It went from department review straight to rejection

My application has been unsuccessful. I wish every success to those waiting out there.

My application has been unsuccessful. I wish every success to those waiting out there.

I'm starting to think my theory was right aside from being a few days out.

It seems like rejections are starting to come through to those still 'under review by department'.

The only thing that gives me hope is that someone on the forum's status changed to 'awaiting approval' yesterday!

So still hope, as they say no news is good news at this point!

Will be interesting to see if anyone's status changed to 'awaiting approval' within the next few days.

I'm starting to think my theory was right aside from being a few days out.

It seems like rejections are starting to come through to those still 'under review by department'.

The only thing that gives me hope is that someone on the forum's status changed to 'awaiting approval' yesterday!

So still hope, as they say no news is good news at this point!

Will be interesting to see if anyone's status changed to 'awaiting approval' within the next few days.

Does anybody know about previous year trends? Does being under dept review still, mean that we are most likely rejected?

[Edited by tavi0101 on Feb 22, 2019]

I have friends who are currently doing the LLM and they received emails regarding their offers rather than through the portal. The trend seems to be that those who received offers still have their status "under review by department" and it was not until weeks after they receive the email that their status changed to awaiting approval from GAO.

It's weird why no one is receiving emails this year but I can infer 2 conclusions from this. It's either (a) some of us had already gotten the offer but emails have yet to be sent (probably they are changing the way they deal with offers), so it's alright if our status is still at the department stage or (b) they have yet to send out the offers as last year's submission date was earlier (not exactly sure when but it seems to be 15 Nov), and there may be a slight delay this year.

And it is possible that more people had been rejected but they don't share it, so we don't hear about it so often.

Big thank you to those who had been rejected and are selfless enough to share it with the rest of us. Really appreciate it. Good luck to everyone and congratulations to those awaiting approval from GAO!

I like you.

No news is good news

I have friends who are currently doing the LLM and they received emails regarding their offers rather than through the portal. The trend seems to be that those who received offers still have their status "under review by department" and it was not until weeks after they receive the email that their status changed to awaiting approval from GAO.

It's weird why no one is receiving emails this year but I can infer 2 conclusions from this. It's either (a) some of us had already gotten the offer but emails have yet to be sent (probably they are changing the way they deal with offers), so it's alright if our status is still at the department stage or (b) they have yet to send out the offers as last year's submission date was earlier (not exactly sure when but it seems to be 15 Nov), and there may be a slight delay this year.

And it is possible that more people had been rejected but they don't share it, so we don't hear about it so often.

Big thank you to those who had been rejected and are selfless enough to share it with the rest of us. Really appreciate it. Good luck to everyone and congratulations to those awaiting approval from GAO!

Just got an e-mail with a conditional offer for the MCL programme.

My LLM application status still reads "under review"

Congratulations!

Just got an e-mail with a conditional offer for the MCL programme.

My LLM application status still reads "under review"

Just got a conditional offer for the LLM!

Congratulations!

Just got an e-mail with a conditional offer for the MCL programme.

My LLM application status still reads "under review"

Me too, conditional offer for LLM! Found it in my SPAM folder!

Neither conditional offer nor change at the status! Do you think it's a bad sign? or still no news good news..

I just got an offer of admission! :)

FYI: The offer came by email from Suzanne Wade who signed "On behalf of the LLM Admissions Committee." My portal status changed from department to GAO on Monday, February 18. Now, the portal still states Awaiting Approval from GAO. However, the email states that:

"As the GAO processes the offers for all of the University’s graduate courses it may take some time for you to receive your formal offer details from them, but it is likely to be within approximately 2-3 weeks. Therefore please do not be concerned that you do not hear from them immediately.

We kindly ask you not to contact the GAO to enquire about when you will receive your formal offer as they will process it as quickly as possible."

I was also admitted last year and it was also Suzanne who first notified me that I got an offer, but I wasn't asked to wait this long for the formal offer from GAO. They really must be processing more applications this year or are otherwise burdened by some other reason that's causing them delay. So hang tight, everyone! I wish you all the best!

Congratulations to all admitted, and hope the best for the rest of us.
I know that speculation is rather useless at this point, but do you think that all offers were sent today, or will it be a gradual process (as was the change in the status of the applicant portal)?
To the people whose application was unsuccessful, did you receive an email? I'm trying to interpet what no news means. If rejections have started to be emailed, then receiving no mail does't necessarily mean bad news. But if only acceptances were emailed, I',m afraid that the implication is that all those accepted were notified and the rest are waiting for the rejection mail.. it's gonna be a long weekend indeed

Congratulations to all admitted, and hope the best for the rest of us.
I know that speculation is rather useless at this point, but do you think that all offers were sent today, or will it be a gradual process (as was the change in the status of the applicant portal)?
To the people whose application was unsuccessful, did you receive an email? I'm trying to interpet what no news means. If rejections have started to be emailed, then receiving no mail does't necessarily mean bad news. But if only acceptances were emailed, I',m afraid that the implication is that all those accepted were notified and the rest are waiting for the rejection mail.. it's gonna be a long weekend indeed

In last years thread there was a user who received an offer through email but his status remained 'under review' for a further three weeks.

I have also found this below posted by a community assistant on the Student Room who seems to have an insight into the Cambridge Post-Graduate Application Process.

Community Assistant - Say they get 300 applications for the course. They want to make offers to the best 60 in order to get 30 who take up the 30 places. There's no way of doing that as each application comes in. You have no idea if the first application you get will be in the top 60 of the 300 you expect, nor the second or the third etc. They need to build up a clear view of the cohort strength. However, there will be some stand out strong candidates and soe standout weak candidates, they can make early offer and early rejections to those. Those applicants that remain possibly good enough, their applications just sit their either floating up towards offer level, or sinking to rejection level. That you have heard nothing for so long just means you are still being considered.

Community Assistant Again - Yes, that's absolutely what it means. There's a great big pot of competitive applicants into which more applicants are being put every day. There are periodic reviews where the cream is skimmed off the top and made and offer, and the gloop that sinks to the bottom is drained off and rejected. The remaining applicants and still decent ingredients in the mix, but gradually, up until about April, the size of the pot reduces, with more rising to the top or sinking to the bottom and fewer new applicants enter.


Link to a more detailed explanation on Application Status - https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5205742&p=81470936&page=54&highlight=#post81470936


Cambridge promises 'all decisions will be made by 1st March'. They do not promise these decisions will be communicated to us by then.

^ This is what they are actually doing. It explains why we are all at different stages in the application process.

Didn't make the Cut - like the troll's friend (sorry could not remember user name) who was rejected weeks ago.
Cream of the Crop - those 'awaiting approval' and receiving offers currently.
In the Middle - those still 'under review' who's application must be filtered and compared with the pool of applicants, hoping we can jump the remaining hurdles to the finish line and not trip up.


I hope this helps ^ and puts others more at ease.

I am happy about this, our applications are each running their own race and if they don't reach the finish line then at least they put on a bloody good show! :)

Still under review by the department too !

This is really putting at ease. Thank you for your research!
Still under review be the department.

In last years thread there was a user who received an offer through email but his status remained 'under review' for a further three weeks.

I have also found this below posted by a community assistant on the Student Room who seems to have an insight into the Cambridge Post-Graduate Application Process.

Community Assistant - Say they get 300 applications for the course. They want to make offers to the best 60 in order to get 30 who take up the 30 places. There's no way of doing that as each application comes in. You have no idea if the first application you get will be in the top 60 of the 300 you expect, nor the second or the third etc. They need to build up a clear view of the cohort strength. However, there will be some stand out strong candidates and soe standout weak candidates, they can make early offer and early rejections to those. Those applicants that remain possibly good enough, their applications just sit their either floating up towards offer level, or sinking to rejection level. That you have heard nothing for so long just means you are still being considered.

Community Assistant Again - Yes, that's absolutely what it means. There's a great big pot of competitive applicants into which more applicants are being put every day. There are periodic reviews where the cream is skimmed off the top and made and offer, and the gloop that sinks to the bottom is drained off and rejected. The remaining applicants and still decent ingredients in the mix, but gradually, up until about April, the size of the pot reduces, with more rising to the top or sinking to the bottom and fewer new applicants enter.


Link to a more detailed explanation on Application Status - https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5205742&p=81470936&page=54&highlight=#post81470936


Cambridge promises 'all decisions will be made by 1st March'. They do not promise these decisions will be communicated to us by then.

^ This is what they are actually doing. It explains why we are all at different stages in the application process.

Didn't make the Cut - like the troll's friend (sorry could not remember user name) who was rejected weeks ago.
Cream of the Crop - those 'awaiting approval' and receiving offers currently.
In the Middle - those still 'under review' who's application must be filtered and compared with the pool of applicants, hoping we can jump the remaining hurdles to the finish line and not trip up.


I hope this helps ^ and puts others more at ease.

I am happy about this, our applications are each running their own race and if they don't reach the finish line then at least they put on a bloody good show! :)

[Edited by IP92 on Feb 23, 2019]