Cambridge College Reputations

Hi, was looking for some general advice on the reputation of specific colleges within Cambridge, I have seen the Cambridge College Pros and Cons Thread but was looking for added opinions for these specific colleges. If anyone has anything to add about these specific college it would be particularly helpful

1. Christ's
2. St. John's
3. Jesus
4. King's
5. Trinity College
6. Clare
7. Corpus Christi
8. Emmanuel
9. Selwyn
10. Trinity Hall

I have also read the alternative prospectus for the vast majority of these colleges and I do not know if I will be able to visit Cambridge due to me being an international student.

General answers about student welfare/ happiness, accomodation, food/drink, location, sports that I may not have read anywhere else or you feel I should know would be greatly appreciated. Also maybe in regards to Economics fellows, which Colleges have the most active fellows etc.

Any opinions on best college from above and why or general pros/cons in regards to these colleges will be greatly appreciated.

You may be playing a risky game here.

To start with, there's no general/objective consensus for 'reputation' on any given college. There're some 'stereo-types' for some colleges but they're usually not much more than a tool the students use for bantering or making fun of each other.
And if you cast a question like this, sort of replies you're likely get most are not-very-objective, slightly glorified versions of how things are at a college by people who were/are/are going to the college.
TSR's College Pros and Cons are useful to some extent, but many of them haven't been updated for ages, so don't take it word for word. And again, all of them are written by the students of the college, so some of them can be a liiiiitle bit biased. Same for Alternative prospectus. Too many colleges claiming to be 'the friendliest' 'the best' 'the nicest'

Welfare/pastral care-wise, there isn't much difference from college to college. I find pastoral care of Cambridge is quite good on both college and university-level. As for scholarship/grants/awards, they can vary from college to college but the difference is not that big.
And happiness...... I've known many Cambridge students over years, but I've never met anyone who doesn't think their college is the best. So I assume they're as happy as anyone else who went to other colleges. Hence, if you cast a post like this, you'll get lots of replies trying to plug their college because everyone thinks their colleges are great!

Food: there's a couple of colleges who claim to have the best food at Cambridge and a couple that are reputed to serve not-very-good food, but in general my hunch is that the quality of daily meals are not hugely different. It's quite difficult to compare as not many students've been to eat at other colleges except for the formals.
One thing to note is that at Caius you're required to eat minimum of 30-odd dinners at formals. (pre-paid) But their 'formals' are not quite a proper 'formal' as other uni's formals (pls see their website for the menu) and they're reasonably price for 'formal. Caius' students seem to think it's a good system, while other colleges' students are not so sure....

Accommodation : Some colleges have great rooms for first years and quality can decline in subsequent years. Some others the other way around. Some average-ish all the way through. All colleges offer accommodation for at least 3 years, many during your course, but a few don't. So that's what you may want to check. (Need to check on each college's website)

You get a bedder who come to clean your room and communal areas (like corridor, kitchen, shared bathroom/toilets) once a week......except for Newnham.

Location: Cambridge is not big, so you can get to anywhere easily in relatively short time......except for from Girton and Homerton. They're quite away from the centre. And for some town centre colleges, some of their accommodations are away from the centre for 2nd year or later. But that doesn't mean it's bad as it can be nearer to your department and it can be more modern and spacious than their accommodation on the main site. Many colleges have some info/photo of 'typical' rooms they offer, but which room you'll get will be determined by housing ballot for 2nd year onwards, and you enter the ballot with the friends (unless you're determined you're not going to make any friend!) you want to live with, so don't set your heart to firmly on prospect of any room you may/may not actually get.

Fellows: Not much point in deciding a college for a fellow, because of......(read the bottom bit of this page)

So in short, don't worry too much about it. There're many students decide on a college without visiting Cambridge or a college even if they're in UK. You'll be more than likely to be happy anywhere.

You may be playing a risky game here.

To start with, there's no general/objective consensus for 'reputation' on any given college. There're some 'stereo-types' for some colleges but they're usually not much more than a tool the students use for bantering or making fun of each other.
And if you cast a question like this, sort of replies you're likely get most are not-very-objective, slightly glorified versions of how things are at a college by people who were/are/are going to the college.
TSR's College Pros and Cons are useful to some extent, but many of them haven't been updated for ages, so don't take it word for word. And again, all of them are written by the students of the college, so some of them can be a liiiiitle bit biased. Same for Alternative prospectus. Too many colleges claiming to be 'the friendliest' 'the best' 'the nicest'

Welfare/pastral care-wise, there isn't much difference from college to college. I find pastoral care of Cambridge is quite good on both college and university-level. As for scholarship/grants/awards, they can vary from college to college but the difference is not that big.
And happiness...... I've known many Cambridge students over years, but I've never met anyone who doesn't think their college is the best. So I assume they're as happy as anyone else who went to other colleges. Hence, if you cast a post like this, you'll get lots of replies trying to plug their college because everyone thinks their colleges are great!

Food: there's a couple of colleges who claim to have the best food at Cambridge and a couple that are reputed to serve not-very-good food, but in general my hunch is that the quality of daily meals are not hugely different. It's quite difficult to compare as not many students've been to eat at other colleges except for the formals.
One thing to note is that at Caius you're required to eat minimum of 30-odd dinners at formals. (pre-paid) But their 'formals' are not quite a proper 'formal' as other uni's formals (pls see their website for the menu) and they're reasonably price for 'formal. Caius' students seem to think it's a good system, while other colleges' students are not so sure....

Accommodation : Some colleges have great rooms for first years and quality can decline in subsequent years. Some others the other way around. Some average-ish all the way through. All colleges offer accommodation for at least 3 years, many during your course, but a few don't. So that's what you may want to check. (Need to check on each college's website)

You get a bedder who come to clean your room and communal areas (like corridor, kitchen, shared bathroom/toilets) once a week......except for Newnham.

Location: Cambridge is not big, so you can get to anywhere easily in relatively short time......except for from Girton and Homerton. They're quite away from the centre. And for some town centre colleges, some of their accommodations are away from the centre for 2nd year or later. But that doesn't mean it's bad as it can be nearer to your department and it can be more modern and spacious than their accommodation on the main site. Many colleges have some info/photo of 'typical' rooms they offer, but which room you'll get will be determined by housing ballot for 2nd year onwards, and you enter the ballot with the friends (unless you're determined you're not going to make any friend!) you want to live with, so don't set your heart to firmly on prospect of any room you may/may not actually get.

Fellows: Not much point in deciding a college for a fellow, because of......(read the bottom bit of this page)

So in short, don't worry too much about it. There're many students decide on a college without visiting Cambridge or a college even if they're in UK. You'll be more than likely to be happy anywhere.

Jesus, thanks for that, you put in a lot of effort there, covered most of what I wanted to know. Do you go to Cambridge yourself?

Also, I assume some colleges within Cambridge will be more strict than other in terms of offers. By that a mean some may take a weaker Maths student than others/ have wider parameters in terms of Economics for example?

General answers about student welfare/ happiness, accomodation, food/drink, location, sports that I may not have read anywhere else or you feel I should know would be greatly appreciated. Also maybe in regards to Economics fellows, which Colleges have the most active fellows etc.

Any opinions on best college from above and why or general pros/cons in regards to these colleges will be greatly appreciated.

Bear in mind the above replies - everyone seems to love wherever they end up at.

However, since you asked about Emma...

lol
So you have two lots of ducks? The second lot for eating?

Not sure if opposite Nando's is a good thing.... Handy if your college's food is not that great, I s'ppose.....

Someone I know applied to Emma purely because she liked the name.

Yeah we have loads of ducks, they're awesome ^^ also you're allowed on practically all of the grass except the central, lot less restrictions than other colleges. We also have ducks, and the oldest continuously used swimming pool in Europe.

Did I mention - we have ducks too.

Ah so we're talking reputation for ducks? - in that case I would just like to bring it to your attention that Queens' has ducks, swans, and a whole flipping RIVER that runs slap bang through the middle of it

Seriously though OP, don't play the 'best chance of getting an offer' game - just go for the college that you like the look of best, gut instinct is often right when it comes to Cambridge colleges.