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Cambridge Offer Holders 2015 thread

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Reply 700
Avatar for Elcor
Elcor
14
Facebook group for Engineering offer holders:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/371579053019231/
Just got my offer from Magdalene through the pool! HSPS A*A*A
Original post by Elcor
Facebook group for Engineering offer holders:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/371579053019231/


Tom is there one for maths
Original post by aliciapash
Just got my offer from Magdalene through the pool! HSPS A*A*A


Congratulations!! May I ask, was it an email, UCAS or a letter?
Original post by chilley
NatSci Biological
Queens'
A*A*A

Still can't believe it.. don't think I ever will


Yay another Queens' Natsci!! Which modules are you thinking of picking?! :biggrin:
Reply 705
Avatar for Goods
Goods
16
Original post by BrainDrain
Would love to see a link for those stats if you have one Goods. I was looking at these earlier in table 3.2 and if you read the conditions they include General Studies and Critical Thinking which weren't considered when I applied http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/publications/docs/admissionsstatistics2013.pdf


The statistic came from our group subject introduction meeting with our DoS. I dont think colleges would publish that type of data so youll have to take me at my words. That being said i'm unsure if the statistic he gave us inclues critical thinking or general studies but it was definately 14/18 with 4 or more A*'s.
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 706
Avatar for Elcor
Elcor
14
Original post by newblood
Tom is there one for maths


As far as I'm aware, all there is this STEP prep group, which is pretty much the same thing anyway:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/424619911037666/
Original post by Goods
The statistic came from our group subject introduction meeting with our DoS. I dont think colleges would publish that type of data so youll have to take me at my words. That being said i'm unsure if the statistic he gave us inclues critical thinking or general studies but it was definately 14/18 with 4 or more A*'s.


Ok thank you, you guys are obviously cleverer than the average Cambridge student to some extent, personally I would faint if I had managed to get an offer only to find out it was for 4 A*s., and I assume the guy given the offer won't be able to include
critical thinking or general studies
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by BrainDrain
Would love to see a link for those stats if you have one Goods. I was looking at these earlier in table 3.2 and if you read the conditions they include General Studies and Critical Thinking which weren't considered when I applied http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/publications/docs/admissionsstatistics2013.pdf


Just to be clear, Cambridge stats exclude GS and Critical Thinking. UCAS stats include them.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by jneill
Just to be clear, Cambridge stats exclude GS and Critical Thinking. UCAS stats include them.

Posted from TSR Mobile


Yes that's true, unfortunate though I got 100% in my general studies and completely worthless, although funnily enough not many do that well. p.s but have you looked at 3.2 http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/publications/docs/admissionsstatistics2013.pdf
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by BrainDrain
Yes that's true, unfortunate though I got 100% in my general studies and completely worthless, although funnily enough not many do that well. p.s but have you looked at 3.2 http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/publications/docs/admissionsstatistics2013.pdf


Yes those are national stats by UCAS for all universities. They aren't for Cambridge alone.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by jneill
Yes those are national stats by UCAS for all universities. They aren't for Cambridge alone.

Posted from TSR Mobile


Well spotted,......... do you know of any stats stating how many 4A* students gained entry ,I would love to find out the facts ?
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by BrainDrain
Well spotted,......... do you know of any stats stating how many 4A* students gained entry ,I would love to find out the facts ?


Have a look at FOI data on whatdotheyknow.com

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by jneill
Have a look at FOI data on whatdotheyknow.com

Posted from TSR Mobile


Ok thanks if anyone else knows would love to find out
Reply 714
Avatar for mjal
mjal
Fished out by Magdalene for Geography!
Reply 715
Avatar for AlfieD
AlfieD
Anyone else still not heard anything apart from offer letter yet? I've had nothing from ucas anyone know when it updates?
Original post by Zero to Hero
How can asking whether it is fair that some people are given higher offers than others for the same course , even at the same college, be regarded as self indulgent?

Can nobody question Cambridge's entry policies when they patently treat people differently for the same course?

Is it really too much to ask to expect Cambridge to be as transparent in explaining the process of deciding why some people get lower offers than others as they are in explaining what the criteria is for deciding who gets them?


Of course they treat people differently - the people themselves are different!

Even forgetting about private school vs state school, some people come from a background of low educational achievement in the family, poor households, deprived areas, etc. Then you have those who have extra barriers to overcome: extenuating circumstances, medical issues, disabilities . . .

And that's not all. A Level choice matters too. Say you're an admissions tutor and you give two law applicants offers. One does History, Maths and Physics. The other does History, English, and Politics. It doesn't really make sense to impose a 2 or 3 A* requirement on the former because ability in maths/physics (may) not be a good predictor for coping with the Law Tripos; however, it may be fair to do so for the latter candidate since if they're not capable of getting straight A*s at essay subjects at A Level, then perhaps there's doubt over whether they're really capable of being at Cambridge at all.

Finally, it is absolutely Cambridge's imperative to make judgement calls about individuals even if all of the above is the same. One guy may be a clear Einstein-like genius, with multiple publications and/or prizes in e.g. olympiads, etc. The other may be the lucky dude who scraped in last on the list of successful applicants. Clearly there is far more doubt about the latter than the former student in terms of their ability to deal with Cambridge - so why not assuage that by making a higher offer for the latter?

I understand your annoyance, but Cambridge have every right to make you a steep offer - and you have every right to turn it down if you don't like it. I would also like to agree with what that other poster said about the workload at Cambridge being far greater than dealing with a 4A* offer, so complaints about 'excessive workload meeting the offer' are really rather missing the point imo.
Original post by AlfieD
Anyone else still not heard anything apart from offer letter yet? I've had nothing from ucas anyone know when it updates?


Yep, I got the letter and email (international applicant) on Monday, but St John's hasn't updated UCAS yet. I guess it's up to the college when they want to do that and some might be quite busy right now (or just a bit slower).
Anyway, we've got an official offer letter, so I suppose we don't have to worry anymore (at least that's what I keep telling myself, haha).
Original post by L'Evil Fish
How would one go about doing that?


Sorry for the late reply, I just emailed the college secretary. This is an extract of what I said in the email:

In accordance with the Data Protection Act, I would like to request a copy of my interview report, any reports or scoring of the essay which I wrote as part of the application process and any other documents contained in my file. The University's policy regarding this matter can be found in Section 3.5 of 'Information for Admissions Interviewers for the Cambridge Colleges', Appendix A of the Undergraduate Admissions Handbook. Section 3.5 reads:

Interviewer report forms that are retained in an applicant’s file and passed, if required, to the Pool are subject to the Data Protection Act. An applicant may request to see these reports, particularly in the event of a complaint. Informal personal notes that are not held in a file and destroyed after the interview process can remain confidential. If they are still in existence at the time of any request to see the data held, on paper or electronically, they will be required under the Act to be included in the information that has to be made available to the applicant requesting it.

They have now made the appendices of the undergraduate admissions handbook inaccessible, but I don't see why it would have changed.

Basically, you're entitled to see anything that has your name on it.
Original post by andrew2209
Well I'm a UK Student, so I don't think I pay the college fee, just the standard £9'000 tuition fees. My family had a bit of a panic, thinking I'd have to pay another £6'000 :colondollar:


In that case you definitely won't have to- I didn't have to anyway. I was also quite shocked about where this mystery £10,000 had come from at the time :rolleyes:

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