Pick A College for me!

I think I'm going to apply to Cambridge instead of Oxford for Modern and Medieval languages in October. Except, I know nothing about Cambridge, and don't know which college to pick. Will you all do it for me?
I'd like to go to a college that is mixed (of course), reasonably big, old and impressive-looking (I'm shallow), quite left-wing (or at any rate, political), one that's got a good social scene, and that isn't incredibly competitive. Obviously, the college I just described may not exist, but which one best fits that description.

Also, where can I find the entry statistics for the course? Is it more or less competitive that it's sister at Oxford.

Do you have to do medieval french if youre studying french? (I ask, because I dont want to spend 3 years translating manuscripts)

(Btw, I'm a scottish student (guy) with 8 '1's, 4As 2Bs at Higher (As in French, Spanish, English, Maths), and i'm doing French, Spanish, History and English at AH this year (Which is A Lot). Also usual stuff about how great I am, play instruments and croquet or whatever, blah blah blah...)

Thanks alot - any advice would be great

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Reply 1

Willa

for MML I would advise Emmanuel....it's really good for that...it's quite big, but not too big, it looks old, it's friendly. Your only downside is it's competitive. But if you want all the other good stuff, you have to put up with one bad side!

Although as ever, I advise you to make the choice for yourself....GO THERE AND LOOK AROUND if you can...you'll know which college is right when you find it!

Reply 2

priya

read some college prospecti (avail online) so if they ask you questions on why u picked that colege you'll be able to say something :tongue:

Reply 3

Squishy

I think Queens' fits your description the best. It's big and has old buildings (well the Mathematical Bridge looks old, but that's really all of the college I've seen). I don't know much about its politics, but it's always struck me as pretty liberal...it also regularly boasts about its social scene: apparently its bops are the best in Cambridge, and it's not usually oversubscribed.

Don't put too much weight on stats...and do visit before you make a decision. My open day really confirmed my choice of college for me.

Reply 4

Acaila

Scottish student! Yay! Where are you from? :smile:

Kings is famous for being leftie. It's also quite big I think, and very impressive looking. I think it's quite popular, but not one of the most competitive. Supposedly it's not the most academic college these days. Everybody's too busy protesting :biggrin:

And it's very central.

Reply 5

observer

priya

read some college prospecti (avail online) so if they ask you questions on why u picked that colege you'll be able to say something :tongue:

Actually the plural for prospectus is ... prospectus. Sorry for being so pedantic, couldnt help myself. :biggrin:

Reply 6

Trinity Blume

observer

Actually the plural for prospectus is ... prospectus. Sorry for being so pedantic, couldnt help myself. :biggrin:

isn't it prospectuses?

Reply 7

observer

you can say that as well, it makes it more obvious.

Reply 8

visesh

Main Entry: pro·spec·tus
Pronunciation: pr&-'spek-t&s
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -tus·es /-t&-s&z/
: a preliminary printed statement describing a business or other enterprise and distributed to prospective buyers, investors, or participants; specifically : a description of a new security issue supplied to prospective purchasers and providing a disclosure of detailed information concerning the company's business and financial standing
NOTE: Under the Securities Act of 1933, the prospectus is part of the registration statement that must be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission before a security may be offered or sold to the public. The Securities Act defines prospectus broadly as “any prospectus, notice, circular, advertisement, letter, or communication, written or by radio or television, which offers any security for sale or confirms the sale of any security.”

Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.

Reply 9

Trinity Blume

observer

you can say that as well, it makes it more obvious.

LoL I can't believe I even replied to that..:-| sorry for being equally as pedantic! who cares anyway!! :rolleyes:

Reply 10

Trinity Blume

visesh

LoL thanks for that ... I feel we're completely screwing this thread over though...

Reply 11

visesh

Trinity Blume

LoL thanks for that ... I feel we're completely screwing this thread over though...

That's true, but I don't really see the point of this thread, and the dozen or so similar ones :wink:

Reply 12

priya

visesh

That's true, but I don't really see the point of this thread, and the dozen or so similar ones :wink:

ah but that is the beauty of ukl, and the random people who come on here and do not heed the advice of the FAQ

Reply 13

The Albatross

priya

read some college prospecti (avail online) so if they ask you questions on why u picked that colege you'll be able to say something :tongue:

why did you chose (our college)? um, some randoms on the internet chose it for me...
impressive :rolleyes:

Reply 14

priya

scarlet ibis

why did you chose (our college)? um, some randoms on the internet chose it for me...
impressive :rolleyes:

because, like the prospectus said, it's beautiful, right in the centre of town, small (therefore close knit). it was also seemingly unknown compared to the majority of other colleges, so had a better applicant: place ratio :tongue:

Reply 15

Ticki

priya

Did you get asked that, Priya? Keith didn't ask me and I was a bit worried at the time that he was going to pool me. I wasn't even asked 'Why Cambridge?' actually, although perhaps I'd already said enough in the little blue box on the CAF.

Reply 16

jcw

Ticki

Strangely, perhaps, most of the people at Cambridge I've spoken to haven't been asked that. I guess DoSes / admissions tutors realise that there is no advantage in spending the little time they have to interview people asking questions that everyone prepares an answer to and wouldn't tell them anything useful anyway!

Has anyone had a tutorial interview where they were actually asked about their sports / hobbies, etc at any length at all?

Reply 17

priya

Ticki

oh yes, got asked both questions by Ssorin-Chaikov. it really put me off because i assumed they'd know why i'd applied to sidney (one of my teachers mentioned some rubbish about me thriving in a close knit environment in my reference). and i reeled off the prospectus, realising afterwards that that mightn't have been the most original thing to do

Reply 18

Ticki

jcw

Has anyone had a tutorial interview where they were actually asked about their sports / hobbies, etc at any length at all?

Yeah, I brought along my own 'record of achievement' type thing which we discussed for 10 mins, but that was mainly the school newspaper and this thing I did at Duke University in America. I was also asked about a lot of Politics, which scared the hell out of me!