Cambridge 2016 Postgraduate Entry

Original post by Impune

That's funny. I almost picked Wolfson first because it has the best gym, but decided against it.

What's it like at Oxford?

Oxford Wolfson college is the farthest from the centre, and is all-Brutalist. The good point is that all the rooms are on site.

Reply 1262

05autyt

2

Hehe I picked fitzwilliam first - loved it, it's so funny how everyone has such different qualities they look for in a college 😂

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Reply 1263

Original post by 05autyt

Hehe I picked fitzwilliam first - loved it, it's so funny how everyone has such different qualities they look for in a college 😂

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Hopefully, otherwise the system wouldn't work, albeit I think that Trinity must receive several thousands applications.

Reply 1264

sj27

Wolfson is ugly as sin but my friends that were there loved it, after coming to terms with the architecture :wink:

. It has some of the nicest postgrad accommodation (lots of en suite, important to some people...and believe me when you wake up to someone else's vomit in a shared sink you may wish you had it too), good facilities in the MCR and a lively bar. By contrast some people in old colleges postgrad accommodation have ended up in tiny draughty rooms with said shared bathrooms, and the beauty of the old court doesn't mean much when you're facing this day in and day out ....

Different sides to everything. Funnily enough one of omgwhat's "maybe" blacklists is one that is a definite blacklist by almost everyone else... Yet it's still Cambridge so people go there.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1265

Indeterminate

Original post by omgwhat

I know it's near the library but I'm from London and it looks just like the redbrick council estate that my family live in so.. Eugh :biggrin:

Tbf it's still better than Murray Edwards.. Maybe I should go about giving them an order lol!

I see

Original post by 05autyt

Hehe I picked fitzwilliam first - loved it, it's so funny how everyone has such different qualities they look for in a college 😂

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Well what did you look for? :beard:

Reply 1266

Impune

1

Original post by Josb

Hopefully, otherwise the system wouldn't work, albeit I think that Trinity must receive several thousands applications.

Is there any way to see how many postgrads apply to each college? Now I'm curious.

Reply 1267

Original post by Impune

Is there any way to see how many postgrads apply to each college? Now I'm curious.

I couldn't find it. :dontknow:

Reply 1268

tj23

The BoGS has a list on the admissions statistics: http://www.graduate.study.cam.ac.uk/admissions-statistics

I don't know what would be the way to find it on their website but googling, e.g. 'graduate admissions statistics cambridge' gives you what you're looking for. It's worth checking some of the older statistics (e.g. 2013/14) as well because they have a more detailed breakdown regarding first choice/second choice, offered/confirmed places or what's their position in the pooling algorithm

Reply 1269

sj27

Original post by Impune

Is there any way to see how many postgrads apply to each college? Now I'm curious.

There used to be but it seems to have got lost since they redesigned the BoGS website - they had both numbers and charts of people who applied as both 1st and 2nd choice and how many were offered places. As you can imagine, Trinity, Kings and John's were always massively over-subscribed.

I'm sure there is a link or attachment on one or more of the old Cam postgrad threads, but it'll probably take ages to find.

Reply 1270

Impune

1

Original post by sj27

There used to be but it seems to have got lost since they redesigned the BoGS website - they had both numbers and charts of people who applied as both 1st and 2nd choice and how many were offered places. As you can imagine, Trinity, Kings and John's were always massively over-subscribed.

I'm sure there is a link or attachment on one or more of the old Cam postgrad threads, but it'll probably take ages to find.

What makes King's so popular, I wonder?

Reply 1271

Original post by Impune

What makes King's so popular, I wonder?

The chapel? :dontknow:

Reply 1272

Indeterminate

Original post by ggggg123

I've got a spot at Queens'! I don't really know much about it, except it's old, pretty, big, and I've heard it's friendly. I want to live in the postgrad hostel rather than a flat :smile:

Congrats - Queen's is really nice! :biggrin:

I've always thought that the more well-known a college is, the better it will be to study at. There are also the colleges that people generally don't want to go to (e.g Girton), but I'd be perfectly happy with anything in the middle :lol:

Original post by Josb

The chapel? :dontknow:

Lol, but that's a great-looking chapel! :biggrin:

Reply 1273

Original post by ggggg123

I've got a spot at Queens'! I don't really know much about it, except it's old, pretty, big, and I've heard it's friendly. I want to live in the postgrad hostel rather than a flat :smile:

They all say "[insert college] is friendly".

Reply 1274

sj27

Original post by Impune

What makes King's so popular, I wonder?

Chapel, location, Henry VIII, take your pic. It's a good shortcut between the Sidgwick site and the town center too :smile:

Queens is lovely.

Reply 1275

camaieu

For anyone who has had an "admissions/AHRC" interview for Masters - how much detail do they want from your research proposal? I have some very concrete ideas and ideas for how it could progress, but I haven't got a 100% detailed plan yet. I figured that would come later in the process during the course.

Reply 1276

baia_teo

Original post by Applicant1617

Do you get an email when the status change to 'awaiting decision by the board of graduate studies'?

no e-mails. I received e-mail, only when offer was made on Friday.

Original post by sj27

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.

Thank you for the comment. I received offer this Friday and hopefully I'll manage to fulfill University requirements. To say the truth I took test without any preparation, so this time I'll try to do my best :smile:

)

Another question I have considering offer conditions is regarding the references. One of my referees is retired person. For that reason recommendation was sent via personal e-mail. Now offer conditions state that he should send a hardcopy using institutional letterhead and stamp. Does anybody know what should be done in case of retired persons? I've sent an e-mail to the admissions office, but as I understand they'll not respond until Monday-Tuesday or later :smile:

Reply 1277

tsukurutazaki

Original post by sj27

Wolfson is ugly as sin but my friends that were there loved it, after coming to terms with the architecture :wink:

. It has some of the nicest postgrad accommodation (lots of en suite, important to some people...and believe me when you wake up to someone else's vomit in a shared sink you may wish you had it too), good facilities in the MCR and a lively bar. By contrast some people in old colleges postgrad accommodation have ended up in tiny draughty rooms with said shared bathrooms, and the beauty of the old court doesn't mean much when you're facing this day in and day out ....

Different sides to everything. Funnily enough one of omgwhat's "maybe" blacklists is one that is a definite blacklist by almost everyone else... Yet it's still Cambridge so people go there.

Wolfson is actually my first choice (if I get in). I'm currently at an ancient, architecturally beautiful university so don't crave beautiful buildings as much as some. I was in the most beautiful accommodation here but hated it because so many people were incredibly pretentious. My friends in the ugliest, cheapest accommodation, on the other hand, had an amazing time and met lots of incredible people in their halls. I get the impression that Wolfson is relaxed and down to earth, and I like the fact that it's a postgraduate only college and isn't strict about guests, like Darwin for example. So yeah, in short what is one person's blacklisted college is another's dream college, but I don't really care which college I end up at if I get to Cambridge.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1278