compilerbitch (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
compilerbitch) wrote2003-05-19 06:53 pm
compilerbitch) wrote2003-05-19 06:53 pm
Not Trinity...
I got a letter this morning from Trinity. They didn't give me the scholarship (not that it really matters any more!). I phoned this afternoon to see if they were offering me a place -- seemingly, they turned me down. Poo.
Newnham is next in the queue. We shall see how that goes!
I'm not down at all about Trinity -- they were only top of the list because they had the most money and the most studentships up for grabs, as well as offering 3 years of accommodation. I also applied for a scholarship to Newnham, so we shall see what happens there, although as I understand it a lot of colleges get miffy if you didn't post them as your #1 choice. Again, I'm not really bothered if they give me money -- I'm mostly interested in finding a college that will give me three years of accommodation that (ideally) also isn't in the middle of nowhere.
We shall see where this leads. I will post news here as it happens -- thank you again to everyone who has provided hugs and support through this process.
[Now off to the gym!]
Newnham is next in the queue. We shall see how that goes!
I'm not down at all about Trinity -- they were only top of the list because they had the most money and the most studentships up for grabs, as well as offering 3 years of accommodation. I also applied for a scholarship to Newnham, so we shall see what happens there, although as I understand it a lot of colleges get miffy if you didn't post them as your #1 choice. Again, I'm not really bothered if they give me money -- I'm mostly interested in finding a college that will give me three years of accommodation that (ideally) also isn't in the middle of nowhere.
We shall see where this leads. I will post news here as it happens -- thank you again to everyone who has provided hugs and support through this process.
[Now off to the gym!]
continued...
Also counting against me is a very nonstandard academic background. I'm up against people who have been through posh schools and come out with vast numbers of A grade GCSEs and A levels, then got a first in an undergraduate degree at Oxford or Cambridge. I, however, left school at 16, didn't do any A-levels, didn't do an undergraduate degree at all, then did a masters as a (not very!) mature student, at a not very impressive sounding poly in North East England.
On my plus side, I have worked as a university lecturer, I have over 20 years experience in my field doing real things, and I actually founded my area of proposed PhD research. I dont know if you know any lattice theory, but if you do you'll know exactly what I mean when I say that I'm not (in the technical sense of the term) comparable with typical Cambridge applicants. I'm not in the same continuum -- it doesn't necessarily mean I'm better or worse, it's just that I'm so different that my case will have to be debated on its own merits.
Nevertheless, my nonstandard background gives a huge collection of potential reasons for not giving me a college place. I think it's probably just as well I've managed to find my own funding, from a non-academic source, controlled only by myself and not in any way blockable by anyone within Cambridge.
Finding out that I've got rheumatoid arthritis last week makes me doubly nervous -- if it gets worse, I might end up with mobility problems that would inevitably be awkward for the college, giving yet another reason not to have me.
Yes, I know that Cambridge guarantees to find a college place if you're offered a departmental place and have funding. I just have a funny feeling that I'll probably end up being one of the very few people who end up falling out the bottom of my 1:2:3:4 choice list and into the 'pool', ending up with a place at the very last possible minute with no accommodation. Grr.
Sorry.
I think I'm feeling a bit negative right now. I went to the gym tonight, but had to stop after about 20 minutes because everything was hurting too much, so I'm pretty down right now.