The Student Room Group
Reply 1
You apply to one college or make an open application. If you make an open application, your application is allocated to a college on your behalf (usually one which received fewer applications that year).
Reply 2
If I recall correctly, for Oxford undergraduate applicants and Cambridge graduate applicants, there is the option of selecting 2nd-choice colleges.
Reply 3
Assuming you are an ordinary undergraduate applicant, you apply to one college.
(or make an open application, but then you are still applying to one college, its just that it gets picked for you which one)
Reply 4
Zhen Lin
If I recall correctly, for Oxford undergraduate applicants and Cambridge graduate applicants, there is the option of selecting 2nd-choice colleges.


Your second choice can only be a PPH (religious semi-college) or Harris Manchester (mature students only), though, as I recall. At Oxford, you'll often be interviewed by multiple colleges anyway, so the effect is the same.
Reply 5
don't choral scholars write their top ten in order? i'm pretty sure my friend did.
Reply 6
menagerie
don't choral scholars write their top ten in order? i'm pretty sure my friend did.

You put a preference order but you still only apply to one college. You might then be passed to one of the others if you fail to get a choral award at the one you originally apply to (kind've like a pool where you have some say in which college you get passed to). You still only get academically interviewed at one college, after they have determined where, if at all, you've been offered a choral award. So it's not like you're getting several shots at getting into the university, the preference list is just to determine the choral awards.
When I applied to Cambridge, I only applied to one college. You might get interviewed by a different one too if you get pooled though.
crazycat52
i'm so confused... I was told that you applied to three colleges at cambridge like you apply to five universities, like you list one as your first preference, another as your second preference and another as your third preference but then on the cambridge website it sounds like you only apply to one. does anyone know which it is??
thankyou!!


I think you're getting confused with the Oxford system where (IIRC) you can apply to multiple colleges. At Cambridge, as an undergrad, you apply to one only. :smile:

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