University of Cambridge

Cambridge

Official CAMBRIDGE 2017 Postgraduate Applicants thread

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Hi everyone,

I am in the process of applying to grad studies in econ/finance but not sure which one to go for at camb, ie. economics or finance & economics. Both appeal to me due to content, structure and employability so I would base my decision more on likelihood of acceptance..

My profile:

BSc Economics (SOAS, Uni of London). Currently a 68 average with second and third year grades. Quantitative subjects only 66 ( although 69 on exam) but aim to achieve a first in econometrics. First in banking and finance, macro achieved and high 2.ii in micro.

Internship experience from summer analyst barclays PCB & Barclaycard and another 10 weeks in HSBC Private bank multi asset funds product specialist (more asset managment). Also internship in EM country designing market entry strategy for MNC firm. Plan to go into strat consulting or IB two years before PE/VC role.

Been student rep of economics department two years in row, founded women in finance official econ dept. program and founder of econ student career mentoring scheme. Other extracurr. are founder open econ forum, consulting club consultant, co-president running club..fluent in 6 languages...

Sorry for the details... but would be immensely grateful for any insight on my chances for admission?

Definitely go for MPhil Econ as it's less competitive than the MPhil FE. I have applied to MPhil FE and MPhil Finance, I already have a 1st in BSc (Econ) Financial Economics also from UoL, with 1sts in all quant/econometrics modules (quant heavy degree). I put my chances at 50/50, simply because so many applicants have killer grades, so I'm not special.
I've never seen anyone get into MPhil FE with less than a first, and standard offer is 70 average in final year. One of my classmates is currently on the MPhil FE, and he did even better than I did.

For MPhil Econ standard offer is 67, so your chances are better. You must have good references though, it is a big deal, and they like students in top 10% of their year group. Judging from your extracurriculars, you should get some ace references.

p.s. very impressive work experience, generally this puts you ahead a lot already for future jobs. Unfortunately Camb don't care much about work/extracurriculars for MPhils, but LSE will love it.

Finally, apply asap. The longer you leave it, the lower your chances. Best of luck!

University of Cambridge

Cambridge

Reply 241

zpin

Original post by Libnica

Certainly looks like a decent profile. Why not give both a shot, that's the only way to find out about your chances haha :wink:

Reply 242

gowes93

Has anyone heard about college placements yet (among those who also know about program acceptances)?

Reply 243

jimmyoakie

Original post by imaginary_scope

Hey all,

I've received an offer of admission to the MPhil in Education via the self-service site, but I haven't received my official offer email yet. For those of you who have been admitted--how long did it take for your official email to come through?

Thanks!

Hi imaginary_scope!

Congrats! That is great news. Sorry can't help with your question but was wondering if you had interviews and when you applied? Also with MPhl in Ed programme?

Thanks a lot!

Jimmy

Reply 244

zpin

Original post by gowes93

Has anyone heard about college placements yet (among those who also know about program acceptances)?

Yep, a few days after my offer my college sent an acceptance/welcome email..they're quite speedy, it's really remarkable.

Just keeping my fingers crossed for hopefully some financial aid now.

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Reply 245

gowes93

Original post by zpin

Interesting- i got an offer in a similarly speedy manner about two weeks ago, but have yet to hear from a college. Maybe I'm missing something, or maybe the colleges I ranked passed me over so it's taking longer.

Reply 246

Taulugh

Original post by imaginary_scope

Congratulations!
Just wanted to ask how did the interview go?

Reply 247

imaginary_scope

Original post by zpin

Hey, congrats! Out of curiosity, which college offered you? Did you rank them, or did you make an open application? Thanks! :smile:

Reply 248

imaginary_scope

Original post by jimmyoakie

Hi Jimmy,

I did have an interview--I applied in earlyish October, got an interview about a month later, and then got my acceptance within a few days. I don't want to be too public about which MPhil program because they're all rather small, but PM me if you want more details!

Reply 249

JimbobJam

Hi guys,

Recently received an offer (with large scholarship) from a reputable UK uni other than cambridge. does anybody have any experience with asking cambridge to expedite their offer decision and, if so, how did you go about doing this? anybody have an opinion on whether this would work or not?

cheers

jim

Reply 250

zpin

Original post by imaginary_scope

Hey, congrats! Out of curiosity, which college offered you? Did you rank them, or did you make an open application? Thanks! :smile:

Hey! congrats as well! haha I placed the college I got as first choice, pm me if you want details.

Reply 251

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

Original post by JimbobJam

They can't usually do much about it. I'd just accept the other offer and then wait and see what Cambridge say. Unsavory as it can seem, while there is no centralised or collaborative approach to PG applications, reneging on acceptances of offers is entirely routine.

Reply 252

aipoissac

Hi everyone.
I am applying to MPhil Modern Middle Eastern Studies at Oxford, currently doing Master's at LSE. Still working on my application, to be honest haven't even started my personal statement yet. Hopefully will submit the application before Christmas.

For those doing MPhil, does your program requires a research proposal? For the life of me I can't find anywhere on my program's info page if research proposal is required, and I suspect it is due to the heavy language component for the Middle Eastern studies degree. However, the personal statement is up to 3 pages, so I guess I could include "sort of" a research proposal into that?
It also says not to contact people from the department, but from previous years posts I see lots of applicants for various MPhil programs did indeed contact potential supervisors. What is everyone else doing?

Generally confused about this, as my Master's application seemed so much more clear and straight forward, ha ha.

Reply 253

tonyvel

Hello all, I'm applying for an MPhil in Multi-disciplinary Gender Studies :smile:

Has anyone who's applied for this before contacted potential supervisors? I'm working my way through the application and I'm hoping to get it done by the end of December but I'm just at a loss as to whether we're allowed/encouraged/discouraged to contact people in the department? The website doesn't make it overly clear :confused:

Reply 254

Camilli

I don't know that department at all, but for 1-year degrees it doesn't make too much sense.

Reply 255

DaBatz326

I'm applying for the MPhil World History program and contacted a supervisor. She told me my research topic was a bit broad yet :/ I've done a load of extra reading and all, and it's actually somewhat narrow, but surely they can't expect you to have a fully formulated proposal right now. I'd hope they'd actually aid me in narrowing it down if i'd gotten in and all. Urgh

Reply 256

SaskiaF

Hey all,

I'm currently in my final year as an Undergrad in Forensic Science which is very Chemistry loaded. I realised, that Biology is what I admire more and we had a few Biology modules that I really enjoyed. I was thinking of applying for the MPhil Genetics, but due to all the Chemistry and some personal problems in the family over the last year I'm kinda hanging on a 2:2 at the moment. I can reach a 2:1 but I was wondering if it makes sense to apply with the current 2:2 or if they will just bin the application directly? I was thinking of maybe sending my application off in january when I have the first results from this term back. My final project is also DNA based which I hope will speak for my application. What do you guys think? Is it worth starting my application??

Cheers

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 257

Sammy4140

Hi Guys,

I'm close to submitting an application for the MFin (Master of Finance) programme which is post-experience, do you think I have a realistic shot?

Background:

Graduated from a Top 5 Russell Group uni with BSc. Economics with a high 2.1 (68/69%)

Work Experience:
- Number of Spring Week Programmes
- 2 Summer Internships at bulge bracket investment bank within M&A and Capital Markets
- Currently an analyst at a bulge bracket investment bank in IBD (1.5 years so far, would have completed 2.5 years upon commencement of the programme)

Thank you!

Reply 258

DCRsilver

Original post by Sammy4140

Sounds solid to me! I'd try LBS too and US schools if you can afford it, including MBA. But Camb MFin is now very respected too :-)

Reply 259

amy676

Original post by tonyvel

Hello all, I'm applying for an MPhil in Multi-disciplinary Gender Studies :smile:

Hi tonyvel,

I applied to the MPhil in multi-disciplinary gender studies back in October and received an offer a few weeks ago.

I contacted a potential research supervisor in medieval history, as my research will be in that field. The professor I emailed was very helpful. I didn't contact anyone specifically in the department however.

The gender department secretaries are very helpful for gender all enquiries. I cannot comment however on specific members of staff in our department.

Best wishes!

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