Thanks for the feedback...lets see whether I apply the following year or not :) Good luck everyone! just applying takes a lot of work, patience and luck. By FCH you mean Flexible combined honours? In terms of funding..they dont have much funding, if any right?
Cambridge PhD 2023
Posted Mar 04, 2023 06:59
Posted Mar 05, 2023 13:24
Thanks for the feedback...lets see whether I apply the following year or not :) Good luck everyone! just applying takes a lot of work, patience and luck. By FCH you mean Flexible combined honours? In terms of funding..they dont have much funding, if any right?
They emphasise your grades heavily, it seems, but refs and research proposal can sometimes make up for these things in their scoring system. Their 1st (or alternatively a distinction from an LLM) is generally considered a hard minimum, though. They get a lot of applicants and they do need some filters to ease their workload a bit... Depending on your research subject, you can opt for applying for the Land Econ (property law and environmental law, etc) or History (legal history) departments instead, which tend to have more lenient entry requirements than the Law Faculty. If you do get in, poor grades will still likely prejudice your funding application. This might seem unfair given your experience, but at least the grades are objective criteria and do not prejudice fresh grads much.
Posted Mar 05, 2023 13:37
Any updates today?
I am still at the under review by department stage and have not received an interview call. Wonder how I’m still at this stage after more than 3 months of applying. Can’t imagine what this may mean? Rejection/waitlist?
any thoughts guys? Thanks a ton!
One of three reasons. The first, and least serious, is that someone simply has not updated your status. It is done manually, and they have limited resources here. Interviews are not an absolute requirement for getting accepted, although it is often necessary if you do not know your propoe dsupervisor from before.
The second is that you are indeed on their waiting list. Cambridge is not transparent with their waiting list in the same way that Oxford is (in the sense that Oxford at least informs you whether you are on the list or not). However, it does exist, and they keep this list until April or so. The waiting list is a pretty crap place to be at any uni though, since it generally means that all your (central) funding applications were also withrdrawn in the process. They can't nominate you for funding and still put you on the waiting list.
Third, they might be struggling to get a response from their proposed supervisor to interview you/consider your proposal and give feedback to the degree committee. Some academics can be very unreliable with this. It is not uncommon that applicants get stuck in a limbo because of non-responsive academics or because of issues with finding a supevisor due to planned sabbaticals, etc. The good news is that those who ultimately get rejected/waitlisted in this way did not end up in this position because their applications were in any way 'inferior' to the rest; they were simply unlucky with available staff. The bad news is that it will still screw up all their (central) funding applications because the department will miss the funding nomination deadline.
Posted Mar 05, 2023 14:10
Thanks so much for the information.
Any updates today?
I am still at the under review by department stage and have not received an interview call. Wonder how I’m still at this stage after more than 3 months of applying. Can’t imagine what this may mean? Rejection/waitlist?
any thoughts guys? Thanks a ton!
One of three reasons. The first, and least serious, is that someone simply has not updated your status. It is done manually, and they have limited resources here. Interviews are not an absolute requirement for getting accepted, although it is often necessary if you do not know your propoe dsupervisor from before.
The second is that you are indeed on their waiting list. Cambridge is not transparent with their waiting list in the same way that Oxford is (in the sense that Oxford at least informs you whether you are on the list or not). However, it does exist, and they keep this list until April or so. The waiting list is a pretty crap place to be at any uni though, since it generally means that all your (central) funding applications were also withrdrawn in the process. They can't nominate you for funding and still put you on the waiting list.
Third, they might be struggling to get a response from their proposed supervisor to interview you/consider your proposal and give feedback to the degree committee. Some academics can be very unreliable with this. It is not uncommon that applicants get stuck in a limbo because of non-responsive academics or because of issues with finding a supevisor due to planned sabbaticals, etc. The good news is that those who ultimately get rejected/waitlisted in this way did not end up in this position because their applications were in any way 'inferior' to the rest; they were simply unlucky with available staff. The bad news is that it will still screw up all their (central) funding applications because the department will miss the funding nomination deadline.
[Edited by DPHIL on Mar 05, 2023]
Posted Mar 05, 2023 14:37
[Edited by Too on Mar 05, 2023]
Posted Mar 05, 2023 15:06
What is the meaning if the law faculty tells you through email that your application is under review by the degree committee but then when you check the portal it is still shown as under review by the department?
There's no automatic change of status on the portal. They'll update it or they won't. Depends on how much time they've got on their hands. I'm sure it slips at times as well. The portal is virtually useless for you anyway. Even if it updates to offer made, you cannot actually use the application portal for anything. The offer is sent in a separate email, linking you to a different portal to use instead, because... why have one portal when you can have two, right? I suspect everyone would have been better off if they did away with the portal and just sent the email when the time comes instead.
[Edited by Gobbledygook on Mar 05, 2023]
Posted Mar 05, 2023 22:07
[Edited by Too on Mar 07, 2023]
Posted Mar 06, 2023 11:48
Hi all, does anyone know when we might hear about funding?
Posted Mar 06, 2023 13:14
If at this stage one is still under review, does that mean it is unlikely to secure funding from Cambridge?
It would mean less likely, not necessarily unlikely. Those who get funding are mostly accepted by department first with no hesitation. So you should not assume that you will get eg most cambridge trust funding, if you get accepted.
Posted Mar 06, 2023 13:16
Hi all, does anyone know when we might hear about funding?
tou might hear about funding until July or august. But earlier ones presented from mid March or so.
Posted Mar 06, 2023 13:17
[Edited by Too on Mar 07, 2023]
Posted Mar 06, 2023 15:51
July or august? What if you have other funded offers and need to consider them before July /August
Then I guess you need to prioritise them - a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Posted Mar 06, 2023 21:29
If at this stage one is still under review, does that mean it is unlikely to secure funding from Cambridge?
Most likely yes, as far as central funding is concerned. They would’ve had to nominate you a while ago. Colleges do their own ranking and assessment independent of the faculty. They’re so detached from the central process that It occasionally happens that you get invited to a college interview for a college fund you applied to (if they have an interview process - just some very few do) yet ending up being rejected for the PhD itself.
Posted Mar 06, 2023 21:30
Hi all, does anyone know when we might hear about funding?
The majority of central funding will be sllocated in March. The rest will usually be out by early-mid April. You can still get a trickle down scholarship until July-August whenever someone who originally got the scholarship ended up rejecting the offer later on.
[Edited by Gobbledygook on Mar 06, 2023]
Posted Mar 06, 2023 21:32
July or august? What if you have other funded offers and need to consider them before July /August
Try biding for time. If they force you to accept super early it’s probably a trap anyway…
Posted Mar 07, 2023 00:01
July or august? What if you have other funded offers and need to consider them before July /August
these things can be accepted first and then later decline. One needs to be patient I suppose..! I recall reading that some ppl got trickle down full funding in august.
Posted Mar 07, 2023 09:54
Thanks for all your kind comments and a special thank you to gobbledygook!
I will wait it out and see where things head. as of this moment, I can confirm that I am still at the stage of Departmental review and have not received an interview call.
I wonder how much longer I will have to wait to hear back from them! Also, would be helpful if those who are also stuck at the departmental review stage can post any updates here.
thank you all very much! :)
[Edited by PhD Applicant on Mar 07, 2023]
Posted Mar 07, 2023 18:31
July or august? What if you have other funded offers and need to consider them before July /August
these things can be accepted first and then later decline. One needs to be patient I suppose..! I recall reading that some ppl got trickle down full funding in august.
You can accept and decline an offer with a scholarship yes... However, do consider carefully the bridges you might be burning in doing this. You can get some serious bad rep in the academic community if you handle this poorly (what, you don't think academics talk among themselves like other people do? Some of them literally never even left uni - gossip is in their blood), and you never quite know how this can come back and bite you later. Try to be transparent and open throughout the process, or at least bide for time in some other way, if you're feeling shy about it. People don't like it when applicants accept an offer only and they make plans accordinglu, only for them to later reject and go for a 'better' offer later. Consider the fact that scholarships are usually very limited and your very late withdrawal can screw over the university's ability to fill that position later.
A starting point in discussing this with your other unis can be to enquire whether your scholarship is earmarked a particular subject matter and whether there is anyone next on the scholarship offer list. If you're the only eligible candidate for their scholarship, you might already have a better position for extending your choice.
[Edited by Gobbledygook on Mar 07, 2023]
Posted Mar 08, 2023 17:16
Hi all, any updates re: college offers?
It took around 4 days from offer to college acceptance last year (LLM) so wondering if the people who got their offers earlier have heard anything?
Posted Mar 08, 2023 17:41
Hi all, any updates re: college offers?
It took around 4 days from offer to college acceptance last year (LLM) so wondering if the people who got their offers earlier have heard anything?
I got an offer from my first choice college a few days after receiving my offer of admission. That's probably because it's not very high in demand though.
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