[Odaik]

hello,

I want to go to Emmanuel college at Cambridge, but I've found out they don't allow first years to live outside of college in their own accomodation. Does anybody know of any colleges that allow you to live in, say, a rented flat?

[cpchem]

Originally Posted by Odaik

hello,

I want to go to Emmanuel college at Cambridge, but I've found out they don't allow first years to live outside of college in their own accomodation. Does anybody know of any colleges that allow you to live in, say, a rented flat?

Probably none, without some kind of special reason (based on Oxford).

[Odaik]

What would you consider a special reason?

[SusDev]

Originally Posted by Odaik

hello,

I want to go to Emmanuel college at Cambridge, but I've found out they don't allow first years to live outside

You mean in like a tent?

[wilko-99]

Originally Posted by SusDev

You mean in like a tent?

Exactly what I thought when I saw the title

[Noémie]

why do you want to live out, out of interest? surely living in college for the first year will be best for parties and socialising and not having to clean or cook for yourself, helping make the adjustment from home to uni.

[Odaik]

hello,

I guess I didn't write the title correctly.

I would be far more comfortable in my own accomodation to be honest, even if it did mean having to clean or cook for myself. Besides, I can still use the cafiteria if I can't cook.

So, any ideas?

[Noémie]

Originally Posted by Odaik

hello,

I guess I didn't write the title correctly.

I would be far more comfortable in my own accomodation to be honest, even if it did mean having to clean or cook for myself. Besides, I can still use the cafiteria if I can't cook.

So, any ideas?

i would suggest looking at a college with ensuite self-catering in flats/seperate houses that are physically outside the college.
im 99.9999....% sure that a college won't let you live "properly" out. but perhaps some provide pretty "independent" living arrangements. i couldn't tell you which they are though, i changed from wanting cambridge to oxford in september so didn't look too much into things.

[JohnStuartMill]

We don't allow people to live out of college? That's news to me. Are you sure? I know a friend at Churchill going into her second year who is living out of college with some friends so if Emma won't let you, I am sure there will be another college that does. I know one person who lived out of college and were sort of a first year; they degraded to start again.

If you're that committed to living in your own accomodation, I seem to recall that we have a 3 strike policy on candles; first time a fine of £50, second a fine of £250 and third time you have to find your own private accomodation, but you probably don't want to pay the fines first.

I would strongly advise against finding your own accomodation in Cambridge. Rent for the areas near to college and in the centre of town tends to be quite high and you'd probably have to pay for the whole year rather than just term-time. Equally, the first people you meet at college are normally those who live around you so living in college generally helps with meeting people and making friends.

[cpchem]

I think that in the first three terms most colleges will want people to live in, for welfare/social reasons as much as anything.
Anyway, OP, why do you think you'd be 'more comfortable' in accommodation outside of college?

[tarka]

Most colleges have a combination of rooms in the old college site, newer accommodation blocks (more typical to other unis) and a scattering of houses throughout the city which belong to the college. Depending on college you could possibly request which type you wanted to live in, but generally they like to put all of the 1st years together. In my college you can't live in private accommodation until you are a grad student, or you have a very strong reason for needing to live outside of college (not sure what kind of reason...maybe some kind of disibility? But you couldn't live out of college just because you felt like it)

[camstudent123]

If you are married you can often opt out of college accomodation.

[groovy_moose]

I've never heard anybody say outright that you can't live outside of college - and i know of several non-first years that have. Never come across a firts year do it, but then i guess you probably wouldn't come across them - this being half the reason to live in...

[Chewwy]

Originally Posted by Odaik

I would be far more comfortable in my own accomodation to be honest, even if it did mean having to clean or cook for myself. Besides, I can still use the cafiteria if I can't cook.

are you some kind of uber-antisocial person or something?

you'd have to be completely insane/loserish to not want to live with everyone else.

[Alexander]

I don't think any college is actually able to force you to live in college accommodation if you really don't want to (as long as you tell them this early enough), although most would very strongly encourage you to live in at least for the first year.

Unless you have some kind of very good reason (the only one I can think of would be if you're married with a family), you'd be insane to live out in the first year however. In fact in any year college accommodation will generally be much better value than private accommodation, and better socially. I'm wondering if perhaps you have some kind of misconceptions as to what college accommodation is actually like.

[FadedJade]

I lived out, albeit in my second year. They cant force you to live in College, but realistically you need a pretty good reason not to. I cant really give any more advice without knowing anymore about your situation.

[coldfusion]

Hmm I thought there was a residental requirement at Cambridge to live in college accomodation else you can't graduate. However college accomodation can certainly be out of college so you could still live out of college in college accomodation. I'm pretty certain you can't opt for private rented accomodation or the like unless you had exceptional circumstances.

[Supergrunch]

Originally Posted by coldfusion

Hmm I thought there was a residental requirement at Cambridge to live in college accomodation else you can't graduate. However college accomodation can certainly be out of college so you could still live out of college in college accomodation. I'm pretty certain you can't opt for private rented accomodation or the like unless you had exceptional circumstances.

I think the requirement is more that you have to reside within 3 miles of Great St. Mary's church for a certain number of nights each term. (equal to the length of full term, something like three quarters of term)

[Odaik]

hello,

I visted cambridge last month, and just thought I'd be better off in private accomodation. I didn't find rooms comfortable, plus I'd like to be able to cook for myself. The cooking facilities at the college are very limited.

Regarding the whole socialising thing, wouldn't there be students living all around anyway?

Thanks for the advice guys!

[camstudent123]

Originally Posted by Odaik

hello,

I visted cambridge last month, and just thought I'd be better off in private accomodation. I didn't find rooms comfortable, plus I'd like to be able to cook for myself. The cooking facilities at the college are very limited.

Regarding the whole socialising thing, wouldn't there be students living all around anyway?

Thanks for the advice guys!

Unless you've got money to burn you won't find anything nicer than the accomdoation provided by many colleges. Yes, some of it can be terrible but generally its better than a lot of potential student houses.
The cooking thing is admittedly a drag at times (though many colleges do offer good cooking facilities). The socialising thing: many of my best friends were people who lived on my staircase or nearby or within college. You make friends very quickly becuase you are all so close to each other and get to bump into each other all the time. Living out would be a huge mistake I think, you'd be the only person who did bar one or two mature students. Although it might not seem like much there is a bit of a psychological barrier to people leaving college/college accomodation and you might feel a little isolated (you'd be amazed). I have one or two friends who live in cambridge but who decided to live in college becuase they all knew their social lifes would suffer significantly it they didn't, even after the first year