want to get out of it. It’s up to you to find the right balance for you between the academic, social, wellbeing and sleep. No-one will tell you what to do! You need to figure out a lot by yourself.

Asked for her top tip on balancing social life and study, Sophie advised on making the most of Freshers’ Week to sign up to more things at the beginning when it’s easy to join. Getting involved in things you enjoy early on in term gives you the chance to meet more like-minded people. For example, Sophie signed up for football and has made many friends through that across the university. You just need to work out what you are comfortable with and what you enjoy but keep an open mind and don’t worry – you will work it all out in the end!

 Students asked Sophie what she would like to do post university, to which she replied she would like to perhaps work in software engineering as she attended a great networking event where she came across a tech consulting firm which helps and advises other companies, which appealed to her.

 A huge thank you to Sophie for fantastic insights into life at Cambridge and excellent tips for students interested in applying for Computer Science.