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SPS at either King's or Emmanuel

Hey everyone,

Hope everybody that is off in 3 weeks is excited and not too nervous! I was lucky enough to visit the place over the weekend and I have narrowed my choice down to two colleges for my application. My first choice is King's because of the buildings, its diverse intake and that it is academically a bit more relaxed (only hearsay!). Emma also interested me because of its location, the buildings, the ducks (!) and that apparently they're pretty IB-friendly.

If anyone is doing SPS at either these places I would be very interested to hear any opinions you have of the Fellows and general college life (that goes for anyone who is there!).

Thanks v much!

-Sion

Reply 1

Acaila

17

Hello

I'm not at either of those colleges but I'm an SPS applicant and I thought I'd drop in and say hi :biggrin:

Reply 2

khil

15

I'm thinking of applying to King's too! And now I'm also really liking Emma cus of the ducks :biggrin:

Honestly the colleges should all have ducks! - but then that would make the idea of ducks less of a novelty. Maybe they should put in a few sheep.... :biggrin:

What's King's and Emma like? I haven't had a chance for visiting yet :redface:

Reply 3

Acaila

17

Both seem nice colleges :smile:

Kings=famous for politics
Emma=famous for ducks :biggrin:

Reply 4

SionL

OP

Both very quaint :smile:

, Emma more so. King's has very impressive buildings and seems quite grand (although I'm told that it's actually a really laid-back place). Unfortunately, there were only the two porters to be seen at both places (apart from a few tourists) so I am really looking forward to the (possible) interview. This will let me chat to peeps and get a better feel for the place so that I can make a more informed decision if they were to make me an offer.

I'd recommend visiting them yourself though, in term time if possible, so that you have a better idea of the place and the 'feel' before making a decision.

Reply 5

Acaila

17

Yes that's a good idea. Not much time to decide now though eek!

Reply 6

khil

15

Acaila

Both seem nice colleges :smile:

Kings=famous for politics
Emma=famous for ducks :biggrin:

I don't like politics :frown:

If anything I'd go for the ducks :biggrin:

*quack* The only reason why King's appeal to me is the art club, and the only thing Emma has that I like is the "walkable" gardens (aka you can walk on it :rolleyes:

) and *quack quack* *peck* :tongue:

ducks!!!

I wanna go visit but don't wanna go alone tbh... And only two of my friends are interested in Cambridge, and one already knows which college to apply to and have been Cambridge loads, and the other may or may not apply. Anyway are there anymore college/subject open days?

Reply 7

SionL

OP

Go on your own, so that you can make only your own mind up about the place. It's not that daunting a place... you just walk in and stroll around :smile:

Reply 8

Willa

11

I'd go alone as well if you cant find anyone...it's not a problem. You dont get many open days from now on in, but you can still go in most colleges and stroll around (I did that with Emma). And if the Porters try and stop ya, I'll say "STOP IT...LET ME LITTLE RELIGIOUS BUDDY THROUGH!!!"

Reply 9

Minta

5

There are tons of open days coming up in the next 2 weeks, though they are college open days rther than faculty open days - see page 22 of the Cam prospectus or have a look on the website

Reply 10

SionL

OP

Here's the link:

http://www.cam.ac.uk/cambuniv/ugprospectus/welcome/welcome12c.html

Reply 11

Ticki

8

SionL

apparently they're pretty IB-friendly.

Hi Sion!

My sister's doing the IB and is thinking about applying to Cambridge for Oriental Studies. She's only just started so has plenty of time to think about colleges etc, but I was wondering what you'd heard about the IB at Cambridge? She's a bit nervous after our old headmistress told her that Oxbridge don't like the IB (I know that's rubbish), but thinks it will be harder now that UMS marks are being requested when she won't have had anything more recent than GCSEs to declare. Are there any other colleges which particularly like the IB? Thanks!

Love Vicki xx
P.S. How weird for me to be asking a question for once!

Reply 12

khil

15

Willa

I'd go alone as well if you cant find anyone...it's not a problem. You dont get many open days from now on in, but you can still go in most colleges and stroll around (I did that with Emma). And if the Porters try and stop ya, I'll say "STOP IT...LET ME LITTLE RELIGIOUS BUDDY THROUGH!!!"

awwwww how nice :tongue:

Maybe you can take me on a Cambridge tour! I'm thinking of Emma as well now, primarily because of the ducks :biggrin:

Am I allowed in Emma if I came to visit you, Willa? And you can give me an Emma tour! There isn't a Emma open day on the Cambridge page :frown:

Reply 13

SionL

OP

Hey Vicky,

Looking at the offers that were made to peeps at my college, it doesn't seem like Oxbridge have a good grasp of the IB points system and the work involved. Whereas the maximum offer that they could make to an A-level student is AAA, they nearly always ask for 40 or more and sometimes that's without counting bonus points, which is a bit unreasonable! My director of studies told me that Emmanuel made someone an offer of 39 last year so that's the only reason i described it as 'IB-friendly'. But don't let this put you off!

Your sister shouldn't worry about not having UMS scores. Her school/college should keep track of her studies so that they give her an accurate predicted grade for her application (which the Unis will use to assess her academic potential). Her best bet is to work hard in her first year on the courseworks that do make up a significant chunk of the final grade if she is worried about teachers underrating her. If she's interested in doing a gap year, she can always (re)apply once she has received her results.

Hope this helps,

-Sion

Reply 14

Ticki

8

Excellent - thanks for that. It may also interest you to know that a Sidney economist was also given a 39 point offer, and still got in when he missed it by 1 point. Maybe IB offers vary between subjects.

Reply 15

SionL

OP

OK coolio

. Just for the record, I applied to King's as I figuered that if I was to be offered a place at Cambridge, then that would be the college where I would feel most comfortable going to... less formalities, academically relaxed, politically active etc... so let's just see if my application/interview/ib40 can persuade them enough :biggrin:

Reply 16

Ticki

8

Definitely the right thing to do - best of luck with it and don't forget to let us all know how you get on!!!

SPS at either King's or Emmanuel

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