Cambridge postgraduate applicants 2014/15

No matter what uni you go to, you'll be great!!

Commiserations, did you get any indication as to why, or perhaps have any ideas yourself?

If it was HoA you applied to, it seems judging from the application statistcis like a course that has grown in competitiveness very rapidly

Nevertheless, I thought that you'd have a superb chance judging from your review post. Somewhere great will almost certainly snap you up.

I applied in October, so it really should have been straightforward. It was 'Under consideration by Dept' for a few days, then went to 'Under consideration by Deg. Comm' where it's been for 8 weeks nearly. I see from others, that they were approved much sooner after applying later. I suspect they're leaving me to last, to see if there are better candidates before rejecting me. UCL offered me a place within a week of applying and dropped their standard offer for me, asking for a reply within four weeks of it being made. My time to decide is nearly up, and I genuinely don't see Cambridge accepting me or offering me a place. My average is/was bang on 67% so not that great.

I applied in October, so it really should have been straightforward. It was 'Under consideration by Dept' for a few days, then went to 'Under consideration by Deg. Comm' where it's been for 8 weeks nearly. I see from others, that they were approved much sooner after applying later. I suspect they're leaving me to last, to see if there are better candidates before rejecting me. UCL offered me a place within a week of applying and dropped their standard offer for me, asking for a reply within four weeks of it being made. My time to decide is nearly up, and I genuinely don't see Cambridge accepting me or offering me a place. My average is/was bang on 67% so not that great.

You are mistaking the logic of these things. They are not waiting to see if there are better candidates before rejecting you, they are waiting to see if there are better candidates before accepting you. and there is more to the decision that just grades. If they intended to reject you, they would have done so immediately ie as soon as that position was clear. The longer you stay hanging in there, the longer you are beating off the competition.

You can reply positively to UCL and still wait to see how the Cambridge hand plays out before making a final decision. If a University wants yes to mean yes, they'll ask for a non-refundable deposit.

My application for MPhil Architecture and Urban Design is now complete Will be crossing my fingers for the next months! What do you think are my chances with a high 2.1 (around 67 average but 70+ on dissertation and humanities based modules), good research proposal - I hope - and a recommendation from my tutor who went to Cambridge for her masters and PhD? Architecture is really a tough one to predict, I know...

Where have you read that? Degree committee can call people to interview and reject applications. (I believe).

I was under the impression that, yes, it is just document checking etc. The academic decision is made by the department. But I may be wrong!

Got email today saying who my supervisor would be if went to Cambridge. They're not at all related to the things I like so not sure if it's a more general supervisor or what but still

Ohh no

Did you specify a preference for a prospective supervisor in your application? I thought that departments always tried to find unity between an applicants interests and their supervisor. Are you sure that the supervisor that's been assigned to your is all that bad?

Found out what it is, because mine's a taught masters they give us just a general supervisor then in lent term assign us one linked to our thesis. Makes a lot more sense!

Found out what it is, because mine's a taught masters they give us just a general supervisor then in lent term assign us one linked to our thesis. Makes a lot more sense!

Is it a good sign that my potential supervisor contacted me and sent a long reply to my initial email in which I introduced myself and my research idea. And then suggested I send over my proposal so he could have a look at it. I sent it over and got loads of useful comments and he said it was 'very promising'.

I've applied for a PhD- sent in my application, but have until next week to hand in supporting documents.

Obviously that's a good sign - need you ask?

Getting accepted by a supervisor is only <half the battle of the course...

Yaaay!

Oh congratulations! As for your question about the MPhil, I also applied to the other place and for reasons related to funding I am there right now.


Oh don't worry, the general supervisor that I was assigned at Cambridge worked in a completely different area. What areas of Linguistics are you interested in?

Emma have accepted me

Gahhh now I don't know what to do!

I think the impressive speed with which you have gone through the process is a sign