Cambridge 2016 Postgraduate Entry

They just wrote something along the lines of "applicants will be informed by June so that those successful can take up their places in October".
I'm just wondering if the fact that they are looking at my applications necessarily means that I was shortlisted by my department...
Maybe the Trust looks at all applications submitted via GRADSAF, regardless of the departments' recommendations?

They just wrote something along the lines of "applicants will be informed by June so that those successful can take up their places in October".
I'm just wondering if the fact that they are looking at my applications necessarily means that I was shortlisted by my department...
Maybe the Trust looks at all applications submitted via GRADSAF, regardless of the departments' recommendations?

I am still 'under consideration by degree committee' for an MPhil in Economic and Social History after over two months since my application was submitted.

Shall I just continue to wait or email admissions?

My sources in the History Faculty tell me that one of the main academics associated with that MPhil has been quite preoccupied with some family issues over the past few weeks, so that may be slowing things down a bit since they won't be reviewing applications as efficiently. I'd wait a bit longer before contacting them

Thanks for your help.

I'll carry on waiting then.

I am still 'under consideration by degree committee' for an MPhil in Economic and Social History after over two months since my application was submitted.

Shall I just continue to wait or email admissions?

I'm at the same stage for the MPhil in Early Modern History. Think we just have to carry on waiting, haven't heard of anybody yet who has got an offer on either of these two courses.

Hi everyone. I am accepted by Gonville & Caius College. Does anyone have information about this college? Where are the graduate students usually accomodated? Thanks in advance.

From what I remember from friends in Caius talking about their accommodation, I think most (if not all) of it will be in shared houses - I don't think they have any halls or dorm-style accommodation. A few of the houses are in the general area of the University Library/Sidgwick Site (one friend lived on Grange Road, near Selwyn). Others are near Hughes Hall, in the surrounding residential streets. Neither of those options are very far from town at all. If you're going to be based in the Sidgwick site, or using the UL a large amount, then the ones on Grange Road would probably be good; equally, the ones near Hughes Hall/Parker's Piece would be convenient for the Engineering department, New Museums site, Downing site etc.

I have no idea about costs or anything like that I'm afraid, but most of the Caians seemed happy enough with their accommodation, plus I think they say they can usually house you for three years, which is handy.

Thanks a lot. This is very helpful informaton.

By "shared houses", do you mean a shared house with common living room/kitchen but with separate and individiaul bedrooms? Or do you mean a house where two or three people share a single bedroom?

A shared house would mean shared kitchen/living room, but then each person would have their own bedroom. If there were two or three people sharing, it wouldn't be a single bedroom anymore In the shared houses provided by my college, each bedroom had a lock on the door, so other people in the house couldn't access your room if you didn't want them to.
Usually bathrooms are shared too in these kinds of houses.

Thank you very much.

I think you are right

Indeed, provided that the bedrooms are large enough, I think a shared house may not have any disadvantage compared to a "unshared house" (sorry for my poor wording, I am not familiar with these terms since I am not native). Do you think these shared houses have any drawback?

The bedrooms will likely vary somewhat in size. It has been my experience that a lot of college 'shared house' accommodation is essentially previous family homes that were bought, and in some cases converted/extended for occupation by students, so you'll have a lot of variety in terms of rooms. Some people will have a large room because it used to be the 'master' bedroom of a family home, while someone else will have a smaller room in the same house. Many colleges will acknowledge that in their rents though, with smaller rooms costing less. Further, I've never been in an unbelievably tiny room - the vast majority of colleges furnish their rooms with single beds, a desk & chair, wardrobe and other storage, so they need to be a certain minimum size just to fit all of that!

The big drawback tends to be, essentially, that you are living with other people Some people are messy, or noisy, or keep very strange hours and since you all live together, that can negatively affect the other people living in the house. I've also had experience with houses where extra bedrooms were created by putting up partition walls, to create two rooms where previously it had been one, and so the soundproofing is practically non-existent. Many of the 'problems' I've encountered have been very common to all shared housing: people being messy/not washing up after themselves, being noisy, 'borrowing' food from the fridge, occasionally having to wait to use the shower. But really, these are issues you'd likely have in any kind of shared accommodation, it's not unique to Cambridge graduate accommodation!
That said, my experience in the shared houses I've lived in while in Cambridge have generally been very good, and I've rarely had a serious problem with either the accommodation itself, or the people I lived with. You're all adults, so if someone is causing an issue then simply talk to them about it in a calm manner.

With all of that being said, shared accommodation is pretty much the only option for most students in Cambridge, unless you're very independently wealthy. The cost of renting an apartment or house privately (i.e. not a college-owned property) to live alone would be astronomical, so the vast, vast majority of people share accommodation, whether college-owned or private.

I don't think you need worry too much about it. If you arrive having some idea of what to expect, and are courteous and considerate, you'll be absolutely fine in shared accommodation. It's also a great way to make friends among people in your college: many of my closest friends in Cambridge are people I lived with at one time or another

Gutenberg, this is so helpful. I really appreciate your help.

I understand what you mean. Indeed, as an Erasmus student 3 years ago in a European country, I lived in a shared house which was almost exactly as you described, and there were some people having parties until 5.00 AM while I was trying to sleep or study for an exam. The mess and noise were also problems at that time. However, I hope the people I will live with at Cambridge will be a lot better.

Wow looks like I have an interview! would anyone like to comment on how their postgrad interview went? Science related field