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Original post by auburnstar
I see that TSR members are posting some of their interview scores with eg 8, 8.5, 7, 7.5. I'm curious as to what the four parameters are, given that most people only have 2-3 interviews (depending on department)? Does score 1 = enthusiasm (where you would score eg 8 which is high) for example or similar?


I am curious as to how so many TSR members have succeeded in securing their interview scores, since many colleges prefer to give qualitative (rather than quantitative) commentary on an application, and most will not yet have had the chance to respond to requests for feedback.

That said, there is an agreed interview scoring system, in which each number between 1 and 10 has a different significance in terms of likelihood of receiving an offer. So, 8 is "strong, worth an offer", 7 is "probably worth an offer", 6 is "possibly worth an offer", 5 is "doubtful of offer" etc. If there are four scores, that simply means there were four interviewers, since each interviewer gives a separate score.
I did my A Levels in 2008-10. I did Mathematics, Biology, Psychology, Chemistry and English and got UMS marks of 95+ in Mathematics and Chemistry, 100 in Psychology and around 90 in English in my AS Levels. I got straight A*s in my GCSEs. I never even considered applying to Cambridge. I feel somewhat saddened, reading these posts. It sounds exciting. :tongue:
Original post by Christ's Admissions
. I am curious as to how so many TSR members have succeeded in securing their interview scores, since many colleges prefer to give qualitative (rather than quantitative) commentary on an application, and most will not yet have had the chance to respond to requests for feedback.

That said, there is an agreed interview scoring system, in which each number between 1 and 10 has a different significance in terms of likelihood of receiving an offer. So, 8 is "strong, worth an offer", 7 is "probably worth an offer", 6 is "possibly worth an offer", 5 is "doubtful of offer" etc. If there are four scores, that simply means there were four interviewers, since each interviewer gives a separate score.


i was wondering the same thing........
Original post by Christ's Admissions
I am curious as to how so many TSR members have succeeded in securing their interview scores, since many colleges prefer to give qualitative (rather than quantitative) commentary on an application, and most will not yet have had the chance to respond to requests for feedback.

That said, there is an agreed interview scoring system, in which each number between 1 and 10 has a different significance in terms of likelihood of receiving an offer. So, 8 is "strong, worth an offer", 7 is "probably worth an offer", 6 is "possibly worth an offer", 5 is "doubtful of offer" etc. If there are four scores, that simply means there were four interviewers, since each interviewer gives a separate score.


It's just that I saw some interview scores from people who were rejected last year, so not from this admissions cycle.

Is there a particular list of criteria to fill to go up each number (enthusiasm, ability to handle new concepts etc) or is it entirely subjective?
Original post by Billythebean
As a college, how competitive is Christ's ? I've heard a lot of people have been pooled/rejected anecdotally. Thanks Billy @Christ's Admissions


All Cambridge colleges are competitive, and all Cambridge colleges have to reject a large number of very well qualified applicants, unfortunately. Depending how one gauges these things, however, Christ's is probably in the top "half", in terms of the volume of applications we receive, and in terms of competitiveness, insofar as we "export" more people to the Winter Pool than we "import" through it.

Having said that, there is lots of variation by subject, and this changes from year to year - this year, we had a large and extremely strong field in Physical Natural Sciences, for example, but a smaller field in Human, Social and Political Sciences, so the former might be said to have been more "competitive" than the latter. You don't mention which subjects the people you've heard from were pooled or rejected in, but my guess is that there are more scientists using TSR than arts/social scientists and this may skew perceptions! I'd also add that being pooled is a positive thing - generally, it means we'd really like to have been able to admit you if we'd had the space!
(edited 7 years ago)
I like how this has pretty much turned into a Q&A thread :biggrin:

I feel that until there are numbers that suggest a correlation between AA performance and tripos performance, a short disclaimer online that the AAs are something that is being reintroduced after a long time and thus would be used with caution could help to reduce the amount of questions from worried applicants about AAs and how they would affect their chances of an offer. Perhaps disseminated at college level as different colleges use AAs differently.

Maybe more information too about how applicants would be graded on a scale according to relative performance (with numerical examples from 2016) so that applicants who grew up being used to finishing their exams with enough time to answer each question fully wouldn't feel so worried when they find that this is rarely the case with the AAs.
Original post by Christ's Admissions
I am curious as to how so many TSR members have succeeded in securing their interview scores, since many colleges prefer to give qualitative (rather than quantitative) commentary on an application, and most will not yet have had the chance to respond to requests for feedback.

That said, there is an agreed interview scoring system, in which each number between 1 and 10 has a different significance in terms of likelihood of receiving an offer. So, 8 is "strong, worth an offer", 7 is "probably worth an offer", 6 is "possibly worth an offer", 5 is "doubtful of offer" etc. If there are four scores, that simply means there were four interviewers, since each interviewer gives a separate score.


No, I suspect they are self-scored opinions of how their interview went, not the actual scores. We did a survey on TSR and then matched them against the decision outcomes. There was literally a zero correlation between the self-score and the decision :smile:.

We can now definitively say that applicants are terrible at judging how well their interview went. Fact :smile:

Here's the chart:

Spoiler

Original post by sanchit117
Wow. that truly is odd. I wonder why they would do that?! I'm guessing you recognised the offer holders by their usernames?

Nonetheless, thank you for your reply :smile:

You mentioned a few messages above that the ECAA will be given particular consideration when improving the tests for the next round (or words to that effect) - why in particular the ECAA?


It's nothing to do with usernames, actually. What you have to bear in mind is that most colleges make relatively few offers, overall, and perhaps only a handful in any given subject (at Christ's, we made 150 in total this year, and fewer than five for certain courses). An Admissions Tutor will spend a lot of time thinking about every single one of those offers, and tends to remember what we asked for. So if you say you have an offer of A*A*A* from Christ's for ASNC, for example, and I know that we've only made two offers for ASNC and that they were both A*AA, I might suspect you of creative embellishment. :smile:

The ECAA in particular because our lecturers in Economics have been especially fast in their review process. (Economists like crunching numbers more than academics in some other subjects, I guess!)
Original post by Infested
I like how this has pretty much turned into a Q&A thread :biggrin:

I feel that until there are numbers that suggest a correlation between AA performance and tripos performance, a short disclaimer online that the AAs are something that is being reintroduced after a long time and thus would be used with caution could help to reduce the amount of questions from worried applicants about AAs and how they would affect their chances of an offer. Perhaps disseminated at college level as different colleges use AAs differently.

Maybe more information too about how applicants would be graded on a scale according to relative performance (with numerical examples from 2016) so that applicants who grew up being used to finishing their exams with enough time to answer each question fully wouldn't feel so worried when they find that this is rarely the case with the AAs.


Yes, this all sounds very sensible. I also think we need to put more effort into reassuring applicants that they will be assessed holistically (i.e. the AA really is just one piece in the puzzle!)
Original post by facelark123
I did my A Levels in 2008-10. I did Mathematics, Biology, Psychology, Chemistry and English and got UMS marks of 95+ in Mathematics and Chemistry, 100 in Psychology and around 90 in English in my AS Levels. I got straight A*s in my GCSEs. I never even considered applying to Cambridge. I feel somewhat saddened, reading these posts. It sounds exciting. :tongue:


I hope your message persuades other people to consider it, however, and thank you for posting.
Original post by auburnstar
It's just that I saw some interview scores from people who were rejected last year, so not from this admissions cycle.

Is there a particular list of criteria to fill to go up each number (enthusiasm, ability to handle new concepts etc) or is it entirely subjective?


It's not entirely subjective, no, but the nuances will be different depending on the college and the subject - most interviewers have a set of problems they work through with all applicants, so the score is likely to reflect (for example) how much of each problem you were able to work through unaided, how many of the key issues you grasped, etc.
Original post by jneill
No, I suspect they are self-scored opinions of how their interview went, not the actual scores. We did a survey on TSR and then matched them against the decision outcomes. There was literally a zero correlation between the self-score and the decision :smile:.

We can now definitively say that applicants are terrible at judging how well their interview went. Fact :smile:

Here's the chart:

Spoiler




Aha - thank you, mystery solved!
Original post by daniilS
Thank you very much for doing this thread!

I'd say that for me, the whole process has gone very smoothly, so I have nothing at all to complain about myself. However, I read about some EU applicants for Caius being told they had to wait for a letter, while both their own website and the admissions tutor from Murray Edwards had confirmed that all international applicants would receive an email too--so perhaps that's something that could be looked into for next year.


I will raise the point, certainly, but it's worth bearing in mind that technically, EU applicants are not "international" (in an HE context, that term means someone from outside the EU), so this may have resulted in a few slipping through the cracks, at colleges with large numbers of applicants - we do our best, but we're only human. :smile:
Original post by Christ's Admissions
I will raise the point, certainly, but it's worth bearing in mind that technically, EU applicants are not "international" (in an HE context, that term means someone from outside the EU), so this may have resulted in a few slipping through the cracks, at colleges with large numbers of applicants - we do our best, but we're only human. :smile:


Yes although I think the difference in this case was between non-UK and UK candidates. The expectation was all non-UK would get an email on Decision Day especially as it was unlikely they would get a posted letter on that day. :smile:

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by jneill
Yes although I think the difference in this case was between non-UK and UK candidates. The expectation was all non-UK would get an email on Decision Day especially as it was unlikely they would get a posted letter on that day. :smile:

Posted from TSR Mobile


In fact, the Caius website states only that applicants will be informed by letter. So it seems to me that while it might simply be a case of a few candidates slipping through the cracks (as per the previous post), it might also just be the way they do things there.
Original post by Christ's Admissions
In fact, the Caius website states only that applicants will be informed by letter. So it seems to me that while it might simply be a case of a few candidates slipping through the cracks (as per the previous post), it might also just be the way they do things there.


Hm, that's interesting. This is the post I was referring to where it said that all non-UK applicants would receive emails too, while Caius said they would only send letters.
Original post by Christ's Admissions
In fact, the Caius website states only that applicants will be informed by letter. So it seems to me that while it might simply be a case of a few candidates slipping through the cracks (as per the previous post), it might also just be the way they do things there.


Original post by daniilS
Hm, that's interesting. This is the post I was referring to where it said that all non-UK applicants would receive emails too, while Caius said they would only send letters.


@Murray Edwards Admissions


Emails should have been sent by all colleges to non-UK applicants as per the policy agreed. Colleges will be reminded of this at Admissions Forum as part of the review of the admissions round. I'm hopeful that this year we'll agree finally that everyone should be emailed on the day with their result (unless their result has not yet been determined because of pool interview etc.).
Original post by Murray Edwards Admissions
Emails should have been sent by all colleges to non-UK applicants as per the policy agreed. Colleges will be reminded of this at Admissions Forum as part of the review of the admissions round. I'm hopeful that this year we'll agree finally that everyone should be emailed on the day with their result (unless their result has not yet been determined because of pool interview etc.).


Thank you very much for your reply.

It must be really frustrating to find what all had agreed at Forum has not been implemented properly.
Do you sometimes feel like you're dealing with unruly school kids who keep on breaking rules? :tongue:

Good luck for next application cycle. :smile:
Original post by vincrows
Thank you very much for your reply.

It must be really frustrating to find what all had agreed at Forum has not been implemented properly.
Do you sometimes feel like you're dealing with unruly school kids who keep on breaking rules? :tongue:

Good luck for next application cycle. :smile:


There's so much for everyone to think about during the round and no one makes mistakes deliberately. I've made plenty of mine. In the end, as the situation at Hertford College Oxford shows, it's very much there but for the grace of God go I. All we can do each year is try collectively to make as few mistakes as possible.

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