The Student Room Group

Giving feedback to Cambridge - 2018

Hello everyone, congratulations to all who have received offers, and commiserations to those who have not.

Every year we have an internal review of the Admission round at Cambridge and for the past two years my predecessor at Christ's and I have used this forum to elicit general feedback on our process from students who had gone through it. The feedback was very helpful to us in (we hope) improving things, so I am doing it again this year.

I am not in a position to provide feedback on individual applications or say why you didn't get in but rather this is an opportunity for you to say if there are things about the process that might be improved and make comments I can then pass on. I will also try to explain some things which might seem odd about the process.

The thread will be open for ten days and I will then report back to my colleagues with good points. Thank you for your points and also for the applications.

(And please don't be offended if there are some delays in replying - I'm currently in South East Asia so in a different time zone!)

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Too many rejects, not enough memes.
Original post by Christ's Admissions
Hello everyone, congratulations to all who have received offers, and commiserations to those who have not.

Every year we have an internal review of the Admission round at Cambridge and for the past two years my predecessor at Christ's and I have used this forum to elicit general feedback on our process from students who had gone through it. The feedback was very helpful to us in (we hope) improving things, so I am doing it again this year.

I am not in a position to provide feedback on individual applications or say why you didn't get in but rather this is an opportunity for you to say if there are things about the process that might be improved and make comments I can then pass on. I will also try to explain some things which might seem odd about the process.

The thread will be open for ten days and I will then report back to my colleagues with good points. Thank you for your points and also for the applications.

(And please don't be offended if there are some delays in replying - I'm currently in South East Asia so in a different time zone!)


I'm not sure if this is a popular opinion, but would it be possible to revert back to decisions being given before the Christmas holidays?

I understand the purpose of the new date was to stop applicants being upset during the break in the scenario they were rejected, but what ended up happening was people became fixated on the 10th of January that it stopped them enjoying there holidays anyway. One might argue a greater number of people are affected in this way, as previously only those who were declined may have acted this way.

There's also the factor that people who have been rejected go into school very soon after and have to constantly tell people that they've been rejected, when they get asked about it, which wouldn't happen if decisions were set on say, the last day of the school term. All this probably affects their school work too.

People can argue the above saying they'd be miserable during the holidays, but at that time there's no extra work being added on top of everything, and theyre surrounded by family. They also don't have to constantly talk about their rejection right after it's happened, at least not in person.
The post a level advice service by Christ’s was invaluable and helped me fill in some cracks in my application. Having a professional offer advice on the strength of your application was definitely beneficial, and maybe it would be great if more colleges could offer such a service?
Reply 4
Original post by Kyber Ninja
I'm not sure if this is a popular opinion, but would it be possible to revert back to decisions being given before the Christmas holidays?


It's not that, it's because of the Winter Pool which is in early Jan. The decision announcement days used to be split so those not in the pool heard early, and those in the pool had to wait. Now everyone waits.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Doonesbury
It's not that, it's because of the Winter Pool which is in early Jan. The decision announcement days used to be split so those not in the pool heard early, and those in the pool had to wait. Now everyone waits.

Posted from TSR Mobile


Isn't it better for the majority to have it before Christmas? I guess it's a debate of impact v fairness.

I was speaking from an Oxford perspective and wrongly assumed the pooling system was similar (which it is not).
Reply 6
Original post by Kyber Ninja
Isn't it better for the majority to have it before Christmas? I guess it's a debate of impact v fairness.

I was speaking from an Oxford perspective and wrongly assumed the pooling system was similar (which it is not).


This is a thread for Cambridge feedback, not Oxford :wink:

It used to be early Jan, before the pool, not December.
(edited 6 years ago)
My main complaint is that my ucas track still hasn't updated and I haven't received my letter so I have no idea what grades I need yet. I know it's not going to make any difference when I find out, it's just an agonising wait. One thing I would say is that with the decision emails, I don't know if it should say you were unsuccessfully pooled if that was the outcome.
I can't complain to be honest, despite an inexplicably disastrous night before my interview, the process went very smoothly and I got a great feel of the academic atmosphere of the university.
If there is one issue, maybe giving applicants better advice on where exactly (i.e. a map) their interview is being held? I almost missed mine because I stupidly mistook Trinity Hall for the main hall in Trinity- although maybe that's my own fault :biggrin:
Reply 9
Original post by Christ's Admissions
Hello everyone, congratulations to all who have received offers, and commiserations to those who have not.

Every year we have an internal review of the Admission round at Cambridge and for the past two years my predecessor at Christ's and I have used this forum to elicit general feedback on our process from students who had gone through it. The feedback was very helpful to us in (we hope) improving things, so I am doing it again this year.

I am not in a position to provide feedback on individual applications or say why you didn't get in but rather this is an opportunity for you to say if there are things about the process that might be improved and make comments I can then pass on. I will also try to explain some things which might seem odd about the process.

The thread will be open for ten days and I will then report back to my colleagues with good points. Thank you for your points and also for the applications.

(And please don't be offended if there are some delays in replying - I'm currently in South East Asia so in a different time zone!)


This might not help as I interviewed at Churchill and idk if things run the same there but for me, my interview felt really rushed(because I only had one) and I felt like I couldn't really express my interest in certain topics as I only had 40 minutes to cover 3 subjects. Again this might not be relevant sorry if its not( I applied for Physical nat. sci btw)
Reply 10
Speaking as a parent, if I'm allowed to say something, is that it would be very helpful to have available more practice papers for the NSAA test. This is something I saw most applicants mentioned, and I feel it was very stressful.

Another thing is to allow more time for travel planning, especially for applicants coming from other countries. Travel fare and accomodation is rather expensive and when you learn if you qualified for interviews 10 days before, it's both frustrating and expensive. I've seen that other Universities provide a choice of dates and they let you know at least a month ahead. I should mention that we were offered accomodation for one day, but it was of no use as flights available did not allow it.

I should also mention, that it would be great if applicants would be available to other colleges for interviews, as it is the case with Oxford. This would enhance the pooling process and provide a fair chance to applicants towards other colleges, and allow other colleges to have a clear picture themselves of the applicants, in order to "fish" an applicant from the pool.
(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 11
Original post by bruh2132
This might not help as I interviewed at Churchill and idk if things run the same there but for me, my interview felt really rushed(because I only had one) and I felt like I couldn't really express my interest in certain topics as I only had 40 minutes to cover 3 subjects. Again this might not be relevant sorry if its not( I applied for Physical nat. sci btw)


Is this their normal procedure with only one interview?
Reply 12
Original post by EleaGR
Is this their normal procedure with only one interview?


Depends on the course and the college... most have 2 interviews. Some have one (usually longer, 40 mins being typical), some three.
I saw someone touched on this briefly, but the biggest issue for me was the timing of the interview invitation. I received mine exactly two weeks before my interview, and since I was coming from the U.S. I had very few options in terms of flights and the cost was much higher than it would've been if I had known the date earlier. Additionally, I ended up having a much lengthier trip with not a lot of sleep because I had to piece together flights to get me there in the right timeframe. The offer made everything worth it, but the process would've been much less stressful without that piece.
Original post by black1blade
My main complaint is that my ucas track still hasn't updated and I haven't received my letter so I have no idea what grades I need yet. I know it's not going to make any difference when I find out, it's just an agonising wait. One thing I would say is that with the decision emails, I don't know if it should say you were unsuccessfully pooled if that was the outcome.


Are you NatSci?
Original post by Kyber Ninja
Are you NatSci?


Yeah.
I think that what Christ's college did during the wait for interview invitations where they updated the current applicants page listing subjects which had sent out invitations was SO helpful! It made the waiting process so much less anxiety-inducing. From what I heard from my friends applying to other colleges this didn't happen everywhere.
Original post by black1blade
Yeah.


Have you tried calling the college/department?
Original post by Kyber Ninja
Have you tried calling the college/department?


Nobody from my college has heard either and it says on the email to contact them if you don't have it by the end of jan. Idk why it has to be so long after though.
Original post by black1blade
Nobody from my college has heard either and it says on the email to contact them if you don't have it by the end of jan. Idk why it has to be so long after though.


How dodgy.

I'd assume the worst case and just focus on getting 3A*. Good luck

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