Student Finance England

We've just received this message from Student Finance: "We are pleased to announce the launch of the Student Finance England service for academic year 2011/2012 on 14 February 2011. From this date, all students applying for full-time courses in higher education can apply for student finance online at www.direct.gov.uk/student finance."
However I think this link is not working properly (!) but you can access the information at
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHigherEducation/StudentFinance/Gettingstarted/index.htm
It's worth getting started on your application to Student Finance as soon as possible (after 14 Feb 2011), and you don't have to wait until you've received all your university offers first.

Interviews are winding down

The main bulk of our interviews took place last week; we still have some candidates coming for interviews this week but nowhere near as many as we had last week. Cambridge is still full of applicants (and anxious parents wandering around trying to concentrate on Christmas shopping instead of thinking about their offspring’s interviews!). We are entirely sympathetic; all of us in the admissions team have gone through the same experience, either as parents or as an applicant so we fully understand what a stressful time it can be.

Some people have been asking me about when the decisions will be notified. We will be posting letters to the mailing address you gave in your UCAS application towards the end of the first week of January. Please don’t phone the admissions office to ask the content of your letter; we are not able to give information by phone. If your letter has been significantly delayed, you are welcome to email admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk; for security reasons be sure to give your UCAS number and the subject for which you applied. I will make a pdf to send as an email attachment but, as each document will have to be produced individually, I may not be able to respond immediately if there are a large number of requests. I’m sorry about that but I would ask for your patience. Also at the same time (during the first week of January) all Colleges will be very busy getting pooled applicants assessed and decisions finalised. For more information about the Cambridge Colleges pool please see http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/apply/ourdecision.html

Check out the competition!

I wish you could see our candidates' waiting room today!

I've just been to check on the waiting room and it's almost like a party down there! It's full of interviews candidates waiting for their next interview, all happily chatting away to each other. Someone is playing the piano (rather well I thought!) and there's a great atmosphere.
There's tea and coffee and biscuits provided, magazines to browse. It almost made me wish I had an interview! Good luck everybody!

Lots of interview candidates arriving this week!

We're looking forward to meeting a good number of our applicants whose interviews have been scheduled for 6th to 10th December. There will be many hundreds of other Cambridge applicants in town so everywhere will be extremely busy. (And there will be local people doing Christmas shopping etc as well!).
The snow has completely gone now and it's much warmer than it was last week. However, it's still pretty cold and the forecast is for cold weather next week. So don't hesitate to make use of our waiting room between your interviews. Once you've discovered where your interviewers' rooms are located, go and stay warm inside in the waiting room. Some rooms, particularly those in First and Second Courts (the oldest parts of the College dating from the 16th and 17th centuries) have no convenient places to wait outside for very long so don't turn up too early and freeze while you wait!

So far, so good

Well, we got through another full day of interviews yesterday; everyone was able to get here with no significant delays. This is really remarkable and I'm sure reflects the determination and courage of our candidates (and their parents in some cases!). Many people are leaving HOURS before their interview time and getting here in good time. Let me say a huge thank you to everyone involved in making tremendous efforts to attend interviews - very well done.
Just to update you on the conditions here, we have very little snow in Cambridge but it IS very cold. The College is always open because the Porters' Lodge is staffed 24/7 and there are people who live here on site. The admissions admin staff live locally and Mrs Stirling (our Director of Admissions) lives right in the centre of Cambridge. So don't worry, there will always be someone here.
We look forward to meeting lots more of you next week!

We do understand

We realise that many of you are having difficulties travelling. We have about 600 candidates to interview and the interviews involve about 65 different interviewers so you will appreciate that re-scheduling is not an easy task. As long as it is safe to do so, and given that you take all reasonable steps to prepare for your journey, we hope you will be able to get here. Once you are on the move please do keep in touch with us and let us know if you are having problems getting through. If you find it absolutely impossible to travel to Cambridge for your interviews we will try very hard to re-schedule but it will, of course, depend on the availability of those interviewing.  If all else fails there might be the possibility that interview MAY be carried out remotely.

Don't panic!

I thought I'd try to put your mind at rest if you are worried about the snow disrupting your travel plans! Our advice is to allow PLENTY of time for your journey (we've got a warm and cosy waiting room here with drinks and biscuits available). And if the roads are really bad in your area perhaps it might be worth considering taking the train if you can. As I write the snow has disappeared from Cambridge but having just consulted the forecast it's difficult to predict what is in store.
If you find you have become stuck or it's not possible to make the journey to Cambridge, please telephone us as soon as you can (01223 764329 or 01223 763983) and let us know what has happened. This is not the first time we've negotiated snowfall around interview time so don't worry, we'll be able to work something out. We will find a way.
If your interview is scheduled for the week 6th to 10th December be aware that there will be HUNDREDS of interview candidates in Cambridge and the traffic will be really heavy. If you or your parents plan to drive, we do recommend that you think about using the park and ride sites around Cambridge. There are direct buses into Cambridge, often with dedicated bus lanes so it's a more reliable and way to get into the centre. Here's the website http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/around/parkandride/
Good luck everybody!

Sorry to keep the Mathematicians waiting

 . . . . and sorry I haven't posted anything for a few days. We've arranged ALL the interviews now with the exception of Mathematics! I'm really sorry it's still not done but I can tell you that the interivews will be on the 7th, 8th, 9th, 14th & 15th December. We will be offering interviews to everyone who applied to this College to study Mathematics - I'll send you details as soon as I possibly can.
We have scheduled 1245 interviews in all the other subjects so when we add the Mathematics interviews in as well we will have arranged over 2,000 Cambridge interviews this year. We started interviews on 15th November (in one or two subjects) and will finally finish on 16th December so that's an average 400-500 interviews a week! Though it's a bit misleading to put it that way because there will be far more interviews taking place from 6th to16th December than 15th November to 3rd December.
So whether you are still waiting to have your interviews or have already had them let me wish you all the best.

2012 Entry Fees

For those of you who are applying for entry in 2012, the university now has a webpage dealing with the changes which are being made to student finance. The page can be found at http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/finance/2012entry/.

This page will be updated as and when the details of the changes become known, so check back regularly.

Not much news to report!

Well, we're still scheduling - ticking off the subjects one by one now. We are still waiting for final details for Education, Mathematics, Modern Languages and Theology so there are not many subjects left to do. Some subjects are very complicated to schedule because they involve people from other Colleges or Departments. And the academic staff are extremely busy with teaching as the end of the Cambridge term approaches. But we hope to have these last subjects interviews scheduled by the weekend.
For those of you who have been invited to attend interviews, if you are living a long way away and your interviews are in the first half of the morning, it's fine to ask to stay overnight in College. But please use the form on the interviewees website - you will have been sent the link. I know it's a really easy form but it helps me to have all the required information in the same format, otherwise I have to start looking things up in the database which takes a lot of time. We'll have more accommodation available after Monday 6th December when our current students will have left. However, we'll do our best to help whichever date you'll be coming to Cambridge.

We're getting there!

Someone noticed that I'd left Mathematics off the list of subjects we're still scheduling - sorry about that - we ARE still working on Maths.
Today has been very busy again, we're trying to get interview timetables scheduled, pack up interview papers for interviews happening next week, AND trying to keep track of those of you who reply to my emails saying that you can come for your interviews! It feels like the eye of the storm here! But we're pressing on, making progress every day.
If you need to get in touch, would you kindly email admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk please? We'll try to get back to you as soon as we can. Of course you are welcome to phone if you need to explain something complicated but we'll probably ask you to email as well so that we've got a record of your query. That way we don't have to rely on remembering things or scribbled notes! Thanks.

Whew!

Sorry, I was so busy yesterday I forgot to post another blog! The interviews went well yesterday, everyone got here on time, found their way around and all went according to plan. That's always encouraging for me - the system is working! Here in admissions it seems a long time from one year to the next - although we've done interviews several times before it's always good to see everything going smoothly.
Now we are busy packing up interview papers and sending them off to the interviewers but we're also still scheduling some subjects; Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, Classics, Economics, Engineering, Biological Sciences, Modern Languages and Theology are the main ones. Some of these are quite complicated because they involve other Colleges or Faculties so they take a bit longer to arrange. But we're pressing on as quickly as we can!

Interviews are starting Monday!

Well, our interviews in a few subjects are starting from Monday 15th November. So we are looking forward to welcoming you to College, whether next week or later in November or December.
Let me just say a bit about not sharing the content of your interviews with others. If you do, and someone else impresses the interviewers more than you (because they knew what was coming), they might get the offer of a place instead of you! So - don't tell!
If you ask someone else what their interviews were about and they tell you (a) how do you know they were telling you correctly and (b) interviewers change their questions in any case.
Just come as you are and be yourself. We know it's nerve-wracking - but many people say they really enjoyed coming to Cambridge for interviews - whatever the outcome.

Thanks for your fast responses

Quite a few of you have received invitations to attend interviews and have been getting back to me really quickly to say you can come. That's great - thank you very much. If you haven't heard yet please be patient, we organise the interviews by subject and the process is still ongoing. We've received just over 600 applications so you can imagine how long it takes to process all of them! We're working as fast as we can. If you have any questions, please remember to email admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk rather than telephoning -  we'll try to respond as quickly as possible. Thank you!

Thank you for your essays!

We've had a deluge of essays arriving this week but if you think yours has been delayed don't worry, nothing awful will happen! We give a deadline so that we can start getting  everything together in preparation for the interviewers. But if you've missed it it's OK, we'll still consider your application. Just get your work to us as soon as you can.

Written work deadline tomorrow!

Hello you Arts applicants, don't forget you should be getting your written work to us by tomorrow! Check out the information on the applicants' website; everything you need is there including the cover sheet which you can download.
Don't forget to include a stamped, addressed postcard or sealed-down envelope. We'll post this back to you as a receipt for your work. (International students can send a Universal Postal Union exchange coupon).
It's not worth sending your work by recorded delivery - we get so much recorded delivery here the postman does not bother to get them signed off. So you will be looking on the track and trace website in vain. Just send a stamped self-addressed envelope - it's cheaper and more reliable!

SAQ deadline tomorrow!

Remember, the deadline for completeting your SAQ is tomorrow, October 22nd. It's really important that you don't miss this, as we can't accept late submissions.

And the sooner you complete your applications, the sooner we can start scheduling interviews!

Last day for applications

Well, today's the day! If you wish to apply to the University of Cambridge, you have until midnight tonight to do so. Remember, we can't accept any applications received after the deadline, so make sure you get yours in on time.

Once we receive your application, you'll get an email with a link to the Supplementary Application Questionnaire (SAQ). You must complete that by the 22nd October.

We can then acknowledge your application and send you details about any work you may have to send in and other useful pre-interview information.

Deadline: Friday 15th October

Only a few days left now until the deadline for UCAS applications to Cambridge! It's really important that you get your application in by Friday 15th October. We can't consider any application that arrives later than that.

The deadline for the Supplementary Application Questionnaire is the 22nd October.

We look forward to seeing your full applications shortly!

Open Day- 28th September 2010

The last Open Day of the year is over! The day went really well, with the rain just about holding off. A little over 100 Year 12 and 13 students had the opportunity to visit the College and listen to talks from the Director of Admissions, experience an undergraduate led tour of the college, talk to the Directors of Study and have any other questions answered by the Schools Liaison Officer.

This is only the second year in which we have run an Open day in September and we hope that it will have given Year 12s an early idea of what they’re going to have to do over the next year or so to make a strong application. For Year 13s, the day aimed to give a more in-depth look at the admissions process and, hopefully, a final few reasons to apply to Christ’s!

Our Undergraduate helpers were fantastic as usual, with volunteers from almost all subjects. I think they even left a few of the brownies at lunch for our visitors!

We’ve already received the first few applications for 2011 entry, and we hope there will soon be a few familiar faces appearing on CamSIS.

Welcome!

Hello! Welcome to the new Admissions blog for Christ’s College, Cambridge. We’ll be keeping you updated on how the admissions round is going, as well as posting about the College’s access and outreach activities.

If you look to the right, there’s a list of some important upcoming dates that you should take note of, especially the 15^th October, which is the final deadline for applying.

If you have a question that you’d like to ask about applying to Christ’s or about the College in general, post in the comments section or send an e-mail to access[AT]christs.cam.ac.uk or admissions[AT]christs.cam.ac.uk.

We have our last Open Day of the year tomorrow and look forward to welcoming some potential applicants. Hopefully the weather will be better than today!