The Big 'Which Cambridge College?' Thread

Looking to apply in 2016, but hey, I'm bored and better to think about this earlier rather than later.

Which college would be right for me?
In order of 'necessity':
1. Ensuites, or at least a good chance of getting one.
2. Pretty, old buildings with preferably older rooms.
3. Good library.
4. Close to a supermarket.
5. Not stuffy.
6. Larger grounds.
7. Decent food!

Looking to apply in 2016, but hey, I'm bored and better to think about this earlier rather than later.

Which college would be right for me?
In order of 'necessity':
1. Ensuites, or at least a good chance of getting one.
2. Pretty, old buildings with preferably older rooms.
3. Good library.
4. Close to a supermarket.
5. Not stuffy.
6. Larger grounds.
7. Decent food!

Thoughts on Homerton? I applied there instinctively and haven't actually weighed out the pros or cons just loved the atmosphere

Looking to apply in 2016, but hey, I'm bored and better to think about this earlier rather than later.

Which college would be right for me?
In order of 'necessity':
1. Ensuites, or at least a good chance of getting one.
2. Pretty, old buildings with preferably older rooms.
3. Good library.
4. Close to a supermarket.
5. Not stuffy.
6. Larger grounds.
7. Decent food!

St John's!! Can't get any better! And it fits your description.

Equally Trinity fits this well.

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Your first two requests are kind of in tension with each other. En-suites tend to be found in modern buildings. Have you looked into Downing?

Biased opinions for the win. :P I've read most of St Johns website and it looks pretty good. Slightly concerned about the accommodation though; lack of ensuites and the fact that there's a high chance of shared out of college housing. I don't know; wouldn't it be easier to stay in the college?
As for Trinity, haven't read much about it, but it looks pretty intimidating haha. How formal is it?

I think en-suites are really not as important as it is tempting to think they are--most people do not have en-suites in their normal out-of-term time homes so I don't get why it's suddenly a crucial thing to have at uni

Hi, I'm in year 12 at the moment. I looked round Cambridge over the summer and really loved it!
Just wondering if anyone has anything to say about Jesus college and whether it's a college known to be really hard to get in for state students? It's my favourite but I want to be realistic about which one I can get in.
Thanks in advance😊

Have you heard about Cambridge's pooling system? Essentially it (in theory, and I believe it works fairly well in practice) ensures that your overall chance of admission to the university is not affected if you apply to a college which is particularly competitive in a given year (and really it is in a given year, the statistics fluctuate massively). With this in mind your choice is really this:

1) Apply to your favourite college; assume for the sake of argument it's most competitive and you are good enough for a place at Cambridge. You have a positive probability of getting your preferred choice but will get in somewhere anyway due to pooling.

2) Apply to a "less competitive" college. You will get in, but without that positive probability of getting your preferred choice.

When read like this it is a no-brainer. What you need to be aware is that a college which had less competition would rather take strong candidates edged out at other colleges than weak candidates who applied directly. Attempting to play the statistics does not work

Apply to Jesus. If you don't get in, you very likely wouldn't had you applied somewhere else.

Thank you! I had heard of it but I didn't really know how it really worked so that was useful!

I was a state school kid who applied to Jesus for geography. The year I applied was really competitive. As a result, I was pooled and taken by Corpus. While I had liked Jesus, Corpus is great and I don't spend all my time sad that I'm not at Jesus.

Have you heard about Cambridge's pooling system? Essentially it (in theory, and I believe it works fairly well in practice) ensures that your overall chance of admission to the university is not affected if you apply to a college which is particularly competitive in a given year (and really it is in a given year, the statistics fluctuate massively). With this in mind your choice is really this:

1) Apply to your favourite college; assume for the sake of argument it's most competitive and you are good enough for a place at Cambridge. You have a positive probability of getting your preferred choice but will get in somewhere anyway due to pooling.

2) Apply to a "less competitive" college. You will get in, but without that positive probability of getting your preferred choice.

When read like this it is a no-brainer. What you need to be aware is that a college which had less competition would rather take strong candidates edged out at other colleges than weak candidates who applied directly. Attempting to play the statistics does not work

Apply to Jesus. If you don't get in, you very likely wouldn't had you applied somewhere else.

x

...

True enough. It should be said that everyone, including poolees, seem to love their college, whatever it is.

I'm going to go for that then. Did you go to Cambridge?😊