I really don't understand Cambridge applications

Last year someone from my school applied very strategically to Cambridge for maths to a college that usually takes a lot of maths students and generally (and in this case too) doesn't have many maths applicants. He was however unfortunately rejected, which at the time I found surprising but thought nothing of it. This year I found myself also applying for maths at Cambridge (with much less hope for success) and as it turns out to a very oversubscribed college for maths, with a very similar tmua score than the other guy from my school and my interview didnt go particularly well however I was given an offer. As well as this, he has always been much better at maths than me. I would probably say even though I really enjoy maths I have never been particularly fantastic at it. It really confuses me as to why I would be accepted and he wouldn't, in many ways just because it implies the system really doesn't work. I was wondering if anyone had a similar experience or knew what other factors could go into their process?

Reply 1

Anonymous #2

It sounds like you're doubting how you could've been given an offer in the first place, but trust me, if you were given an offer at Cambridge, you absolutely deserve it. Especially for a competitive subject like maths. It's not that there's a flaw in the system, it's just that youre doubting your own capabilites in maths and don't have that faith in yourself. His interview could've gone not great? You're interview could've gone better than you thought? I applied to Cambridge this year as well (not for maths) and thought my interview was average if not a bit poor but I was made an offer. You should look into imposter syndrome because it sounds a bit like what you're describing here.

Reply 2

Anonymous #3

Original post by Anonymous

Last year someone from my school applied very strategically to Cambridge for maths to a college that usually takes a lot of maths students and generally (and in this case too) doesn't have many maths applicants. He was however unfortunately rejected, which at the time I found surprising but thought nothing of it. This year I found myself also applying for maths at Cambridge (with much less hope for success) and as it turns out to a very oversubscribed college for maths, with a very similar tmua score than the other guy from my school and my interview didnt go particularly well however I was given an offer. As well as this, he has always been much better at maths than me. I would probably say even though I really enjoy maths I have never been particularly fantastic at it. It really confuses me as to why I would be accepted and he wouldn't, in many ways just because it implies the system really doesn't work. I was wondering if anyone had a similar experience or knew what other factors could go into their process?

I kind of feel like this too, especially because I didn't do that well on the admissions test for my course. What I tell myself is that I must have come across as very teachable in my interviews?
I hope Cambridge prefers people who can learn anything over people who already know everything about their subject - I know I'd rather take a student who has had to work for their grades and knows how to cope with the pressure and learn from the Cambridge system than a student that's cruised through so far and is basically an unknown when they inevitably hit the end of their natural understanding. They do keep saying that they want people who will benefit from the experience and ig those people are the ones that picked up quick and asked good questions at interview seeing as they're mini supervisions, and not the ones who found them easy and didn't get anything out of them.

Reply 3

thegeek888

18

Original post by Anonymous

Last year someone from my school applied very strategically to Cambridge for maths to a college that usually takes a lot of maths students and generally (and in this case too) doesn't have many maths applicants. He was however unfortunately rejected, which at the time I found surprising but thought nothing of it. This year I found myself also applying for maths at Cambridge (with much less hope for success) and as it turns out to a very oversubscribed college for maths, with a very similar tmua score than the other guy from my school and my interview didnt go particularly well however I was given an offer. As well as this, he has always been much better at maths than me. I would probably say even though I really enjoy maths I have never been particularly fantastic at it. It really confuses me as to why I would be accepted and he wouldn't, in many ways just because it implies the system really doesn't work. I was wondering if anyone had a similar experience or knew what other factors could go into their process?

Which college did you friend apply to? :s-smilie:

Which college did you receive an offer from? :smile:

Reply 4

Anonymous #4

Original post by Anonymous

Last year someone from my school applied very strategically to Cambridge for maths to a college that usually takes a lot of maths students and generally (and in this case too) doesn't have many maths applicants. He was however unfortunately rejected, which at the time I found surprising but thought nothing of it. This year I found myself also applying for maths at Cambridge (with much less hope for success) and as it turns out to a very oversubscribed college for maths, with a very similar tmua score than the other guy from my school and my interview didnt go particularly well however I was given an offer. As well as this, he has always been much better at maths than me. I would probably say even though I really enjoy maths I have never been particularly fantastic at it. It really confuses me as to why I would be accepted and he wouldn't, in many ways just because it implies the system really doesn't work. I was wondering if anyone had a similar experience or knew what other factors could go into their process?

Strategic applications? If they don't have many applications they may well not take that many students, or may take more from the pool. My school talked to me about "applying strategically" to one of the less applied to colleges which supposedly have a higher acceptance rate, but when I looked at the stats they often take far more from the pool.

For example, in Trinity mathematics, of the 262 that applied in 2022, 58 were given offers giving an acceptance rate of 22%, whereas at Robinson 36 applied and 17 were offers were given, which seems like Robinson has a higher acceptance rate (almost 50%), but 11 of the offers were winter pool offers which means that actually Robinson only gave 6 direct offers, meaning that it's acceptance rate for direct applicants was actually 16%, lower than trinity! So the "strategic applications" that some people try and make can sometimes backfire and it's far more worth just finding a college you like the look of and not think about application statistics.

Reply 5

Anonymous #4

Original post by Anonymous

Strategic applications? If they don't have many applications they may well not take that many students, or may take more from the pool. My school talked to me about "applying strategically" to one of the less applied to colleges which supposedly have a higher acceptance rate, but when I looked at the stats they often take far more from the pool.

For example, in Trinity mathematics, of the 262 that applied in 2022, 58 were given offers giving an acceptance rate of 22%, whereas at Robinson 36 applied and 17 were offers were given, which seems like Robinson has a higher acceptance rate (almost 50%), but 11 of the offers were winter pool offers which means that actually Robinson only gave 6 direct offers, meaning that it's acceptance rate for direct applicants was actually 16%, lower than trinity! So the "strategic applications" that some people try and make can sometimes backfire and it's far more worth just finding a college you like the look of and not think about application statistics.

So what I'm ultimately trying to say is it's not that the system doesn't work, it's that possibly by trying to game the system he may have actually made it harder for himself instead of giving himself more of a chance of getting in.

Original post by Anonymous

Last year someone from my school applied very strategically to Cambridge for maths to a college that usually takes a lot of maths students and generally (and in this case too) doesn't have many maths applicants. He was however unfortunately rejected, which at the time I found surprising but thought nothing of it. This year I found myself also applying for maths at Cambridge (with much less hope for success) and as it turns out to a very oversubscribed college for maths, with a very similar tmua score than the other guy from my school and my interview didnt go particularly well however I was given an offer. As well as this, he has always been much better at maths than me. I would probably say even though I really enjoy maths I have never been particularly fantastic at it. It really confuses me as to why I would be accepted and he wouldn't, in many ways just because it implies the system really doesn't work. I was wondering if anyone had a similar experience or knew what other factors could go into their process?

So what I'm ultimately trying to say is it's not that the system doesn't work, it's that possibly by trying to game the system he may have actually made it harder for himself instead of giving himself more of a chance of getting in. It's such a tough system that if you got the offer, you probably deserved it and your interview probably went better than you thought it did! I'm sure you did deserve it just as much as anyone else.

I really don't understand Cambridge applications

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you