Pembroke College (Cambridge) Students and Applicants

After having trawled the internet for pictures (there are very little) the best my girlfriend or I could find were these from TSR's own article: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/:Pembroke_College%2C_Cambridge

In the end I just decided to go with the architecture that I liked the most so asked in the comments section for either red building's (favourite) or new court (I quite like Ridley's walk)...
I don't suppose anyone knows exactly where the fresher's accommodation for the red buildings is? I know that the block by the church is for 1st years (stayed there for my interview), but was wondering if there were any 1st year rooms in the red buildings around the JP? It seems unlikely as it's such a nice place, but I would really love to be able to get a room there...

Reply 782

Original post by Lost And Confused

After having trawled the internet for pictures (there are very little) the best my girlfriend or I could find were these from TSR's own article: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/:Pembroke_College%2C_Cambridge

In the end I just decided to go with the architecture that I liked the most so asked in the comments section for either red building's (favourite) or new court (I quite like Ridley's walk)...
I don't suppose anyone knows exactly where the fresher's accommodation for the red buildings is? I know that the block by the church is for 1st years (stayed there for my interview), but was wondering if there were any 1st year rooms in the red buildings around the JP? It seems unlikely as it's such a nice place, but I would really love to be able to get a room there...

Ah, no - the thing near the JP is the Old Master's Lodge; it's technically called the "Pitt Building". Freshers live in Red Buildings (near the Chapel), but I'm a third year and am currently living in the Pitt Building (M staircase). The reason that the Pitt Building's a little novel is that it has "split sets".

Basically, a "set" is like a mini-flat, usually occupied by a scholar (who got a first in their exams). It has a living room, a bedroom, and a small gyp room. The college still has some of these (e.g. in O staircase), but a "split set" is a set that's been made into two rooms at some point in time. I'm occupying a split set with my friend - I have the "A room" (formerly one person's living room; the A room is always the largest) and he has the "B room" (formerly the same person's bedroom). We have a gyp room that we share, and an oak that keeps us separate from the outside world and stops people using our gyp. The only downside I've found of living in a split set is that my room doesn't have as many plug sockets as a normal bedroom - it literally only has one, so I've had to daisy chain extension leads!

For what it's worth, though, I suspect you'll end up in New (which I can highly recommend!). If you think about it, some people will only be able to afford living in Red Buildings because it's the cheapest, so people like you who offer the college some flexibility will be bumped into more expensive rooms to make sure everyone has a bed. :smile:

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 783

Original post by Tortious

Ah, no - the thing near the JP is the Old Master's Lodge; it's technically called the "Pitt Building". Freshers live in Red Buildings (near the Chapel), but I'm a third year and am currently living in the Pitt Building (M staircase). The reason that the Pitt Building's a little novel is that it has "split sets".

Basically, a "set" is like a mini-flat, usually occupied by a scholar (who got a first in their exams). It has a living room, a bedroom, and a small gyp room. The college still has some of these (e.g. in O staircase), but a "split set" is a set that's been made into two rooms at some point in time. I'm occupying a split set with my friend - I have the "A room" (formerly one person's living room; the A room is always the largest) and he has the "B room" (formerly the same person's bedroom). We have a gyp room that we share, and an oak that keeps us separate from the outside world and stops people using our gyp. The only downside I've found of living in a split set is that my room doesn't have as many plug sockets as a normal bedroom - it literally only has one, so I've had to daisy chain extension leads!

For what it's worth, though, I suspect you'll end up in New (which I can highly recommend!). If you think about it, some people will only be able to afford living in Red Buildings because it's the cheapest, so people like you who offer the college some flexibility will be bumped into more expensive rooms to make sure everyone has a bed. :smile:

Thanks very much :smile:

You are really something of an oracle on here :cool:

That seems fair enough, I do really like New Court too (though the whole college is pretty) and I think I can swing the middle cost bracket :smile:

Thanks again :smile:

Reply 784

Original post by Lost And Confused

Thanks very much :smile:

You are really something of an oracle on here :cool:

That seems fair enough, I do really like New Court too (though the whole college is pretty) and I think I can swing the middle cost bracket :smile:

Thanks again :smile:

You're welcome :h:

Thanks for the compliment, although as someone who's "lost and confused" you probably have pretty low expectations! :wink:

If you've got any other questions, feel free to quote me (if you think the answer would benefit everyone) or drop me a PM. :smile:

Reply 785

Sockpirate

15

Original post by ErrinR

Ooh that looks nice! I think I will go for foundress court, can you tell me any pros/cons? :smile:

Pros: SO MANY BATHROOMS. I never even saw anyone in the bathroom at the same time as me for like the whole first term. There's basically like 1 shower for every 2 people or something (ok, the ratio is probably a bit more than that, but you'll never have an issue getting a shower). Conversely, for the older buildings, the showers are in the basement, and I think there's a worse ratio.

The facilities are generally good, with all the rooms being modern. You won't be cold in the Winter, which can be an issue in the older buildings as they don't have double glazing etc. Foundress rooms generally have good kitchens, with freezers and stuff too.

You don't have to go outside to go to the gym, computer room, or laundry room.

Cons: I actually thought that Foundress was less good for meeting people that the other accommodation blocks, and that Orchard buildings etc. were the cliquey ones! (To give an alternative view to Tortious' :p:

) Think that was just because of my room location though - I was on the top floor, and half of it was empty for the first term as they save those rooms for exchange students who come in January. In reality, everything's what you make of it, people mix quickly, and I think they're changed how they do the rooms for exchange students anyway now, so there isn't a half empty floor for the first term, so it's not really a con, but just thought I'd mention it!

Clearly it's also not got the character that the older buildings have.

It's also the most expensive accommodation, with room rent being ~£100 a week. The other buildings will be £10-20 cheaper a week.

I'd say Tortious' ranking is roughly right, although think I personally prefer Orchard building over New court, as I think the rooms are a bit bigger? (Don't quote me on that though, not spent much time in either accommodation block!

Ultimately though, it doesn't really matter where you live - people tend to go to the JP quite a lot in first year, so you mix a lot outside of your accommodation, and you'll make friends wherever you live! (The group of friends I have now aren't the people I lived closest to in first year)

Reply 786

Original post by Sockpirate

Pros: SO MANY BATHROOMS. I never even saw anyone in the bathroom at the same time as me for like the whole first term. There's basically like 1 shower for every 2 people or something (ok, the ratio is probably a bit more than that, but you'll never have an issue getting a shower). Conversely, for the older buildings, the showers are in the basement, and I think there's a worse ratio.

The facilities are generally good, with all the rooms being modern. You won't be cold in the Winter, which can be an issue in the older buildings as they don't have double glazing etc. Foundress rooms generally have good kitchens, with freezers and stuff too.

You don't have to go outside to go to the gym, computer room, or laundry room.

Cons: I actually thought that Foundress was less good for meeting people that the other accommodation blocks, and that Orchard buildings etc. were the cliquey ones! (To give an alternative view to Tortious' :p:

) Think that was just because of my room location though - I was on the top floor, and half of it was empty for the first term as they save those rooms for exchange students who come in January. In reality, everything's what you make of it, people mix quickly, and I think they're changed how they do the rooms for exchange students anyway now, so there isn't a half empty floor for the first term, so it's not really a con, but just thought I'd mention it!

Clearly it's also not got the character that the older buildings have.

It's also the most expensive accommodation, with room rent being ~£100 a week. The other buildings will be £10-20 cheaper a week.

I'd say Tortious' ranking is roughly right, although think I personally prefer Orchard building over New court, as I think the rooms are a bit bigger? (Don't quote me on that though, not spent much time in either accommodation block!

Ultimately though, it doesn't really matter where you live - people tend to go to the JP quite a lot in first year, so you mix a lot outside of your accommodation, and you'll make friends wherever you live! (The group of friends I have now aren't the people I lived closest to in first year)

Oh yeah, the number of bathrooms in Foundress is definitely a pro! Everyone seems to shower at 7am-9am, so in a staircase of twelve with only two showers you often have to wait!

One con I think you might've missed is that the big windows in Foundress mean that the rooms can get really hot in summer, and there's not much you can do about it - I was in Foundress in second year and had to keep my curtains shut for most of Easter to keep the heat out! At least in "old" accommodation you can (in theory) get a heater to keep you a bit warmer. That said, when I was in New Court in Michaelmas 2010 I was using two duvets and a sleeping bag and was still sometimes cold. :s-smilie:

I should clarify that I was only joking about the cliquey aspect. I suspect I was (am?) quite bitter when I formed that opinion because I didn't know the people on my staircase that well. :p:

EM (the rower who's now elsewhere) held a "staircase tea party", but my DoS had arranged our meeting for that time so I think the others thought I was "the one who didn't bother to turn up". :moon:

Reply 787

alex_hk90

19

+1 for Foundress as someone who lived there back in '08-'09. :moon:

Reply 788

Melthusa

8

wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Bottom of Norrington

10/10 for drinking and clubbing though!

Reply 789

Silverland

3

Original post by Melthusa

wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Bottom of Norrington

10/10 for drinking and clubbing though!

Norrington is Oxford you nutcase >=|

Reply 790

username937760

Has anyone here seen one of the fabled rooms with no central heating and/or sinks? I was hoping for some of the slightly cheaper accommodation but to try avoid the rooms without those facilities I moved my price bracket to the middle one (Max £98, I think?) and specifically requested on the form that I would strongly prefer not to be in one of the rooms lacking those facilities.

Reply 791

Original post by DJMayes

Has anyone here seen one of the fabled rooms with no central heating and/or sinks? I was hoping for some of the slightly cheaper accommodation but to try avoid the rooms without those facilities I moved my price bracket to the middle one (Max £98, I think?) and specifically requested on the form that I would strongly prefer not to be in one of the rooms lacking those facilities.

I'm not certain, but I believe these are in the red buildings, and as there are only 3 you're unlikely to be in them unless you go for the lowest price bracket and ask for the cheapest accommodation available... And even if you did somehow end up there, with the money you'd be saving I'm sure you could easily get things to compensate? So yeah, I think you'll be fine :smile:

Incidentally, I'm also in the middle price bracket, now hoping for New Court :cool:

Reply 792

username937760

Original post by Lost And Confused

I'm not certain, but I believe these are in the red buildings, and as there are only 3 you're unlikely to be in them unless you go for the lowest price bracket and ask for the cheapest accommodation available... And even if you did somehow end up there, with the money you'd be saving I'm sure you could easily get things to compensate? So yeah, I think you'll be fine :smile:

Incidentally, I'm also in the middle price bracket, now hoping for New Court :cool:

I'm not hugely fussed on which court I'm put into; I'd just like the room I have to have a sink :lol:

Reply 793

Original post by DJMayes

I'm not hugely fussed on which court I'm put into; I'd just like the room I have to have a sink :lol:

Not sure which accommodation you (lot) have been told doesn't have a sink - all of the "old rooms" do except Old Court, and that's reserved for scholars (i.e. people who get firsts). I replied to Lost a few weeks ago with an answer which is fairly similar to the one he's just given you, but in short, you'll probably be put in the most expensive accommodation you can afford (to make room for people who can only afford Red Buildings). New Court is really nice!

Reply 794

username937760

Original post by Tortious

Not sure which accommodation you (lot) have been told doesn't have a sink - all of the "old rooms" do except Old Court, and that's reserved for scholars (i.e. people who get firsts). I replied to Lost a few weeks ago with an answer which is fairly similar to the one he's just given you, but in short, you'll probably be put in the most expensive accommodation you can afford (to make room for people who can only afford Red Buildings). New Court is really nice!

The accommodation form didn't specify which accommodation; just that there were three buildings in the older parts of the college which didn't have heating or wash basins but this was accounted for in the price of the room.

Reply 795

Original post by DJMayes

The accommodation form didn't specify which accommodation; just that there were three buildings in the older parts of the college which didn't have heating or wash basins but this was accounted for in the price of the room.

Hmm. I'm not sure whether Red Buildings has heating or not - it certainly felt cold a lot of the time that my friend lived there as a fresher! - but (with the exception of Orchard, which I've never been in), I can say that 95%+ of fresher rooms will have sinks. For what it's worth, though, I'm living in a room without a sink this year and I haven't missed it. :smile:

Reply 796

Sockpirate

15

Original post by DJMayes

Has anyone here seen one of the fabled rooms with no central heating and/or sinks? I was hoping for some of the slightly cheaper accommodation but to try avoid the rooms without those facilities I moved my price bracket to the middle one (Max £98, I think?) and specifically requested on the form that I would strongly prefer not to be in one of the rooms lacking those facilities.

I don't think they're in Red Buildings, as Lost and Confused suggests - I think they're actually odd rooms in E staircase. If you're in the middle bracket you won't get them, as there are hardly any, and they're also like £70 a week instead of around £90. Anyway, even on the 0.1% chance that you were to get one, the college has electric heaters you can borrow, and the bathrooms are close :smile:

Reply 797