MPhil Human Evolutionary Studies at Cambridge (2026 entry)

Ah right that's a shame they didn't consider you for funding. Did you explicitly write in your application that you couldn't self fund then?

From what I’ve gathered in past day, even though funding and academic side are not directly judged together, they can impact recommendations (if they think it’s a constraint).

Yes I was about to say this - I thought the funding was considered separately! And from an academic perspective you seemed to be well qualified. But I suppose they judge applications holistically.

Yes, I think it’s more like if there are 2 equally good applicants, and one can clearly finance the course if they don’t get funds, they will go for the lower risk. Funding applications (or those who are being actively considered) get ranked for recommendation- as in the department will communicate with funding bodies who they believe to be viable. If there are 50 people applying for 5 funding opportunities and 30 of them can’t fund it independently, then offer likelihood is slimmer. It’s also possible my supervisor didn’t like me as much as I thought they did! Or only had space for 1/2 students and my application was just a bit weaker! I honestly thought I’d get nowhere so the response I had from supervisor gave me a bit of hope, but I was also likely up against candidates with 1sts, international students, internal applicants etc. I also only spoke to supervisor and pulled entire application together 2 weeks pre deadline, so I might have come across as a chancer (albeit a capable one).

That makes sense, and its unfortunate the system works that way. Who was the supervisor you've been speaking with if you dont mind me asking?

That makes sense, and its unfortunate the system works that way. Who was the supervisor you've been speaking with if you dont mind me asking?

Can confirm if they were same as yours if you want? Or can dm you