I just don't understand........

I taught myself New Testament Greek, I'm an ethnic minority (having a Muslim father and a Catholic mother got me interested in the first place), got on really well with the tutor at Open Day, have been wanting to do Theology since my GCSE's reading about 30+ books on the subject in the last few years, D of E Gold Award, Orchestra and Choir, service at the school, good reference........

There are about 100 people for 50 places........

Why has Selwyn rejected me? I just don't understand.

Reply 1

Tek

Unlucky, really :frown:

When your interview report comes you'll be able to see just why.

Reply 2

Ensocopier

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but you were probably rejected because you didn't show you could think independantly. Did you form your own opinions on those 50 books, or did you just take them at face value?

Reply 3

dreamer

Please don't beat yourself up about it: I think you have gained a lot with all your activites in terms of self-enrichment, and that will stand you in good stead throughout uni and life. You are clearly passionate about your subject: I know you will therefore do exceptionally well whichever uni you end up at.

How did your interview go?

Reply 4

Stewie

Ensocopier

You mean when Daniel L. Pals claimed in "Seven Theories of Religion" that religion came about when primative humans attributed "sprits" of the land/air/objects to making those things animated and thus thought there were "spirits" inside them that made them animated? Everyone is aware that Dualism came around thousands of years later through Plato; the earlist humans may have thought of spirits and "souls", but not moving within themselves....

Reply 5

Stewie

dreamer

They pushed and pushed and pushed me.........nothing on my essays or PS, 90% of it was focussed on extracts I was given to look at. I had a second interview at Corpus Christi (faculty policy) where my ideas were torn to shreds, but I still defended them as best as I could

Reply 6

Stewie

I'll re-apply; I know that I'm on course for 3A's and a Gap year in Jerusalem learning more about Christian origins swhould be fun. For three years I've worked so hard; I couldn't help it, once I read something about Jewish history (for example), I had to read more to see how it influenced Christian thought and so forth. The study of religion is tattooed on my soul and I felt I deserved a place at the best Theology faculty in the country to pursue my ideas. I want to do an M.A eventually (that was on my statement too) and some research in the Middle East looking at comparative religion.

Reply 7

dreamer

I'm sorry. I suspect you were very close indeed. It will definitely be worth your while asking for feedback- you may want to consider reapplying if you really want that course more than any other. Speaking as someone who changed their mind about uni courses and therefore reapplied to UCAS in the next round, I can certainly give you uni-general reapplication advice if you PM me.

Seriously though, try to believe that these things work out for the best. It will be nigh impossible to believe that now, cos you are hurting inside, but trust me it will. No-one worth caring about is going to look at you the worse for not getting in.

Reply 8

redcat

Stewie

Altho the overall uni ratio may be 2:1, for smaller subjects such as arch & anth, theology etc., it will vary a lot in individual colleges from one year to the next. This year for example one college may have received 3 candidates for 4 places, another 7 for 1 place - an overall 2:1 ratio, disguising wide inter-college differences. Maybe Selwyn got an unusually high number of very good candidates this year. They probably can't put them all in the pool. Be sure to ask your school for the feedback Selwyn send. You could reapply, but I know a few people who weren't all that happy at Cambridge - it's an extremely competitive, pressurized environment. It's beautiful and prestigious, but so are a number of other places where you might actually have more fun for three years and still learn a lot and come out with a good degree. What other offers do you have?

Reply 9

Radagasty

Stewie

I want to do an M.A eventually (that was on my statement too) and some research in the Middle East looking at comparative religion.

You probably already know this, but perhaps I should point out that the M.A. is not an earnt degree in Oxbridge.

Reply 10

Stewie

redcat

To be fair, there were 10 people applying for 2-3 places and my second interview at Corpus Christi had only 1 place. I just want to go for the course; I do History of Art and the course offers the chance to look at Theology through image as well as C19th litterature; religion has been so important to the arts and the course reflects my interest in this. I feel robbed, though with even more work and travelling during a gap year, we'll see if I'll be "good enough" then

Reply 11

lilsunflower

Stewie

Good Luck! Just don't worry too much about it.. not worth agonising, esp since you're going to have a great gap year. Make the most of it, and yeppers, you'll see if you're good enough then. take care.