Official CAMBRIDGE 2017 Postgraduate Applicants thread

I've just got my conditional offer for MPHil In finance. One of the conditions is college membership. Just wondering if offer holders are confirmed a place at one of the colleges?

The Colleges, as you will hear people say endlessly, especially in the Colleges, are independent institutions and not 'the University', and therefore anything the University says they will do eg answer in 3 weeks, is a best guess from the Uni that the Colleges have no obligation to follow. Managing their own admissions is something they guard particularly jealously. Some Colleges make their selections through very small, frequent selection boards, usually because they limit the process to very few people who have clear guidelines/data and make quick decisions, others have to get lots of people together and batch into larger, less frequent batches (I heard every 6 weeks for one College, but I think this is an outlier and has probably changed).

Apart from returning undergrads, scholarship holders etc, Colleges recruit to create a diverse graduate cohort. They are looking to get a balanced representation of Science/Arts/Humanities/Soc Sci, gender, nationality, age, degree course etd. So they will reject you if you are the 10th Belgian Veterinary PhD applicant, when at the same time they might accept an American English Mphil. The 'problem' is that a very, very high proportion of students, particularly overseas students, put down Trinity and Kings (then St Johns, then any 'old central) Colleges, which means they fill up very quickly - they will be full by now, save the odd spot for some obscure/niche combination of subject, ie a female Maths PhD might find a slot. The theory about academic selection largely comes from a) 30+ years ago, b) talking to ancient Dons that still live 30+ years ago, c) that the admissions process makes earlier offers to those most obviously with strong academic profiles, and their College selections, like most, are often Trinity, Kings, St Johns, any other old, central College.... and d) the older, wealthier Colleges may have more academic scholarships (because they are often larger and have more diverse academic endowments)

A principle you need to bear in mind is that the University does not really acknowledge any difference in opportunity between the Colleges. You get the same education and the same degree whichever College, and all Colleges have hardship funds etc. So they see no reason to bend/alter the process to fit in with external perceptions of 'fairness' about access toTrinity, Kings, St Johns, etc etc.

The Colleges, as you will hear people say endlessly, especially in the Colleges, are independent institutions and not 'the University', and therefore anything the University says they will do eg answer in 3 weeks, is a best guess from the Uni that the Colleges have no obligation to follow. Managing their own admissions is something they guard particularly jealously. Some Colleges make their selections through very small, frequent selection boards, usually because they limit the process to very few people who have clear guidelines/data and make quick decisions, others have to get lots of people together and batch into larger, less frequent batches (I heard every 6 weeks for one College, but I think this is an outlier and has probably changed).

Apart from returning undergrads, scholarship holders etc, Colleges recruit to create a diverse graduate cohort. They are looking to get a balanced representation of Science/Arts/Humanities/Soc Sci, gender, nationality, age, degree course etd. So they will reject you if you are the 10th Belgian Veterinary PhD applicant, when at the same time they might accept an American English Mphil. The 'problem' is that a very, very high proportion of students, particularly overseas students, put down Trinity and Kings (then St Johns, then any 'old central) Colleges, which means they fill up very quickly - they will be full by now, save the odd spot for some obscure/niche combination of subject, ie a female Maths PhD might find a slot. The theory about academic selection largely comes from a) 30+ years ago, b) talking to ancient Dons that still live 30+ years ago, c) that the admissions process makes earlier offers to those most obviously with strong academic profiles, and their College selections, like most, are often Trinity, Kings, St Johns, any other old, central College.... and d) the older, wealthier Colleges may have more academic scholarships (because they are often larger and have more diverse academic endowments)

A principle you need to bear in mind is that the University does not really acknowledge any difference in opportunity between the Colleges. You get the same education and the same degree whichever College, and all Colleges have hardship funds etc. So they see no reason to bend/alter the process to fit in with external perceptions of 'fairness' about access toTrinity, Kings, St Johns, etc etc.

This has been awesome. Thanks so much. I just got assigned Homerton... Anyone else out there?

I am! Which subject will you study? I'll do an MPhil in Education

This has been awesome. Thanks so much. I just got assigned Homerton... Anyone else out there?

I'm doing an MPhil in Planning, Growth, and Regeneration! I still don't know if I'll be attending Cambridge yet though... I think I'll be headed to the States. I've been accepted into similar planning programs over there, and I think internationally, the programs are better reputed over there.

Anyone heard otherwise?

Hi, my self service has updated to 'conditional offer made' but i haven't received an email yet? is that normal and do i definitely have an offer?

The awards list has been updated again: https://www.cambridgetrust.org/scholars/awards

I should probably stop refreshing my emails incessantly at work but the wait is genuinely marring life. Part of me wants to email my dept. and see if they'll put me out of my misery and just tell me I'm not in the top 250, as I'm sure they have access to this ranked list of all students... The unknown is always scarier than the known!

Agree, the most annoying fact of Cambridge is that it doesn't give any definite deadlines for students. We have to wait endlessly. I don't even know if it is worth withdrawing its offer and attend another school.

I do not have any kind of offer, however I can speak about the process thus far and what will happen.

I am applying for MSt (Real Estate). I applied in December 2016 and had my interview on the 1st Feb, which went as well as it could.

I received an email saying that at BoGS my application was recommended on hold. On such a small course it is about the mix of participants as much as it is the academic level of each applicant i.e they expect each person to bring something fresh to the cohort. By passing the interview (some people get rejected after interview) they are merely confirming that you have met the academic standard required.

I suspect that this is the case for many of the courses, since Mphil's are largely research based. You will always discuss ideas and experiences with the others on your course, and the dynamic is as important as the research output.

There are some I am sure that have received offers, there are always those who shine or are continuing Cambridge students, however upto this point I would be surprised if half of the offers have been offered on each course.

If you look at the graduate boards meeting schedule for March I believe that this will be point at which a lot of the offers will be confirmed (or rejections made). With the deadline for a lot of courses in April there will still be spots up for grabs for those who apply on deadline day and also for those whose application is still on hold who have not yet been rejected.

For those who applied for other courses, this causes an agonising wait. I have heard of offers been given in May/early June as they re-allocate the final few slots for those who have not got funding and cannot attend (imagine being that person!)

For those who have not received offers within a week or so of your departments BoGs date then you are likely in the hold pile like myself, pleased that you have a nod that says your good enough to be considered, however waiting for the nod to say you can come in.

I would be interested to see if there are any other forum stalkers who applied for the Mst Real Estate who want to come out of the shadows .

NB - BoGS meeting dates (http://www.student-registry.admin.cam.ac.uk/files/bgs_and_dcs_meeting_dates_2016-17.pdf)

Were people's conditional offers for history firsts?

Sorry unrelated but do you have any news from Christ's yet? I'm still waiting :/

The awards list has been updated again: https://www.cambridgetrust.org/scholars/awards

I should probably stop refreshing my emails incessantly at work but the wait is genuinely marring life. Part of me wants to email my dept. and see if they'll put me out of my misery and just tell me I'm not in the top 250, as I'm sure they have access to this ranked list of all students... The unknown is always scarier than the known!

Hi, my self service has updated to 'conditional offer made' but i haven't received an email yet? is that normal and do i definitely have an offer?

I've completely given up the hope of any funding from the Trust now, my only hope are general internal funding and/or college funding the wait is excruciating