How Competitive
Round 1 (USA)
- c. 750 eligible applicants apply
- c. 200 highly ranked by Departments
- c. 100 invited to interview
- 40 offered a Gates Cambridge Scholarship after interview
Round 2: (International)
- c. 4,000 eligible applicants apply
- c. 400 are highly ranked by Departments
- c. 120 are invited to interview
- 50 offered a Gates Cambridge Scholarship after interview
Competition for admission to the University of Cambridge and for a Gates Cambridge Scholarship is intense.
The University of Cambridge is normally ranked in the top three universities worldwide. It typically receives over 9,000 applications for graduate study from non-British applicants, approximately 1,700 of whom take up their place at Cambridge.
Once applicants have applied for admission and a Gates Cambridge Scholarship, the Trust asks academic departments in Cambridge to rank their very best candidates. A shortlisting committee then applies the four main criteria of the scholarships to produce a final interview list. Gates Scholars are selected after interview.
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Where are they from?
Over 1,000 Scholars from almost 100 countries - click on our interactive map to see where they are from.
Video profiles [More]
Mr Siza Mtimbiri (Zimbabwe)
PhD Education
Siza directs a charitable organization that aims to change children’s lives through education and health provision.
Rachel Pike (USA)
PhD Chemistry
I hope to find out what a (partially) biomass-dependent energy future will mean for our climate and air quality, as realized in a global chemistry-climate model.
Latest news [More]
Climate change heroes on film
Gates alumnus Maxime Riche makes webdocumentaries on climate change heroes.
A legacy of learning
Eduardo Machicado Murillo has just opened up his family's library to the public.
