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The Big 'Which Cambridge College?' Thread

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Original post by Christ's Admissions
Both the colleges are usually at or above the University average for State School applicants. Smaller colleges aren't necessarily 'harder' or 'easier' to get into. They tend to have a smaller number of applicants than bigger colleges but they also have fewer places so these things tend to balance out.

A couple of years ago I did a bit of research into working out whether there was a big difference in your chances of getting into particular colleges. I just used overall numbers for five years for direct applicants and direct offers so it doesn't account for variance between subjects or, indeed, the quality of applicants. Your chances at Corpus were 23.6%, comparable to St Catharine's or Gonville & Caius which are considerably bigger where the chances were 23.5% and 24.7% respectively.

At Sidney the chances were 20.6%, very similar to Christ's, Emmanuel, Robinson, Fitzwilliam, Selwyn and Churchill, which are all very different from Sidney and each other. None of these figures include those taken by other colleges who also applied to the colleges mentioned and, as I say, are a couple of years out of date and the numbers of applicants a colleges receive can vary considerably from year to year.

All colleges have their own quirks and different people will come up with different answers. One of the things that I do certainly think is true is that you can never really know a college until you are part of one - everything else is just rumour and hearsay. One of the reasons why it's best not to worry too much about college choice! :smile:


Thanks :smile: what are the chances of getting into Kings College or John's? I liked them too. Im a shy person, i just realised that in a small college it might be really claustrophobic. I'm so bad at making this decision, I'll certainly go to more open days!
Original post by Big Blue Machine
I can't decide which college! IM the most indecisive person. The prospectus shows pictures of students rather than the colleges !
I essentially want a quirky college, maybe a little wonky, with a spiral staircase or libraries on multiple levels. I like old beautiful buildings, with tons of character. Smaller would be good too. Basically any with a distinguished aesthetic feature, like the bridge of sighs at Johns ( John's was way too big for me)
Most importantly I don't want a college which puts a lot of pressure on students academically, the more casual and less pretentious the better, relaxed, modest, friendly. Would be nice to be near the centre, like near kings...
Thanks, I really can't make this decision!


If you're negotiable on the small and... possibly the academic pressure criterion, Caius ticks some of your boxes. It's very central and one of the quirkiest colleges architecturally, I think. I had supervisions in there, up a rickety wooden spiral staircase in a stone tower.

Corpus is also amongst the prettiest imho.
Original post by Christ's Admissions


All colleges have their own quirks and different people will come up with different answers. One of the things that I do certainly think is true is that you can never really know a college until you are part of one - everything else is just rumour and hearsay. One of the reasons why it's best not to worry too much about college choice! :smile:

So true. And often you find many things you thought very important or something you were so worried about when trying to choose a college are actually nothing of significance when you actually start the life there.

Also, most people seem to come to think their college is the best, no matter if it was your first choice or pooled, anyway. :smile:

Re quirkiness...... I find this quite quirky.
https://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate-admissions
Do you always lay horizontally for photo-shoot???


:tongue:
Original post by Scarlet Sword
how impossible is trinity hall to get into for maths? i want to apply there if I have a chance... which I'm going to come back in august with my results and see if I have a chance of getting in otherwise probably applying to fitz


They have similar stats - dude, find a college you like and apply to it. Simples.

Screen Shot 2015-07-04 at 19.58.44.jpg
Original post by jneill
They have similar stats - dude, find a college you like and apply to it. Simples.
Screen Shot 2015-07-04 at 19.58.44.jpg

if everybody applied to colleges they liked most, at least 60% of people would apply to trinity college...
Original post by Scarlet Sword
if everybody applied to colleges they liked most, at least 60% of people would apply to trinity college...


a) no they wouldn't
b) don't worry about everyone else. Apply to the college you want to go to. If it's Trinity apply there, if it's Tit Hall apply there. If it's John's apply to Oxford...
Original post by jneill
if it's John's apply to Oxford...

Oh hell no
Original post by C0balt
When I saw your name next to the thread name on the homepage I thought you were selling Christ's, but nope! :ahee: This is really helpful for me too, thanks :smile:


Glad to hear it's helpful. I'm here to help not sell, though if people want to know about Christ's I'm always happy to help and obviously a lot of the information I have given out over my time on TSR has been about Christ's.
Original post by Big Blue Machine
Thanks :smile: what are the chances of getting into Kings College or John's? I liked them too. Im a shy person, i just realised that in a small college it might be really claustrophobic. I'm so bad at making this decision, I'll certainly go to more open days!


You are welcome. King's was 16.2% (it's the most popular college in the University, the one everyone has heard of - them and their famous chapel! :smile: ). John's was 25.3% but this will have changed as they have had rather more applications recently. Going to Open Days will certainly help - don't go to too many, though and remember that the vast majority of students love their college, wherever they are.
Original post by vincrows
Re quirkiness...... I find this quite quirky.
https://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate-admissions
Do you always lay horizontally for photo-shoot???


:tongue:


Weirdly, apparently it's only like that on smartphones, not on desktops. Even more quirky is if you click on it another photo comes up in its place! :smile:

I fear none of them are very flattering but the Development Office took a new one on Friday for the college magazine but it was boiling hot. If it turns out not too hot and sticky, though, we might sort that photo out. They asked me for one of my own but the only photos I've taken over the last year are of my baby and my dog! :s-smilie:
Original post by jneill
a) no they wouldn't
b) don't worry about everyone else. Apply to the college you want to go to. If it's Trinity apply there, if it's Tit Hall apply there. If it's John's apply to Oxford...


At the Open Days I overheard one of my student helpers say to another 'How awful would it be to be at St John's College, Oxford? Imagine being at both Oxford and St John's!' [No offence to either august institution! :smile: ]
Original post by Christ's Admissions
At the Open Days I overheard one of my student helpers say to another 'How awful would it be to be at St John's College, Oxford? Imagine being at both Oxford and St John's!' [No offence to either august institution! :smile: ]


Brilliant :smile:
i actually haven't been to a single open day and my main reason why i want to go to trinity hall is because I noticed its position has improved substantially recently on the Tompkins table, which suggest that it is doing a good job of making their applicants perform better
fitz because it has cheap wifi and the pros and cons page doesn't really list much bad stuff about it and I suspect applying there would increase chances of getting in to cambridge (admissions tutor reported a fairly low UMS average for maths, like low 90% ish I think? unlike christ which has 97%)
Original post by Christ's Admissions
You are welcome. King's was 16.2% (it's the most popular college in the University, the one everyone has heard of - them and their famous chapel! :smile: ). John's was 25.3% but this will have changed as they have had rather more applications recently. Going to Open Days will certainly help - don't go to too many, though and remember that the vast majority of students love their college, wherever they are.




Kings is beautiful!
Thanks :smile: which was the least popular old university? ( as in, before Downing).
I know it's stupid caring so much, but it's justso exciting/ scary!
Original post by Scarlet Sword
if everybody applied to colleges they liked most, at least 60% of people would apply to trinity college...


no

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Original post by Christ's Admissions
At the Open Days I overheard one of my student helpers say to another 'How awful would it be to be at St John's College, Oxford? Imagine being at both Oxford and St John's!' [No offence to either august institution! :smile: ]

I think the fact that it is by far the richest Oxford college would soften the blow..
Original post by newblood
I think the fact that it is by far the richest Oxford college would soften the blow..

well does it just hoard its riches or use it to make everything cheap for its students?
Original post by Scarlet Sword
well does it just hoard its riches or use it to make everything cheap for its students?

I dont know how much it costs, but when i visited my friend there the accomodation was rather modern (although small rooms)
Original post by Scarlet Sword
i actually haven't been to a single open day and my main reason why i want to go to trinity hall is because I noticed its position has improved substantially recently on the Tompkins table, which suggest that it is doing a good job of making their applicants perform better
fitz because it has cheap wifi and the pros and cons page doesn't really list much bad stuff about it and I suspect applying there would increase chances of getting in to cambridge (admissions tutor reported a fairly low UMS average for maths, like low 90% ish I think? unlike christ which has 97%)


You suspect wrong. The whole point of the pooling system is that whilst there are inevitable disparities in applications to each college, chances of getting into the university overall should not be affected by initial college choice. It's as simple as follows: if you apply to a college that's oversubscribed and are good enough, you'll be pooled. If you apply to a college that's undersubscribed and you're not good enough, the college will just take out of the pool instead.

There isn't an advantage to trying to game the system. Apply to the college you would like to live at. If you are good enough, you get in to the university, with some chance of getting into your first choice college. If you are good enough and game, you get in but with no chance of first choice.

All this said you should really go and have a look round the university rather than picking things on gut feelings out of the Tompkins Table. Your college is predominantly where you live and whilst the statistics in the tables are interesting they are an average, and not applicable to any single person.
Original post by DJMayes
You suspect wrong. The whole point of the pooling system is that whilst there are inevitable disparities in applications to each college, chances of getting into the university overall should not be affected by initial college choice. It's as simple as follows: if you apply to a college that's oversubscribed and are good enough, you'll be pooled. If you apply to a college that's undersubscribed and you're not good enough, the college will just take out of the pool instead.
There isn't an advantage to trying to game the system. Apply to the college you would like to live at. If you are good enough, you get in to the university, with some chance of getting into your first choice college. If you are good enough and game, you get in but with no chance of first choice.
All this said you should really go and have a look round the university rather than picking things on gut feelings out of the Tompkins Table. Your college is predominantly where you live and whilst the statistics in the tables are interesting they are an average, and not applicable to any single person.

I thought the pooling system thing worked until I heard of trinity college rejecting people with S, 1 grades in step while some other colleges accept people with like 2, 2...
I would definitely want to apply to trinity college but last thing I want is an SS offer and then not being able to make it
(edited 8 years ago)

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