Essay Competitions and College Choice

I have placed in the top 5 for two Cambridge College essay competitions, but although I would be happy to attend both colleges if pooled neither are my top choice. Would it be a strategic error to apply to my first choice college?

Reply 1

NWGroupie

7

My daughter had a slightly similar dilemma (one competition only) but on researching the college fell in love with its ethos. She hadn’t fallen in love with any particular college but did have a shortlist that initially didn’t have this essay college on her radar. She talked to her teachers and did apply to the college where she won the competition. The award ceremony day she got to see the college in more detail, at the open day they knew her name and I do think when she applied it helped on multiple levels. We will never know if it was a co-incidence but she is due to start at the college she won the essay writing competition for in September,

Bear in mind that even if you apply to a particular college you could get pooled and fished by another college.

Reply 2

Sheppi

OP

11

Thanks for your input and many congratulations to your daughter.

I have the awards ceremony and the open day coming up so no need to make a decision just yet and I will try and stop obsessing. What will be will be.

Reply 3

R T

13

Original post by Sheppi

I have placed in the top 5 for two Cambridge College essay competitions, but although I would be happy to attend both colleges if pooled neither are my top choice. Would it be a strategic error to apply to my first choice college?

So the official answer is going to be "no". Even if you apply to college A and they don't want you, then if your application is competitive (competitive enough to get an offer from any college) you should be put in the pool, where college B (where you won the essay competition) should be able to see you, remember you/ put more weighting on their own essay competition, and then give you an offer through the pool.

Note that you'd definitely mention placing high in the essay competition in your application whatever you do, since its a rare objective marker you can use to prove your interest in the subject beyond just "I read books", etc.

In reality I would not have perfect faith in the pooling system though. It really depends how much more you prefer your top choice to the 2 others. If the reason is quite large (e.g. you want to go somewhere that guarantees accom for all undergrad, being mixed vs single sex, a big college vs small college, or you want to be in a college not in the city centre, or you want to be in a college that offers direct support to [your hobby] ) then I'd encourage you to apply to your top choice college. But if we're talking about very minor differences (a lot of things would fall under this but namely reputation, aesthetics/ age, the expertise of the Director of Studies (undergrad), being under 800m away from each other) then I would poke you towards the essay competition colleges.

Reply 4

NWGroupie

7

That is what my daughter thought, a potential two bites, however feedback from my daughter’s school who send between 5 and 14 a year to Oxbridge is that some colleges may want to pick you out of the pool if you win a competition with them but didn’t otherwise apply direct, others may feel slighted. It shouldn’t be personal but can in reality be the case. There are not enough of these scenarios to say for certain.

Reply 5

lalexm

16

Original post by NWGroupie

That is what my daughter thought, a potential two bites, however feedback from my daughter’s school who send between 5 and 14 a year to Oxbridge is that some colleges may want to pick you out of the pool if you win a competition with them but didn’t otherwise apply direct, others may feel slighted. It shouldn’t be personal but can in reality be the case. There are not enough of these scenarios to say for certain.

My daughter has exactly the same dilemma. She won an essay competition for a student run society, so not linked to a particular college, and she also entered a college run competition, where she has been invited in to meet the academics and get a tour of the college. She is currently thinking of applying to another college, but maybe she will change her mind when she goes in.

Hi all! Winning or being placed in an essay competition at a particular College is very unlikely to impact your chances of getting in to that particular College. I wouldn't recommend making your College choice based on this above other factors, such as College size, location, the general "feeling." Entering an essay competition related to your subject will be viewed as a good super-curricular activity by any College, regardless of which College's competition you enter.

Essay Competitions and College Choice

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