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getting in cambridge- how confident are you???

i've applied for philosophy at trinity hall, but my confidence of getting in is melting away as time goes by, till now i'm virtually left with very little/no hope! :frown:

so i just wonder if anyone at all feels kind of hopeless too?? sorry if this post seems pointless and unnecessarily pessimistic, but i really want to see if all cambridge applicants are really confident and sure of getting in :redface:

actually i've been reading *a lot* (well at least to me!) on philosophy but i seriously doubt if i can talk about philosophy comfortably with world-experts in the field (plus i'm not a native english speaker :frown:

) and i just don't think i've got enough support from my school in preparing for the interview. i haven't done philosophy a-level (quite a lot of applicants have, as i know...) and the ones i'm doing (i'm only doing 3 and a half... :eek:

)seem to be a bit limited in a way- english literature, classical civilisation, art and art history (AS only). maybe i should have done at least maths or one science... i just feel so disadvantaged and incompetent compared to other applicants!! ><

sorry been waffling too much :rolleyes:

! so what do you ppl feel about interviews and stuff??? i'd be a bit relieved if anyone shared my anxiety :biggrin:

Reply 1

in_it_2_win_it

12

Exactly the same boat as you!!!!

I have several problems,
1. My school is not going to do Mock-Interviews at all, or any other Oxbridge procedure!
2. I have wrote on my Personal Statement that i read The Economist, but my school cancelled the Economist order after September. I have told them to re-order it, but will probably only get to read Decembers one.. If that! :redface:

3. After reading people's post on this forum, everyone seems to be prepared, whereas i need to START!! :confused:

Help! EEK!
4. Im starting to feel that im not good enough for them, and that it may have been a waste of an application!
5. Help Me :frown:

Reply 2

k@tie

10

I'm not confident and I don't expect to get in but I know I'll be so disappointed if I don't! I reckon i'm gonna be an absolute nervous wreck at interview which is hardly gonna help matters either :-( But then again, I expect most people are gonna be extremely nervous!
It's really hypericritical of me to say....but don't worry!! Just think in 6/7 weeks the waiting will all be over .... :-S

Reply 3

xyro

my confidence can best be described by f(x)=sin(x)-1 (i´m kinda tired so if f(x) is > 0 for any real x, ignore it ... and the fact that i´m applying for maths :smile:

).

Reply 4

~pixie~

i'm not at all. if it's meant to be, it's meant to be...

Reply 5

niff524

OP

1

"Im starting to feel that im not good enough for them, and that it may have been a waste of an application!"<-----i feel exactly the same, usman! when i decided to apply a few months back i was pretty confident (don't even know why!!?? :rolleyes:

) but now i sometimes really regret and doubt if i've made a wrong decision. it's such a big commitment, and unbelievably stressful!!!!

"I'm not confident and I don't expect to get in but I know I'll be so disappointed if I don't!"<----- same, k@tie! i honestly don't expect to get in, but i will be very upset and disappointed if i don't (paradox paradox....) cuz i've put in sooo much effort!! :mad:

but yea, that's a really comforting thought, to think that in less than 2 months everything should be over... :cool:

my feeling now is to try my best and not expect to get in, so i won't be devastated if i don't! :wink:

and if i do, i'll just take it as the most pleasant shock of my life :eek:

Reply 6

Golden_Touch

1

I'm not at all confident...and the nearer the interview gets the less confident I'm becoming! At least there are other people out there also terrified.

Still, I know that if I don't get in, I have an offer to go somewhere else, and it isn't the end of the world. I'm trying to keep it all in perspective, but it's difficult!

Reply 7

Adhsur

15

Wow, another philosopher! Nice to meet you :smile:

I'm applying Trinity. Have you got msn, we can discuss?

Reply 8

Wilde_Oscar

6

Urgh. Don't ask about confidence. I really, really am not confident.

And I have interviews, mock questions, PS help, read all the books... Yeah.

Reply 9

posh_git

1

Wilde_Oscar

Urgh. Don't ask about confidence. I really, really am not confident.

And I have interviews, mock questions, PS help, read all the books... Yeah.

hey i read ur signature...interesting. i wanted 2 apply 2 princeton/yale/havard too....how did u apply lol i just dind't seem 2 find n e thing! has the deadline passed???

Reply 10

khil

15

Niff524 - don't worry about it - just do your best there isn't much you can do.

And lol your confidence can't be worse than mine - I have all the wrong subjects for NatSci and the one subject that is crucial is Chemistry in which I got a C at AS with GCSE maths at B, with no other maths qualification. Maths is compulsory at Cambridge for NatSci's. So hey, you probably have more of a chance than I do! So hopefully that helps! I've applied to Emma, one of the more popular colleges, so my chances of getting in is next to zero. Plus my predicted grades are AAB, B in chem with one of the A's in Art, of all things. So hey - your chances are probably FAR far higher than mine so take that as a comforting thought :smile:

Reply 11

Acaila

17

Must bury self in books.....must not think about interviews in less than a month....must not start dreaming about said interviews going wrong before I even get to them (well more like must *stop* dreaming about that)...must stop thinking about what I'm going to wear....must stop thinking about what will happen if I can't answer any of the questions

Oh I'm just a little bundle of confidence....now where did I put my copy of the communist manifesto?

Reply 12

Alaric

1

Acaila

Must bury self in books.....must not think about interviews in less than a month....must not start dreaming about said interviews going wrong before I even get to them (well more like must *stop* dreaming about that)...must stop thinking about what I'm going to wear....must stop thinking about what will happen if I can't answer any of the questions

Oh I'm just a little bundle of confidence....now where did I put my copy of the communist manifesto?

You're far too obsessed, many many people don't get offers, don't let it preoccupy yourself too much incase you don't too. Although I seem to recall last year UKL having a higher than expected average offer/rejection rate there were still a lot of disappointed people around. Cambridge is annoying and doesn't mean much in the scheme of things, so don't obsess and calm the frig down!

A.

Reply 13

kitsune

12

LOL!!! We are all exactly the same!!! I have poor GCSEs grades, wrong Alevel subjects (Art, for example and the college say they dont accept Art at A-level LOL!), I changed school with year, meaning having to take some As again as they dont use the same board!!! I did my personal statement on my own.. and i thought it was Ok, but now I've seen the PS of the people at my new school and they are so impressive... (I have already been rejected from 2 unis and I have an offer in... ZERO!!!) well I'm really happy I have been asked for an interview... at least you could put that in your CV in the future! I'll prepare for the interview the best I can and if they decide to give me an offer I... well, collapse I think... I know the most likely thing going to happen is to be rejected so... I dont worry :smile:

Just the experience and the shopping at London the previous days would be great :biggrin:

LOL!!!

Reply 14

d750

8

Alaric

You're far too obsessed, many many people don't get offers, don't let it preoccupy yourself too much incase you don't too.

Well said. There seem to be lots of people reduced to bundles of nerves around now, but its seems out of proportion to the importance of these interviews. The university someone went to is never going to be the most important thing in their life, but some people are acting as if it is. And its not like Cambridge will be the best place for some people to study at anyway.

If its something you want, have a good go at it, and then if you fail you shouldn't have any regrets.

Reply 15

Minta2

Alaric

You're far too obsessed, many many people don't get offers, don't let it preoccupy yourself too much incase you don't too. Although I seem to recall last year UKL having a higher than expected average offer/rejection rate there were still a lot of disappointed people around. Cambridge is annoying and doesn't mean much in the scheme of things, so don't obsess and calm the frig down!

A.

Hmm, so speaks a person who was successful in getting into Cambridge! I bet it was very important to you at the time, and yes all of us who are here know that it's not always a bundle of laughs, but when you're caught up in the application process it's so easy to think Oxbridge is the thing that matters most in the world. It's easy to have a casual attitude towards something that you were successful in achieving.

Reply 16

petemc246

Subject: Economics
College: Caius
Interview Date: 6th December
Comment: I'm confident about getting in!

Reply 17

platinumki

10

It's a bit different for me (although medics and other vets will feel the same.) For most of you, you are guarnteed a place somewhere. But it's as hard to get into med/ vet med anywhere. So, I'm not freaking out about Cambridge - I'm freaking out about everywhere.

I got rejected by Bristol last week - I was gutted. "So soon!" I exclaimed. Today they phoned me up.

"Hi, Bristol here. Got your letter. No, we're not sure why you didn't get an interview either. December good?"

Seriously. Now, if I hadn't sent that letter....

Admission is a lotery. Our lives hang in the balance. Now cheer up, go out and get pissed.

Reply 18

Alaric

1

Minta2

Hmm, so speaks a person who was successful in getting into Cambridge! I bet it was very important to you at the time, and yes all of us who are here know that it's not always a bundle of laughs, but when you're caught up in the application process it's so easy to think Oxbridge is the thing that matters most in the world. It's easy to have a casual attitude towards something that you were successful in achieving.

Now you see, you don't know me, I'm a die-hard pessimist.

I went along to the interview, did about a day and a half prep for the test at interview (just went over yr12 phys and P2/P3 so it was fresh in my mind). Didn't think the test went well, only answered two questions fully, ignored one and blagged the other. I did get nervous in the interviews, I won't deny that, but I wasn't nervous a month beforehand! I wasn't even nervous the morning before!

Why? Because I'd already assumed I wouldn't get in and you could have knocked me down with a feather when I read my offer letter after getting back from holiday (it'd been in the house for a week).

So I expect you all to be nervous and think it's important on the day, but until then calm down!

A.

Reply 19

WhatFreshHell?

2

BAck in september i was totally like, "How hard can this be, I'm the best in my school at this subject, im a reasonably well rounded individual, any uni would love to have me."

Now, however, than confidence has deserted me. Upon seeing the written test at interview on the website for french and german, I promptly shat myself, and havent recovered since. I really think that after interviewing me they'll just give me an abacus or something and tell me to play in the garden and watch the nice little squirrels, or something (and that would be being nice!).

Seriously, no hope. And I would really like to go to, the more i think about it!

getting in cambridge- how confident are you???

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