To those of you who had faith in my application to Cambridge to study Mathematics, I thank you. However, on the 16th of January I received a very thin and ominous letter stamped ‘Cambridge’ on the top. I subconsciously knew the decision they had reached.

I ripped open the letter, unfolded one of two pages and a single word caught my eye before anything else - ‘regret’ - Bugger!

I read the whole thing more to satisfy my curiousity than anything else:

Dear Jeremy

I write with regret to say that we shall not be able to offer you a place to read Mathematics at Trinity from October 2007. Your application has, however, been passed to the Inter-College Pool, where it will be available for consideration by the other colleges.

A SHINING GLIMMER OF HOPE! I read on…

During this procedure it is possible that you may be asked to come for interview at another college (or at more than one college), though you should appreciate that not all candidates whose applications have been put into the Pool are called for further interviews. Such interviews will be held between 11-13 January inclusive (there may be additional dates if required). If a college wishes to interview you, you will be contacted prior to these dates.

Hmmmm… So I haven’t been called for an interview, but there is a possibility that I may have been offered a place without one. The current applicants to places ratio is 4:1 so I’m battling it out against 3 of the finest Mathematical minds in England and possibly even abroad.

We appreciate that this is an anxious time for you, but we would ask you not to telephone college admissions offices yourself. Further information about the Pool is enclosed.

You should receive a final decision on your application by the end of January at the latest.

Yours sincerely

*Name withheld*

The next day a letter arrived in the post with the same ‘Cambridge’ stamp. It was even thinner than the last.

Dear Jeremy

Since I wrote to you last, we have given further consideration to your application. The other colleges have also completed their consideration of candidates in the Inter-College Pool.

Good, good…

I regret to say that no college here is able to offer you a place to read Mathematics.

!$#%?@!

I am sorry to have to send you this disappointing news. The competition for places at Cambridge is severe, and we are conscious of the fact that we have to turn down a substantial number of gifted applicants, many of whom will go on to highly successful careers at other universities. I hope that you can put this disappointment behind you and go on to such success, and I wish you well in your efforts to do so.

Yours sincerely

*Name withheld*

It was at this point that I raised my hand in the general direction of Cambridge and lifted my middle finger from my closed fist.

Thanks for making me fill in half a dozen forms and flying me half way round the world you elitist bastards!

But in all seriousness, I probably would have given the same answer in their position. Cambridge is arguably one of the greatest and most reputable institutions in the world to study Mathematics. Although I played with the idea of being there at one time, I do not have a passion for Mathematics and would have used the acceptance letter to adorn Choueifat’s show-off-y wall. That, and I’m lazy.

And competition is severe and passes through a series of filters. The first step is to be even allowed to apply to Cambridge by your school (I was initially told that I had to do more A levels to show them I was willing to work - unacceptable for someone as lazy as me), the second step is the many forms you have to send and resend excluding the UCAS form, the third is the exams you are doing: to study Maths, for example, you have to have an A level in Maths and preferably be doing an AS or A level in Further Maths depending on the college you’re applying to, the fourth step is a possible interview in Cambridge with two professors, the fifth is a possible pooling, and finally you will probably be asked to do two Maths STEP papers at the end of the year as part of a conditional offer. These exams are lethal, and students generally begin practicing for them at the beginning of the academic year.

Taking all this into consideration, I am quite happy with the fact that I was put into the Inter-College Pool by Trinity College.

Besides, 5/6 universities isn’t too bad of a score. ;)