The Official Cambridge Winter Pool 2013 Thread (includes FAQ and Status Reports)

Regarding open offers for medicine, do they tend to give them out to poolees or those who were fished for interview but ultimately unsuccessful, if that makes sense.

So is the general opinion that (phys) nat sci offers/interviews will be sent out tomorrow?

As much as I want to disagree, I agree

My interviews went relatively okay but my UMS is low and I'm pooled. I'm fairly certain that UMS is the most important thing for the science courses

As much as I want to disagree, I agree

My interviews went relatively okay but my UMS is low and I'm pooled. I'm fairly certain that UMS is the most important thing for the science courses

Anyone noticed that the vast majority of those fished are accounts with less than 10 posts. Do people make accounts just to announce they've been fished?

But isn't it the case that certain people who weren't fished by other colleges may be taken back by their original ones if the college finds no-one they prefer?

Yes but I believe that would also already be decided.

Not necessarily; a college could interview some candidates from the pool, but then think that a candidate they themselves placed in the pool was better, and so make them an offer. This would obviously be after the interview, so it wouldn't be decided yet.

I can't tell if I'm just being really stupid, or not expressing myself properly...

Suppose that:


College A pools applicant X

College B pools applicant Y

College A thinks applicant Y might be better than applicant X, but they aren't sure, so they fish Y from the pool in order to interview him

After interview, College A decides that X is better than Y after all, so fish X back to themselves - the original college.


Surely this is an instance in which the decision isn't made until quite late on?

College A would pool X for one of two reasons:

1) X might be good enough for Cambridge, but unfortunately the competition in A is too intense and all of A's spaces are filled. In this case A would not be fishing at all anyway.

2) A thinks X might be good enough for a straight offer, but want to check X against the quality of the pool first. Here I argue this can be done in the early stages in the pool where colleges can take applicants back, and X would be none the wiser he has been pooled. After all X's preference should be respected if possible, and A only has to be satisfied that X is above the uni-wide threshold for admission since X being considered for a straight offer shows the competition in X may not be very intense.

One should realise that the colleges do not necessarily (and in fact I would think not often) both pool and fish for the same subject, unless large swathes of their direct applicants are sub-par (in which case the college might even just opt for rejection rather than pool).

Ah right, I see what you mean. Guess I'm just reading into the wording of my letter too much (they said my application was still under consideration with them, but they were also making it available to the pool). Also, in last year's pooling thread I've see posts from people pooled AND fished for my subject and college, so I guess there are exceptions. Nonetheless, I get where you're coming from, cheers

should I email my preferred college? Or the general undergraduate admission office?

Does the pooling not take place after decision letters have been sent out? (3-4 Jan)? In which case nobody can be pooled without realising it?

I could be wrong, but those are the dates I seem to remember seeing in the Pooling Handbook.

I thought I was the only mum here

Do you think that applies to med as well?

but don't forget, if your UMS is low and they pooled you then they obviously see something in you!

As much as I want to disagree, I agree

My interviews went relatively okay but my UMS is low and I'm pooled. I'm fairly certain that UMS is the most important thing for the science courses

Congrats! And those kind words are more helpful than you know

It does sound like your college had put you in the Pool with 'active interest' - what we don't yet know is whether another college expressed in you and if so what happened as a result!

Actually, I think this happens more than you might suppose. Some of the pooling is 'hidden' as in it happens before the decision letters go out and so some people will never know that they were in the Pool in the first place.

Who am I kidding? I'd decorate pictures of Girton across my bedroom for the rest of my life if they were so good as to pool fish me!

This is exactly the point I was trying to make in an earlier post saying that applicants would be none the wiser about they've been pooled.

Besides this however I argue that fishing and pooling by the same college for the same subject is illogical. Pooling would suggest the candidate is good enough for Cambridge, yet fishing suggests there are spaces available in the college. Hence the candidate should just have been admitted. The only explanation would be that the college is trying to obtain the best or better candidates in the pool, a sort of "he is good enough for others but not good enough for us". I would say this is not using the pool properly as it is not respecting the preference choice of the pooled candidate, who by the fact that he has been pooled implies that the college thinks he is good enough.

They did not fish lot of PBS applicants today, right? That means we still have some hope! Either that or PBS fished people are keeping it a secret

Good luck to everyone still swimming and congratulations to every rescued fish

I'll be wishing for Girton to fish you, fellow ex-Pembrokian
We can turn the Pembroke crew into the ex-Pembroke pooled to Girton crew