Cambridge Re-applicants 2016

Would it be too late now to email the college I was rejected from to ask for my interview scores?

Okay I need some reassurance now. I got rejections from four of my choices which were Edinburgh, UCL, Cam and St Andrews. I got an offer from KCL.
Now, Im feeling a bit unsure why all of those unis rejected me.

I ****ed up my interview for Cam and the feedback from the college supports the thought that because I failed the interview, I didn't get in.
The other unis' rejections worry me more. Is it possible to ask them why they rejected me? I have excellent grades (my qualification is foreign but translated to A-levels my grades would be A*A*A*A*AAA) but when I applied my teacher didn't put my predicted grades on UCAS so is there a chance the unis rejected me because they thought I had only taken like three subjects or something? Or is it more likely they didn't like my PS? Because if that is so, I feel a bit scared to reapply. After all, Personal Statement is a big part of the application and if mine is bad...well, it would be horrible to fail getting in Cambridge and not get anywhere else either.

What did you apply for & what country are you from?
If you gave no predicted grades in your reference this would be an issue.
If your reference is poor or you have no proven track record in relevant subjects this may have been an issue .What are your qualifications so far?

You did apply to four top universities. Sometimes people underestimate the standard required-often in excess of the minimum stated. They often overestimate the "A-level equivalence" of their grades. In general yes, you should email each university for feedback.

I applied for English and I'm from Finland. The reference part, I have to admit my teacher didn't do a good job with it. She didn't put my predicted grades on UCAS at all so the universities (except Cambridge & KCL) had only information of these grades

English - Laudatur/7/A*
Mother Tongue (Finnish + Literature) - Laudatur/7/A*
Biology - Eximia/6/A

After that I accomplished these grades but obviously the unis didn't have the information because of my teacher

Religion - Eximia/6/A
History - Laudatur/7/A*
Chemistry - Eximia/6/A
Maths - Laudatur/7/A*

I checked with every uni how they translate Finnish grades and according to them plus British Counsel I have translated them right. I emailed to Edinburgh today and will email the other unis tomorrow.

The Finnish system is undoubtedly less easy for admissions tutors and English is a notoriously unpredictable subject.You do your grades over 3-4 years which is unusual in the UK. I knew several people in the UK whose only offer was from Oxbridge and one who got no offers first time but got in post qualification to Oxford after achieving 10A* at GCSE and 3A* at A2.
On the UCL website it says for English degrees
Accepted equivalent qualification(s) for Finland
Award of the Ylioppilastutkinto/Studentexamen with at least four subjects, three of which must be at grade 7.

This would suggest that admissions tutors may have been under the impression that you had only studied three subjects.
Clearly you have very high grades. If you chose to reapply I would do so after communicating directly with each university department so that you were clear they understood you. Personal statements are important but I doubt any of us could judge for you how good yours is but maybe try on the English course threads or PS help.




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I applied for English and I'm from Finland. The reference part, I have to admit my teacher didn't do a good job with it. She didn't put my predicted grades on UCAS at all so the universities (except Cambridge & KCL) had only information of these grades

English - Laudatur/7/A*
Mother Tongue (Finnish + Literature) - Laudatur/7/A*
Biology - Eximia/6/A

After that I accomplished these grades but obviously the unis didn't have the information because of my teacher

Religion - Eximia/6/A
History - Laudatur/7/A*
Chemistry - Eximia/6/A
Maths - Laudatur/7/A*

I checked with every uni how they translate Finnish grades and according to them plus British Counsel I have translated them right. I emailed to Edinburgh today and will email the other unis tomorrow.

Hi,
I was thinking about reapplying for Natural Sciences at Cambridge and was wondering about the auto-pooling criteria. If I got an average of 91% in AS for 3 most relevant subjects and then get 3A*s, am I likely to be autopooled? Or will they consider average UMS over the two years i.e. out of 600.

Yes 3A*s at A2 qualifies for auto-pooling.

Does the same rule apply for medicine?

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Yes 3A*s at A2 qualifies for auto-pooling.

I have a place at LSE for Politics and International Relations. If I get better than what I'm predicted, A*AA Im contemplating reapplying. I got through to an interview at Clare College for HSPS and was rejected.

GCSEs were 5A*s 6As
AS: AAAC

Opinions and should I bother reapplying? In a way I can see its silly to continue chasing Cambridge, especially when LSE is a great uni, but I think I wasn't ready this year - perhaps I will be in a year...

Hey, thanks for your reply.

Hi

So I have a Bristol English offer for this september, but have since decided I really want to take a gap year.

At the moment I'm considering asking for them to defer my entrance until 2016.

However if I get better than my predicted grades (A*AA), which is a possibility but by no means a certainty, I'd like to reapply to Oxford or Cambridge.

I made it to the interview stage at Oxford last year and got fairly positive feedback; the stuff they called me out on (a not great first interview) was totally valid and a lot to do with my nerves.

So a couple of questions: If I did get my offer from Bristol deferred and then got better than predicted grades, could would I be able to turn turn them down and then apply again the next year? If I got A*AA grades do you think Bristol would consider a deferral request on results day?

Thanks

You cannot apply elsewhere without withdrawing completely. If Bristol agree to a deferred offer that's the only one you will get, but asking now is better than later.
If you had A*A*A then you would be pretty unlucky not get another Bristol offer but you cannot guarantee it, and it wouldn't be made until the after new UCAS application went in. Cambridge is not a sensible risk with just A*AA, Oxford may be.


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