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What do you want to know about Cambridge?

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Original post by emma.368
I have just finished my three year course at Cambridge and I really want to say to prospective students don't ever feel like you have to go there if you got an offer. I never truly felt I chose to go to Cambridge (first my teachers were saying you might be able to get in, give it a go, then when I got an offer everyone seemed to say well you can't turn down an offer from Cambridge) and although I have had some amazing times at Cambridge and met some incredible people I don't think I would choose to go there if I knew then what I know now, and many of my friends have said the same.

The workload is manageable in a sense, in that most people do manage to get it done, but generally at the cost of all but minimal free time. Yes, most people do have time to participate in some club, society or sport, but for most people throughout their degree (and certainly for me as a humanities student where there was always more reading to be done) there was never a point where I didn't have some work I should be getting on with, guilt-free relaxation is rare when you are at Cambridge. The standard of work expected and the sheer amount of it means that the three years are near enough constant hard work with deadline after deadline and the holidays not being much rest either.

Then, and I think this is by far the worst part, despite the hard-work there is no guarantee it will pay off. This could be shown in the feedback from your supervision work because the supervisors expect such high standards, or worse still in the end of year exams. They don't publicise this fact but in many subjects (if not all) they do have quotas for grades. This means that although an entire year group in a subject are some of the top students in the country a certain proportion of them have to get lower grades such as a 2.2 even if compared to students nationally they would still be some of the top. This can have a big impact for future employment with many graduate schemes or further education looking objectively at the grades and requiring a 2.1 or above, even if that 2.1 was harder to get at some places than others. Because of the demand for constant hard work and the limited positive feedback it is probably no surprise that mental health is a major problem at Cambridge.

On the other hand, I would like to argue against the stereotype of Cambridge students being elitist and snobby. I have never come across anyone looking down on other people because of the type of school they went to or how much money they have. During Freshers Week (NB: not a full week) I don't think I ever heard anyone talking about anything like that and for several months I had no idea what type of schools my friends had been to. Now in our group of friends we have people who went to a full range of schools from state and grammar schools (like me) to some of the poshest boys' schools in the country and we never even think about it. That isn't to say there are no people who look down on others because of their background in Cambridge but they are few in number, tend to keep quiet and are very easy to avoid. But it is possible this varies between colleges - rumour and stereotype has it that Trinity and St. Johns are worse for this than most other colleges, but the people I have met from there have been very nice. Furthermore, there are generous grants available such as the Cambridge Bursary for general living costs for those from poorer households or grants that are not means tested for specific things such as help with travel to sports matches or to help you fund research for your dissertation - but this does vary between colleges.

This has turned into a bit of an essay but I wanted to give some honest, informed advice on aspects of Cambridge I think are often misunderstood or misrepresented. Cambridge is a unique place and you get some great opportunities when you are there (on an aside, one thing Cambridge has that Oxford (and most other unis) doesn't is May Week - a fantastic week at the end of the year just for fun) but they work you incredibly hard and you may not get a grade you really deserve at the end. Unless you are the type of person who is naturally incredibly clever and probably would get into Cambridge easily, it is very likely you would have more time for fun and get a better grade if you went to another university.


Thanks, but you also posted exactly the same thing 18 months ago.
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1884064&p=57213505&page=365&highlight=#post57213505

So how have things gone for you since then?
Perhaps Hermione didn't only go to Oxford.
Original post by jneill
Thanks, but you also posted exactly the same thing 18 months ago.
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1884064&p=57213505&page=365&highlight=#post57213505

So how have things gone for you since then?


I have no idea why this posted again! I had forgotten entirely about this and don't remember seeing it at all, don't understand why it was reposted.
Original post by emma.368
I have no idea why this posted again! I had forgotten entirely about this and don't remember seeing it at all, don't understand why it was reposted.


That's random :smile:

So... have your views changed 18 months on?

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