Gates Cambridge 2017-2018

[gowes93]

Hey all,

I'm an American who just applied to an MPhil program at Cambridge (History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine, specifically), and also to the Gates Cambridge. I'm just curious about how the timeline works with the GC/Cambridge process. The HPS program indicates that admission is subject to an interview, while the GC website says departmental consideration/nomination takes place Oct-Nov. Does that mean the first thing I should expect is an interview (if they want one, of course) with the program? And following that, should it hopefully occur, the dept would accept me and put me forth for the GC? Any info would be helpful. Lots of variables go into this, it would seem. 

Also, if anyone else applied/is waiting/has things to share re Gates or Cambridge, have at 'em

[jobryan]

I have nothing to share as of yet, but I definitely want to be a part of the thread for when people start getting their notifications. Definitely curious about the timeline! 

[embeddedV2]

Hi,

I was offered a Gates Scholarship last year for MPhil Linguistics. The timeline for me was 1) being offered admission by the department 2) (quite a bit later) being invited to interview by Gates 3) being offered Gates. So the way I understand it Gates won't even touch your application until it's put forward by the department. Bearing in mind I applied as an "international" (not as an American) so the timeline might be slightly different?

If you have any questions you think I could help with, do ask! (I didn't accept this offer in the end but did my undergrad at Cambridge.)

[sat0ri]

On 10/28/2016 at 10:31 PM, embeddedV2 said:

Hi,

I was offered a Gates Scholarship last year for MPhil Linguistics. The timeline for me was 1) being offered admission by the department 2) (quite a bit later) being invited to interview by Gates 3) being offered Gates. So the way I understand it Gates won't even touch your application until it's put forward by the department. Bearing in mind I applied as an "international" (not as an American) so the timeline might be slightly different?

If you have any questions you think I could help with, do ask! (I didn't accept this offer in the end but did my undergrad at Cambridge.)

Do you remember the timeline more precisely by any chance? E.g., what month where you accepted by the department, invited to interview, and offered gates.

My friend was an immigrant to America (where I'm located) so he applied to the to the international round--hence the timeline is different--but I do recall he was offered the gates like 1-2 weeks after his interview. That is to say, that part is very fast

[embeddedV2]

9 minutes ago, sat0ri said:

Do you remember the timeline more precisely by any chance? E.g., what month where you accepted by the department, invited to interview, and offered gates.

My friend was an immigrant to America (where I'm located) so he applied to the to the international round--hence the timeline is different--but I do recall he was offered the gates like 1-2 weeks after his interview. That is to say, that part is very fast

Sure, just checked my emails, and this was the timeline:
3 February: department offer
26 February: invited to Gates interview
22-23 March: Gates interview
24 March: Gates offer

[sat0ri]

4 minutes ago, embeddedV2 said:

Sure, just checked my emails, and this was the timeline:
3 February: department offer
26 February: invited to Gates interview
22-23 March: Gates interview
24 March: Gates offer

Awesome. Great information for all. And of course, congratulations! Were you applying as an American btw? I looked through previous years, and it seems they sent out a tweet in mid-December that all candidates have been chosen or notified, but I believe the formal rejection came later.

On Thursday (11/17/2016) I received an email from the department of chemistry saying I was one of XXX number of applicants who were being nominated to be evaluated. Thought I'd add that in case anyone else was curious for this cycle. I'm very guarded though as a dramatic amount of people are eliminated each round of the competition.

 

[embeddedV2]

On 2016. 11. 20. at 5:38 PM, sat0ri said:

Awesome. Great information for all. And of course, congratulations! Were you applying as an American btw? I looked through previous years, and it seems they sent out a tweet in mid-December that all candidates have been chosen or notified, but I believe the formal rejection came later.

On Thursday (11/17/2016) I received an email from the department of chemistry saying I was one of XXX number of applicants who were being nominated to be evaluated. Thought I'd add that in case anyone else was curious for this cycle. I'm very guarded though as a dramatic amount of people are eliminated each round of the competition.

 

No, I applied as an international student so no idea about the American timeline I'm afraid.

Good luck!

[jobryan]

Hey guys! 

I just got my acceptance to my program at Cambridge (MPP), but I didn't get any word on whether or not they've shortlisted me. I was just curious if other people's experiences were more like @sat0ri's or like mine. 

 

Thanks all!  

[sat0ri]

On 11/26/2016 at 3:18 PM, jobryan said:

Hey guys! 

I just got my acceptance to my program at Cambridge (MPP), but I didn't get any word on whether or not they've shortlisted me. I was just curious if other people's experiences were more like @sat0ri's or like mine. 

 

Thanks all!  

Hey I just wanted to allay any concerns you might have over whether our experiences are comparable. For me, they wanted a separate research statement (despite me inputting my statement in 2 other places) for my application--and I'm entirely grateful they reached out to me, because it is stated on the Gates webpage that ensuring all materials are received is our responsibility. That said, it is not clear whether or not they notified me because something was missing or because that is the modus operandi of this particular department or because of the shortlistin per se.

I will say that I think you being accepted by the department this early (usually notifications aren't sent out for another ~6 months) certainly seems to be a good sign.

Edited November 27, 2016 by sat0ri

[Averroes MD]

I've interviewed with the POI, but that's about it. So, does the fact that I haven't received and notification from either the department or Gates Cambridge mean that I'm out of the running?

[jobryan]

On 12/5/2016 at 6:09 PM, Averroes MD said:

I've interviewed with the POI, but that's about it. So, does the fact that I haven't received and notification from either the department or Gates Cambridge mean that I'm out of the running?

Hey, I don't know! I really couldn't say. I would love to find some more information from last year. 

I would say that since this hasn't been a very full thread, you're probably not out of the running yet. I would imagine more people would be posting good news if they had it. Best of luck! 

[sherbertlemon]

Hello! I applied for a BBSRC PhD as well as a Gates-Cambridge. Anyone know what the Biological Sciences timeline is like, both for general admissions and for the Gates-Cambridge?

[dragontime]

I did not receive an email from the faculty alerting me that I had been competitively listed; thus, I was following this thread with great trepidation. Today, while cleaning out my junk box, I happened upon the invitation for the Gates Cambridge interview. In format, it looks quite like the Cambridge acceptance letter, but it was not signaled as high priority email and thus ended up in my email dust-bin. Consider checking your junk-box. The email went out today (December 15th). One of my greatest fears in this process was going until January not knowing anything. While this may or may not mean ANYTHING, for your notification, it's clear that invitations have started to go out and that the Gates Cambridge office is going to be closed for the holidays so invitees are required to solidify interview acceptance by December 19th. This information is regarding the American portion of the Gates Cambridge. 

[sherbertlemon]

7 minutes ago, miss miss said:

I did not receive an email from the faculty alerting me that I had been competitively listed; thus, I was following this thread with great trepidation. Today, while cleaning out my junk box, I happened upon the invitation for the Gates Cambridge interview. In format, it looks quite like the Cambridge acceptance letter, but it was not signaled as high priority email and thus ended up in my email dust-bin. Consider checking your junk-box. The email went out today (December 15th). One of my greatest fears in this process was going until January not knowing anything. While this may or may not mean ANYTHING, for your notification, it's clear that invitations have started to go out and that the Gates Cambridge office is going to be closed for the holidays so invitees are required to solidify interview acceptance by December 19th. This information is regarding the American portion of the Gates Cambridge. 

Congratulations on your interview! 

[TempD]

That's great, Congrats! May I ask which committee corresponds to your field of study (i.e., biological sciences, physical sciences, etc.)? Does anyone know if this means that those of us without a notification are out of luck?

[sat0ri]

USA applicant. Also received the interview invite today. I'm elated but guarded.

Anyone conflicted over whether to skype vs go in person?

[JSmythe]

Miss Miss and sat0ri. Are you in the sciences or social sciences and where are you interviewing?

[sat0ri]

11 hours ago, JSmythe said:

Miss Miss and sat0ri. Are you in the sciences or social sciences and where are you interviewing?

 

I'm interviewing with the physical sciences panel. What about you? The interview is slated for Washington DC but I think I might Skype.

My university stated they could likely support my travel but I would need to fill out paperwork to confirm. However since Gates is requiring I state whether I will Skype or go in person by Monday/Sunday -- before I will know whether travel funding is approved -- I think I'm going to play it safe and Skype for the interview. The trip would cost $500 (+/-) and that's a lot of money to drop for a 25 minute interview. I've also already have been to the DC area.

[jobryan]

Congrats all! I'm also very curious to know if it's just the physical sciences or if the social sciences have been sent out as well. 

 

 

[dragontime]

Social sciences 

[Clover22]

Hi all,

Have any humanities applicants received invites yet?

[JSmythe]

Miss Miss: What area of social sciences?

Clover 22: Is there a difference between social sciences and humanities?

[Clover22]

3 minutes ago, JSmythe said:

Miss Miss: What area of social sciences?

Clover 22: Is there a difference between social sciences and humanities?

Oh I think it's actually categorized as "arts" for the Gates. (Just checked, and there are four panels: Arts, Physical Sciences, Biological Sciences, and Social Sciences

[Triplett]

Any news from biological sciences?

[dragontime]

Take what I have to say with a grain of salt and maybe even less.

Although I am not sure, and of course could not be certain, my understanding is that applicants from all disciplines have likely been notified within the same time frame. My primary reasoning for having this inkling is because the deadlines are tight- we are talking a deadline to confirm by the 19th and (as far as I know) notifications began on the 15th. If we take into consideration that the Gates office closes for the holidays and all U.S. applicants will interview within that same 3-day January window, I can not imagine that notifications are significantly staggered based on discipline.

That being said, I have NO CLUE and am only sharing what I have gathered from the little information I have been given. It is still possible that some staggering has occurred and perhaps early January will be the conclusion of all notification letters. It's also possible that people who choose NOT to accept their interview, leave a space for an alternate to be contacted after that deadline of the19th. I know from corporate America that deadlines are often "softer" than they seem.  

Again, whatever I have said that feels logical to you, take it and process it. If it feels illogical, chuck it as mere speculation.