Cambridge graduate applicants 2011/12

Because BoGS took your application into a long, process driven system and it got held up in a back-log

and didn't arrive at the department until [the Christmas break, the week the dept secretary was away ill etc]

which meant it missed being put in front of the fixed degree committee meeting.

The Secretary then decided to get approval from [the chair of the degree committee] to forward your application directly to a relevant potential Supervisor,

although it took a fortnight for the Chair to [come back off leave, answer the email, return from an overseas conference etc].

Then the first Supervisor took 3 weeks to read your application and make a conclusion because they [had a tricky bunch of undergrads to teach, had a new lecture series to write, was doing their own research]

they reported back that your application had a lot of potential, but they could not supervise because [they were leaving, they had too many students already, they were writing/publishing a book next autumn etc] and they did/didn't suggest an alternative.

The Secretary/degree committee took a week to think up a new potential Supervisor and send off your application again.

The second potential Supervisor was away [on a conference, having a baby, writing the final chapter to their book, trying to get out of North Africa in one piece, doing fieldwork in Outer Mongolia etc] and takes 4 weeks to make a decision and report back to the degree committee.

Your application then waits a couple of weeks with the degree committee until they meet to compare notes on applicants and comments to check they are making fair and equal decisions.

Then your application is sent back to BoGS for confirmation and the change to CAMSIS, where it joins a queue of several thousand other applications waiting for the same.

Eventually it gets to the top of the pile and CAMSIS is changed to reflect the decision.

You might get an earlier decision if a) the dept does not have a rigid rule against pre-empting BoGS and b) someone in the dept has the time and resources to email you directly and c) your supervisor is in the dept and OKs the message.

Simples

They're deeply unlikely to look at your school grades or your job history, but they will be interested in your transcript/references etc. You might like to ask your referees to explain your mitigating circumstances in their references. That said, if your transcript is currently a low 2.1, have you thought about applying in 2011 after you've graduated? If you apply for 2011 entry (ie. in November/December) your transcript is unlikely to show any improvement - but if you pull it up to a high 2.1/first in your final year and apply with that in hand, I would say you'll stand a much better chance.

Do Cambridge, specifically JBS, care for work experience? I have a high 2.1/borderline First if I maintain my current grade, but 4 internships all of them being at large financial organisations and one in a government department. Would my chances be fairly low as I haven't achieved a good First?

JBS I couldn't say although I would assume so - business/applied economics seems to be somewhat different. In my field it's not really important unless you've say worked in parliament or have a substantial working track record that in some way is equivalent to degree level study. I honestly couldn't tell you your chances - but from what I've seen of JBS applicants a high 2.1 with financial experience should put you in a competitive position at least. Sorry I can't give you a definitive answer.

Thanks for replying. I also wanted to apply for the Environmental Policy course, and they say environmental experience is very helpful; would an internship at the Ministry of Energy be deemed relevant? I worked on an environmental clearance project.

I presume so, no harm in mentioning it at all. (I guess what I was trying to get across to the OP is that having worked full stop isn't relevant, it's only relevant if it's given you some kind of real-world insight into the issues raised on the course).

Well given that Environmental Policy, Real Estate Finance etc have a large economic and finance focus, I would have thought that my accounting and finance work would be relevant (maybe)? On top of which I've spent a lot of time studying the environmental side of geology on my course.

The latter is totally relevant, obviously - I was just thinking of stuff like working in a supermarket, which has no bearing on a postgrad application at all, really.

Oh fair enough - I wasn't going to push my work in a supermarket anyway :P but I hope that the work I'm currently doing will help demonstrate my interest and commitment to this area.

Well given that Environmental Policy, Real Estate Finance etc have a large economic and finance focus, I would have thought that my accounting and finance work would be relevant (maybe)? On top of which I've spent a lot of time studying the environmental side of geology on my course.

Which company (or type of company if you don't want to disclose name) did you get your finance experience in?