The Official 2017 Cambridge Applicants Thread [part 3]

Is it standard practice for pool interview offers to be higher than the typical offer? I've seen a few inflated ones now, and it makes me nervous because if I get a Cambridge offer and I miss it, it's questionable whether I can even afford to go to Durham without their bursary. :frown:

Reply 5302

Bingobanjo

5

Original post by Gold-Confetti

Is it standard practice for pool interview offers to be higher than the typical offer? I've seen a few inflated ones now, and it makes me nervous because if I get a Cambridge offer and I miss it, it's questionable whether I can even afford to go to Durham without their bursary. :frown:

My son was at Durham. It's an incredibly cheap place to live, though I suppose when you're living in, in first year, you're stuck with paying for college accommodation.

Reply 5303

Bingobanjo

5

Original post by SteamboatMickey

Had a lovely little chat with a certain Admissions Tutor

A*A*A with an A* in History :biggrin:

OFFER!

Lurking parent here. I've followed your story over the last few days and I'm incredibly pleased for you. Well done. A fantastic result.

Reply 5304

username1865079

Original post by SteamboatMickey

Had a lovely little chat with a certain Admissions Tutor

A*A*A with an A* in History :biggrin:

OFFER!

Just popped back in to check the news......
I really don't want to say this but........

What did I tell you? :tongue:

Spoiler

Please submit a detailed report of the event after you stopped shaking. :biggrin:

Congratulations, from bottom of my heart.
I'm so, so proud of you. :smile:

Reply 5305

CuriosityM

Original post by SteamboatMickey

Had a lovely little chat with a certain Admissions Tutor

A*A*A with an A* in History :biggrin:

OFFER!

Yay! Congratulations!!

Posted from TSR Mob

Reply 5306

Original post by Bingobanjo

My son was at Durham. It's an incredibly cheap place to live, though I suppose when you're living in, in first year, you're stuck with paying for college accommodation.

Yeah that's the problem. Especially because almost all of the colleges are catered for the first year, the cost is pretty high initially. I'm going to feel dreadful asking my parents to pick up all the slack that my student loan won't cover 😕 They already think uni will cost the earth because no one in the family has ever been. I just wish I could borrow what I need and pay back more rather than taking from them.

Reply 5307

username1865079

Original post by Gold-Confetti

Is it standard practice for pool interview offers to be higher than the typical offer? I've seen a few inflated ones now, and it makes me nervous because if I get a Cambridge offer and I miss it, it's questionable whether I can even afford to go to Durham without their bursary. :frown:

Offer conditions can varies slightly candidate to candidate often even for a same course at same college. Nothing unusual.
It's known sometimes you get offer that's higher than standard even you were not pooled.
It's usually because they want some extra assurance that you're up too their expected standard but your application profile does not quite give them 100% confidence. If a candidate seems to have slight weakness in a certain area, they sometimes give them more demanding offer condition in the relevant subject to make sure he/she is good enough.

Reply 5308

Steliata

Original post by SteamboatMickey

Had a lovely little chat with a certain Admissions Tutor

A*A*A with an A* in History :biggrin:

OFFER!

Wooo congrats!! I'm so glad for you :smile:

Reply 5309

Original post by vincrows

Offer conditions can varies slightly candidate to candidate often even for a same course at same college. Nothing unusual.
It's known sometimes you get offer that's higher than standard even you were not pooled.
It's usually because they want some extra assurance that you're up too their expected standard but your application profile does not quite give them 100% confidence. If a candidate seems to have slight weakness in a certain area, they sometimes give them more demanding offer condition in the relevant subject to make sure he/she is good enough.

Ahhh I'm seriously hoping that if I do happen to get an offer, it's the standard one. I'm pretty confident I can get 1 A*, and I'd like to say I can definitely get more than that. I'll certainly be aiming for higher, but being in a situation where I HAVE to get more than one is a bit of a gamble for me, because if I miss the offer I've lost the chance of Durham giving me £5,500 a year to study with them, and that money would be a massive help to me.

I guess we shall see. It would still be my firm choice either way, but I'd love to have the leisure of aiming higher rather than extra pressure I never expected from a Law offer. I guess we shall see. Thank you!

Reply 5310

username2887078

Original post by SteamboatMickey

Had a lovely little chat with a certain Admissions Tutor

A*A*A with an A* in History :biggrin:

OFFER!

Wow you've certainly led us all along on a long ride from the admissions assessments, pre-interview invitation nerves and post-interview worry... :P Congratulations!!! How did this go about? They approached you right after the interview?

Reply 5311

fablereader

Original post by SteamboatMickey

Had a lovely little chat with a certain Admissions Tutor

A*A*A with an A* in History :biggrin:

OFFER!

I feel like dancing a jig, as hope is not lost (well, for me it's lost, but I know good things can happen). Congrats!! :smile:

Reply 5312

username1865079

Original post by Gold-Confetti

Ahhh I'm seriously hoping that if I do happen to get an offer, it's the standard one. I'm pretty confident I can get 1 A*, and I'd like to say I can definitely get more than that. I'll certainly be aiming for higher, but being in a situation where I HAVE to get more than one is a bit of a gamble for me, because if I miss the offer I've lost the chance of Durham giving me £5,500 a year to study with them, and that money would be a massive help to me.

I guess we shall see. It would still be my firm choice either way, but I'd love to have the leisure of aiming higher rather than extra pressure I never expected from a Law offer. I guess we shall see. Thank you!

I do understand your feeling and fee for you.
But they are also 'gambling' in which candidates to choose so they want to make sure they have made a right decision, it's not just for themselves but for the candidate as well. Because if they take up someone who isn't quite up to their standard, it's the student who suffer most, not the university.

Good luck.
Hope you get what you're hoping for. :smile:

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 5313

fablereader

Original post by eg09

Got rejected from Girton in the pool. Guess that means Selwyn won't want me either :/ (I had interviews at both at the weekend)

Sorry to hear. :frown:

Reply 5314

eg09

1

Original post by fablereader

Sorry to hear. :frown:

Thank you. I don't really know what to do now, I don't even like my second choice Warwick, might consider taking a year out now but the whole process has just made me feel crap so not sure if I would want to go through it again.

Reply 5315

Original post by vincrows

I do understand your feeling and fee for you.
But they are also 'gambling' in which candidates to choose so they want to make sure they have made a right decision, it's not just for themselves but for the candidate as well. Because if they take up someone who isn't quite up to their standard, it's the student who suffer most, not the university.

You're right of course, I totally get why they do it. I just low-key hope they don't decide to raise any offer they might decide to give me, because then the risk of me having to go to an insurance having lost free money is lower, and that just makes me feel a lot safer.

It's a bit silly, because it's not as if I'm not capable, I know that I have it in me to meet a higher offer, it's just the idea of taking a lot of money from my parents to support me in the event I screw up makes me nervous, and I'd be a lot happier if the risk was the one I was expecting to take rather than a bigger one haha!

Thank you for answering my question anyway! 😊

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 5316

fablereader