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Rejection from Cambridge for 2011

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Original post by chaz1992

Make sure you know your C3/C4/FP1 and you should be fine.

I answered 10/12 questions. Didn't have time for the other 2. Not really allowed to say anymore as we're not allowed to.

THANKS GOD that there are no fp2 questions.
I haven't listened to the fp2 lessons for about one month.
anyway,i think it is no use to study more at this time.
i think you will be fine~~~you can do 10 out of 12.
good luck anyway~~~ :smile:

Reply 21

Ania_aa

I just observed that for unknown reasons Cambridge rejects really great people. I know it is not a dicovery of the century, but still I find it quite...disturbing. When I got 40 IB points predicted I thought I can do anything. My assumption has been proved invalid. I am shocked.

Reply 22

chaz1992

Good luck to anyone else who has an interview.

Reply 23

mya369

Original post by Ania_aa

The reasons aren't exactly unknown... They can't give every excellent candidate a place simply becuase they don't have enough places. So a lot of good people get rejected.

And yeah, top grades aren't enough. I learnt this last year when I applied.

Reply 24

a daedalus

No offence but for some reason, some sort of messed up IB/A-level conversion, 40 IB points probably isn't considered that good.

I'm inclined to think it's your personal statement or reference though..

Reply 25

Ania_aa

I think you are right, 40 is not so much for Cambridge, but I decided it was the most moderate number I could predict for myself. I am pretty sure is was my PS - I pasted the wrong version, but nevetheless it was very good, just lacking 2 or 3 sentences in between paragraphs.

Reply 26

mehhh.....hi.

Original post by dd4483

I have to say, as a student at Cambridge, I'm surprised to hear of people getting rejected from places like Girton and Newnham. These are where most of the pooled and open applications go, so you'd think they wouldn't be rejecting people outright.

In fact, everyone I know who is at Newnham and Girton was either pooled or made an open application.

I just googled both those colleges, and they look really pretty! Why are they considered bad then?

Reply 27

chaz1992

Original post by mehhh.....hi.

I just googled both those colleges, and they look really pretty! Why are they considered bad then?

I don't know about Newnham (soz if I spelt it wrong) but Girton is the furthest out which means cycling a long way in the rain/snow/cold.

Reply 28

Gulce

Original post by Ania_aa

I agree... I find it completely BS. I was predicted 40-42.... i dunno what happened... didnt even get an interview :s-smilie:

Reply 29

Gulce

Original post by Ania_aa

ARE YOU INSANE? You are bound to take 3 A-Levels, for IB you take 6 classes + TOK, CAS AND EE. Do you realize how the conversion actually plays AGAINST IB. I sat down and took the A level physics exam got A*, took the history exam got A and math A.............. for IB for physics I barely pull 5-6/ 7 .............. 40 points is not low... i think its just fine, or some circumstances a bit too high actually.

Reply 30

hello dave

Original post by chaz1992

I may as well say it now:

When: December 07
How: Went for an interview. First interview was great, test was excellent but my second interview was so bad that half way through one admissions tutor decided to walk out. I made said silly stuff in the interview (won't disclose content) which I then figured out the answer to on the way back home on the train.
What for: Engineering
College: Downing
Emotions: Disappointed in myself. If I knew it was going to be like this I wouldn't have even gone to the interview
Why: Messed up my second interview
Reapply?: No. Never.

Ah man, I feel for you. Some of the stories of behaviour by the interviewers are simply disgusting and plain rude.

I had mine today, the interview went alright, but I completely failed the test if its any concellation. You have no idea how they choose candidates so don't be too downhearted.

Reply 31

dd4483

Original post by mehhh.....hi.

I just googled both those colleges, and they look really pretty! Why are they considered bad then?

Girton is very far out. Most of people I know at Girton just wander forlorn around the faculty all day, because it's too far to go back.

Newnham is a girls only college, not to mention that looks like an old hospital. It must be pretty annoying for the pooled applicants who end up there. In fact the one girl I know from Newnham is not happy (she was pooled).

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 32

Craghyrax

Original post by dd4483

Can you stop giving people rubbish advice about colleges?
Newnham is very pretty, you're the first person I know who disagree and everybody I know there is happy. Likewise I don't know anybody unhappy at Girton. It is, indeed, far out.

Reply 33

gethsemane342

Original post by mehhh.....hi.

I just googled both those colleges, and they look really pretty! Why are they considered bad then?

They're not actually considered bad, just unpopular because Girton is the furthest out and Newnham is all-female. That's really it. I've met a few people from both colleges and no one seems to really have any problem with either. Girton people tend to have bikes and it takes them about 20 minutes to cycle in. Or they get the bus. Newnham bar is often visited by guys and it's not the convent everyone thinks it is. But everyone i've met from both colleges has been very happy with their college and their academic standard isn't considered as less than any other college.

(Besides, academic reputation is a lot of bull. My college has the "academic reputation" and we're really not any more academic than any other college...)

Reply 34

yahyahyah

Original post by Craghyrax

he can give advice out all he likes

i know some girls at newnham and they don't like it - all were pooled and would much rather have gone to a diff college. girton is practically the same as homerton and the people i know there say it's a hassle. let people give their own opinions on these topics and then the applicants can decide for themselves based on the information given. you don't have some sort of authority on what people think of these places.

we'd all like to say every college is great but at the end of the day...

Reply 35

Ania_aa

Original post by Gulce

True. When I saw A-levels curriculum this year I was suprised how easy it was. However, I never had the possibility of taking A-levels ( I'm from Poland). Anyway, people who decided to take A-levels over IB made the right chice. Seriously, at least u have life.

Reply 36

Craghyrax

Original post by yahyahyah

I don't disagree with this last bit. But I also have found that how people experience colleges is highly subjective. At each college you get people who hate it and people who love it, and people who are indifferent. Everybody develops their own idea of what colleges are like based on their own experiences, rumours that they hear from friends, and the subjective experiences of their friends. This is obviously a very one sided account of what a college is like. From different sources I have heard X college is amazing! And X college is awful!

It is quite damaging to impose your ideas about colleges on other people The reasons for people liking or disliking particular colleges are also not common to everybody. For instance not having a 24hr JCR and college library was a real pain for me. But that didn't bother other people in my college at all.

If you are going to tell people who are not at Cambridge about colleges you should make an effort to give them a neutral opinion, not just make blanket statements based on crude stereotypes. Its really unhelpful and can put people off of applying to places they may have loved. The best thing is to help people work out which factors they should think about and look out for when reading college websites so they can make an informed decision based on their own personal preferences and needs.

The advice of the person I criticised has often in this forum been to make very negative sweeping generalisations about things, which I think is unhelpful and can mislead people who don't have any source of information. My responsibility as a moderator is to ensure that people in this forum are getting help and useful constructive information. I am not censoring his opinion and I haven't used my power as a moderator to punish him. I could have, for instance, removed his post or tried to give him warnings. Instead I disagreed with him simply as another user in the forum, allowing people who read to be able to comment.
I don't think you'd know this about that user's posting history unless you're his dupe, which isn't that improbable given that you have only 14 posts on this forum and already you've made a comment opining that somebody 'should be in the red', which is not typical for new users.

Reply 37

yahyahyah

Original post by Craghyrax

i've not said that anybody 'should be in the red' babes, get your stalking right. all you're basically saying is that negative generalisations about colleges are misleading for new applicants. if anyone's basing their whole app on tsr then they deserve to be 'misled', though i don't even think that's the case.

i mean, he's said he thinks those colleges are bad, and all you've done is say they're good, neither is particularly constructive or destructive. people need to know the facts and proper accounts of what it's actually like at cambridge or indeed any other university, and what i don't understand from reading these forums is that any strong opinion is squashed by someone with 1000 posts arse licking the place that they go to.

if he wants to say newnham is ****, he should go for it. only a moron would read one post and not apply based on that. (although i think it is anyway)

i also have no idea who that other user is.