|
|
|
Downing College, Cambridge
From The Student RoomTSR Wiki > University > Choosing a University > University Guides > Cambridge > Downing College, Cambridge
LocationDowning has the best possible location for NatScis and Medics, being adjacent to the Downing site, home of Medic and some NatSci lectures and practicals, as well as backing onto Lensfield Road, across which is located the Chemistry Department where yet more NatSci lectures and practicals are held. Downing room keys open gates to allow easy access to these areas, making Downing perhaps the only college where you can leave your room at five to nine and not have to rush to your 9am lecture. This remains true through second and third years, as all accommodation is also located in the vicinity of Downing. AccommodationDowning is, on average, amongst the best Cambridge colleges with respect to accommodation. First years live mainly in the Kenny buildings and Howard Court (all of which are fully en-suite), with some in the main court. Second and third years live either in the main court or in houses on Lensfield Road and Gonville place, both very near the college. In the first year, you get to pick which price band you'd prefer to be in, either low (£60-80 a week) or higher (£80-100 a week). All higher band rooms are en suite with the price being higher if you're in the Kenny building as the kitchen's are much larger and better equipped, whilst the Howard Court rooms are large and also en suite but with a smaller kitchen. There's only 30 lower band rooms which are usually found on the I, J and L staircases of the main court. They probably get the better views however most of them have to share, although not all of them. I'd say there's only about 20 rooms for first years with shared toilet facilities. I don't know how many people you have to share with, but I doubt it's anymore than 4/5. Downing is all catered and don't worry they'll have vegetarian options. However if you still prefer to cook yourself, it's possible. Just depends on which room you get. Accommodation in hostels basically means sharing a house with other people. Basically you get your own room and then share the kitchen and bathroom with the other people in the house. These aren't far away, but are only allocated to second or third year students. Don't worry about those, first years all get accommodation in the main college bit itself. Social SpacesGardensDowning's main open area consists of the main court, enclosing several lawns and the Paddock which is a large area of grass open to students for sport and relaxing. Though some are fairly hard to find (notably the private college garden behind T and V staircases), Downing also has smaller gardens located outside the main court, all of which are maintained to a very high standard and provide nice places to relax or work in summer. Dining/HallBarThe bar is OK - its just a room which serves alcohol with a few sofa seats and pool. JCRLibrary and ComputingLibraryThe library is pretty. I personally like the ceiling but think some of the floor decoration is a bit odd - not that it really bothers you when you're frantically trying to get work done! Computer SuiteRoom ConnectionApart from Gonville Place, which has wireless internet access, all of Downing's rooms are equipped with a high speed ethernet connection more than sufficient for most users. Downing's policy on internet usage is more relaxed than most colleges (e.g. Skype and limited p2p sharing are available), but heavy usage is frowned upon. WelfareAtmosphereFacilitiesSportsWe're awesome for rowing. (Well, we have awesome facilities; the quality of our rowers *cough*me*cough* leaves something to be desired in some cases). We have our own massive boathouse; the only similarly-sized boathouses are shared between multiple colleges, but this is all ours. Lots of ergs, and a gym, and largest fleet on the river I've heard. And Ian Watson, former Olympic rower, was Boatman. Also, the boathouse isn't too far from the college. I've made it from bed to boathouse in 13 minutes. Admittedly, that was with a bike; you'll want one if you're rowing and don't fancy a 20-ish minute walk. Oh, and rowing's awesome fun; plus Boaties have the best parties. Now that I've finished selling rowing... At college we have a couple of tennis courts/basketball courts. We had squash courts, but I think they're gone - maybe Kyle/Rich can elaborate. We also have a gym on site, but I haven't been to it... We also have sports fields to the south of Cambridge (well, somewhere. I think that's where they are...) Quite far, but some students are allowed cars for the purposes of transporting sports teams, so I know the 3rd football team captain (Ed Bolton of Beauty and the Geek, apparently) has one... again, Rich can elaborate. So yeah, lots of sport at college level, and even lessly-participated-in sports (e.g. archery) are done by uni-wide groups, so whatever you're interested in you can probably do. Student-eye viewThe subjects that Downing is often seen as being particularly good at include Law, Natural sciences and Medicine, something reflected by the large intake in each of these.
| 
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
