Never Stick with Your First Impression

My experience in the second trimester is completely different. I often find myself looking forward to lectures that have already diverted from pure theory and now aim to apply the models to real-life examples. The uniqueness of higher education at Cambridge lies in personal input from the professors. It is often the case that in order to comprehend a particular topic,we need to draw from at least four different textbooks. Additionally, professors often present us with their individual and unique perspectives on given  issues. In this respect, the content of the course is far more complex than in many other universities, as we are presented with a full range of possible models and it is up to us alone to choose the one we deem the most appropriate. During individual consultations, it is put to our heart that there often is not just one correct solution (because people, political systems and economic approaches are not homogeneous) and that it is regularly far more important how we work towards a given outcome and how we move existing models forward and highlight their weaknesses. Lectures are central to understanding the key economic and mathematical concepts, as they help to add intuition to mechanical procedures, which is crucial to solving unorthodox problems during individual consultations. These examples require perfect quantitative fundamentals, but rather than lengthy and routine calculations, they focus on creative problem solving that often resemble puzzles rather than traditional math problems.

During this trimester, I have had more time to explore academic associations, since I had gained a general idea of how much time I spend on academic life. I have found that there are many organisations. Most recently, I joined the Cambridge University Investment Research Society. This student association provides opportunities to produce our own industry statistics and stock recommendations under the guidance of mentors with previous experience in the industry. So far, we have had three practical workshops that focused on accounting, investment banking, and corporate valuation. In the final week of this trimester, we will have the opportunity to discuss these topics with analysts at Morgan Stanley.

All in all, I view my Cambridge experience very positively, and I would strongly recommend that seniors at high school consider applying to the school. Of course, my experience does not say much about the quality of other courses, but from the reactions of my classmates, I gather they all have the same opinion on the matter.