awed2002 wrote:
Leftcoastguy wrote:
Hi there, R1 accepted (and enrolled) candidate here. Congratulations! From what I understand, getting the interview invitation is a very good sign at Cambridge.
I had a 20 min pre-interview first with the Head of Admissions and then a 40 min phone interview with a faculty member (I wasn't told who it would be in advance). You can assume that your interviewer would have read your whole application very carefully and the questions will be specific to your application. So definitely reacquaint yourself with your essays before the interview. They will likely ask questions related to your weaknesses pointed out by your referees. Many of the questions were behavioral in the vein of "tell me about a time when..." so make sure you have at least a few good stories to use to answer those type of questions. Also be prepared to tell them how you will contribute to the program. Remember, Cambridge builds quite an eclectic student body (and I'm talking in terms of personalities here, not just passports) so they're looking for what's unique in you. Overall, the interviewer was very friendly and seemed genuinely interested to know more about me. I enjoyed it very much. Good luck!
Oh and the reason you might find this thread quiet is because the school sets up a Facebook page very early in the process and facilitates discussion over there. For R1, they invited all candidates invited to interview and there are also Admissions staff and current students on there. Since you've been invited to interview, perhaps you could request to be added on there?
Leftcoastguy: Did you decide Cambridge over Oxford? Wondering how you got to the decision. Thanks.
Yes, I did and I can tell you that my decision was not an easy one to make. There is lots to like and little to dislike in each program so in the end it came down to these parameters:
Fit - My interest lies in Healthcare and Consulting, areas in which Judge scores higher or equal to Oxford in my opinion. Said's program leans towards Finance and Entrepreneurship and this was very evident when I heard the program director Stephan Chambers speak during a reception last month.
Program Structure - More practical, consulting-based projects, especially the CVP which is earlier in program means that I have something to put on my resume before Consulting recruitment begins in Feb/March. This is important for someone like me looking to switch into consulting with zero past experience in that field. On the other hand, I was never completely convinced that the compulsory Entrepreneurship project at Said would be as valuable to me.
Diversity - My life so far has been split between India and the US so I would have very easily fit in with the student body as Said, where close to 50% of the students are from these two countries alone. However, I felt that I needed to step out of this comfort zone and meet people from other countries in Asia and Europe, which Judge has in spades.
Personal Attention - I have found the Cambridge Admissions staff to be a lot more engaged during the entire application process. The Admissions staff maintain blogs, answer questions directly in this and other forums and voluntarily facilitate conversations between candidates on Facebook even before accepting them. They are a lot more open to "public" questioning, which means being able to take both bouquets and brickbats. I found the Oxford Admissions process was significantly more opaque. You would be right to argue that the Admissions staff may not necessarily be reflective of the school itself but my contact with students and alumni leads to believe that they are.
Money Matters - There is a lot more scholarship money to be had from Cambridge. I was a fortunate recipient of a bursary award and there are more scholarships to apply for early next year.
18 Dec 2012, 13:46
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