Cambridge Mphil medieval history application

I'm hoping to apply for the medieval history Mphil at Cambridge and they say applicants are normally expected to have a high 2:1 (67). I'm doing a law degree at another Russell Group and as of finishing my second year I have 64, but I was wondering whether this might be mitigated by
A) the fact that some of my exams were affected by medical circumstances
B) I came top in my year in the history paper with two essays on medieval legal and historical analysis which both got very high 1sts and I received the department academic award for history of law
C) I'm doing a dissertation on medieval history and law which will hopefully get at least a high 2:1 or 1st.

Does this give me at least a reasonable chance of acceptance considering the comparatively high (60-70ish%) acceptance rate for the course if my research proposal is decent?

Reply 1

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

Original post by Anonymous

I'm hoping to apply for the medieval history Mphil at Cambridge and they say applicants are normally expected to have a high 2:1 (67). I'm doing a law degree at another Russell Group and as of finishing my second year I have 64, but I was wondering whether this might be mitigated by
A) the fact that some of my exams were affected by medical circumstances
B) I came top in my year in the history paper with two essays on medieval legal and historical analysis which both got very high 1sts and I received the department academic award for history of law
C) I'm doing a dissertation on medieval history and law which will hopefully get at least a high 2:1 or 1st.
Does this give me at least a reasonable chance of acceptance considering the comparatively high (60-70ish%) acceptance rate for the course if my research proposal is decent?

It works like A levels, they all likely set you an offer grade to make, which might be "2.1" or might be a specific % ie "67%".

There will be a judgement call, because it's not just your %, but also that you aren't doing a history degree. That's not a stopper, but it might make the judgement of the relevant of your UG grade different.

There likely won't be any mitigation for your grades, because that should have been applied by your current Uni at the time, ie mitigation should be included in those grades. Great grades in the two most relevant modules is a strong point though, make sure that comes through clearly in your application.

You need to ensure a) your research proposal is strong, b) your references are strong and support the subject change and c) your grades improve and the dissertation is strong.

Apply anyway though, you don't lose anything but a few hours of time, and you've a lot to gain.