Rejection from Cambridge for 2011

reapply anyone? otherwise ima be a bitter reject. emma was a bad call, way too competitive.

I applied to study English Literature at Clare College and was rejected. I would love to reapply but I'm aware that I would have to decline all of my other university offers this year, which sucks. Hopefully I'll have the ability and balls to do it - has anyone here decided if they're going to try again?

You sure you can't go to another university and apply? I know that they don't do transfers and would make you start from the first year, but I thought applying even when you're at another university was possible, as long as you let them know where you are currently studying. I heard that one applicant didn't mention that he was at Nottingham and it came out during the interview, which got him an automatic rejection because he didn't tell them beforehand

You sure you can't go to another university and apply? I know that they don't do transfers and would make you start from the first year, but I thought applying even when you're at another university was possible, as long as you let them know where you are currently studying. I heard that one applicant didn't mention that he was at Nottingham and it came out during the interview, which got him an automatic rejection because he didn't tell them beforehand

It is definitely not an automatic possibility. It is not unheard of, but you need to jump through all kinds of hoops to be able to do it. You need to get your college to agree to interview you while at another university for starters, and a letter from the university you are at saying that they are happy to release you at the end of the year if you receive an offer. It is generally frowned upon and it is not at all common for it to be allowed.

A friend of mine attends Imperial and has an offer from Cambridge (he didn't tell either university about the other one), is it possible that he will get in trouble?

Yes, if he's found out I think he's very likely to get into trouble. I can't pretend to be an expert on the subject, but it doesn't seem like an especially good idea to me...

Agreed with this. Moreover, it's a pretty pathetic thing to do. After all, it's not as though Imperial are drastically under-teaching him because of their poor standards, is it?

If a very bright student wound up at a very poor university, it's perhaps more understandable.

None of us are from the UK, and I can't say it really occurred to me that it wouldn't be allowed (until I read this thread) and I honestly don't think that he did either.

He did it because he's always liked the idea of attending Cambridge, and he wanted a backup in case he did poorly in his May exams.

Can someone explain to me why it isn't allowed?

As I said before, it's a little disrespectful. More than that, the first part of the Cambridge tripos is probably very different to the first year at Imperial. If they allowed applicants who are currently studying at university then they'd probably be overburdened with applications from 30% of people who get firsts in their first year. It's just wholly impractical.

Edit: Thanks for the neg.

Tripos? I don't think he's doing anything.. tripos-y. He's doing mechanical engineering.

Tripos? I don't think he's doing anything.. tripos-y. He's doing mechanical engineering.

He applied only using his grades from sixth from and another university degree though (Imperial is his second degree).

It's disrespectful? Why is it disrespectful? Really, I'm just curious.

And also, I didn't neg you, I promise. I'll rep you (but I don't think my rep is worth anything)

Ah, I just assumed it was you, sorry! It's disrespectful to Imperial, suggesting that they're not good enough. Especially if he's taken any of their funding/bursaries etc.

Cambridge degrees are split into what's called a 'tripos', but it basically just means the first year. The first part of the tripos equates to the first year.

I see.

I guess it had a lot to do with the academic culture we are coming from - in Sweden, we have to apply to university every semester throughout our studies. The default is that they assume we're not staying and if we want to stay, we have to apply once more. It's also very common to jump in between the universities as we wish and find suitable, all credits are completely transferable between the universities.

I think this is why it had never occurred to me that British universities would find this behavior problematic.

Ah, I see. Well, people rarely switch between universities in England. Credits are not, to my knowledge, transferable. Though that'd not really be a problem at Cambridge because they do not use a credit system. You sit exams at the end of your three years and that is how your degree is awarded! Still, he may have missed out on a lot of things that other first year Cambridge students might have due to the difference in courses. Cambridge science is more broad as well, incidentally.

I can, but I think it would be more difficult to get in if I did that, and I'm taking a gap year anyway it was just an idea, I'll have to look into it, but when I phoned the admissions office they said I had to reject all my other offers :\

What do you mean, "missed out"? He has an offer for first year entry. And it would be strange to give him a different kind of offer, since he hasn't claimed to have any experience from studying engineering.