St John's College (Cambridge) Students and Applicants

I've got an offer for maths so I had to get 1,1 in STEP II and III.

It seemed like I'd do fine until I was actually sat in the exam hall with the paper in front of me. So yes, it's very hard, particularly when you add in the exam pressure. For engineering most colleges wouldn't ask you for STEP though, right? And even if they do they'll either ask for a lower grade or they'll let you take STEP I, so you should be OK if you do enough practice. I pretty much did nothing but STEP from January onwards personally, and even that might not have been enough as I saw.

The refurbished staircases G/H and from next year F/E are available to freshers in Cripps. Next year staircases A-D are being refurbished so no go there. Cripps rooms cost between £1200-£1350 a term.

You also get the choice of rooms in Chapel Court and North Court, which are usually sets shared with one other person (you have your own room but share a kitchen and bathroom). These cost between £800-£1100. They are nicely furnished and warm, and better value than the Cripps rooms. However your setmate could be a complete dick, or worse a mathmo so choose wisely.

I'd personally advise going for Cripps rooms, and they have just been refurbished, are very nice indeed with awesome communal kitchen areas.
They are also closer to the backs, the gym, the squash courts and music practice rooms etc. On the other hand New Court/ Chapel court are close to the town and the supermarket. There are very few social benefits either way so don't worry about that.

If you're really unlucky and end up at the bottom of the (random) ballot you might have to live in a house outside of college, but this has it positives as well.

Can anyone confirm that pillows and duvets aren't provided? I am assuming that that's the case but I don't want to leave mine in the UK just to then discover that I didn't need to Thanks!

They are provided...at least in most rooms. Whether or not they are comfortable depends on personal preference. My pillows were quite uncomfortable so I had to buy another one.

Is this a competitive college?


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Is this a competitive college?


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Yes, John's is a very popular college, and admissions are competitive.

It depends on the subject and there's also a large element of luck involved, as the quantity and quality of applicants can fluctuate significantly between years.

Which subjects would you say are significantly competitive for John's?


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Urgh I really wanna apply to johns but I'm not sure if I'm good enough. Everyone else is saying they got 98 UMS blah blah.
I got
Maths: 98%
Physics: 90.67%
Chemistry: 90.67%
Product: 80% ( :/ )
Critical thinking: D!!!!!! Wtf even?!!

I wanna apply for engineering and I plan on self teaching the A level next year.

Do I have a chance?!!!


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Which subjects would you say are significantly competitive for John's?


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So where you live really doesn't matter socially even though most freshers live in Cripps?

It'll be a 50/50 split between Cripps and other courts this year. Makes very little difference, though obviously it's better if your best friends live near you.

I know - so annoying! I had just decided to go for a room not in Cripps and now there are probably only going to be Cripps rooms left by the time it's my turn... Which leads me to my next question (hooray!): there's a price reduction for all Cripps rooms because of the building noise, do you know how much noise has been a problem in Cripps in the last few years with the other renovations? thanks

I know - so annoying! I had just decided to go for a room not in Cripps and now there are probably only going to be Cripps rooms left by the time it's my turn... Which leads me to my next question (hooray!): there's a price reduction for all Cripps rooms because of the building noise, do you know how much noise has been a problem in Cripps in the last few years with the other renovations? thanks

Can anyone going to Johns tell me what UMS they got for AS please
I'm really worrying myself ;(
(Particularly for engineering)


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