Need help judging myself for Oxbridge

[chemicalgandalf]

Hey there everyone, this is my first post here, I wont be taking up/wasting your time with just my grades and stuff, but I will provide as much detail about myself as I can. These trying times and lockdowns all across the world have given me nightmares.

Firstly I would like to start off by saying that I have a nod from a decently well known professor(keeping it anonymous here) in Cambridge, who encouraged me to apply and thought my profile might be "quite competitive" for the scholarship contest at Cambridge. I am applying for a Chemistry PhD/D.Phil.

But I would still like the general successfull applicant, Admission counsellor, professor or academic opinion on my profile, I wont lie, I am scared because of my GPA a little. But please go ahead and DO NOT hesitate to be brutal if necessary:

I am aiming full tuition + stipend scholarships, some preliminary information: Oxford requires a 7.5/10.0  CGPA and Cambridge a 7.3/10.0 CGPA from Indian Institute students(I belong to one).

I would love to know my chances for competitive scholarships like Gates-Cambridge, Winton and Cambridge-Trust

My Background:

1. 8.0/10.0 CGPA(I major in Chemistry, Our institute has one of the most stringent grading principles, especially so in my pre-major: Mathematics) in an Indian Institute(well known, wont name it here because I’m anonymous). I graduate in 2021 so I still have 2 semesters to pick this up higher. I am scared of my GPA really, because I know it could have been better, but some courses I took really took the piss out of my GPA.

2. I have 3 co-authored papers(a couple more coming up soon) in very reputed international journals, 1 first author is currently submitted(2 more coming up soon) also in similarly reputed journals, in related fields to my potential supervisor(s).

3. I have recommendations from a senior professor and a PI in Cambridge and have a couple more recommendations from very well known professors in India(in my institute and it’s sisters).

4. I have done computation and experiment and have had internships in Cambridge and in India(again within the Indian Institutes) on several niche topics in chemistry and materials science. By virtue of which I have first hand experience in several analytical, synthetic and computational tools that might come in handy in conducting research.

5. I have won 2 poster awards( 1 where I got the award out of 1100 posters in the biggest conference in our nation, and another in our department at the institute) and attended a total of 6 conferences(3 of them with a travel and accommodation bursary)

6. My thesis is likely to get a distinction or similar grade in the institute(which should massively bring up my GPA as well, but the grades will probably be out after I apply with my unofficial transcript).

7. Extra Curriculars: Been a member and head of student E-cell organizations and Institute student committees for ranking, career-placement and development.

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages my head is filling up with these questions and it would be nice to have a realistic understanding of what my chances are.

Any and every advice is welcome and will be heeded to(if possible), if you want, I can provide more info(I have given ass much as has come to my head right now).

 

Thanks in advance Guys!