Gates-Cambridge Interviews (U.S. Applicants) 2021-2022

[frodo2021]

Hey, has anyone started hearing about interviews? The GC timeline says that all applicants should know their interview status today, 12/1/2021. I was curious if I was the only one waiting, or if anyone else knew anything.

xoxo

Edited December 1, 2021 by frodo2021
Added dates

[Madmoo]

I'm still waiting too! :)

[Sam17]

Still waiting to hear the application results; however, the website says that GC will not conduct interviews this year. Instead, finalists will be evaluated based on their application material in the final round. I believe GC did this last year during the pandemic.

[Madmoo]

Anybody hear anything?

[Madmoo]

Nvm they changed the date of notification to next Friday on their website!

[Sam17]

How odd. I've been wondering if the application portal would provide any "breadcrumbs" to follow. From previous threads I've looked at on the grad cafe, folks who received offers from their department noted that their application status in the portal transitioned from "Under review by department" to "Under review by degree committee" and eventually "Under review by GAO". So, if your application moves past the departmental review, that's likely a good sign (at least, for a departmental acceptance).

I should note that my best friend (a previous GC Scholar) was rejected from the PhD program he applied for, so nothing is guaranteed even with a previous GC on your resume. He applied during the first week of October, and received his rejection letter a couple weeks ago.

[frodo2021]

I just heard back and was told I’m a finalist! Freaking out!

Like the other poster said, they confirmed that there won’t be interviews…. So weird, especially since the interviews are usually virtual anyway. They are just reviewing the complete application to the university.

[Sam17]

Well done and congrats! If you'll help me test a theory, I'm curious about your application status within the applicant portal. Has your application progressed past the departmental review? Lastly, does this mean you've received an offer from your department?

[frodo2021]

@Sam17 I never checked my application status within the portal and I do not think you can specifically check on the Gates-Cambridge Status. On the University side, I was interviewed by my department on November 11th, and received my conditional offer from the University on November 25th, but I did not get an offer from a college until yesterday (at nearly the same time as my GC notification).

[Elwynn11]

I applied in the US round. I still didn't get any notification yet. Have you all got your "finalist" or rejection email?

But just yesterday my admission status changed to "under review by Degree Committee." Was my admission process dragging too long? I was interviewed on Nov. 23rd.

[gcinquiry]

Has anyone heard any updates re: scholarship offers?

[smellycat]

Does anyone know how candidates are selected/the unis approach for this? Are all candidates reviewed by the GC committee? Or just the ones that the uni has shortlisted? 

[shenyrd]

On 1/14/2022 at 4:56 PM, gcinquiry said:

Has anyone heard any updates re: scholarship offers?

I received my official Gates Cambridge scholarship offer yesterday (Arts Panel)!! I don't know if all panels have sent out their results yet, but I thought I would pass this update along.

[Thegoldfinch]

8 hours ago, shenyrd said:

I received my official Gates Cambridge scholarship offer yesterday (Arts Panel)!! I don't know if all panels have sent out their results yet, but I thought I would pass this update along.

Congrats! Do you mind sharing some more prof info: the department you applied for and whether you are PhD or MPhil? 

[shenyrd]

3 hours ago, Thegoldfinch said:

Congrats! Do you mind sharing some more prof info: the department you applied for and whether you are PhD or MPhil? 

Thank you! And sure, PhD in History ?.

[Thegoldfinch]

On 1/18/2022 at 9:02 AM, shenyrd said:

I received my official Gates Cambridge scholarship offer yesterday (Arts Panel)!! I don't know if all panels have sent out their results yet, but I thought I would pass this update along.

What was the deadline they gave you to reply by? 

[Elwynn11]

On 1/18/2022 at 9:02 AM, shenyrd said:

I received my official Gates Cambridge scholarship offer yesterday (Arts Panel)!! I don't know if all panels have sent out their results yet, but I thought I would pass this update along.

Congratulations!

For some reason the Gates discussion on this forum this year is not as active as last year.....

[Elwynn11]

On 1/17/2022 at 10:15 AM, smellycat said:

Does anyone know how candidates are selected/the unis approach for this? Are all candidates reviewed by the GC committee? Or just the ones that the uni has shortlisted? 

From the description of their website and the past posts on this forum, no, only the ones nominated by the department (maybe 1-2 per department?) get viewed by the GC committee.

However, I did once receive an email from GC telling me that "we will be considering your application if you are made an offer by your prospective department." But not sure if this sentence should be taken literally.

 

[Crabhead nebula]

On 1/18/2022 at 9:02 AM, shenyrd said:

I received my official Gates Cambridge scholarship offer yesterday (Arts Panel)!! I don't know if all panels have sent out their results yet, but I thought I would pass this update along.

Congratulations!! Just wondering if you applied in the US round or international? 

[Crabhead nebula]

On 1/31/2022 at 6:41 PM, Elwynn11 said:

From the description of their website and the past posts on this forum, no, only the ones nominated by the department (maybe 1-2 per department?) get viewed by the GC committee.

However, I did once receive an email from GC telling me that "we will be considering your application if you are made an offer by your prospective department." But not sure if this sentence should be taken literally.

 

May I ask when you were contacted by Gates Cambridge? Also did you receive a conditional acceptance before that? Thanks! 

[shenyrd]

On 1/31/2022 at 6:32 PM, Elwynn11 said:

Congratulations!

For some reason the Gates discussion on this forum this year is not as active as last year.....

Thank you!

On 1/27/2022 at 11:42 AM, Thegoldfinch said:

What was the deadline they gave you to reply by? 

7 hours ago, Crabhead nebula said:

Congratulations!! Just wondering if you applied in the US round or international? 

Thanks! I applied in the US round, and I don't remember the exact date but it was a couple weeks ago (within a week of when I received the offer email). 

7 hours ago, Crabhead nebula said:

May I ask when you were contacted by Gates Cambridge? Also did you receive a conditional acceptance before that? Thanks! 

November - received conditional acceptance to Cambridge

Early December - notified that I was a finalist for the GC scholarship

January 17th - awarded GC scholarship

In my experience, the timeline given on the GC website was accurate!

[Elwynn11]

7 hours ago, Crabhead nebula said:

May I ask when you were contacted by Gates Cambridge? Also did you receive a conditional acceptance before that? Thanks! 

I contacted them in Dec for a special situation in my own application. They will not contact you if you don't contact them. I didn't have a conditional offer by then (thats why they said that in the email).

At this moment, I suppose you are in the international round? As I was told (and what the website also says), you will hear news in early March whether you enter the final competition or not. 

[Crabhead nebula]

34 minutes ago, Elwynn11 said:

I contacted them in Dec for a special situation in my own application. They will not contact you if you don't contact them. I didn't have a conditional offer by then (thats why they said that in the email).

At this moment, I suppose you are in the international round? As I was told (and what the website also says), you will hear news in early March whether you enter the final competition or not. 

Thank you so much for explaining! Good luck to you ?

[Elwynn11]

1 hour ago, Crabhead nebula said:

Thank you so much for explaining! Good luck to you ?

No problem. Let's keep each other posted.

[Elwynn11]

Just received the email I was not not selected for the next step...Arts and Humanity panel. So those of you who are selected for the next step should already be notified. Good luck!

Edited February 18, 2022 by Elwynn11