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Original post by spacemenrule94
Oh dear :s-smilie: Yeah, at Downing the first interview was supposed to put applicants at ease (at both interviews I was asked whether it was the first or the second interview, and the second set of interviewers said "Ok, we're going to try to push you, now") but the second one was in a very different style.

I'm sure your interviewers must have thought that the interviews went better than you felt, if you got placed into the pool. Hahah, and in the first interview I had to ask to start again because I was talking myself in circles :frown:

Ooh, same! I've spent the last 5 days doing basically nothing but keeping track of this thread, checking my emails, and feeling anxious. I feel for you!

Well, I'm mostly interested in Politics & IR, and I find sociology fascinating. I reckon if I did get a place (I can only hope!) I'd probably try out social anthropology as well...

How about you? :biggrin:


Maybe each interviewer has their own style and the uni just gives them guidelines? :colone: The first one was writing tons of notes as we went along, but the second one didn't take down any...

Apparently it doesn't work against you to ask to start over/revise your points to make it clearer, least not as much as leaving it in the air! Did you have any mock interviews or anything like that with your school/college beforehand?

I see a lot of us are on the same boat in this thread. It's relieving there's somewhere to keep up with the stressful process. I was avoiding telling anyone offline about the situation (successfully, till one of my teachers/tutor unintentionally told my classmates :facepalm:). I'm oddly a little happy the interview callback stage has ended! I was irrationally worried I'd miss the calls and they wouldn't leave a voicemail and the invitation for reinterview would expire or something haha.

I love Politics (the theoretical side), Psychology, Sociology and Social Anthropology. Though, of those, I only do Politics at A level. I love that you can pick which ones catch your eye, even if you have no background in them, and specialise as you go along. Here's to hoping!

Which subjects are you currently studying?
Original post by Rhiannonymous
Wow that was quite late! O_O The pool closed last Friday so all the colleges have already made their decisions. Still a lot of people yet to hear anything though so hold tight! :smile:

Where did you apply to and for what subject?


Land Econ in Sidney Sussex
Email comes in.

It has the words physics and university in the title.

"Here's an update about Physics at York University"


facepalm.jpg
Original post by joyie
something irrelevant about scholarships...



i'm an int'l student too, but i asked for email and they sent me one.. which college is this that made you wait!! thats mean... is it churchill?


sidney sussex...:facepalm:
you mean i can ask them to email me the result?
Original post by arnoldtam
Land Econ in Sidney Sussex


did you get fished?
probability looking kinda low now for an offer, some of my mates got rejected from the pool and they're among the best applicants in the school for their respective subjects (eg economics.)
Original post by anamzaman
did you get fished?


still waiting:frown:
and you?
Reply 3967
am i right in thinking that if we havent heard anything yet, we're definately not getting interviews (i was never getting one anyway- international)- so our only hope at this point would be to get a direct offer, for which the deadline is the 14th? so if we dont hear anything by then that means we have been rejected? sorry if these are stupid questions but can someone please clarify for me?
Reply 3968
Original post by joyie
sorry, no. i had my interview in india :smile: have you been fished yet?


Not yet. No matter when there will be a decision for me. I d better focus on my school life now:yes:

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by joyie
am i right in thinking that if we havent heard anything yet, we're definately not getting interviews (i was never getting one anyway- international)- so our only hope at this point would be to get a direct offer, for which the deadline is the 14th? so if we dont hear anything by then that means we have been rejected? sorry if these are stupid questions but can someone please clarify for me?


i dont think so..since they'll mail u the letter, so it takes a bit longer
i just received mine
Reply 3970
Original post by arnoldtam
sidney sussex...:facepalm:
you mean i can ask them to email me the result?


uhh... yeah? i emailed my college and said that i'm an international so it'll take forever for me to get the letter, so can you please email me my letter? she said sure, and emailed me an electronic version of my decision letter.
Reply 3971
Original post by \/ibhav
I've been rejected from Trinity for Mathematics; email came through at 10:51. This was really important to me and I'd just like some advice on how to proceed. Thanks.

My second choice University would be Imperial, although I'm still waiting for a reply (I'm quite confident of getting an offer though), but I'd rather study at Cambridge and I think I could get some really good grades this summer if I really work at it. I'm talking between 4-6A*s at A-Level and I'm confident of scoring well in STEP: my target is S,S,S across STEP I,II,III.


Then you are either a genius or you are unconsciously incompetent - by which I mean that you don't have enough knowledge to know how hard it is to answer STEP questions completely enough to get SSS. Only a handful of people each year get SS across STEP II and III, and with few exceptions they will have been identified at interview as being exceptional and made an offer.

Only you know (and actually you can't yet) whether you are realistically capable of SSS in STEP.

Without being cruel, I would assume that you are not. Even 1,1 is very, very challenging.

So - plan on going to Imperial, and if you open your STEP results in August and you have managed S,S, or even 1,S, then perhaps make the last-minute decision to withdraw and reapply for Cambridge. Withdrawing and reapplying will always be an option, so don't do it unless you are certain.

Most colleges prefer that maths applicants do not take a year out. If you have no other choice then that's one thing - but just reapplying because you were disappointed not to get in is VERY unlikely to be productive in Maths. In other subjects - Engineering etc - they would be more likely to appreciate the gap year, but it's a risky option for Maths, and you might lose your place at another good Uni who would also prefer that you didn't take a gap year.

So - don't do anything rash!
Reply 3972
Original post by joyie
am i right in thinking that if we havent heard anything yet, we're definately not getting interviews (i was never getting one anyway- international)- so our only hope at this point would be to get a direct offer, for which the deadline is the 14th? so if we dont hear anything by then that means we have been rejected? sorry if these are stupid questions but can someone please clarify for me?


I received a sheet for winter pool saying that I can only receive a call or email from 5 of jan to 10 of jan? Does that mean is the last day for me or tomorrow is included?
Reply 3973
Original post by arnoldtam
i dont think so..since they'll mail u the letter, so it takes a bit longer
i just received mine


what??? they mail you?? so why have i been checking my inbox like an idiot??!! :facepalm:
are you sure? even for international students? how can i ask them to email me instead?o
oh can i ask when they sent your letter?
right I have a question which i would really really like answering!!!

POOLED INTERVIEWS- for Queens' I was told to write down three topic areas of which I wanted to talk about for the interview. However I now have one at Murray Edwards. Will these three topic areas have been passed on?! Or is it just Queens' which work by the 'three topic area' thing? Otherwise I have loadsss to revise!!!! BioNatSci by the way. Thanks!
Original post by badatgow
probability looking kinda low now for an offer, some of my mates got rejected from the pool and they're among the best applicants in the school for their respective subjects (eg economics.)


People who appear to be the "best" applicants aren't always the ones who get offers. This is why every year on TSR we see people who were told by their school that they were a "dead cert and would definitely get in" with a plate of rejections. Even if you've got all A*s at GCSE, really high UMS at AS level and a string of extra curricular activities it doesn't really mean anything at all when it comes to university applications. Try not to compare yourself to other people because what has happened to them doesn't mean anything at all about the status of your own application.
Reply 3976
Original post by Namod
I received a sheet for winter pool saying that I can only receive a call or email from 5 of jan to 10 of jan? Does that mean is the last day for me or tomorrow is included?


yes i'm pretty sure it would.. dont worry :smile: may i ask why they sent you a sheet like that?
Original post by Stray
Then you are either a genius or you are unconsciously incompetent - by which I mean that you don't have enough knowledge to know how hard it is to answer STEP questions completely enough to get SSS. Only a handful of people each year get SS across STEP II and III, and with few exceptions they will have been identified at interview as being exceptional and made an offer.

Only you know (and actually you can't yet) whether you are realistically capable of SSS in STEP.

Without being cruel, I would assume that you are not. Even 1,1 is very, very challenging.

So - plan on going to Imperial, and if you open your STEP results in August and you have managed S,S, or even 1,S, then perhaps make the last-minute decision to withdraw and reapply for Cambridge. Withdrawing and reapplying will always be an option, so don't do it unless you are certain.

Most colleges prefer that maths applicants do not take a year out. If you have no other choice then that's one thing - but just reapplying because you were disappointed not to get in is VERY unlikely to be productive in Maths. In other subjects - Engineering etc - they would be more likely to appreciate the gap year, but it's a risky option for Maths, and you might lose your place at another good Uni who would also prefer that you didn't take a gap year.

So - don't do anything rash!


Although I'm yet to try any STEP II/III papers, I have been getting S in STEP I and I have done the Siklos Booklet (Core Mathematics), including the 2 and 3 star questions (admittedly I found some very difficult). However, I still have a lot of time to prepare and I will be making good use of that time.
Original post by sarah-madeline
right I have a question which i would really really like answering!!!

POOLED INTERVIEWS- for Queens' I was told to write down three topic areas of which I wanted to talk about for the interview. However I now have one at Murray Edwards. Will these three topic areas have been passed on?! Or is it just Queens' which work by the 'three topic area' thing? Otherwise I have loadsss to revise!!!! BioNatSci by the way. Thanks!


That sounds like a college specific thing unless you've been specifically told about it by Murray Edwards. You must have done well enough in your last interview to get in the pool in the first place so focus on thinking about what you do know about and can talk about rather than trying to cram up on everything and anything - they're not expecting perfection and for you to know it all.
Slowly asphyxiating :frown:

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