Cauis or Churchill?

Hey...
I'm thinking of applying for Economics to Cambridge this year.
However, I couldn't choose between Cauis and Churchill... :frown:

Can anyone give me any advices? Thanks a lot :smile:

PS. I am an international student from a private school (if that's relavent :s-smilie:

)

PPS. (Thanks to MC REN :smile:

)

Although many people think that Churchill and Caius (right spelling, hurray!) are "about as different as two cambridge colleges could be", to me, they are in fact very similar (Em...this conclusion may be based on misconceptions...so bear with me^^)

1) They both pay a lot of attention on the candidates' academic ability, especially on Maths. (I am better at analyzing problems than debating about them...)
2) They are very friendly colleges, welcoming and culturally diverse.
3) I have friends in both of the colleges. (This reason is a bit personal…but at least I know that the DoS in both of them are very nice!)

I don’t really mind the outlook of the college. In my opinion, they are equally beautiful, just in different ways. (The perceptivity you perceive in some of Churchill’s buildings is great!) The only thing that hinders my decision is that Churchill has a very small Economics department and they only admit a tiny number of people each year…

Ah...btw, I am looking for a college that has good teaching resources, friendly environment (not too snobbish!) and...not too much competition for applications ^^( a little is fine...).

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Reply 1

-WhySoSerious?

It's Caius though :p:

(pronounced 'keys' I think)

Reply 2

MC REN

they are about as different as two cambridge colleges could be, tell us what you're looking for in a college and we'll be able to help you more

Reply 3

SunderX

CHURRRRRRRRCHILLLL!!!!

Sorry, nobody ever asks about Churchill, gotta make an effort when they do.

Reply 4

That's not true. I've heard plenty of people ask 'What's that run-down secondary school-looking building there?'

'Oh, that's Churchill...'

Reply 5

mirah

-WhySoSerious?

It's Caius though :p:

(pronounced 'keys' I think)

...TSR wouldn't allow me to change it! I'm sorry, please bear my typo... :wink:

Reply 6

faber niger

I thought this thread was going to be about the Conservative PM and the Roman senator. :hmmm:

Reply 7

roxy potter

Seriously, I wouldn't want to go to Churchill, it's miles out of the way.

Reply 8

mirah

MC REN

they are about as different as two cambridge colleges could be, tell us what you're looking for in a college and we'll be able to help you more

Thx a lot. Info updated :smile:

Reply 9

mirah

SunderX

CHURRRRRRRRCHILLLL!!!!

Sorry, nobody ever asks about Churchill, gotta make an effort when they do.

Hey..can we be a bit more rational here :wink:

Reply 10

mirah

Cantab

That's not true. I've heard plenty of people ask 'What's that run-down secondary school-looking building there?'

'Oh, that's Churchill...'

Inner beauty rules! :biggrin:

Reply 11

roxy potter

Seriously, I wouldn't want to go to Churchill, it's miles out of the way.

It's not that far, you can get to the centre of town in about 4-5 minutes cycle, most of that downhill, and it's about the same to the UL and Sidgwick. It's certainly no Girton or Homerton.

Reply 12

mirah

jismith1989

I thought this thread was going to be about the Conservative PM and the Roman senator. :hmmm:

haha, I wish they have your sense of humour :p:

Reply 13

mirah

roxy potter

Seriously, I wouldn't want to go to Churchill, it's miles out of the way.

Is living on the outskirt of the town centre seriously a bad thing? (I thought exercisesb are good for you... :rolleyes:

Besides, 15 min on foot is not too far away, right?)

Reply 14

MC REN

mirah

Is living on the outskirt of the town centre seriously a bad thing? (I thought exercisesb are good for you... :rolleyes:

Besides, 15 min on foot is not too far away, right?)

No not at all

Reply 15

roxy potter

It's not bad, except for when you're trying to walk home from sainsburys with groceries. I live in Clare Hall which is convenient enough for Sidgwick(which is where I am all the time) but I wouldnt want to be any further from town. It also makes getting home at night a lot more difficult.

Reply 16

faber niger

mirah

haha, I wish they have your sense of humour :p:

Well, I've sent my Open Application off to Cambridge, so who knows, you may just be blessed with it! :biggrin:

Reply 17

DFranklin

Cantab

It's not that far, you can get to the centre of town in about 4-5 minutes cycle, most of that downhillOf course, downhill into town is uphill coming back. Given that's usually when you have groceries and/or have drunk too much...

As someone who went to Churchill and refused to cycle, the distance from town isn't any real practical obstacle. I find it hard to believe a 15 minute walk late at night is really that much of a problem.

But the psychological effect is larger: when it's cold and chucking it down, you're really not going to bother to leave college to go somewhere else. I found most people rarely left the college in the evenings. On the other hand, I'm not sure it's that different in the central colleges. I never felt Cambridge was exactly a clubbing metropolis.

<disclaimer: 20 years since I graduated, so what do I know?>

Reply 18

SunderX

Churchill is actually is a fairly good position location-wise. It's situated halfway between Sainsbury's and Aldi's, my two main shopping locations, close to badminton courts in St Lukes, has its own squash, tennis courts, field, gym on-site (unlike some other colleges). Cut through New Hall (next door) to get to the doctor, ride up the road 5 min to get to the West Cambridge site (Cavendish Laboratory for physics students and William Gates Building for computer scientists, and for some reason, horse-riding).

Our 'local' pub is the Sir Isaac Newton, cutting once again through New Hall. Lecture halls for most first years are a 10 minute cycle away, 15-20 min walk. Frankly, I'm going to miss the exercise next year, when all my lectures are in the William Gates Building. In winter getting to lectures is a little harsh if you're cycling in the middle of freezing rain, but I like to think it makes us tougher than those soft city folk :P.

Churchill is right next door to Fitzwilliam and New Hall colleges, and about a 5 min walk away from Magdalene. If you ever feel the need, Lucy Cavendish and St Edmunds colleges are very close as well. It is by no means in the middle of nowhere.

Occasionally you might trek into town at night to go clubbing or some other college's ent - which isn't a problem at all, cause everyone has a laugh on the walk, and frankly, you don't want to be blowing your cash on the clubbing scene here too much. Plus, you're slightly more sober when you get to bed.

The architecture is a bit brickish, but that comes with the guarantee of full 3 years accommodation and rooms that are quite nice on the inside. There's a Cambridge Photo Tour of Churchill somewhere at www.international.cusu.cam.ac.uk

Reply 19

Craghyrax

I'll say what I say to everyone: apply to whichever you think you'll like the most.

Your list of 'similarities' are true of all colleges, so I'd scrap that and go back to the drawing board if I were you. All colleges pay attention to 'academic ability'. That's kind of the point! And the friendliness of a college is very subjective, but broadly speaking all colleges are 'friendly' because they're small and people tend to get to know eachother quickly.

Personal opinion: Caius and Gonville is a very pretty college, on a lovely street(that I go out of my way to walk down when I go to Sainsburys every few days), right near the most historical parts of the town centre. In comparison, Churchill is far further away and extremely ugly. I'm sure students there are very happy, but I wouldn't choose it if I could be at Caius, because architecture is a factor that I felt was important when I chose my college. If I remember correctly, some of Caius' accommodation is a little way out of the centre, in the direction of the UL (Chewwy tell me if I'm wrong!) - I don't know how this compares to the Churchill accommodation furthest away from central Cambridge :dontknow:

- however you only keep accommodation for a year, so overall Caius will still be significantly closer to everything, and the prettiest parts. It will also be more covered in tourists, though.