The Big 'Which Cambridge College?' Thread

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acrosstheuniverse

And as regards Christ's being "too academic" and having a reputation for pushing its students, surely academics and trying to harness students' potentials will take place at any Cambridge college. It's Cambridge after all!

Yes, that's the point. All colleges push you, Christ's is rumoured to push you even more.

Reply 101

J-OD

Im contemplating putting an open offer but i know some people doing SPS at Girton, and the grounds are nice and it isnt the most competitive one.. (although in a sense they all are competitive), - in a statement, im not picky, - but im not completely impartial

Reply 102

zef99

J-OD

is there anywhere you don't want to be? if so then don't put in an open application.

Reply 103

J-OD

well my gender dictates that i will not be going to a womens college so... i suppose not

Reply 104

alliet

I have a multitude of questions about colleges!

Why colleges are the less academically pushy colleges?
Do any colleges have a reputation for being really fun?
Why is they are song about rather being at Oxford than St Johns?!
Is Downing any good - how large is it compared to others?

Thanks for any replies!

Reply 105

dig_the_pony

Hi everyone.

I've been reading up on the colleges over the past couple of days and was wondering how much of an impact having an external director of studies makes on your course? I can imagine it's not huge otherwise they wouldn't allow it but is it slightly annoying and from your experience would you recommend applying to a college with an internal one? Also, for courses that incorporate different disciplines (i'll be applying for Archaeology and Anthropology) do you think it's best to go for a director of studies in the area you intend to specialise in? For instance would an interview with a director of studies who is a biological anthropologist perhaps not give you as much chance to shine if your main interest is archaeology or put more emphasis on their side of the course?

Sorry if these questions seems a but fussy, i'd just like to make as informed decision as I can. Thanks for any answers you can give.

Reply 106

Jigglypuff

alliet

All colleges are 'academically pushy'-- how pushed you are will depend on you as a person, your DoS, your supervisors, the people around you (i.e. if they're all really motivated that might push you to work harder). I don't think a college can be intrinsically pushy, it just depends.

Depends on your definition of fun. All colleges have formals (some more than others) and 'bops' or events, balls, live music, DJs. It's kind of irrelevant as you can go to events at other colleges (e.g. Clare Cellars or Queens' bar) and most people find they go outside of college for that kind of thing anyway. I go to clubs more than I do college events. As for fun people, I'm sure you'll find some at every college.

Jealousy, I'd guess. It's a nice college!

Downing looks nice, I've never been inside. The prospectus contains info on how many people attend each college, and I think the grounds are pretty spacious.

Reply 107

alliet

Jigglypuff

Ok, thank you very much! The only reason I asked the first question is because in the Alternative Prospectus it mentions that for instance Downing doesn't have an academically pressured environment, so I was just basically wondering about that.
Thanks again.

Reply 108

Excalibur

alliet

Is Downing any good - how large is it compared to others?

Downing is a medium sized college - there's about 400 undergrads in total (about 120 in each year). It's obviously smaller than say Trinity, but it's probably got one of the largest grounds of all the colleges so that there's a really open, spacious feel - you won't feel claustrophobic.

I'm not there yet so I can't really say much more, but the Downing JCR run a forum here, and the current students are always more than happy to answer your questions. :smile:

Reply 109

llys

dig_the_pony

I'm also interested in this.

Reply 110

Rudrax

kjc_us

I think I've narrowed it down, at last!

Modern languages 2009.
Queen's?

Good decision.

Reply 111

kjc_us

Rudrax

Good decision.

So what made you want to apply for Queens'? :smile:

Just wondering, if you submit an open application, who interviews you?

Reply 112

Rudrax

kjc_us

So what made you want to apply for Queens'? :smile:

Just wondering, if you submit an open application, who interviews you?

Why did I apply to Queens'? Apart from it being the best darn college of them all? Probably because I'm a lazy arts student and it's the college that is bang inbetween the Sidgwick site and the town centre. (give or take a couple of metres ofcourse)
And I guess it being on the river, having a good law intake, having a laid back rep are some of the other reasons people might apply.

If your submit an open application the same people will interview you and people who applied directly to that college. You're chosen by a college if your application is open and then interviewed just like everybody else.

Reply 113

GoodbyeTSR

I want to study Mathematics, my hobby is chess. Which college at Cambridge University should I apply to?

Reply 114

Jigglypuff

Why don't you try 'The Big "Which College?"' thread, handily located at the top of the forum?

Reply 115

GoodbyeTSR

I want to study Mathematics, my hobby is chess. Which college at Cambridge University should I apply to?

Reply 116

Andy H

Any that you like the look of

Reply 117

GoodbyeTSR

how should I make my decision?

and I haven't studied Further Mathematics (it was unavailable at my country.) will this put me at a disadvantage?

Reply 118

oldthrashbarg

thomaskurian89

I want to study Mathematics, my hobby is chess. Which college at Cambridge University should I apply to?

Unless you have a very specific idea of what you want from your college, I would definitely recommend making an open application so as to maximise your chances of getting into Cambridge at all.

People on this forum tend to stick to the cliche that you should work out 'which college is best for you'. Rubbish in my opinion.

Reply 119

Andy H

Hmm, okay ordinarily I would say go for a look around them.

You have to look at the information for the colleges. Do you want traditional/modern: do you want it to be central/outskirts, small/not so small etc.. and then try to make decisions based upon what you want.

Ultimately if you think it makes no different :you could make an open application. However if there is one college that you do not want to go to, then this is probably not the wisest thing to do!

As for further maths, since it is not available in your country you should mention that. While it will be advantageous to have Further Maths, I don't think it should cause you to panic, but you should make sure that you can show that you are keen about maths by doing things beyond your own course. Have you got any more stretching courses that perhaps you could casually have a go at?