h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

18 August - Results Day

Results Day went relatively smoothly: most of the phone calls had finished by lunchtime (we know that nearly all the applicants who miss their offers will phone us, so we can count how many calls we are still expecting). General pattern was: student phoned me to say they had missed a grade A (often by only a few marks); I told them 'unfortunately we can't confirm your place, very sorry, etc etc, I'm sure you've got an insurance offer at another good university'; most of them said 'oh OK then, thanks' and put the phone down (a few exceptions who ask about alternative possibilities); fifteen minutes or so later there was another phonecall from either a parent or a teacher, asking to speak to the Admissions Tutor - it is quite hard, because all of these applicants have excellent grades, just not the super-excellent ones we asked for.

Then in the afternoon we had a few phonecalls from people who hadn't applied to Cambridge in the first place, or who had been rejected after interview, and had then gone on to get three or four A grades - we have to disappoint them as well, because Cambridge doesn't go into Clearing, we always make more offers than there are places available because we know that a certain percentage will not achieve their offers.

19 August - Summer Pool

Also seemed to go very well. The files of applicants who have narrowly missed their offer are all collected in one room (not nearly such a big room as for the Winter Pool) and Admissions Tutors and Directors of Studies who still have places to fill in specific subjects can go and read them. Stephen (YOB) said in TB that he didn't see the point of the Summer Pool, but there may be various reasons why places are still available - for example applicants declining their offers after the December/January admissions round, more applicants than expected missing their offer in a particular subject. Some Colleges make higher offers than others too, so if an applicant has been asked for 4 As and gets AAAB, they may still get in to a College whose standard offer is AAA. Anyway, we were pleased that some of our 'missed offer' applicants got places in other Colleges.

Last task today was to send the 'sorry you didn't make it' letters to applicants who were pooled but not fished out. But we know that nearly all these students will still get places at other good universities, even though tomorrow's post will be disappointing.

hello! only just seen this as have not been in h2g2 for aaaaages...

i see what you mean about the Winter Pool now. sounds like an horrendously busy time for you and all the admissions staff- is the busy phase over yet until october or is there still more to go?

You'll be pleased to know that i followed your advice and was a good boy so haven't rung the college once.

stephen

Well done - they will absolutely love you at Sidney!

It seems as if we've hardly had time to draw breath since the results came out and I've already got four applications for the next round. At the moment I'm negotiating the December interview timetable with Directors of Studies at the same time as distributing the files of the new students to them, and organising the Open Day we're having on Saturday!