University of Cambridge

Cambridge

Cambridge 2016 Postgraduate Entry

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Any other MPhil in International Relations and Politics applicants here? I just received a conditional offer and am now scrambling to find the funding to guarantee enrollment.

In the meantime, I'm still waiting to hear back from my first picks for colleges (St. John's and Trinity). Has anyone else that's received an offer heard back from a college regarding membership yet?

A few of us on this thread have. Have a look at some of the previous posts and you'll be able to see them! :smile:

I believe one person was given St. John's and another St. Catherine's.

University of Cambridge

Cambridge

Reply 461

Impune

Original post by needurgenthelp

Already got conditional offer with placement in St. John's - does anyone know anything about Gates Cambridge notifications or Cambridge Trust? Also, what sorts of financial assistance will St. John's provide?

Congrats! What program will you be studying? I selected St. John's as my first pick but haven't heard back from them yet, although I did receive a conditional offer.

So far as the Gates Cambridge goes, you should know whether you're in the running by the end of December, when they invite candidates for interview. The interviews themselves happen in late January, and you'll find out if you've been awarded the scholarship in February.

What's your profile like?

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 462

Josb

Anybody knows how many people apply to Trinity? They have a nationality scholarship, but I think the competition must be insane there.

Reply 463

canteaus

Original post by Impune

Congrats on your early offer!

May I ask when you applied?
I'm still waiting for a response from the MPhil development studies department. It's currently under consideration by department.

Reply 464

SRCMA

Anyone else applying to Archaeology MPhil?

Reply 465

gutenberg

Original post by Josb

Anybody knows how many people apply to Trinity? They have a nationality scholarship, but I think the competition must be insane there.

Their website says that they have around 350 graduate students in total, and around half of that number are continuing Trinity undergrads. So that leaves about 175 students from outside Cambridge. I'd guess they take anywhere between 40-80 grad students per year depending on the make up of the current cohort. In 2014/2015, the statistics say they took 71 'new' graduate students, of which about half will have been former Trinity undergrads, per their own model.
In terms of numbers of applicants that's very hard to say, but I'd say it's easily in the hundreds, if not higher: the admissions office does naturally list Trinity as one of the colleges where applicants far outstrip places, but I'd say it's the top college in terms of applicants (if not then probably second after King's).
Of course a scholarship that is specific to one nationality will reduce the numbers a lot, but the converse of that is that a lot of students of that nationality will specify Trinity as their top choice in the hope of getting it! You're French right? According to the statistics, the French were the fifth most-numerous nationality in terms of confirmed places, with 114 students taking up their places. So try & judge from that what you will...
Hope that helps a bit!

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 466

Josb

Original post by gutenberg

Thank you for this optimistic post. :colonhash:

Reply 467

gutenberg

Original post by Josb

Thank you for this optimistic post. :colonhash:

Sorry

Best of luck, really. Have you sent your application yet?

Reply 468

sj27

There used to be stats published of applications to first and second choice colleges and admits, I'm not sure where they are now that BoGS changed their website. Trinity was a small percentage of offers and I think the most competitive, with Kings and St John's pretty similar. I know the link was posted in a previous year's thread somewhere should anyone feel particularly inclined to go search for it....

Reply 469

Josb

Original post by gutenberg

Sorry

Best of luck, really. Have you sent your application yet?

No, I'll wait till the final day - as usual.

Reply 470

Josb

I found that several colleges are said to charge "weekly Kitchen Fixed Charge". What is that?
http://www.graduate.study.cam.ac.uk/colleges/key-facts-and-figures

It's £12-13 a week for King's, Magdalene and Corpus; £47 for Cath's! :eek4:

Reply 471

username2228735

Original post by Josb

We get KFC delivered to our rooms? Cambridge is awesome!

Sorry, had to.

More info here: http://www.fitz.cam.ac.uk/college-life/finance/graduate/your-college-bill/kitchen-fixed-charge-2015-2016

Reply 472

Oschene23

Original post by canteaus

Congrats on your early offer!

May I ask when you applied?
I'm still waiting for a response from the MPhil development studies department. It's currently under consideration by department.

Which colleges did you apply for?

Reply 473

sj27

Original post by Aceadria

We get KFC delivered to our rooms? Cambridge is awesome!

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Reply 474

gutenberg

Original post by Josb

It's basically a charge to help subsidise the colleges' catering - so when you go eat in your buttery, or attend formal hall, they can keep the sticker price low. The charge does vary a lot though, as you can see - at my college it's £58 per term for graduate students, though the undergrads get charged a lot more.
And free KFC, if only... :moon:

Reply 475

Josb

Original post by Aceadria

More info here: http://www.fitz.cam.ac.uk/college-life/finance/graduate/your-college-bill/kitchen-fixed-charge-2015-2016

Original post by gutenberg

So you cannot avoid that extra charge? I mean it's £2,000 a year at St-Cath's and I intend to cook my own food.

Reply 476

gutenberg

Original post by Aceadria

We get KFC delivered to our rooms? Cambridge is awesome!

PRSOM

Sorry, had to.

More info here: http://www.fitz.cam.ac.uk/college-life/finance/graduate/your-college-bill/kitchen-fixed-charge-2015-2016

Reply 477

gutenberg

Original post by Josb

So you cannot avoid that extra charge? I mean it's £2,000 a year at St-Cath's and I intend to cook my own food.

Each college has different arrangements. Some will waive it I think if you live in private accommodation (i.e. not College-owned) but not all will, and some will only apply a reduced rate at that. The intention behind it of course is to get you to eat in college, so they're reluctant to let everyone off, and it keeps the day-to-day prices low (though of course, when you average the KFC across all of the meals you eat in college, often the prices seem less good!).

EDIT: I had a quick look at the Catz website and it says that the KFC is £47 per quarter, i.e. for 3 months, not weekly. That's about average for grads I would say. They also offer a reduced rate of £17 if you're living privately and your department is more than 1 mile from central Cambridge (i.e. you won't be in college too often).

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 478

Impune

Original post by canteaus

Congrats on your early offer!

May I ask when you applied?
I'm still waiting for a response from the MPhil development studies department. It's currently under consideration by department.

Thanks! My application was submitted in mid-October, and I heard back late-November. There was about a six week wait between submission and offer made. From what I heard the response times can vary quite a bit depending on time of year and the department in question.

Reply 479

sj27

Original post by Josb

So you cannot avoid that extra charge? I mean it's £2,000 a year at St-Cath's and I intend to cook my own food.

As Gutenberg says, you seem to have calculated it incorrectly. Also as he says, part of the intention - apart from keeping costs low for the majority of students (after all the cost of running a kitchen is pretty much fixed for the college too even if some students do most of their own cooking) - is to get you to eat in college. College is, after all, supposed to be social. Also, I know my college and I guess most or all the others allow you to offset the cost of formals against the KFC (I assume you plan on going to at least a few formals during your time at Cam).