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

Hello people, I have some information that may put you all at ease a little bit, it helped me feel a bit better.

My maths teacher has been dealing with oxbridge applicantions for 20+years and works very closely with Cambridge to moderate STEP papers and things and what she told me today made me feel a lot better.

I haven't been contacted so assumed I was just going to get rejected but apparently the longer you're in the pool without being rejected the better your chances!
Each college marks your application if they're interested, then the application is returned to your preference college. If you haven't been marked, you get rejected.
However, if more than one college has marked you, they will squabble over who gets you for many days and the longer the wait for you, the better your chances.
so NO NEWS IS NOT BAD NEWS
My teacher said she has known this to even take in to the first few days of Feb

If you wait for ages and do finally get a rejection, you can take a tiny bit of comfort in the fact you must have been beaten by literally one person.

anyway, I hope this helps, it made me feel better about myself and realise I can stop stalking this page constantly.

Just drowned in the pool. At least I got a semi-personalised email rather than a brutal Track change. It actually came as a relief after 4 painful days in the pool.

I'm a little disappointed, but right now I'm just so motivated to get a first at whichever uni I end up at.

Hello people, I have some information that may put you all at ease a little bit, it helped me feel a bit better.

My maths teacher has been dealing with oxbridge applicantions for 20+years and works very closely with Cambridge to moderate STEP papers and things and what she told me today made me feel a lot better.

I haven't been contacted so assumed I was just going to get rejected but apparently the longer you're in the pool without being rejected the better your chances!
Each college marks your application if they're interested, then the application is returned to your preference college. If you haven't been marked, you get rejected.
However, if more than one college has marked you, they will squabble over who gets you for many days and the longer the wait for you, the better your chances.
so NO NEWS IS NOT BAD NEWS
My teacher said she has known this to even take in to the first few days of Feb

If you wait for ages and do finally get a rejection, you can take a tiny bit of comfort in the fact you must have been beaten by literally one person.

anyway, I hope this helps, it made me feel better about myself and realise I can stop stalking this page constantly.

Just drowned in the pool. At least I got a semi-personalised email rather than a brutal Track change. It actually came as a relief after 4 painful days in the pool.

I'm a little disappointed, but right now I'm just so motivated to get a first at whichever uni I end up at.

Hello people, I have some information that may put you all at ease a little bit, it helped me feel a bit better.

My maths teacher has been dealing with oxbridge applicantions for 20+years and works very closely with Cambridge to moderate STEP papers and things and what she told me today made me feel a lot better.

I haven't been contacted so assumed I was just going to get rejected but apparently the longer you're in the pool without being rejected the better your chances!
Each college marks your application if they're interested, then the application is returned to your preference college. If you haven't been marked, you get rejected.
However, if more than one college has marked you, they will squabble over who gets you for many days and the longer the wait for you, the better your chances.
so NO NEWS IS NOT BAD NEWS
My teacher said she has known this to even take in to the first few days of Feb

If you wait for ages and do finally get a rejection, you can take a tiny bit of comfort in the fact you must have been beaten by literally one person.

anyway, I hope this helps, it made me feel better about myself and realise I can stop stalking this page constantly.

Hello people, I have some information that may put you all at ease a little bit, it helped me feel a bit better.

My maths teacher has been dealing with oxbridge applicantions for 20+years and works very closely with Cambridge to moderate STEP papers and things and what she told me today made me feel a lot better.

I haven't been contacted so assumed I was just going to get rejected but apparently the longer you're in the pool without being rejected the better your chances!
Each college marks your application if they're interested, then the application is returned to your preference college. If you haven't been marked, you get rejected.
However, if more than one college has marked you, they will squabble over who gets you for many days and the longer the wait for you, the better your chances.
so NO NEWS IS NOT BAD NEWS
My teacher said she has known this to even take in to the first few days of Feb

If you wait for ages and do finally get a rejection, you can take a tiny bit of comfort in the fact you must have been beaten by literally one person.

anyway, I hope this helps, it made me feel better about myself and realise I can stop stalking this page constantly.

Hello people, I have some information that may put you all at ease a little bit, it helped me feel a bit better.

My maths teacher has been dealing with oxbridge applicantions for 20+years and works very closely with Cambridge to moderate STEP papers and things and what she told me today made me feel a lot better.

I haven't been contacted so assumed I was just going to get rejected but apparently the longer you're in the pool without being rejected the better your chances!
Each college marks your application if they're interested, then the application is returned to your preference college. If you haven't been marked, you get rejected.
However, if more than one college has marked you, they will squabble over who gets you for many days and the longer the wait for you, the better your chances.
so NO NEWS IS NOT BAD NEWS
My teacher said she has known this to even take in to the first few days of Feb

If you wait for ages and do finally get a rejection, you can take a tiny bit of comfort in the fact you must have been beaten by literally one person.

anyway, I hope this helps, it made me feel better about myself and realise I can stop stalking this page constantly.

For any fish despairing[video]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VcjzHMhBtf0[/video]

Very cheesy I know but when I was (seriously) flagging on my run today and it came on shuffle it helped a hell of a lot
Good luck !
Now back to the cave that is waiting for an Oxford letter

I feel like I could hug you right now!

If I get an offer now I'm just as thankful to you for rekindling a dying candle of hope! Best of luck fellow Natsci!

Thanks, this helps me relax a bit; where did you apply and for which subject?

I applied for Chem Eng via physical natural science at downing.
What about you?

Any engineers heard anything yet?

Has anyone heard of any vet med applicants being fished? I know there was one at the weekend but I was just wondering if there is still hope. I applied to Clare for vet med and am still swimming but will probably soon be drowning

Hello people, I have some information that may put you all at ease a little bit, it helped me feel a bit better.
My maths teacher has been dealing with oxbridge applicantions for 20+years and works very closely with Cambridge to moderate STEP papers and things (she is ridiculously clever and got a full scholarship to go to cambridge and what she told me today made me feel a lot better.
I haven't been contacted so assumed I was just going to get rejected but apparently the longer you're in the pool without being rejected the better your chances!
Each college marks your application if they're interested, then the application is returned to your preference college. If you haven't been marked, you get rejected.
However, if more than one college has marked you, they will squabble over who gets you for many days and the longer the wait for you, the better your chances.
so NO NEWS IS NOT BAD NEWS
My teacher said she has known this to even take in to the first few days of Feb
She seemed pleased that I hadn't heard anything as it usually is a good sign.
I also imagine a lot of people that have recieved rejections at this point wouldn't have posted and would have just left the thread, so you won't hear about the rejections that have been handed out.
If you wait for ages and do finally get a rejection, you can take a tiny bit of comfort in the fact you must have been beaten by literally one person.
anyway, I hope this helps, it made me feel better about myself and realise I can stop stalking this page constantly.

Mathematics at Trinity.

Hello people, I have some information that may put you all at ease a little bit, it helped me feel a bit better.

My maths teacher has been dealing with oxbridge applicantions for 20+years and works very closely with Cambridge to moderate STEP papers and things (she is ridiculously clever and got a full scholarship to go to cambridge and what she told me today made me feel a lot better.

I haven't been contacted so assumed I was just going to get rejected but apparently the longer you're in the pool without being rejected the better your chances!
Each college marks your application if they're interested, then the application is returned to your preference college. If you haven't been marked, you get rejected.
However, if more than one college has marked you, they will squabble over who gets you for many days and the longer the wait for you, the better your chances.
so NO NEWS IS NOT BAD NEWS
My teacher said she has known this to even take in to the first few days of Feb
She seemed pleased that I hadn't heard anything as it usually is a good sign.

I also imagine a lot of people that have recieved rejections at this point wouldn't have posted and would have just left the thread, so you won't hear about the rejections that have been handed out.

If you wait for ages and do finally get a rejection, you can take a tiny bit of comfort in the fact you must have been beaten by literally one person.

anyway, I hope this helps, it made me feel better about myself and realise I can stop stalking this page constantly.

Edit: Just for people's curiosity, I was pooled from Downing after applying for chemical engineering via NatSci, I'm post A level with 94% average in my A2 and 88% average in AS

Got the call for pool on Friday (I'd applied to Pembroke) then received a phone call from Newnham with an offer to study Arabic and Persian on the very next day! Good luck to all in the pool, it's absolutely agonising. Chin up!

Anyone else into Newnham?

Although relaxing, it doesn't seem true.

Colleges can mark for interview or an offer. An offer can only be made if the file is either unmarked, or has an interview mark. Once an offer mark has been made, no other college can add a mark to it.

Therefore, if you have an offer, they won't be squabbling. Making offers is first come first serve for the colleges.

If you have two interviews, and both want to make offers, they will only do so post-interview, so you will already have heard from them by now to be invited to interview. In this case they either go with "a simple coin toss", or a "prompt meeting" on the Monday following interviews, as per the official guidance to tutors, which Minerva posted in the OP.