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Official Cambridge 2020 Rejections & Deselected Applicants Thread

When the email or letter arrives giving the bad news that Cambridge has failed to appreciate your potential as a student --- that moment of rejection --- let us know the following:

The Cambridge college which rejected you:
The course you applied to:
What are your predicted/achieved GCSEs and A-levels, etc.:
Which other university will likely benefit from your presence:
Will you reapply next year?:

Scroll to see replies

...Whilst also bearing in mind that a) it is NOT the end of the world, even if it feels like it currently...b) it might well be the first time, so far, that you have been rejected in your "academic" life, but is unlikely to be the last, so use it as a learning experience c) just because Cambridge doesn't want you does not mean you are a failure or that no other uni will want you either - you aren't, and they will.
Reply 2
Avatar for Jjjj112
Jjjj112
12
I got rejected from trinity to do maths.
Original post by Jjjj112
I got rejected from trinity to do maths.

I’m sorry x hope you do well with your other applications
Reply 4
Avatar for Jjjj112
Jjjj112
12
Maths
predicted: A* A* A
GCSEs: maths 7, german 6, English 5, English lit 6, geography 7, double science 8-7, RE A, history 6.
I might take a gap year and reapply.
I have been rejected from Mathematics at Trinity. I really cannot understand how; I very much believed that I had a reasonable chance of admission and should at least have been given an interview. Applying from the EU.
Original post by deltaepsilon
I have been rejected from Mathematics at Trinity. I really cannot understand how; I very much believed that I had a reasonable chance of admission and should at least have been given an interview. Applying from the EU.

what were your statistics (grades)
Original post by czardasz
what were your statistics (grades)

Trying to convert my country's grades, I currently have a 95% weighted average grade-wise. Predicted grades for mathematics are top grades (A*'s) and were included by my math teacher (who wrote the reference).
Have done my country's olympiad, where placed just outside the top 50 out of a 5-digit number participants. Have diploma confirming I was inside the top 150.

Feels surreal that I was not deemed to even have a chance.
(edited 4 years ago)
Reply 8
Avatar for gven8765
gven8765
7
Original post by deltaepsilon
Trying to convert my country's grades, I currently have a 95% weighted average grade-wise. Predicted grades for mathematics was included by my math teacher (who wrote the reference).
Have done my country's olympiad, where placed just outside the top 50 out of a 5-digit number participants. Have diploma confirming I was inside the top 150.

Feels surreal that I was not deemed to even have a chance.


which country are you from?
Original post by gven8765
which country are you from?

I would rather not say, unless it is important for some reason, but it is a somewhat smaller country in Western Europe.
Original post by Jjjj112
I got rejected from trinity to do maths.

I’m sorry x hope you do well with your other applications
Original post by Jjjj112
Maths
predicted: A* A* A
GCSEs: maths 7, german 6, English 5, English lit 6, geography 7, double science 8-7, RE A, history 6.
I might take a gap year and reapply.

Obviously it is your choice, however, as a complete external, with no horse in the race, on the broad face of it, I would say you might be better off focussing on your other choices. Whilst Cambridge don't specifically look at GCSE grades, the profile of most students there would have a lot more 8/9s than you have and, certainly in Maths, would likely have 9s or 8s at GCSE, rather than a 7 (which would influence how likely achievable your predicted A level grades are). Don't rule out going to another university this year, yet, is all I am saying.
Original post by Simbasoul
Obviously it is your choice, however, as a complete external, with no horse in the race, on the broad face of it, I would say you might be better off focussing on your other choices. Whilst Cambridge don't specifically look at GCSE grades, the profile of most students there would have a lot more 8/9s than you have and, certainly in Maths, would likely have 9s or 8s at GCSE, rather than a 7 (which would influence how likely achievable your predicted A level grades are). Don't rule out going to another university this year, yet, is all I am saying.


If I achieve higher than expected would u recommend that I reapply?
Original post by Jjjj112
Maths
predicted: A* A* A
GCSEs: maths 7, german 6, English 5, English lit 6, geography 7, double science 8-7, RE A, history 6.
I might take a gap year and reapply.

This may sound bad, so I apologise.

I think you should consider other options, if you have been deselected from consideration. It sounds cliche, but Cambridge is not the be all and end all.

My advise is for you to apply to other unis like Imperial, UCL, Manchester, Durham and Warwick. If you are selected, you go there and you can always apply for postgrad at Cambridge.

If you still want to try next year, then I wish you nothing but the best of luck. Get some feedback on your application, focus on your A levels and make sure you can improve your app over the gap year.

All the best.
Original post by Jjjj112
If I achieve higher than expected would u recommend that I reapply?

No. I'd never recommend reapplying and wasting a year. Cambridge really isn't the be-all and end-all, even though it probably feels like it now.

If you were rejected without an interview, then it means there was no realistic chance of your being in the running for a place (cf Oxford's shortlisting process). Unless something really drastic changed in your application, you'd probably be wasting your time reapplying.

It's always a long shot to apply. If it doesn't pay off, then the best thing to do is go elsewhere.
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by Reality Check
No. I'd never recommend reapplying and wasting a year. Cambridge really isn't the be-all and end-all, even though it probably feels like it now.

If you were rejected without an interview, then it means there was no realistic chance of your being in the running for a place (cf Oxford's shortlisting process). Unless something really drastic changed in your application, you'd probably be wasting your time reapplying.

It's always a long shot to apply. If it doesn't pay off, then the best thing to do is go elsewhere.

Completely agree. There are threads available for people glad of being rejected actually which are good read. A degree at any Russell Group Uni is just as reputable.
Original post by Jjjj112
If I achieve higher than expected would u recommend that I reapply?

Honestly, probably not...It would be quite a jump if you did do better than expected (your predicted grades do look over high from your GCSE profile to me - were there extenuating circumstances eg were you ill when you took your GCSEs?) Assumably you have a range of other unis on your UCAS form and hopefully will get offers from them that you can choose from.
Original post by Wired_1800
This may sound bad, so I apologise.

I think you should consider other options, if you have been deselected from consideration. It sounds cliche, but Cambridge is not the be all and end all.

My advise is for you to apply to other unis like Imperial, UCL, Manchester, Durham and Warwick. If you are selected, you go there and you can always apply for postgrad at Cambridge.

If you still want to try next year, then I wish you nothing but the best of luck. Get some feedback on your application, focus on your A levels and make sure you can improve your app over the gap year.

All the best.

I suspect OP has already made choices and applied via UCAS, as their form would have had to be in early for the Cambridge application.
Original post by Simbasoul
I suspect OP has already made choices and applied via UCAS, as their form would have had to be in early for the Cambridge application.

I agree.
Original post by Simbasoul
Honestly, probably not...It would be quite a jump if you did do better than expected (your predicted grades do look over high from your GCSE profile to me - were there extenuating circumstances eg were you ill when you took your GCSEs?) Assumably you have a range of other unis on your UCAS form and hopefully will get offers from them that you can choose from.


I was anemic but I don’t think that counts tbh.

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