The Student Room Group

Results day/2017 admissions - Ask an Admissions Administrator

Hi, Martin from the Peterhouse Admissions Team here!

We thought we'd repeat last year's thread about results day, what happens here and what offer-holders need to be aware of. Whilst I'm here, I'd also be happy to answer any questions and give a glimpse into the upcoming admissions round in terms of how files will be looked at and why we ask you to do the things we do.

Please note that I am not an Admissions Tutor, so I don't myself interview anyone or make decisions on who to accept, but I work very closely with those who do. The job of the Admissions Coordinators (me and Kathy at Peterhouse) is to make sure everything runs smoothly, procedures are followed and everyone is given a fair shot. The other side of our job is working as Schools Liaison Officers, working with schools and prospective students to encourage more young people to think about Higher Education, particularly studying academic courses at competitive universities. We also run the Open Days and answer questions from prospective applicants. If there's anything you want to know about Cambridge outreach then ask away!

I can answer questions about Peterhouse admissions in general terms, but if you have a detailed questions about Cambridge admissions then Andrew (the AT from Christ's) in this other thread or Emily (AT from Lucy Cavendish if you're over 21) in this thread are a better bet.

If your question is along the lines of 'I think I missed my offer, what are my chances' then I'm afraid that nobody on TSR can help as all decisions on missed offers are made individually on case-by-case basis and there's really no point in engaging in long hypotheticals or trying to learn from previous cases. All our offer-holders are individuals and we treat them as such.
(edited 7 years ago)

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I think you may actually have visited my school, Banbridge Academy? Or am I making an idiot of myself? xD

And actually, I've never thought about how the files are handled. So when the application is sent in from UCAS, does it go to you and then you pass it on to Admissions Tutors? Would you ever have the ability to turn away an application, and if so, on what grounds?
Original post by TiernanW
I think you may actually have visited my school, Banbridge Academy? Or am I making an idiot of myself? xD

And actually, I've never thought about how the files are handled. So when the application is sent in from UCAS, does it go to you and then you pass it on to Admissions Tutors? Would you ever have the ability to turn away an application, and if so, on what grounds?



Nope, wasn't me, sorry!

Applications from UCAS are combined electronically with the SAQ information to produce one pdf per applicant. These are then printed and filed. The files (good old fashioned, dead-tree files) live here in the Admissions Office and ATs and DoSs pop in to read and discuss them. Having paper files means we can easily add other information (interview reports, letters from school, extenuating circumstances forms, funding info etc.) to them. Hard copies are then made for the interviewers. Some colleges have gone paperless but we can't afford an iPad for each interviewer yet!

All applications are checked to make sure they're eligible before anything else happens. We just check that the compulsory information is there, the deadlines have been met and the essential A levels are taken. Any ineligible candidates are put to one side for an AT to check and are then rejected. This is about the only case where we reject candidates without lots of consideration by lots of people.

The Admissions Coordinators read through files to make sure we're aware of all relevant information which we can bring to the attention of the interviewers later. We also look up typical and past offer levels for EU or international students so ATs and DoSs know what is a good level of attainment. We also mark files with contextual flags from the moderation spreadsheets or the paper application. We might look up school info too.

DoS=Director of Studies - Fellow responsible for all students in a subject
AT=Admissions Tutor - Fellow with responsibility for admissions. At Peterhouse, despite being the smallest College in terms of students we actually have 3 undergraduate Admissions Tutors. We then have 3 of us doing Admissions and outreach work for a team of 6, one of the largest around!
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Peterhouse Admissions
Nope, wasn't me, sorry!

Applications from UCAS are combined electronically with the SAQ information to produce one pdf per applicant. These are then printed and filed. The files (good old fashioned, dead-tree files) live here in the Admissions Office and ATs and DoSs pop in to read and discuss them. Having paper files means we can easily add other information (interview reports, letters from school, extenuating circumstances forms, funding info etc.) to them. Hard copies are then made for the interviewers. Some colleges have gone paperless but we can't afford an iPad for each interviewer yet!

All applications are checked to make sure they're eligible before anything else happens. We just check that the compulsory information is there, the deadlines have been met and the essential A levels are taken. Any ineligible candidates are put to one side for an AT to check and are then rejected. This is about the only case where we reject candidates without lots of consideration by lots of people.

The Admissions Coordinators read through files to make sure we're aware of all relevant information which we can bring to the attention of the interviewers later. We also look up typical and past offer levels for EU or international students so ATs and DoSs know what is a good level of attainment. We also mark files with contextual flags from the moderation spreadsheets or the paper application. We might look up school info too.

DoS=Director of Studies - Fellow responsible for all students in a subject
AT=Admissions Tutor - Fellow with responsibility for admissions. At Peterhouse, despite being the smallest College in terms of students we actually have 3 undergraduate Admissions Tutors. We then have 3 of us doing Admissions and outreach work for a team of 6, one of the largest around!


Thanks for your response! :smile:

This is probably obvious, but for those of us that have UMS, do our individual module marks appear in this PDF as well as the averages?
Original post by TiernanW
Thanks for your response! :smile:

This is probably obvious, but for those of us that have UMS, do our individual module marks appear in this PDF as well as the averages?


Really good questions and I hope the answer helps get rid of some of the myths about averages!

The pdf ('CAPO' or Cambridge Applicant Print Out) has a page detailing module-by-module UMS in all subjects. The averages do not appear in this at all and are not in the printed file. They only exist in the subject moderation spreadsheets. This should tell you that they are for moderation (making sure all colleges act similarly and to help the Pool function), not assessment.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Peterhouse Admissions
Really good questions and I hope the answer helps get rid of some of the myths about averages!

The pdf ('CAPO' or Cambridge Applicant Print Out) has a page detailing module-by-module UMS in all subjects. The averages do not appear in this at all and are not in the printed file. They only exist in the subject moderation spreadsheets. This should tell you that they are for moderation (making sure all colleges act similarly and to help the Pool function), not assessment.


Aaaahhhh. I think its a common impression among people that the averages are actually used by the tutors in assessment. I like that, because the tutor can easily identify anomalies that happen from time to time.

Thanks!
Reply 6
Hello.I am an international post-qualification applicant to Natsci(biological) and have received my A-level results from CIE examboard yesterday.I got 4A*s in biology,chemistry,physics and mathematics, with another A in further mathematics(88%,just missed the boundary of A*).Does the A in FM affect my application profile and the chance of being selected into interview or offered a place?Thanks!
Original post by lucus450
Hello.I am an international post-qualification applicant to Natsci(biological) and have received my A-level results from CIE examboard yesterday.I got 4A*s in biology,chemistry,physics and mathematics, with another A in further mathematics(88%,just missed the boundary of A*).Does the A in FM affect my application profile and the chance of being selected into interview or offered a place?Thanks!


Hi, thanks for posting, I'm happy to help! I'll tell you about Peterhouse's view, you can ask the Christ's AT here.

The typical offer for Natural Sciences is A*A*A - you've exceeded this so you should be able to submit a very competitive application.

Further Maths isn't particularly important for Biologists - we don't expect it or consider it as much as bio/chem/phys/maths when making admissions decisions. Its only helpful if you end up switching towards more physical sciences (e.g. Part IB/Part II Chemistry) having done the Mathematics option rather than Mathematical Biology in the first year.
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 8
Original post by Peterhouse Admissions
Hi, thanks for posting, I'm happy to help! I'll tell you about Peterhouse's view, you can ask the Christ's AT here.

The typical offer for Natural Sciences is A*A*A - you've exceeded this so you should be able to submit a very competitive application.

Further Maths isn't particularly important for Biologists - we don't expect it or consider it as much as bio/chem/phys/maths when making admissions decisions. Its only helpful if you end up switching towards more physical sciences (e.g. Part IB/Part II Chemistry) having done the Mathematics option rather than Mathematical Biology in the first year.


Thanks for your reply. Tbh I had applied to Cambridge last year but got rejected after interview. If I re-apply this year, will the AT raise the expectation or admission criteria for re-applicant? And does the auto-pool policy still work for us now?

Btw, since I notice that the application process has changed this year, a pre-interview test is introduced. How important is this test in the whole process?
Original post by lucus450
Thanks for your reply. Tbh I had applied to Cambridge last year but got rejected after interview. If I re-apply this year, will the AT raise the expectation or admission criteria for re-applicant? And does the auto-pool policy still work for us now?

Btw, since I notice that the application process has changed this year, a pre-interview test is introduced. How important is this test in the whole process?


Did you ask for feedback last year?

You have met the typical offer. Unless you are taking further qualifications or are resitting, any offer made would be without academic conditions (conditional only on things like English language requirements). Interviewers would expect a higher level of intellectual maturity, insight and subject knowledge from a post-qualification candidate as you've had an extra year of school and are a year older.

All post-qualification candidates who have achieved A*A*A* will be pooled, but don't worry about compulsory pool criteria, it is a red herring. We would nearly always interview candidates at that level whether or not the handbook said we have to. When it comes to the Pool itself, a strong candidate below the compulsory threshold is more likely to be successful than another who is only pooled because they met the criteria and the best thing the AT could think to put on the pool coversheet is 'autopool.' TL;DR you can be a strong candidate without meeting the compulsory pool criteria and some of those with scores above the threshold are weak candidates.

You are correct that there are new pre-interview assessments in Natural Sciences and many other subjects. These will add more information into discussions, won't be considered in isolation and won't carry any particular weight. They are no more, and no less important than anything else.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Peterhouse Admissions
Did you ask for feedback last year?

You have met the typical offer. Unless you are taking further qualifications or are resitting, any offer made would be without academic conditions (conditional only on things like English language requirements). Interviewers would expect a higher level of intellectual maturity, insight and subject knowledge from a post-qualification candidate as you've had an extra year of school and are a year older.

All post-qualification candidates who have achieved A*A*A* will be pooled, but don't worry about compulsory pool criteria, it is a red herring. We would nearly always interview candidates at that level whether or not the handbook said we have to. When it comes to the Pool itself, a strong candidate below the compulsory threshold is more likely to be successful than another who is only pooled because they met the criteria and the best thing the AT could think to put on the pool coversheet is 'autopool.' TL;DR you can be a strong candidate without meeting the compulsory pool criteria and some of those with scores above the threshold are weak candidates.

You are correct that there are new pre-interview assessments in Natural Sciences and many other subjects. These will add more information into discussions, won't be considered in isolation and won't carry any particular weight. They are no more, and no less important than anything else.


Thanks! It's really helpful to see these information before making the next move.

I did ask for feedback, but the feedback my college sent to me was quite vague and general, didn't disclose too much details. After all, I think the main reason is that I was too nervous in the interview and thus underperformed.
Original post by lucus450
Thanks! It's really helpful to see these information before making the next move.

I did ask for feedback, but the feedback my college sent to me was quite vague and general, didn't disclose too much details. After all, I think the main reason is that I was too nervous in the interview and thus underperformed.


Ask for your interview score,
Original post by Duke Glacia
Ask for your interview score,


Interview scores are for 'internal consumption' by the University and colleges are generally reluctant to give them out (we at Peterhouse don't except in exceptional circumstances).

@lucus450 you could ask for more feedback, mentioning you're thinking of reapplying and whether the college would recommend it?
Original post by Peterhouse Admissions
Interview scores are for 'internal consumption' by the University and colleges are generally reluctant to give them out (we at Peterhouse don't except in exceptional circumstances).

@lucus450 you could ask for more feedback, mentioning you're thinking of reapplying and whether the college would recommend it?


Ah I see ! Well I m a reapplicant (not sure whether i met my offer or not) but the AT at Corpus sent me the interview scores(last year)
Thank you for running the residential in April!

I found the whole experience eye-opening and I just wish I could say I'd have the grades to apply but two exams didn't go as well as they should have done...
Hi there,
I am looking to apply for Modern Languages and History - the new tripos!
I am a post-qualification applicant, and received my IB results last month, where I achieved 45 points (777hl). How competitive would my application be, and roughly what would 45 be in A level terms (ie - 4A*s)?
Thank you for your time
Original post by francais123
Hi there,
I am looking to apply for Modern Languages and History - the new tripos!
I am a post-qualification applicant, and received my IB results last month, where I achieved 45 points (777hl). How competitive would my application be, and roughly what would 45 be in A level terms (ie - 4A*s)?
Thank you for your time


Hi, great to hear you're interested in the new course! Have you checked out the Applicants section of our website? It has what to expect at interview for each subject on there and I'm adding interview dates as we confirm them.

In terms of your grades, they could not be any better as you've achieved the maximum! Typical IB offer is 40-42 overall and 776 or 777 at HL so you could certainly have a strong paper application, provided you have a good PS and teacher reference. What HL subjects have you taken?

We get lots of IB applicants and we don't convert into A level equivalents - it is a separate qualification system and trying to crowbar it into an A level shaped box wouldn't quite work.
Original post by jamestg
Thank you for running the residential in April!

I found the whole experience eye-opening and I just wish I could say I'd have the grades to apply but two exams didn't go as well as they should have done...


You're welcome, I had fun too! Good luck for your results next week - you might not have done as badly as you think.
Original post by Peterhouse Admissions
Hi, great to hear you're interested in the new course! Have you checked out the Applicants section of our website? It has what to expect at interview for each subject on there and I'm adding interview dates as we confirm them.

In terms of your grades, they could not be any better as you've achieved the maximum! Typical IB offer is 40-42 overall and 776 or 777 at HL so you could certainly have a strong paper application, provided you have a good PS and teacher reference. What HL subjects have you taken?

We get lots of IB applicants and we don't convert into A level equivalents - it is a separate qualification system and trying to crowbar it into an A level shaped box wouldn't quite work.


Thank you for your reply.
At higher level, I did English Literature, French and History.
Original post by francais123
Thank you for your reply.
At higher level, I did English Literature, French and History.


That's a great basis for an application to History and Modern Languages! Are you coming to the open day on the 17th Sept?

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