The Official Cambridge Winter Pool 2012 thread (includes FAQ and daily updates)

Pooled by Pembroke PPS and fished out by Trinity earlier this week! Well, fished out for a re-interview to be specific.

Nighty-night fishies....

Today I almost started crying in school (well, actually, I could feel the tears...) after I checked my e-mail during lunch and : NOTHING...
Emotional breakdown...

Cambridge doesn't like people with American qualifications who would pay EU fees...

GOOD LUCK to everyone! We are ALLLL beyond awesome... no matter what...!!!!! we were pooled....

get an email from track and find out my application to cambridge is unsuccessful. that means no results from pool system. i burst into tears. feel soooo deperessed. any college will be good but no at all. my cambridge dream just stop here but wish all of you who are still swimming good luck!

Good morning(still very very early for you) from someone in the +8 time zone! Swim harder, fishes!

Hi Minerva,

I need your view.
just received a rejection letter from Queens' Economics Department dated 4th January 2012, though I did write to them an email as you suggested but with no reply whatsoever 2 days ago.
I understand that the pooling exercise just started around that time.
How could they reject a student when the pooling document says they Must place students achieving their 3 best AS subject with an overall average of 93% or more in at least Category P (mine being 97%)?
My read of that document appears it's not discretionary, it is mandatory!
Did I miss anything to the opposite effect?
I am writing a pretty strong letter querying them now but want to hear your response first.
If you please........

You from the states? I also live in the US and got pooled by Pembroke for natsci Did you attend an interview in December?

I'm sorry you've had to wait so long for your letter.

Yes, on the face of it (as you weren't applying for Maths or Medicine) you should have been auto-pooled. You can ask the college why you weren't, but remember that even if you had been this was no guarantee of an offer. That you weren't auto-pooled suggests that although your marks are very good, other aspects of your application were not as strong as they needed to be, given how hugely competitive Economics is. We've had 24 Economics poolees report in on TSR, of whom two have been recalled for interview and two have already been rejected; none of them has yet reported a direct offer. Last year the picture was much the same.

In these circumstances, while you can make your point, I really wouldn't waste too much time and energy on this one; it really won't make any difference to the outcome, and you need now to focus on the many other good opportunities that will surely come your way.

Note to the other Economics poolees still swimming - I realise that this is not exactly encouraging for you either, but if you've been following the statistics I'm not telling you anything you didn't already know. Sorry

Did only 2 people got called for a interview last year for economics? - so 1 out of the 24 or so people got an offer in the end??

Thanks, Minerva.
I thought English people were very serious about rules of law. Rejection is rejection, yes, but should we do something about those who don't follow the rules?
As I mentioned last time, the issue is not whether I would be admitted by Queens or not, it is the issue of depriving me of the chance to be reviewed and considered by other colleges. I would be happy to be pooled and rejected if things were as they should. If they could exercise their discretion in using other weaknesses of mine to overrule the 93% benchmark, why on earth then for publishing that document and let the public know?
I'm not wasting my time on this as I've already made my applications to a number of top US unis. I wanted to try Cambridge because I've been in the British education system throughout.
I believe I have my righteous anger at this incidence and I don't want this to happen to other students in the coming years. Should this forum take this an issue at all?
Thanks again for your patience.

Minerva, please do you have time to post the latest stats? Thank you.

No like i have an open day interview for UCL
All my offers will be conditional because i'm still 고2 so this is my second round of APs
Which means i have to work :'(

Haha I know, bit of a roller coaster ride! Was completely expecting another rejection so a letter to say I'd been pooled was a shock! Yes I think I met you briefly whilst you were talking to a girl with dark brown hair as everyone left the hut- do you wear glasses? There were sooo many applying for pps at Jesus!