Interviews are finished now

Well, the interviews are over and the interviewers will be (or have been) meeting together with our Director of Admissions to discuss the outcome. I think you would be amazed if you could see the time and trouble they take over making the final decisions. I can assure you that every part of every application is carefully and individually considered taking into account ALL the information available. So please don't think we take these decisions lightly. We are very aware that you have put everything you can into your application. Many of you say that since you were very young it has been your ambition to study at Cambridge.
This is now the ninth year for me as admissions secretary, first at another college and since 2005 here at Christ's. During that time, I have processed several thousand applications and, for the some, (about 1 in 5) there has been joy. Sadly the reality is that for 4 people in every 5 there's disappointment, and we do understand that it's hard to take.
However, some years nearly half as many people recieve offers through the pool as those who recieve the offer of a place at Christ's (see http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/apply/statistics/ for more information). For information about decisions have a look at this website http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/apply/ourdecision.html
Whatever the future holds for you, I must say I've enjoyed this journey with you and I'm grateful to have received many kind messages of thanks from you. May I wish you all the very best for Christmas and the New Year.

Something you'll all want to know

I've been sent a few emails along the following lines: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for making the interview process so smooth! I very much enjoyed my day in Cambridge and the interviews! However, I do have one more question- when can one expect to hear further from the college?"

The answer is that letters communicating admissions decisions will be posted first class on Thursday 3rd January 2013. We hope that the post won't be delayed for you but if you don't receive your letter on Friday you should be able to see your UCAS status updated. If your letter is late arriving and your UCAS status has not changed, it's likely but not certain that your application papers will have been placed in the Pool. I know lots of you will email me to ask if I can send your letter by email but I'm afraid this takes a long time to work through everyone so I probably won't be able to respond immediately. 

For more information see http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/apply/ourdecision.html - there's a link to information about the Winter Pool

We've had a very busy interview day today, it's been fun meeting so many interesting people! We're sorry we won't be able to have you all but I'm glad that several have been emailing to say that they enjoyed their day in Cambridge. If your interviews are still to come, I hope you enjoy your day too.

One week of interviews nearly completed

By the end of tomorrow we will have interviewed (in Cambridge) over 100 applicants, next week another 250 candidates will be coming for interviews and the following week there will be another 100. At last everything is in place, everyone has replied and we're set for a busy week.  I hope those of you coming for interviews in the next two weeks have good journeys here and I hope you'll enjoy being here in Christ's. We've had some great emails from people who had their interviews last week, here's an example "I wanted to thank you, and the rest of the admissions team for your correspondence over the past month or so, I had my interviews today which I thoroughly enjoyed and the porters were very helpful in their guidance." So that person found it not so scary and managed to enjoy the experience - I hope you will too!
Just a hint, if you can aim to arrive at the Porters' Lodge 20-30 minutes before your first appointment this will give you time to get yourself checked in and time to find the interview room. This is especially important if your first appointment is a written test - there's likely to be several other people arriving at the same time so a queue can build up which might delay you if you haven't allowed quite enough time. We don't want you arriving all stressed and harrassed!
Have a good weekend and relax - most people find interviews fun rather than an ordeal!

I hope you have all heard from me . . .

I've finished all the interview scheduling now so I hope you have all received an email from me either inviting you to attend interview or, sadly, an email saying that we are not able to offer the opportunity to attend interviews. If you have not heard please email admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk and I will get back to you straight away.
The interviews have started already with just a few candidates coming to the College this week. Next week will be a bit busier and the following week will be absolutely packed, interviews wall to wall! So I'm looking forward to meeting some of you and, for those who are coming to interviews, may I wish you all the very best. But don't forget, there are only about 125 places and we're interviewing almost 500 of you so the competition for places is intense.

Still timetabling interviews!

I've been working very hard trying to schedule interviews, not an easy task!

What I really need from you (those of you who have applied for certain Arts subjects) are your essays! Please send them to me as soon as you can. The instructions are

are available at http://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/your_application/ just click on the link entitled FOR YOUR SUBJECT

You'll find everything you need there, including the cover sheet and a reminder of the deadline which is a week today, Thursday 15th November.

If you decide to send them by recorded or delivery, it's unlikely that the Royal Mail track and trace facility will work so I recommend that you include a stamped addressed postcard or sealed down envelope which we will return to you as your receipt.

Written work

Don't forget that the deadline for receipt of written work is 15th November. Please check the applicants' website for your particular subject for details about the work you should send http://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/prospective-students/undergraduate-applications/applinfo/subject_interview_info/
In all cases work submitted must be your own original work, marked by your usual teacher and relevant to the subject for which you are applying. It should have been completed recently during your normal course of study. A separate cover sheet (word 97-03 or pdf) for each piece of work must be completed and returned with your work. It is acceptable to email your work as an attachment. The email address is admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk The quality of a fax is not generally good enough so we do not recommend this method.
If you send your work in an A4 envelope by first-class post, please ensure that you pay the correct postage (see Royal Mail Pricefinder for full information - it will be a LARGE letter). The postage address is The Admissions Office, Christ's College, Cambridge CB2 3BU). To enable us to confirm that your work has arrived, please enclose a stamped self-addressed postcard or sealed-down envelope. If you do this it is not necessary to use recorded delivery, in fact, recorded delivery to a Cambridge College is not logged on the "Track and Trace" website so a stamped self-addressed receipt is much more reliable - and cheaper!

Invitations to interviews . . .

Well, we've sent out a few invitations to interview today, in some of the subjects where the interviews take place early (before December). Although we won't be able to invite everyone to come to interviews in Cambridge, if you have not heard yet don't panic! It takes a long time to organise over 600 interviews (times two) and various written tests, pre-interview reading etc. We'll send out interview invitations as soon as they are scheduled so be patient and give us a week or two. If we decide not to invite you to come to interviews in Cambridge we will let you know before the end of November.
We've been having some lovely sunshine in Cambridge although it's very cold. Have a look at the front page of our College website http://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/