Gates Cambridge 2021-2022

[scytoo]

2 hours ago, Juliagus said:

International finalists applicants heard back almost universally on February 9 not in late January- I believe only the US shortlist round found out at the end of Jan. The email said final decisions would be released mid-March and be officially announced early April. I haven't heard yet of any rejection emails for the international round being released yet. 

Ah right, sorry I didn’t go back and check, I just assumed they were right when they said internationals had heard back in late Jan. Either way, my point is that the rejections sent in late Jan weren’t for international applicants, they were for US finalists. Internationals have been notified if they are finalists but rejections for non-finalists haven’t gone out yet and unsuccessful finalists won’t hear until very late March or early April.

I know for certain that no rejection emails have gone out for internationals yet. 

Edited February 17, 2021 by scytoo

[Afro Aniyunwiya]

Sending positive vibes everyone’s way! Here’s to folks getting their needed funding—via Gates or other means ❤️

[travel2020]

how is the week over and still nothing ?

[Alpha_orionis]

They seem to be sending some rejection emails today. I received one a few minutes ago and almost had a heart attack, as I was notified last week that I am a finalist! Turned out to be nothing: I applied to 2 departments and they can only pick one of the two applications to move forward, so they had to reject the other one. But it gave me quite the scare before I finally noticed that the department name was different from the one for which I am finalist ???

[qm_or_gr]

I have just received my rejection email.

Good luck to the finalists!

[Kuan Yang]

I'm international applicant for MASt in Part III, and I received rejection minutes ago. I think the finalists should be notified soon. Not too sad since I just applied and the chances are quite limited.

My application is still under review, so I think the Gates Cambridge will assess all the applicants instead of just the ranked ones by the department?

Thanks in advance

[Godspeed2021]

I am an international applicant. Received my rejection email two hours ago.

Edited February 18, 2021 by Godspeed2021

[Chiralres7]

@scytooHi, I just joined this forum and have been reading some of the old comments and updates; they've been helpful--yours in particular. I was shortlisted for the Gates Scholarship on Feb 9. I understand that there will not be any interview this cycle due to the pandemic and that the selections will be made based on paper reviews by the various interview panels. I also know that the shortlisting committees and the interview panels are functionally different, at least in "normal" years when formal interviews are held. Given that there will not be any interviews, do you have any sense as to what the interview panels might be judging that the shortlisting committees did not, or is it just a matter of more rigor? 

Everyone, please feel free to respond if you can. Thanks!

Edited February 20, 2021 by Chiralres7

[Katie S.S.]

This isn't directly related to Gates (although I did apply, international and still haven't heard back). I am more concerned about the fact that I received a rejection letter a few weeks back, as in my application to a Masters program was unsuccessful (this also shows on my portal).
However, today I received an email for an interview invitation. I'm so confused, because I gave up hope due the being rejected. Does this make sense to anyone?

[Chiralres7]

Hey everyone, in case anyone's wondering what the paper review looks like:

Our International round of interviews will be replaced by a paper application review process. Each interview panel member will be supplied with a full copy of your application for admission to the University of Cambridge and your Gates Cambridge Scholarship application materials, together with comments from your prospective Department and our Shortlisting Committees. Please be reassured that we have experienced interview panel members who are all University academics and have worked with us before. They are perfectly placed to judge your fit with the Gates Cambridge Scholarship and will apply our usual robust and well-tested selection procedures.

Edited February 23, 2021 by Chiralres7

[Chiralres7]

1 hour ago, Katie S.S. said:

This isn't directly related to Gates (although I did apply, international and still haven't heard back). I am more concerned about the fact that I received a rejection letter a few weeks back, as in my application to a Masters program was unsuccessful (this also shows on my portal).
However, today I received an email for an interview invitation. I'm so confused, because I gave up hope due the being rejected. Does this make sense to anyone?

Did you apply to two separate programs? It's possible to be nominated for the Gates Scholarship from one department and not the other. It's unlikely that a program that rejects your application will also forward it for shortlisting for the GC scholarship. You should probably follow up with the academic program. 

[Katie S.S.]

Thanks for the reply!
I only submitted one application to one department. I nearly applied for an MPhil instead but never submitted that application (I just let the deadline pass). I'm really unsure if I should get my hopes up or if this was a big mistake...

[Chiralres7]

1 minute ago, Katie S.S. said:

Thanks for the reply!
I only submitted one application to one department. I nearly applied for an MPhil instead but never submitted that application (I just let the deadline pass). I'm really unsure if I should get my hopes up or if this was a big mistake...

Did you receive any confirmation email from the department regarding the receipt of your application? If you're sure you received an invitation to interview, follow up with them. Maybe it was sent in error (though I doubt it). Good luck!

[Katie S.S.]

10 minutes ago, Chiralres7 said:

Did you receive any confirmation email from the department regarding the receipt of your application? If you're sure you received an invitation to interview, follow up with them. Maybe it was sent in error (though I doubt it). Good luck!

I got a receipt for the application I finished! The interview is with the Postgrad Admissions Committee, which is what's really throwing me off. I sent a follow-up just waiting to hear back  Thank you for the advice and good luck!!!

[Afro Aniyunwiya]

On 2/18/2021 at 11:23 AM, Kuan Yang said:

I'm international applicant for MASt in Part III, and I received rejection minutes ago. I think the finalists should be notified soon. Not too sad since I just applied and the chances are quite limited.

My application is still under review, so I think the Gates Cambridge will assess all the applicants instead of just the ranked ones by the department?

Thanks in advance

Sorry to hear that, I hope you get funded via the other avenues!

 

To answer your question, departments can rank and nominate candidates before accepting them to the university. Some folks will already have received their offer and college assignment, while others may not hear from their department before hearing from Gates.

[Kuan Yang]

7 hours ago, Afro Aniyunwiya said:

Sorry to hear that, I hope you get funded via the other avenues!

 

To answer your question, departments can rank and nominate candidates before accepting them to the university. Some folks will already have received their offer and college assignment, while others may not hear from their department before hearing from Gates.

Thanks Afro,

I thought the department will rank all the applicants and shortlisted the applications for scholarship except Gates. Since everyone will receive a response from Gates Cambridge.

All the best with your application and future studies.

[Afro Aniyunwiya]

23 hours ago, Kuan Yang said:

Thanks Afro,

I thought the department will rank all the applicants and shortlisted the applications for scholarship except Gates. Since everyone will receive a response from Gates Cambridge.

All the best with your application and future studies.

Check out this link for more detail on how the selections process goes: https://www.gatescambridge.org/apply/how-we-select/

If I were to summarize I’d say

1. Each department ranks applicants. Top applicants are referred to Gates. Applicants not in top won’t hear from Gates at all ( since Gates never saw their app)

2. Gates received apps of the top students from each department. Apps are sent to each of the 4 panels. Panels select top apps from their pile. Top apps are sent to the interview round. Remaining apps are informed that they won’t be moving on.

Hope this is helpful. The Gates process can be confusing.

[Kuan Yang]

1 hour ago, Afro Aniyunwiya said:

Check out this link for more detail on how the selections process goes: https://www.gatescambridge.org/apply/how-we-select/

If I were to summarize I’d say

1. Each department ranks applicants. Top applicants are referred to Gates. Applicants not in top won’t hear from Gates at all ( since Gates never saw their app)

2. Gates received apps of the top students from each department. Apps are sent to each of the 4 panels. Panels select top apps from their pile. Top apps are sent to the interview round. Remaining apps are informed that they won’t be moving on.

Hope this is helpful. The Gates process can be confusing.

Many Thanks Afro,

This becomes really helpful for my understanding.

All the best with your studies!

[Alpha_orionis]

I'm in disbelief right now! I just got offered a Harding scholarship, they are giving me until after the Gates results to reply ?

[cxwzapplicant]

Just got offered the harding scholarship as well! However, they are giving me 7 days to reply - what is the protocol from here? Do we accept harding for now? I won't have enough time to wait for the results of gates.

[Alpha_orionis]

Congratulations! ? ? That's a little weird, as you are also a Gates finalist you should have the same acceptance deadline as they gave me. You can try emailing them about this, it might be a mistake (they could have missed the fact that you are shortlisted for Gates and given you the standard deadline).

I am anyway going to send them a reply today to thank them for the offer, let them know that I am planning to accept the award unless I end up also receiving a Gates scholarship, and tell them that I'll be in touch shortly after the Gates results with a final answer.

[PhilgoreTrout]

For those of us accepted in the US round, when do you think is the earliest we can expect details on the financial package? I'm trying to make arrangements as early as possible.

[cxwzapplicant]

3 hours ago, Alpha_orionis said:

Congratulations! ? ? That's a little weird, as you are also a Gates finalist you should have the same acceptance deadline as they gave me. You can try emailing them about this, it might be a mistake (they could have missed the fact that you are shortlisted for Gates and given you the standard deadline).

I am anyway going to send them a reply today to thank them for the offer, let them know that I am planning to accept the award unless I end up also receiving a Gates scholarship, and tell them that I'll be in touch shortly after the Gates results with a final answer.

Thanks! And congrats to you too ?? Yeah I sent them a message asking about extensions , am also really glad these forums exist because otherwise I would feel more antsy about messaging these faceless @info emails haha

[segz]

My God!!! Unbelievable. I have also just received the Harding offer! And they acknowledged the Gates issue, so I have until April 5th. 
Super glad and congratulations to others. Sincere best wishes to everyone still waiting! 

[Juliagus]

2 hours ago, segz said:

My God!!! Unbelievable. I have also just received the Harding offer! And they acknowledged the Gates issue, so I have until April 5th. 
Super glad and congratulations to others. Sincere best wishes to everyone still waiting! 

Congrats! did you just find out today? or did you hear yesterday? trying to figure out if they sent all the notifications out at once...