Pooling (2008)

p.stick

I'm kicking myself here...

I have 97% average but 6A*s...

Damn GCSE cut-off line....

Chill out. If you're good enough you'll get pooled, with 97% you prbably are.

Edit: Adje - find out for certain by Jan 31st

Reply 46

Brannan

zef99

Chill out. If you're good enough you'll get pooled, with 97% you prbably are.

Edit: Adje - find out for certain by Jan 31st

Nothing to do with this :p:

But zef I love your signature! :biggrin:

Reply 47

pooling/fishing takes 2 weeks (if they want to reinterview you). But you dont necessarily find out until the end of January.

Reply 48

swingin_yoyo

Just to clarify...you CAN get pooled with lower grades than 7A*s and 90% in your 3 most relevent AS levels right? If you do well at interview and they likey like you?

Reply 49

Yep

You can pooled for having a fantastic interview etc but they simply don't have enough room at the College. Personally I would prefer to get pooled for this reason, but obviously that's only my opinion. You do not find out the reason you were pooled.

Reply 50

swingin_yoyo

Ok thanks guys ^ =)
Just wondering how much interview performance can compensate for weaker grades....!

Reply 51

swingin_yoyo

tis true =) I'll just try my best :smile:

Reply 52

zef99

Are the references really that discriminating a factor? Surely they will all be praising the applicants to the skies.

Reply 53

Well of course. Remember that what referees don't say can be just as revealing as what they do. But again, remember it is only one part of the process. The criteria are probably complex and different people are looking for different things.

Reply 54

thenewromance1234

14

SouthernFreerider

about the meeting the UMS requirement but not the GCSE, you cant complain. if you couldnt be bothered to be get the A*s its your fault really, lol. its evident from your AS UMS that you could have gotten more A*s.. unless you like cant speak english or something but can do science, in which case, the "arbitrary" 7 A*s filters you out for good reason..

What a load of crap. I got a B in geography, probably cos my teacher was barely there, and when she was, she taught us very little. I had very few notes, the textbook was nothing but vague case studies. My other 2 A's were in Art and German, the former which I got 99.7% in (? Ridiculous - why didn't it round up) and the other, which quite frankly, i was predicted a D in, no matter how hard i tried, i was never good at German. But the subjects i worked hard in and was good at, I got A* in (maths, english, english lit, double science, business studies).

Also, I can't help but feel that, not necessarily Cambridge, but at unis which require a certain number of A* (e.g 8A* for econ at LSE), I feel it should be done on the proportion of A* to total grades. For example, some schools do up to 12-14 GCSEs. Some may get 8/13 A* for example which is unfair to assume they're a better student, since these grades may be made up of stats, media, etc. Whereas my school only did 9 GCSEs and the most traditional ones :frown:

Reply 55

zef99

Clements-

Also, I can't help but feel that, not necessarily Cambridge, but at unis which require a certain number of A* (e.g 8A* for econ at LSE), I feel it should be done on the proportion of A* to total grades. For example, some schools do up to 12-14 GCSEs. Some may get 8/13 A* for example which is unfair to assume they're a better student, since these grades may be made up of stats, media, etc. Whereas my school only did 9 GCSEs and the most traditional ones :frown:

I think oxford do this with medicine. To be called to interview the percentage of A*s you have corresponds to what you need to get on the bmat to get an interview. So with 8 A*s/10 subjects you might need to get 75% but with 6 A*s/6 subjects you might only need 65%. Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Reply 56

Economist1

13

zef99

I think oxford do this with medicine. To be called to interview the percentage of A*s you have corresponds to what you need to get on the bmat to get an interview. So with 8 A*s/10 subjects you might need to get 75% but with 6 A*s/6 subjects you might only need 65%. Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I thought it was the other way round so that GCSEs can compensate for relatively weaker BMAT scores.

Reply 57

Given this is the Cambridge forum are people likely to be reading this that will know the answer?

Reply 58

Tyrotoxism