Cambridge 2016 Postgraduate Entry

Original post by baia_teo

Awaiting decision by the Board of Graduate Studies.

I applied on 1st of December. Application was with Degree committee yesterday and today awaiting decision by BoGS.

My current IELTS score is Listening - 6, Reading - 9, Writing - 6.5 and Speaking - 6, Overall - 7. Is there any chance to receive offer without the condition on language? Requirement is 7 in each component

BoGS will attach a condition of the required IELTS scores along with your offer. It's a university requirement. There were some people on my course who had to do IELTS a few times to confirm their offer...

I think you can do a university language test if you fall just short on one section, but you've only met/exceeded the requirement on one section and fallen below on all the others, so I'd expect you would certainly need to redo the test. (This second hand from others on my course)

Incidentally: I realise how much one uses language at Cam differs by course, but there were a few people on my course who I would consider perfectly fluent in English from conversing with them, yet who said they found it difficult sometimes to follow lectures or seminars fully. Don't underestimate "listening" to rapid, postgraduate English. The IELTS requirements are there for good reason, it seems.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1223

SiaSiaSia

16

I just got an email saying decisions would be at the end of April! Oh ma gawd

Reply 1224

arajwana

Can anybody put some sense to this?

Status Changed from "Awaiting Decision from BOGS"
TO
"Status: Awaiting approval by the Board of Graduate Studies"

:albertein:

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1225

sj27

Original post by arajwana

Can anybody put some sense to this?

Status Changed from "Awaiting Decision from BOGS"
TO
"Status: Awaiting approval by the Board of Graduate Studies"

:albertein:

Happens occasionally though there doesn't seem to be much real difference between the two - especially since they introduced a central cap on offers (occasionally departments would over-offer and BoGS would have to turn people down because the colleges were all full, but that won't happen anymore)
Are there any other conditions you may have to fulfill such as an English language test?

Reply 1226

arajwana

Original post by sj27

Happens occasionally though there doesn't seem to be much real difference between the two - especially since they introduced a central cap on offers (occasionally departments would over-offer and BoGS would have to turn people down because the colleges were all full, but that won't happen anymore)
Are there any other conditions you may have to fulfill such as an English language test?

English Language Condition already met. Had overall 8.

Reply 1227

sj27

Original post by arajwana

English Language Condition already met. Had overall 8.

Ok...

But I don't think it's anything to worry about.

Reply 1228

Worried now ... any advice? On a previous post somewhere I read that some departments give your application to the Degree Committee without reviewing it, so when in theory you have been "recommended" by the department, in fact you haven't and the entire decision is with the Degree Committee.

I'm with the Degree Committee. I saw it at the end of a day without having checked earlier on to see if the "awaiting consid from department" changed to "under consid".

Does anyone know for History - is it all the decision of the Degree Committee, and near bypasses the department?
Or anyone with an MPhil History offer, did you have a period where you were "under consideration by department".

I felt semi-relieved that at least the initial department stage approved my application but now I'm not so sure...

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1229

arajwana

Original post by sj27

Ok...

But I don't think it's anything to worry about.

Thanks, I hope so. Since its just crazy. Receiving offers from places, where I'm least interested and getting overtly anxious about choices, which i really want to work.

Reply 1230

gutenberg

Original post by HAZZZA

Worried now ... any advice? On a previous post somewhere I read that some departments give your application to the Degree Committee without reviewing it, so when in theory you have been "recommended" by the department, in fact you haven't and the entire decision is with the Degree Committee.

I'm with the Degree Committee. I saw it at the end of a day without having checked earlier on to see if the "awaiting consid from department" changed to "under consid".

Does anyone know for History - is it all the decision of the Degree Committee, and near bypasses the department?
Or anyone with an MPhil History offer, did you have a period where you were "under consideration by department".

I felt semi-relieved that at least the initial department stage approved my application but now I'm not so sure...

When did you apply?

From my understanding of the History Faculty, they don't really 'do' the 'Under Consideration by Department' thing: I think, for History, that that stage is just when one of the administrative staff checks the applications they've received to make sure all the correct documents etc. are included. The Degree Committee stage is where the decision is made. If you've only just applied, then likely the next step will be trying to find you a suitable supervisor, and how long that can take will vary, since each individual's schedules and attentiveness to email etc will vary. Try not to worry though, applications are being looked at all the time, and they will get back to you before too long!

Reply 1231

Original post by gutenberg

When did you apply?

From my understanding of the History Faculty, they don't really 'do' the 'Under Consideration by Department' thing: I think, for History, that that stage is just when one of the administrative staff checks the applications they've received to make sure all the correct documents etc. are included. The Degree Committee stage is where the decision is made. If you've only just applied, then likely the next step will be trying to find you a suitable supervisor, and how long that can take will vary, since each individual's schedules and attentiveness to email etc will vary. Try not to worry though, applications are being looked at all the time, and they will get back to you before too long!

Yeah I guess thanks. It's a shame the system wasn't a little clearer so you knew what to expect.
I applied on 20th January so not long ago.
It seems as though history applicants on here were progressed fairly quickly once the degree committee dealt with their application which is a good thing...

I think I saw you're currently studying/did study at Cambridge? Has it been a good experience for you?

Reply 1232

gutenberg

Original post by HAZZZA

Yeah I guess thanks. It's a shame the system wasn't a little clearer so you knew what to expect.
I applied on 20th January so not long ago.
It seems as though history applicants on here were progressed fairly quickly once the degree committee dealt with their application which is a good thing...

I think I saw you're currently studying/did study at Cambridge? Has it been a good experience for you?

I understand - the issue is that each department/faculty seems to handle applications differently, and use the online statuses in different ways, so creating a unified system would be quite tricky.
I'm sure you'll hear soon - the bulk of decisions are made over the next few months, so the machine will be steaming ahead.
I am enjoying it, and I did the Early Modern programme - it's fabulous, and if you get an offer I'm confident you'll love it too.

Reply 1233

bobbypin

1

Original post by SiaSiaSia

I just got an email saying decisions would be at the end of April! Oh ma gawd

Sounds painful! What department is this?

Reply 1234

elysium11

1

Original post by HAZZZA

Worried now ... any advice? On a previous post somewhere I read that some departments give your application to the Degree Committee without reviewing it, so when in theory you have been "recommended" by the department, in fact you haven't and the entire decision is with the Degree Committee.

I'm with the Degree Committee. I saw it at the end of a day without having checked earlier on to see if the "awaiting consid from department" changed to "under consid".

Does anyone know for History - is it all the decision of the Degree Committee, and near bypasses the department?
Or anyone with an MPhil History offer, did you have a period where you were "under consideration by department".

I felt semi-relieved that at least the initial department stage approved my application but now I'm not so sure...

My application went from Awaiting Consideration by Department to Under Consideration by Degree Committee a few hours after my Camsis went live (18th Nov). Nothing happened for about 2 months, then it changed to BoGS. The bulk of the activity is definitely with the 'Degree Committee' stage.

I got moved to BoGS on 22nd Jan (MPhil Modern European History), conditional offer on Camsis 25th January, formal e-mail offer 26th January - so it should be relatively faster after BoGS for sure!

Be prepared to wait - hopefully it will go faster for you though. Good luck!

Reply 1235

Original post by elysium11

My application went from Awaiting Consideration by Department to Under Consideration by Degree Committee a few hours after my Camsis went live (18th Nov). Nothing happened for about 2 months, then it changed to BoGS. The bulk of the activity is definitely with the 'Degree Committee' stage.

I got moved to BoGS on 22nd Jan (MPhil Modern European History), conditional offer on Camsis 25th January, formal e-mail offer 26th January - so it should be relatively faster after BoGS for sure!

Be prepared to wait - hopefully it will go faster for you though. Good luck!

Thanks for sharing your experience - I'm certainly not expecting a quick response from now, just to put my mind at rest for a bit. It's hard not to check all the time. :smile:

Out of interest, what were the conditions of your offer?

Reply 1236

omgwhat

4

Original post by HAZZZA

Worried now ... any advice? On a previous post somewhere I read that some departments give your application to the Degree Committee without reviewing it, so when in theory you have been "recommended" by the department, in fact you haven't and the entire decision is with the Degree Committee.

I'm with the Degree Committee. I saw it at the end of a day without having checked earlier on to see if the "awaiting consid from department" changed to "under consid".

Does anyone know for History - is it all the decision of the Degree Committee, and near bypasses the department?
Or anyone with an MPhil History offer, did you have a period where you were "under consideration by department".

I felt semi-relieved that at least the initial department stage approved my application but now I'm not so sure...

The department stage took 2 days for me and went straight to Degree Committee. For my first application I was at that stage for 7 weeks and got a rejection. The second time around I was at that stage for 3 weeks and got an offer! You're going to have to hold on tight and wait for a little while, I'm afraid. :'( I hope that it goes by fairly quickly! Good luck!

Reply 1237

elysium11

1

Original post by HAZZZA

Thanks for sharing your experience - I'm certainly not expecting a quick response from now, just to put my mind at rest for a bit. It's hard not to check all the time. :smile:

Out of interest, what were the conditions of your offer?

Waiting is awful. I can really sympathise! I checked several times a day... :console:

The conditions were to get a 67% (I'm in my final year of undergrad) and to meet the financial requirements. I'm English so no language requirements.

Reply 1238

Original post by omgwhat

The department stage took 2 days for me and went straight to Degree Committee. For my first application I was at that stage for 7 weeks and got a rejection. The second time around I was at that stage for 3 weeks and got an offer! You're going to have to hold on tight and wait for a little while, I'm afraid. :'( I hope that it goes by fairly quickly! Good luck!

Thank you, I'm trying to switch off but it's hard haha.
Do you feel happy with your choice change then?

Reply 1239