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Who actually lives in the photographed buildings at Cambridge?

I know that, say for example at King's, third years live in the buildings they want you to see, but I was kind of curious because, particularly first year accommodation is usually in modern buildings. So yeah, what's the score?

Me?

OP

Is this the case with most Cambridge colleges?

Reply 3

blue_in_green

OP

Yeah, good point. My applications already in now, I just grew curious because the more I looked around the more it seemed that students are relegated to modern buildings. Thanks for your help.

Reply 4

blue_in_green

OP

Great, fingers crossed on interview/offer I suppose. Do you mind me asking, did you study at Cambridge or are you just well informed, either way where and what did you study?

Reply 5

Muppety_Kid

17

blue_in_green

Great, fingers crossed on interview/offer I suppose. Do you mind me asking, did you study at Cambridge or are you just well informed, either way where and what did you study?

From memory, it's Law at Downing (but this guy's written half of the Cambridge wiki! :eek:

).

Which college have you applied to, and what for? :smile:

I'm hoping to do Law at Pembroke...

Reply 6

blue_in_green

OP

Math's at Queens', let's hope we both make the cut

Reply 7

Scipio90

I could take a photograph of my room if it would help.

Reply 8

Canned Door

blue_in_green

Yeah, good point. My applications already in now, I just grew curious because the more I looked around the more it seemed that students are relegated to modern buildings. Thanks for your help.

Relegation? Modern buildings may well have nicer showers. That is not relegation. Older buildings may have hideously constrictive fire regulations and no toilet/shower facilities. When I say 'may', I mean, it fits for my college in a few cases. The whole town has older prettier buildings, so there's no need to live in them as well. :smile:

Reply 9

blue_in_green

OP

Apologies if that seemed a bit harsh, I just found it a bit odd that you are to a certain extent sold by the old buildings, on college websites, prospectuses etc. yet when I've looked into it (for , I concede, only a few colleges) I couldn't really see who lived there.

Reply 10

blue_in_green

OP

Scipio90

I could take a photograph of my room if it would help.

Thanks, but that would be going out of your way, I'd rather just know what people have found of the first year accommodation, to your knowledge (particularly in Queens'). I should make a point of saying that I'm only curious, I'm not expecting an offer or interview, nor would I turn my nose up at it if it was 'awful'.

Reply 11

Chewwy

17

i have a turret. pretty cool.

Reply 12

Craghyrax

17

blue_in_green

Great, fingers crossed on interview/offer I suppose. Do you mind me asking, did you study at Cambridge or are you just well informed, either way where and what did you study?

fumblewomble just won the September 'Mod's Member of the Month' award for good contributions to the site. He/she is pretty much the most reliable poster in the Cambridge forum.

That aside. I'm a Cambridge undergraduate and I lived in Darwin's house in first and second year (it has a stone plaque and everything) and I'm living in the oldest court of college for my final year - complete with stone staircase, beams, and my name hand painted in curly white writing at the entrance to the staircase :p:

Alot of new accommodation is very nice and more luxurious in some senses if it means that you get a nicer kitchen and so on. En suite is ridiculously overrated in my opinion, because all colleges employ bedders who clean your kitchen and bathrooms on a daily basis, and empty your bin for you, hoover etc. People in my college are about 3 or 4 to one bathroom, so its the same as living with a family. People fear needlessly. I certainly wouldn't part with any extra money for en suite.

Freshers at Peterhouse almost all live in really pretty, enormous Georgian terraced housing, with huge windows and mantlepieces, fire places and so forth.

Reply 13

Helenia

20

Chewwy

i have a turret. pretty cool.

THE turret?

Anyway, at Clare, it's all 3rd years in Old Court. 1st years are in Mem, which is across Queen's Road, opposite the UL. It's quite pretty, and the rooms are much more practical and well-appointed than the Old Court ones. Same goes for the Colony (though less pretty). Living in a stunning old building isn't always great if you have archaic heating/no shower on your staircase/tourists taking pictures through your windows...

Reply 14

thefish_uk

14

blue_in_green

Apologies if that seemed a bit harsh, I just found it a bit odd that you are to a certain extent sold by the old buildings, on college websites, prospectuses etc. yet when I've looked into it (for , I concede, only a few colleges) I couldn't really see who lived there.

What does it matter? Few people pick their college just because they want to feel like they're living like a king. As has already been mentioned, the old buildings are the ones which weren't really built with modern accomodation expectations in mind.

I live at Robinson. From the outside it has been compared to a red brick "castle" or "car park" depending on who you speak to. However every year of my course I've had a room which is cosy and warm, with windows that shut properly and a (sometimes slightly over-effective) central heating system. Every room shares a bathroom with at most two others which only these rooms have access to. Lots of en-suites as well so if you really want one, you can get one. There's a clever system of balconies linking the staircases and also between pairs of rooms, which as well as meaning you have an extra fire exit is handy around may ball time as people who aren't attending can still come and go from their rooms even during the ball. Plenty of electricity, phone / network points etc come as standard as the modern inventions weren't added as an afterthought. And we're well away from the tourists! I suspect the novelty of actually living in one of those ancient buildings would wear off pretty quickly. Though one downside of Robinson is that because we're new the college doesn't make as much money from investments so rents are high - the college hosts conferences in the vacation which does have the plus that everything is kept well maintained.

So believe it or not you're not being tricked into living in a modern building rather than an ancient one because, well, maybe you have it better off that way.