Gates Cambridge 2017-2018

[Horb]

2 minutes ago, sat0ri said:

Thank you! I've been noticing your posts since last Fulbright cycle, so I feel united by the struggle. Did you apply to Gates as well? I know so far you are a recommended for Fulbright, though I thought it was not longer for the UK (maybe Germany, because you are DAAD applicant too)

I applied for Germany this go around! I thought about the DAAD, but I didn't think I was good fit and I found their application too confusing.

[theamazonianist]

23 hours ago, dragontime said:

Okay, I told myself if I won, I would be certain to leave the web with more useful information than I have found. Here are a few tips for future applicants. These are my personal tips, based on my journey; I encourage you to sift through, find what is useful and chuck what you think is not. 

1. From the moment you start your application you need be aware that you are tailoring it for two different audiences- the department you are applying to and the Gates Cambridge committee. These audiences are looking for some of the same things as far as academic excellence and leadership (this, after all, is what will get you moved to Gates), but Gates is incredibly mission-driven and in this way it may differ from your department. Your application needs to take into account the Gates mission and needs to deeply tie the Gates mission with the work you plan to do long term and the program you plan to pursue at Cambridge. 

2. Practice your interview- I am not one who struggles with interviews at all, but I found that there were many "blind spots" I had not considered when preparing for my interview. This is where practice interviews with my undergraduate institution were incredibly helpful. They were able to ask me questions and raise my awareness of even small things like word choice. It is useful to get a different set of eyes on your interview preparation. 

3. By the time you get to the interview- everyone is excellent. We are all equally yoked as far as accomplishment, intelligence, department support, and mission. Thus, the interview is a chance to stand out from the pack. It's a chance to sell your passion for both the work you intend to do and also for becoming a part of the Gates community. Be sure that you are prepared to speak to both. Gates Cambridge has a youtube page which you may find useful and of course, you should be LIVING on the Gates Cambridge website. You are mainly trying to prepare yourself to convincingly argue that you are an amazing fit for not only your program, but for Gates. 

4. Have fun- the interview IS going to be an amazingly friendly and personable interview. Be personable, passionate, informed and friendly. Come ready to enjoy the dialogue. 

5. Take comfort in knowing that you are now incredibly competitive for other University/college funding- I was told that funding entities tend to like to pull the names of Gates interviewees who did not win- they do so because they can be certain of the quality of applicant. 

 

On 2/1/2017 at 2:26 PM, sat0ri said:

Decisions out on 2/1/2017 at 10:58 AM (Wednesday following the interview, which I skyped for).
Subject line: " Gates Cambridge Scholarship decision "

I was accepted!!! This is a dream come true..

First of all CONGRATULATIONS on getting such a reputable scholarship! Hope you enjoy your time in Cambridge.

I am Latin American and I received an offer from the University in December. However, I haven't got any email informing about Gates until now. Not sure what to expect... Anyway, as dragontime accurately said: I've been living on Gates website.

I have two questions:

What department are you at? 

How was the interview? What sort of questions do they ask?

Thanks!

[dragontime]

2 hours ago, Thaís Carlo said:

 

First of all CONGRATULATIONS on getting such a reputable scholarship! Hope you enjoy your time in Cambridge.

I am Latin American and I received an offer from the University in December. However, I haven't got any email informing about Gates until now. Not sure what to expect... Anyway, as dragontime accurately said: I've been living on Gates website.

I have two questions:

What department are you at? 

How was the interview? What sort of questions do they ask?

Thanks!

 

Congrats on getting into Cambridge and receiving an email to interview for Gates- these are both huge accomplishments. I interviewed on the social sciences panel. I would say that the only two things you CAN expect in the interview is that they will want to know that you have deeply connected why you want to be part of the Gates community with why you want to study at Cambridge and then they will want to know what both of those have to do with your larger goals. <--------------- that exact linear connection is what 40% of my interview questions surrounded. The other 60% were so incredibly specific to my application that they would be of no use to you- They pulled them from curiosities they had about my proposed research, my resume, my entire Cambridge application and my career plans. Then there were questions that were asked that I had nowhere near prepared for- for instance, I was asked by one of the interviewers "you have been described as a movement maker and I would have to agree with that description, tell me what your response is when you are described that way." <--------- here, is a question that I TOTALLY did not expect and there was not really a right or wrong answer. I just had to be emotionally and intellectually present in the interview so that I could be flexible enough to answer questions that surprised me. Honestly, I think the best preparation you can do is to try to anticipate, alongside some folks from your University, the questions that your specific application might garner and be prepared to answer those questions you know they will ask everyone (like what I mentioned earlier). My interview was incredibly specific to the materials they had from me (literally- they had my entire application highlighted and written on in front of them), thus, I know they could not have given the next person the same interview. Which is incredible; it speaks so highly of how much work they do in choosing recipients and preparing for the interviews. However, this "tailored" way of interviewing definitely means that the content of my interview will tell you very little about yours. Trust me, bring your passion to the table, review your materials to anticipate their questions, prepare for questions you know they will inquire about, and be emotionally and intellectually present in the interview- there is not much else you can do. I wish you luck in the process  It's going to be amazing. 

[gradapp2048]

4 hours ago, Thaís Carlo said:

 

First of all CONGRATULATIONS on getting such a reputable scholarship! Hope you enjoy your time in Cambridge.

I am Latin American and I received an offer from the University in December. However, I haven't got any email informing about Gates until now. Not sure what to expect... Anyway, as dragontime accurately said: I've been living on Gates website.

I have two questions:

What department are you at? 

How was the interview? What sort of questions do they ask?

Thanks!

Hey there, have you already received an invitation to interview for the gates as an international applicant? If so, is this a departmental interview, or the official gates interview?

[theamazonianist]

40 minutes ago, gradapp2048 said:

Hey there, have you already received an invitation to interview for the gates as an international applicant? If so, is this a departmental interview, or the official gates interview?

Hi! Actually I haven't received an invitation to interview yet. I received an offer from my Department at Cambridge three weeks after applying, but I'm not sure it means something... Until now I've got no news from Gates.

Here is a calendar someone posted earlier about previous international selections. Hope it helps! Good luck

 

On 11/20/2016 at 9:24 PM, 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

[Gradhop]

On 01/02/2017 at 7:42 PM, dragontime said:

Okay, I told myself if I won, I would be certain to leave the web with more useful information than I have found. Here are a few tips for future applicants. These are my personal tips, based on my journey; I encourage you to sift through, find what is useful and chuck what you think is not. 

1. From the moment you start your application you need be aware that you are tailoring it for two different audiences- the department you are applying to and the Gates Cambridge committee. These audiences are looking for some of the same things as far as academic excellence and leadership (this, after all, is what will get you moved to Gates), but Gates is incredibly mission-driven and in this way it may differ from your department. Your application needs to take into account the Gates mission and needs to deeply tie the Gates mission with the work you plan to do long term and the program you plan to pursue at Cambridge. 

2. Practice your interview- I am not one who struggles with interviews at all, but I found that there were many "blind spots" I had not considered when preparing for my interview. This is where practice interviews with my undergraduate institution were incredibly helpful. They were able to ask me questions and raise my awareness of even small things like word choice. It is useful to get a different set of eyes on your interview preparation. 

3. By the time you get to the interview- everyone is excellent. We are all equally yoked as far as accomplishment, intelligence, department support, and mission. Thus, the interview is a chance to stand out from the pack. It's a chance to sell your passion for both the work you intend to do and also for becoming a part of the Gates community. Be sure that you are prepared to speak to both. Gates Cambridge has a youtube page which you may find useful and of course, you should be LIVING on the Gates Cambridge website. You are mainly trying to prepare yourself to convincingly argue that you are an amazing fit for not only your program, but for Gates. 

4. Have fun- the interview IS going to be an amazingly friendly and personable interview. Be personable, passionate, informed and friendly. Come ready to enjoy the dialogue. 

5. Take comfort in knowing that you are now incredibly competitive for other University/college funding- I was told that funding entities tend to like to pull the names of Gates interviewees who did not win- they do so because they can be certain of the quality of applicant. 

CONGRATULATIONS!!  I have been lurking for a while and I am so happy for you! Would you mind sharing your profile with us- you can be as vague as possible to cling to your anonymity 

I'm most particularly interested in your GPA/ rank of your institution and any extra curricular or work experience you might have had.

 

Congratulations again! 

[dragontime]

On 2/5/2017 at 7:23 AM, Gradhop said:

CONGRATULATIONS!!  I have been lurking for a while and I am so happy for you! Would you mind sharing your profile with us- you can be as vague as possible to cling to your anonymity 

I'm most particularly interested in your GPA/ rank of your institution and any extra curricular or work experience you might have had.

 

Congratulations again! 

 

Sure!

I graduated with a 3.8 from a top 100 but not anything near a top 50, 25 or 10. In fact, my University has placed only one Gates scholar other than me and that was 15 yrs ago. I have national achievements (both in undergraduate and in my career). I also have a pretty extensive history of leadership and achievement in my leadership capacities. I have taken a few international fellowships on a range of social justice oriented issues. I have been working in my field for 3yrs. 

[Gradhop]

22 hours ago, dragontime said:

Sure!

I graduated with a 3.8 from a top 100 but not anything near a top 50, 25 or 10. In fact, my University has placed only one Gates scholar other than me and that was 15 yrs ago. I have national achievements (both in undergraduate and in my career). I also have a pretty extensive history of leadership and achievement in my leadership capacities. I have taken a few international fellowships on a range of social justice oriented issues. I have been working in my field for 3yrs. 

Thank you for the reply!  I wish you all the best in Cambridge and in your future endeavours ?

[VTT777]

On 2016/11/27 at 4:18 AM, 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!  

Hi, jobryan, may I ask when did you submit the application for the MPP programme? Thank you. I applied in Dec 2016, but got no news yet. @jobryan

Edited February 14, 2017 by VTT777

[dokumented]

Anyone here apply to one of the History Mphil programs?
I wonder when we will start to hear back.

It's been on degree committee for ages it seems like. I applied December 7th.

[theamazonianist]

I assume international students will start to hear back from Gates soon...
Please let us know as soon as any of you receive an invitation for interview.

Thanks in advance and fingers crossed for us all!!!

[luiswel]

On 2/15/2017 at 10:37 AM, dokumented said:

Anyone here apply to one of the History Mphil programs?
I wonder when we will start to hear back.

It's been on degree committee for ages it seems like. I applied December 7th.

There is a recent Dphil Phys poster in the results section who applied for Gates. If you are around, we should chat. Anyone else applying under physics?

[kaightconhead]

On 15.2.2017 at 6:37 PM, dokumented said:

Anyone here apply to one of the History Mphil programs?
I wonder when we will start to hear back.

It's been on degree committee for ages it seems like. I applied December 7th.

Hey!! I applied for MPhil in Modern European History; I heard about two weeks ago that I was accepted!

So i think that they are just getting around to acceptances now.

Am hoping to hear about Gates today or tomorrow...

[Blue Skies]

Does anyone have any idea about whether the department notifies those students who have been nominated by them for the scholarship or not? Or is the email from Gates the first notification of the selection? Lastly, do unsuccessful applicants also receive a notification from Gates? Hopefully, everyone finds out at the same time! The anxiety is killing me!

[akh276]

15 hours ago, luiswel said:

There is a recent Dphil Phys poster in the results section who applied for Gates. If you are around, we should chat. Anyone else applying under physics?

Hey, I applied to the Nano DTC which comes under the Department of Physics for all admission purposes. I was told that I was going to be put forward for a number of scholarships including Gates. I absolutely can't take this wait!!

[luiswel]

8 hours ago, akh276 said:

Hey, I applied to the Nano DTC which comes under the Department of Physics for all admission purposes. I was told that I was going to be put forward for a number of scholarships including Gates. I absolutely can't take this wait!!

Congrats! How did you hear that? I just got my letter on the website! Waiting for the email

[kaightconhead]

54 minutes ago, luiswel said:

Congrats! How did you hear that? I just got my letter on the website! Waiting for the email

Can I ask what you mean by letter on the website?? Is there some sort of gates login that I have never gotten ?!

[capplicant]

12 minutes ago, kaightconhead said:

Can I ask what you mean by letter on the website?? Is there some sort of gates login that I have never gotten ?!

He means the offer letter on CamSIS.

[akh276]

1 hour ago, luiswel said:

Congrats! How did you hear that? I just got my letter on the website! Waiting for the email

I was told that (in writing) at the same time as my interview outcome. 

[keti]

46 minutes ago, akh276 said:

I was told that (in writing) at the same time as my interview outcome. 

Congrats! Just to confirm, you are an international applicant who already received information about their interview outcome for Gates?  

[akh276]

34 minutes ago, keti said:

Congrats! Just to confirm, you are an international applicant who already received information about their interview outcome for Gates?  

Hey, I am an international applicant. I was referring to the interview for my programme, not the Gates interview  I was merely told that I was going to be put forward for Gates by my department along with my programme interview outcome email.

Just to clarify, I have not received any invite for the Gates interview yet!

Edited February 27, 2017 by akh276
Additional clarification

[luiswel]

1 hour ago, akh276 said:

Hey, I am an international applicant. I was referring to the interview for my programme, not the Gates interview  I was merely told that I was going to be put forward for Gates by my department along with my programme interview outcome email.

Just to clarify, I have not received any invite for the Gates interview yet!

I think it is program dependent. My program didn't require an interview so I am in the dark. I got the offer letter but there is still time to hear from the Gates interviews. The interviews will happen at the end of March, so I assume we have time to hear. Most likely next week?

[akh276]

13 hours ago, luiswel said:

I think it is program dependent. My program didn't require an interview so I am in the dark. I got the offer letter but there is still time to hear from the Gates interviews. The interviews will happen at the end of March, so I assume we have time to hear. Most likely next week?

Ah alright. Seeing as they stuck to the timeline published for the US notifications (mid-December), we should know end of this week or by next week.

[Lele2017]

On 2017/2/27 at 9:27 AM, Blue Skies said:

Does anyone have any idea about whether the department notifies those students who have been nominated by them for the scholarship or not? Or is the email from Gates the first notification of the selection? Lastly, do unsuccessful applicants also receive a notification from Gates? Hopefully, everyone finds out at the same time! The anxiety is killing me!

I am an international applicant applying for Gates and still didn't hear anything yet. I got my offer in early January.

I also didn't get an email regarding whether I have been nominated so I emailed my department yesterday asking whether they have shortlisted the candidates yet. Here is the email reply from the department:

... I am afraid I am unable to provide any information. Yes, we have shortlisted the Gates candidates, 
but after that, we have no insight in the process. In my experience, the 
candidates are informed some time in March.

They didn't explicitly say things like 'we have put you forward for the gates cambridge scholarship', etc and I got a bit worried because I was not sure what the email actually means...and I wasn't sure if I am supposed to ask the department about this issue either...a bit worried that I might have offended them in any way...still not sure how I should reply the email....

Guess just still have to wait a bit! Good luck to those of you who applied! 

[Gradhop]

Hi, I also emailed my department sometime in January.  They told me that they were not allowed to tell me if I had been put forward for the Gates as "ultimately the decision lies with the University". I too, did not know what they meant by this but I decided to let it go.

We're now in March after all, so the grueling wait is almost over.  Best of luck to you and to us all.

Edited March 2, 2017 by Gradhop
Typo