[ramparts]

I would have the same general feeling (but I'd also trust Athena more than me since she's been here a lot longer!)

Related: I heard the same thing about Pembroke, but they're listed as a category B. I'm not sure if that means that it's still less popular than, e.g., Trinity Hall, or that the admissions statistics BGS uses are a couple of years old and Pembroke somehow recently soared in popularity. Any ideas?

[ramparts]

Oh, an anecdote! I have a friend who put Corpus and Robinson as choices, was pooled and then got taken by Caius. It's a lovely place (the food is getting better...) and I do think it's less subscribed to than the other three you mention.

[ramparts]

That would make sense.

Have you heard any hearsay about whether Pembroke might be about as competitive (or more so) than Trinity Hall these days? According to the prospectus they're not, but who knows?

And yeah, sorry for the ultra-specific questions An American's search for funding is never-ending!

[ramparts]

Applying for a PhD, actually. Not that it'll make much of a difference, I'd imagine

[sevendaughters]

My PhD funding search is bordering on the shameless, having written two separate proposals and therefore being (hypothetically) able to angle for more pots'o'cash. Only using one or t'other per institution though.

[sevendaughters]

(Original post by ramparts)
Applying for a PhD, actually. Not that it'll make much of a difference, I'd imagine

What in? If its in MML, Clare College have a 3-year studentship for PhDs.

[ramparts]

(Original post by sevendaughters)
My PhD funding search is bordering on the shameless, having written two separate proposals and therefore being (hypothetically) able to angle for more pots'o'cash. Only using one or t'other per institution though.

Shame is for the weak

I'm applying for Maths/astronomy. Not many math-specific PhD studentships out there (except at Trinity, of course).

[ramparts]

Research councils don't apply since I'm American, and very little is available through the departments.

[Supermerp]

(Original post by ramparts)
Research councils don't apply since I'm American, and very little is available through the departments.

Does that mean you're applying for a Gates scholarship?

[poi12]

(Original post by Athena)
I've only been in Cambridge a year and a bit, unlike Craggy or poi

Did I just hear my name?

I wouldn't take any of the 'admission statistics' put forward by the BoGS. It's only meant to be a rough indication of the number of applications which were forwarded to X College vs the number of actual spots X College had to offer. It's all meaningless!

As Athena mentioned before, Colleges (exception here and there) favour maintaining balances from year to year (PhD/MPhil, subject, gender, nationality, etc.). If Pembroke was over-subscribed last year, so what. The information is useless to you unless you know how they were over-subscribed. Did they have too many continuing undergraduates in a particular subject? Too many MPhils who will now have left? Too many PhDs who will not have left? Too many MPhils who plan to stay on? This is a game you just can't play.

It should go without saying: there is no way you can compare 'competitiveness' of various Colleges. Because it's all relative. Just hope you aren't the fourth French applicant doing an MPhil in Computer Science they've seen at either X or Y College.

[ramparts]

(Original post by Supermerp)
Does that mean you're applying for a Gates scholarship?

Yessir

[Craghyrax]

(Original post by Athena)
You can't really insure yourself like that. My gut feeling would be that Caius would be least popular, possibly followed by Corpus and Jesus. Pembroke was pretty over-subscribed last year.

I would have probably guessed Cauis to be least popular followed by Pembroke, with Jesus and Corpus similarly popular. The reason for this is because I think that word spreads about Corpus's good graduate community. Its seen as similar to Trinity Hall in having heavily invested in housing for grads recently (Leckworth campus) and having good graduate emphasis and provision. But perhaps that only has an effect for people who know anything about the colleges or have friends already here to speak to. The above point I got from reading stuff on the Graduate Union website, and I suspect alot of prospective grads read that. Threads also develop soooo slowly on there that a source hangs around just about forever on there.

[Supermerp]

(Original post by Craghyrax)
Its seen as similar to Trinity Hall in having heavily invested in housing for grads recently

Have they been doing something to it recently? Otherwise, I think Leckhampton isn't that recent. But I agree that it's pretty good.

(Original post by ramparts)
Yessir

Good luck

[ramparts]

haha, thanks! Same to you if you're applying for it.

[Craghyrax]

(Original post by Supermerp)
Have they been doing something to it recently? Otherwise, I think Leckhampton isn't that recent. But I agree that it's pretty good.
Good luck

I was just going on the posts I read on GU I might be misremembering I did check Corpus out though and they also seemed to have a reasonable amount of funding competitions, relatively, as well as the grad specific community.

[Supermerp]

(Original post by Craghyrax)
I did check Corpus out though and they also seemed to have a reasonable amount of funding competitions, relatively

I once heard somewhere that Corpus is the richest college per student. That might not be true but I think they are quite well-resourced.

Leckhampton seems pretty awesome as a place. I've heard the rooms are a bit variable though (and I think the old building itself doesn't have any showers, or something)

(Original post by ramparts)
haha, thanks! Same to you if you're applying for it.

I'm further along now - I need to work out what I'm going to do after my PhD. It's a bit scary. And depressing when I consider how long I've spent at university.. I know at least one Gates Scholar. The common room they have is pretty swish. Free soup and everything.

[Craghyrax]

(Original post by Supermerp)
I once heard somewhere that Corpus is the richest college per student. That might not be true but I think they are quite well-resourced.

That part isn't true any more as far as I know. Think the college has gone through hard times recently.

[poi12]

(Original post by Supermerp)
I once heard somewhere that Corpus is the richest college per student.

I'm pretty sure it's John's.

[Supermerp]

I gleefully withdraw my assertion.

[Craghyrax]

(Original post by Supermerp)
I gleefully withdraw my assertion.

Gleefully?