Cambridge Winter Pool 2021

We don't hear if we were pooled until we get the final decision on 25th January - unless you are invited to reinterview, but only about 5% of pooled candidates are reinterviewed.

Reply 3

Hi, I've been pooled for Vet Med and have been invited for another interview this week. They are yet to let me know the exact date however :smile:

Reply 4

macrophage

13

Original post by sophiecottis

Hi, I've been pooled for Vet Med and have been invited for another interview this week. They are yet to let me know the exact date however :smile:

Good luck! How did your interviews in December go do you think?

Reply 5

maccles02

11

peterhouse said <50 people have been invited for another interview this year, I'm surprised to find someone who has! @sophiecottis good luck :smile:

Reply 6

Original post by macrophage

Good luck! How did your interviews in December go do you think?

Thank you! I think that there were some good moments but some not so great moments 🤣 I have to admit I was (pleasantly) surprised though to receive an email for interview today :smile:

Reply 7

Original post by maccles02

peterhouse said <50 people have been invited for another interview this year, I'm surprised to find someone who has! @sophiecottis good luck :smile:

Oh wow! Hopefully there's a good chance of getting an offer then 😅 I hadn't realised the numbers were so low! Thank you - what have you applied to study? :smile:

Reply 8

maccles02

11

Original post by sophiecottis

Thank you! I think that there were some good moments but some not so great moments 🤣 I have to admit I was (pleasantly) surprised though to receive an email for interview today :smile:

i'm sure you'll be fine! out of curiosity, which college is interviewing you? (and which one did you apply to originally?)
also i applied for medicine at Queens' :smile:

i'm expecting a rejection though

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 9

R T

13

Original post by sophiecottis

Thank you! I think that there were some good moments but some not so great moments 🤣 I have to admit I was (pleasantly) surprised though to receive an email for interview today :smile:

I shouldn't speculate but I strongly suspect you are being re-interviewed because your original interviewers disagreed about your interview score (one thought you did well, one didn't).

This should give you more confidence rather than less confidence though. False negatives (thinking someone is worse than they are) are a lot more common than false positives (thinking someone is better than they are) for interviews. This is part of the reason why people with significantly variable scores are more likely to be invited back. Doesn't mean you will get an offer, but it does mean that your chances are objectively higher now than they were before your first round of interviews.

It's possible there are other reasons though: like another college wants to test vetmed applicants on something completely different to the original college. But this is also quietly a good sign as being interested enough in a candidate to want to do another interview is quite a big commitment from that college.

TL;DR - you should feel encouraged by this, not discouraged. But don't let that affect your actual preparation, approach or performance too much.

Reply 10

Original post by R T

I shouldn't speculate but I strongly suspect you are being re-interviewed because your original interviewers disagreed about your interview score (one thought you did well, one didn't).

This should give you more confidence rather than less confidence though. False negatives (thinking someone is worse than they are) are a lot more common than false positives (thinking someone is better than they are) for interviews. This is part of the reason why people with significantly variable scores are more likely to be invited back. Doesn't mean you will get an offer, but it does mean that your chances are objectively higher now than they were before your first round of interviews.

It's possible there are other reasons though: like another college wants to test vetmed applicants on something completely different to the original college. But this is also quietly a good sign as being interested enough in a candidate to want to do another interview is quite a big commitment from that college.

TL;DR - you should feel encouraged by this, not discouraged. But don't let that affect your actual preparation, approach or performance too much.

Original post by maccles02

i'm sure you'll be fine! out of curiosity, which college is interviewing you? (and which one did you apply to originally?)
also i applied for medicine at Queens' :smile:

i'm expecting a rejection though

Hi, I've messaged you :smile:

Reply 11

aliviapearl

Slightly off topic (sorry OP), does anyone know how many people are taken out of the Winter Pool? I qualify for compulsory pooling, which I think is where I've ended up as my original College is very competitive, but I'd like to have a realistic idea of my chances.

Reply 12

Original post by R T

I shouldn't speculate but I strongly suspect you are being re-interviewed because your original interviewers disagreed about your interview score (one thought you did well, one didn't).

This should give you more confidence rather than less confidence though. False negatives (thinking someone is worse than they are) are a lot more common than false positives (thinking someone is better than they are) for interviews. This is part of the reason why people with significantly variable scores are more likely to be invited back. Doesn't mean you will get an offer, but it does mean that your chances are objectively higher now than they were before your first round of interviews.

It's possible there are other reasons though: like another college wants to test vetmed applicants on something completely different to the original college. But this is also quietly a good sign as being interested enough in a candidate to want to do another interview is quite a big commitment from that college.

TL;DR - you should feel encouraged by this, not discouraged. But don't let that affect your actual preparation, approach or performance too much.

Thank you for taking the time to write this, I think you could be pretty spot on there as my performance did significantly vary between the first and second interview, so it would make a lot of sense! I'm also a mature student (22) and spent several years out of education before returning more recently, and the colleges that are interviewing me are specifically for mature students, so I think this is part of the reason too :smile:

I'm very grateful to have another opportunity and I'm looking forward to it, although a little nervous too :eek:

Reply 13

Original post by aliviapearl

Slightly off topic (sorry OP), does anyone know how many people are taken out of the Winter Pool? I qualify for compulsory pooling, which I think is where I've ended up as my original College is very competitive, but I'd like to have a realistic idea of my chances.

I have absolutely no idea about this sorry, but, there are statistics pages on the Cambridge website which you can filter through - with the different courses/colleges etc... if this helps you at all... :smile:

Reply 14

sjbelkin

15

Original post by aliviapearl

Slightly off topic (sorry OP), does anyone know how many people are taken out of the Winter Pool? I qualify for compulsory pooling, which I think is where I've ended up as my original College is very competitive, but I'd like to have a realistic idea of my chances.

How do you know you qualify for compulsory pooling?

Reply 15

aliviapearl

Original post by sophiecottis

I have absolutely no idea about this sorry, but, there are statistics pages on the Cambridge website which you can filter through - with the different courses/colleges etc... if this helps you at all... :smile:

Okay, thank you, I'll have a trawl :smile:

Best of luck for your interview!

Reply 16

aliviapearl