FAQ - Transferring into the CST from another Tripos

• Question: Can I change Tripos to CST?

  Answer: Unlikely.

  Cambridge has the entirely admirable aim of making transfer between Triposes possible. While this is a great ideal, and can work very well depending on the source and destination, transferring into CST from essentially anywhere is fraught with difficulty, and we strongly advise you against it. The latter point is not widely appreciated and the following notes aim to clarify matters.

  For completeness, the Ordinances governing such transfers can be found here:

  https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/so/pdfs/2021/ordinance04.pdf

• Question: So, what's the problem?

  Answer: There are several.

  1. Once upon a time --- well, around the 1950s --- it might have been reasonable to consider CST as a backwater of mathematics or physics. In this historical hinterland it was probably reasonable to expect an easy transition. Unfortunately, while still prevalent, this attitude has been unrealistic for several decades: CST is now an entirely separate subject.

  2. There is also a tendency for people to assume that "having done a bit of Python" makes them a Computer Scientist. At our current moment in history, "having done something cool using Tensorflow" seems to lead to similar claims. Sorry, but no.

  3. Let's say you're currently following the X Tripos. Transferring to CST Part 1A (without starting from scratch, a possibility which is discussed below) requires you to catch up with some proportion of a year's worth of programming (two courses with very different languages), electronics, algorithms, databases, graphics, operating systems and so on---the details are all here:

     https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/teaching/2122/part1a.html

     Do you genuinely consider this a possibility? Also...

  4. If you intend to transfer into CST Part 1B you have an entire year's worth of material to teach yourself. Ask yourself: do you think you could have self-taught the entire first year of your present Tripos over a single summer, without any support in the form of lectures, supervisions and so on? (And no, we would not be providing extra support of that kind.)

  5. If you're planning on entering CST Part III you have a single summer to catch up with three years of material. Could you teach yourself three years of your current Tripos in a single summer, with the same constraints as mentioned in 4? If the answer is "no" you should probably reconsider.

  6. If you really want enforced honesty about your chances, try some exam questions from here:

     https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/teaching/exams/pastpapers/

     and see how you perform.

  7. It used to be the case that transfer from NST Part 1A into CST Part 1A was more feasible. This was because CST was one of the optional bench subjects in NST Part 1A, so students taking that option would be at a much smaller disadvantage when transferring. That option is no longer available.

  8. In recent years the Department of Computer Science has experienced a huge increase in applications to the CST, to the extent that physical space has become a limiting factor. As a result, the subject is "numbers limited" in terms of applications, but has in some recent years also applied an outright ban on certain transfers. We have no control over the latter.

• Question: OK, in any case, what are the specifics for transferring into CST Part 1A?

  Answer: If you are already following another Tripos we are very unlikely to allow you to transfer within the same year, for the reasons discussed in 3 and 4.

  We might however invite you to be tested (TMUA and CSAT tests) and interviewed alongside next year's applicants. Why is this?

  1. You already have a place at Cambridge. CST is hugely over-subscribed. We may not in fact be able to accommodate you for the reasons given in 8.

  2. You already have a place at Cambridge. If we allow you a place in next year's intake, then you will quite possibly be excluding someone who does not currently have a place at Cambridge. Some might consider this at least impolite. In order to justify it we need to be sure that you are (a) someone we would make an offer to in any case and (b) sufficiently good to justify us excluding a normal applicant.

  It might be worth noting that in recent years two people have opted to try this, Neither would have been admitted had they actually applied in the same year, and neither were allowed to transfer.

• Question: What about transferring into CST Part IB?

  Answer: See 4 above. Your chances of convincing us that you will be prepared are extremely small. So while the regulations allow it in theory, we will almost certainly consider you unprepared unless you can offer actual evidence that you are. (Assurances of hard work to catch up do not constitute actual evidence.)

• Question: And CST Part II?

  Answer: In my reading of the Ordinances, which for Part II differs from Part IB in that the phrase "...or in another Honours Examination..." is missing, you can't:

  https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/so/pdfs/2021/ordinance04.pdf

  This seems pretty explicit: you only get to do CST Part II if you've already done CST Part IB. You might feel like arguing that the Ordinance isn't clear about whether the intended interpretation has an implication or a bi-implication; however in any case, refer to the previous answer: you would need actual evidence that you've somehow self-taught two years of material to an acceptable standard.

• Question: I think I'm starting to get the message. How about CST Part III?

  Answer: This option turns out to be a bizarre edge case.

  You can in theory (and there is at least one precedent) transfer into CST Part III. This is despite the fact that it is an advanced course continuing from Part II, and not a conversion programme.

  We do not recommend this. At all. Not even a little bit. You are strongly advised to find a Computer Science conversion Masters at another University.

  The details are here:

  https://www.cst.cam.ac.uk/teaching/part-ii/part3info

  and you will see that it is your Tutor that you must contact, not the Director(s) of Studies for CST. (Although we will be asked what we think.)

  Why is this an edge case? Well, on the one hand it assumes that you have covered the material up to Part II, and are good at it, which is why even those who have done so need to achieve a First. However, Part III allows a lot of specialization. That means that if you've attained sufficient expertise in a narrow area of Computer Science then it may be possible to choose a sufficiently narrow collection of courses that you can succeed.

  You might want to consider though what happens if you do this and Graduate with a Masters in Computer Science, while lacking most of the fundamental knowledge that a Computer Scientist should have. (A future employer might rightly be upset when it turns out that you're great at Category Theory, while committing regular crimes against good software engineering.)

  So: if you're sufficiently well-schooled in a narrow area and can convince us that you can succeed at a correspondingly narrow set of courses, and also that you can self-teach enough of Parts IA, IB and II to have a fighting chance, then we may sign off a transfer application, but there is one final point to note: the College DOSs have very little involvement in Part III, which is almost entirely run by the Department. As a result, it is entirely your responsibility to be prepared. We will not be able to offer remedial support of any kind, and we will not be arranging extra supervisions to help make up any deficit.

  We really do advise strongly against it.

• Question: Anything else I should consider?

  Answer: Yes, are you sure you feel that this is an appropriate way to get a place on the CST?

  As already noted, you already have a place at Cambridge. By accepting a place on your current course it is entirely possible that somebody lower down the admissions ranking got pooled, simply due to space constraints. Having been pooled, it is also possible that they ultimately were denied a place at Cambridge. Had you applied for the CST in the first place they might well have received an offer. This is not an admirable way to behave.