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

@Minerva or anyone else that can help

How many people reapply each year and are your chances reduced at all if you're applying for a second time?

My preference college said they sent the letters for my course yesterday but why the hell is it not in the post today? ;___; All I want is a closure, I accept it as a rejection already, fine but I want to read the letter, to hear from the tutors Why??? Oh now it will be Monday and I won't even have time for grief because I got exams on Tuesday. Great!

Any news from anyone who got pooled by girton?

Which college is it?

How many fishies do we still have swimming?

I seriously can't! Well I can, because I guess I have to be

Gonville and Caius, you're Girton right? Yeah same! AQA right? Just about to start a past paper now...

How do you think your reinterview went?

Oh yh knowing them they will be slow!...n awh that sucks! Im lucky i dont have any jan mods this year but then the pressure is gonna be so high in june, esp with STEP papers too :/ what uni r u thinking of going to if u dont get an offer from cam!

St John

This limbo state reallyyyy sucks!! Now track doesn't update as well Just want to put an end to it you know....

As a volunteer moderator on this site for almost four years, I have developed a comprehensive understanding of the university applications system in the UK. Follow the link in my signature for examples of how I use this.

As far as the Cambridge Pool is concerned, I would consider my 'capacity' to be an informal one based on the fact that I have kept track of TSR users' experiences in the Pool every year since 2008, and have personally collated statistics for the last four years (2009-2012). I do not have - nor have I ever claimed to have - any 'inside track' with Cambridge, and I rely on the same published statistics as you do.

However, close involvement with successive cohorts of TSR poolees has meant that I have learned quite a bit about the otherwise undocumented side of the process - for instance which colleges tend to behave in which ways - and thereby gained an understanding of what's likely to be going on behind the scenes. I do not claim to be 'right' in every case and am very happy for someone with insider knowledge I don't have to correct me if the need arises. It doesn't seem to have done so far. It's also not been unknown for Cambridge staff to post incognito in the Pool thread, though I've not seen any evidence of it this year.

Question Mark seems to want me to state flatly that anyone who hasn't heard something by now should have discarded all hope of an offer. That plainly is not the case. Yes, offers will be in the minority, but they are still coming in.

Hi Minerva or anyone else kind enough to offer information:

My son has been pooled by Trinity (for Phys NatSci) and is still waiting. I’ve seen on this thread their has been one notification of a rejection from Trinity for a Phys NatSci candidate and quite a few other rejections from Trinity for other subjects and other college rejections for NatSci.

Do you think that this is an indication of one of the following…

(a)being under consideration by other colleges? Such as being in the infamous ‘B’ category.

(b)Trinity are reviewing against interviewees

(c) Trinity are being slow or another college is being slow at indicating an offer/rejection

(d) Are there any other scenarios?

I got a real letter for the being pooled one -.- 7 days late
and i got the rejection letter through email, they scanned it and attached it lol on that day.

best of luck! Avenge us!

Hi Minerva or anyone else kind enough to offer information:

My son has been pooled by Trinity (for Phys NatSci) and is still waiting. I’ve seen on this thread their has been one notification of a rejection from Trinity for a Phys NatSci candidate and quite a few other rejections from Trinity for other subjects and other college rejections for NatSci.

Do you think that this is an indication of one of the following…

(a)being under consideration by other colleges? Such as being in the infamous ‘B’ category.

(b)Trinity are reviewing against interviewees

(c) Trinity are being slow or another college is being slow at indicating an offer/rejection

(d) Are there any other scenarios?

Thanks for all the help provided on this community.

For all candidates: if it doesn't work out for you – life is not always fair but time is a great healer. I wish you all the success in the world whatever the outcomes are. You can be truly of what you have achieved.

It's impossible to say because if another college has marked him 'B', they may not finish interviewing until Monday (because they can fit interviews around exams if required).

But I think you are correct that there aren't any other scenarios.

You could interpret the fact that Trinity has responded with rejections to others as being a sign that he does have a B mark, but it's also possible that they put the letter in the post on Friday and it just hasn't arrived yet.

So - no news is just... no news I'm afraid.

I know I feel your pain, although at this stage it is less pain more just numbness and feeling fed up of the whole process! (I haven't heard yet either- Selwyn)

Any of the above might apply, then again the (d) scenario could be simply that a letter has gone astray. If nothing comes in by the end of next week - which is unlikely but possible - an email to the college would be reasonable.

I get the impression that Nat Sci is one of the trickier subjects to sort out across the university, because of the numbers involved, so it could be (and if his decision letter arrived on time, I might, given that others from the same college have already heard that they've been unsuccessful, hold on to a glimmer of hope here) that he is still on a pending list somewhere. Even if that is the case, it's impossible to say how much of a chance there is that this will translate into an offer, but it will be small.