Useful application tips from Peterhouse and Christ's

@Peterhouse Admissions and @Christ's Admissions are teaming up to answer some FAQs about this stage in the Admissions process. We know that the process can be confusing and that it’s easy to worry about whether you’ve submitted the correct paperwork. We’re here to help! This thread is designed to answer the most commonly asked questions and point you in the direction of help for those we can’t answer.

First off, some general tips:

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Check your email that you used for UCAS every weekday, including your junk/spam box

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Make sure your internet security settings are not stopping emails getting through. It’s a good idea to add your college’s email address to your safe senders list. If you are using a school email, speak to your school’s IT team about this (schools often have more restrictive privacy settings than gmail or Hotmail).

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Read everything you are sent by your college very carefully. If there’s something you don’t understand, ask someone else – a family member, a friend or a teacher/adviser – to read over the email to see if they can help you first.

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If they can’t answer, check the University website and the website of the college you have applied to or been allocated to. They often have a ‘current applicants’ page.

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Don’t expect colleges to be working over the weekend. It’s possible they might be, especially as interviews draw closer, but if you email them on a Friday evening, there’s a very good chance you won’t receive a reply until Monday.

What we can help with (and what we can’t)

While both ourselves and Christ’s Admissions are on hand to help and ease nerves, there are some things we can’t help with:

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‘Will my college accept x or y thing?’ If you’re unable to submit what your college has asked for, you need to check with them, preferably by email. While we can answer for our own colleges (although it’s still better to email), we can’t speak on anyone else’s behalf.

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‘Have I done everything I need to do?’ Again, this is a question for your college.

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‘When will I hear from x college?’ We can answer in general terms, but we can’t be specific because we don’t know the inner workings of all colleges!

A final thing to remember - just because someone else has heard something (e.g. has been invited to interview) at another college or for another subject, this has NO BEARING ON YOUR APPLICATION. Try not to read too much into it!