When an A is not good enough, Cambridge Up-Grades

13 years ago one of my classmates, Ken, applied to read Physics at Cambridge University. As with all undergraduate admissions, there was an interview.

According to him, the interview was a little "violent". A panel of interviewers introduced themselves. One of the interviewers showed him two glasses.

He threw one on the floor. The impact smashed the glass to smithereens. The interviewer then asked him to use whatever Physics knowledge he had to calculate the number of shattered pieces on the floor.

The interviewers left the room and said they will return in 20 minutes.

There was a caliper, a ruler, few pieces of working papers, an eraser and a pencil on the table. The second glass was left for him to measure.

He scribbled a few equations on the paper. 5 minutes passed, he knew he was not going to solve the question no matter what equations he applied.

He waited for the time to pass. He was either too confident to come out with an answer or too nervous to come out with anything!

20 minutes passed. The interviewers returned to the room and asked for an answer. They offered more time. He declined politely.

"So, how many pieces?" one of the interviewers asked.

Ken took the second glass and smashed it on the floor. He said, "The same as this."

Ken won a place in Cambridge and read Physics. The last I checked, he is working around here.

This story has always reminded me of the quality Cambridge is seeking from prospective undergraduates. Apart from a string of As, candidates have to have the X-factor.

To be shortlisted, the minimum entry level was AAA in A-levels.

This week, the university announced a new entry level - A*AA.

In an economic situation like this, many universities would have desperately loosened entry levels to encourage more students especially those from overseas to take up places in their institutions. Many universities are fighting for a decreasing pool of overseas students this year.

Mindful of this, you certainly need the balls to do the opposite. Sorry, I mean stars.