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Graduate Housing

Hello! I'm a clueless American who's been accepted to study for an M.Phil in Music Studies. I've been accepted to Girton College, and now I'm trying to figure out housing options. Does anyone have any suggestions? It looks like my options as a graduate student are between Wolfson Court or having a room in a house. I'd love to hear pros/cons of the house lifestyle vs. living in what is essentially a dorm (something I got enough of in undergrad, thanks). There's not too much info on facilities online--information on things like laundry, kitchens, room size would be great.

Thank you so much!

Reply 1

Pepipanda

Similar situation here. Another American coming for an MPhil, but in Trinity Hall. My options are the Wychfield Site and Bateman Street townhouses. I'm going to be working at Addenbrooke's, but I'm leaning toward Wychfield because I want to be around other people and it seems to be much nicer. Does anyone have more information about the options at either location, especially visuals like interior photos or floor plans? Also, if I'm hesitant about biking around town, how else might I get to the hospital to work?

Reply 2

effloresce_

Original post by musicalchairs

As far as facilities etc go, your best bet is to check with other people in your college, e.g. via Facebook. Most MCRs (basically the graduate body in each college) should have FB pages or can otherwise be contacted by email to find out more about the facilities from people who have been there.

The house vs dorm decision is very personal, but broadly:

Pros of house: Can meet other people, often the people you live with become good friends, more communal generally, feels less like undergraduate dorm living, might have access to shared spaces e.g. a bigger kitchen, garden, locations may be in quieter/more residential areas than on a big student building/dorm
Cons: experience may depend quite a lot on what people are like in your house (eg are they social, are they nice people, are they considerate), probably will have to share bathrooms, might be closer to college which can be convenient (e.g. for MCR, for dining hall & library facilities)

Pros of dorm: Great if you like a lot of privacy/limited social interaction, higher chances of ensuite/private bathrooms, more likely that you won't have to clean your own room (college 'bedders' may do things like hoovering the floors, mine did), usually still easy to meet other people living in neighbouring rooms so you still get a good social circle
Cons: Can feel a bit like undergrad days, sometimes harder to make really good friends amongst other neighbours as interaction can be social

I'm biased cos I was in a dorm for 2 years and I liked it a lot overall. Now I'm living in a 2-bed flat with a good friend which is not the same as being in a house with a lot of strangers!

Reply 3

effloresce_

Original post by Pepipanda

The best people to contact about photos/better descriptions of the interiors are other people in your MCR who may have lived there before. FWIW, I'm not in Trinity Hall, but I've seen the Wychfield Site buildings from the outside and they look very nice and new, and I've heard that there are usually quite a lot of spaces (ie it's easy to get something there).

The good bit about the Wychfield site is you're more likely to meet a large section of other people, and that may be a big plus point, in addition to what looks like the nice new buildings. Idk about facilities but that may also be a factor (e.g. whether you can get ensuite bathrooms, how many people share a kitchen). The downside is that it's pretty far away from the city centre in Cambridge terms, being 'up the hill'. It's not far in absolute distance terms but most people prefer more central locations. It may therefore be a bit more troublesome to do certain things eg. groceries (only abt 10-15 minutes, but up and down the hill), than the Bateman location. It's also in the opposite direction from Addenbrokes, being North Cambridge while Addenbrookes is South. Not a problem with a bike, and additionally you can also catch a bus to Addenbrookes, but IDK if you can get it from the Wychfield site. You can definitely get it near the Bateman location around Hills Road, and it's probably about 10-20 minutes shorter a journey to Addenbrookes by bus.

Bateman - I like the location a lot, but I've lived in the southern end of central Cambridge for 3 years, so I'm biased. It is much nearer to the station (prob 5-7 minutes), has some supermarkets about 2 minutes away, and is nearer Addenbrookes. Personally I prefer the location of Bateman to Wychfield, esp if you are working in Addenbrookes. But the downsides are that the building might be less nice/new/modern (probably is), you may have to share bathrooms/other facilities with more people, and of course, it's harder to meet a lot of people in accommodation, though you'll still have plenty of socialising activities in the MCR in the central college building which is probably marginally closer to Bateman than Wychfield. It's a toss up between various factors.

Graduate Housing

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