Which colleges are recommended for engineering students

Original post by chinhan

Hello! Does anyone know which Cambridge college is better for engineering students? Not grade-wise, but proximity to the lecture theaters, also with decent amenities, facilities (sports halls, fields, GYM), food and friendly atmosphere. Doesn't have to be best in class. Not too worried about the architectural beauty, though that will be a bonus!

If anyone could redirect me to a forum post on this it would be great too! Thanks :biggrin:

Start with the various TSR wikis

Eg
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Cambridge_College_Pros_and_Cons

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Reply 4

Original post by chinhan

Hello! Does anyone know which Cambridge college is better for engineering students? Not grade-wise, but proximity to the lecture theaters, also with decent amenities, facilities (sports halls, fields, GYM), food and friendly atmosphere. Doesn't have to be best in class. Not too worried about the architectural beauty, though that will be a bonus!

If anyone could redirect me to a forum post on this it would be great too! Thanks :biggrin:

Taking a break from revision so thought I would offer some insight into my experience of applying to university for 2016 entry which hopefully some might find useful. Sorry in advance for the length of this post.
For me the decision was always about which course I wanted to do first and this is something I think we should all be honest about.Are you applying for the course or the university because of “so called prestige”? You must love your subject to survive in any good university, engineering is not a soft option.
I specifically chose the Meng because I liked the fact that the first two years were broadly general and I could wait until specialising. Academically I have 10 GCSE A*, 4 GCSE A, 96% SUMS and 98% MUMS so I was good to go. I am aiming for 4 A* at A level so I was doing o.k.ish (I Never pretend to be the brightest, I am just good at science stuff). By the way I have a genuine love of engineering and a very related hobby since I was seven years old. So for me it was about all about the course and Cambridge just happened to be one of the universities that offered it. So advice number 1 is to choose the right course for you and then research universities. If you find,as many do, that you are choosing Cambridge, then Imperial which does not offer this Meng then think hard about what you are apply for and be honest about why.I find it depressing that students choose the Meng at Cambridge as a route into Investment Banking, so sad.

Advice number 2:Attend lots of open days in the summer. This is what I did of which Cambridge and Oxford were included. I have to say that I was underwhelmed mostly by Oxford (I visited 8 universities). The facilities were outdated, the curriculum tired and staid and the stock answer from students to my question “why did you choose to come to Oxford” was
“because I didn’t get the grades for Cambridge”.(honest).Oxford was a definite no no for me.

For me the most organised open day was Warwick ( I have not chosen to go there so this is a totally impartial opinion offered). The Facilities are excellent, it was very well organised with loads of staff and students on hand to answer any questions and it had great employability links which are important for me. Importantly for future engineers the curriculum included mandatory economics and financial training (not something I look forward to but I see the point of it).

Now the Cambridge open day. Well in the morning the department is closed as you are supposed to visit the colleges. So at exactly1.00 pm thousands of people all descend on the department at the same time for the talks and walks. It was chaotic (parents were not allowed on the walks as it was too busy!). You only get chance to do a couple of them as it wasjust too busy. My overall impression was that it was ok but that they don’t need to try for students, so they don’t exactly put much effort in to the day. The Facilities are not as good as other universities, I put this down tothis degree having less of a practical slant to it than others. Where I have chosen to go has three times the number of labs per week as Cambridge and an equal number of lectures/seminars. The students were fab though and really nice down to earth people so I decided to apply. So advice number 2 is to visit as many universities as you can and have an open mind.

Advice number 3: Cambridge College system. Here I start to finally answer your question, sorry it took so long. Well as you can now see I was not into the whole “prestige” thing so believed the Cambridge hype that the choice of college does not matter. This WAS A BIG MISTAKE, I genuinely did not know that each college is a separate institution with it’s own admissions procedure/criteria. So I chose a small college very close to the department(which I did look around and felt comfortable with) purely based upon proximity and convenience. I would advise you to firstly look round as many colleges as you can and make a shortlist of those you feel most comfortable with as this is important. Once you have a shortlist (unlike me) DO YOUR RESEARCH. Which colleges require STEP, which restrict the number of 1^st /2:1 degrees etc This is all important and will impact upon your own ability to succeed. Hopefully the new departmental admissionstests will go some way to standardising the admissions process at Cambridge but each college does act independently and this is an important factor in the applications process.

Advice number 4: The interview. PREPARE and do not believe the videos on Youtube. Visit “I want to do engineering.org” and work your way through the website as this is great preparation. I am sure there are many good interviewers out there but can only go on my experience. The DOS who interviewed me was late, rude (yawning/sighing etc) and totally disinterested in the process. I knew I wasn’t getting a place after the first five minutes.Now I am not saying this is the experience of all but it does still happen so be prepared for how you would handle this (just in case). I have spoken to others and there seems to be a mixed bag of experiences, some good and some bad like mine. It is not just Cambridge by the way. Academics can be a strange lot,a friend of mine had an even worse experience at Imperial! So just accept the interview experience can be a “lottery”. Whatever the “hype” there is no doubt it is a very important part of the process so prepare in advance and think about what you would do if faced with what I had to deal with. I didn’t think about it that much in advance and this was my downfall.

Conclusion – whilst waiting for the decision (which I knew) I found myself asking if I would accept if by any stretch offered a place. I concluded that “I would because it is Cambridge ” but I now know this would have been a mistake for me personally. I Am happy with my choice, it is somewhere I visited some six years ago whilst taking part in an engineering weekend activity designed to spark students interest in the subject. I felt happy there then, love the up to date curriculum and will come out with my Meng (it is definitely not a soft option).

Over to you: So you will learn a lot by your UCAS experience. By all means go for Cambridge if it is what you want but have an open mind about other universities too. Think about what you want to study and why before choosing where. If you apply to Cambridge, then be strategic about your college choice and above all else PREPARE for the interview. I wasnever that bothered but would have loved someone to have given me this advicethis time last year. I wish you the very best of luck in whatever you decide.👍

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 5

Original post by 210555

Which colleges ... restrict the number of 1st/2:1 degrees etc. This is all important and will impact upon your own ability to succeed.

??

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(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 6

Original post by jneill

??

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Worth doing some research. I may be wrong but some students have told me there is a reluctance by some colleges to give out too many of these classifications and there is an "unofficial limit". As I say, worth investigating degree classification by college if one can. I stand by my advice to research college choice although I am an advocate of the new centralised departmental assessment, seems logical to me 😀

Reply 7

Original post by 210555

Worth doing some research. I may be wrong but some students have told me there is a reluctance by some colleges to give out too many of these classifications and there is an "unofficial limit". As I say, worth investigating degree classification by college if one can. I stand by my advice to research college choice although I am an advocate of the new centralised departmental assessment, seems logical to me 😀

Hmm, but it wouldn't make sense to artificially limit Firsts considering the Baxter/Tompkins tables rewards the colleges for giving them...

And yes researching your college choice is a good thing :smile:

Although it's worth noting the new assessment is only one part of the jigsaw :wink:

Reply 8

Original post by jneill

Hmm, but it wouldn't make sense to artificially limit Firsts considering the Baxter/Tompkins tables rewards the colleges for giving them...

And yes researching your college choice is a good thing :smile:

Although it's worth noting the new assessment is only one part of the jigsaw :wink:

There can be up to a 10% difference on these tables between colleges so there is a difference between colleges on degree classification. I assume nobody fully understands why, quality of teaching/ undergraduate cohort??? These tables also need to be balanced against the arguments for academic rigour which is what has been highlighted to me by students I now know.. As we both agree definitely research college choice😀

Totally agree the new assessment is only part of the process, but in my opinion a step forward. Am just trying to give honest advice to make it a level playing field for all applicants. I am from a state school, I was not made aware of any of this last year. This is why I think TSR can be a good source of info. You're right, an Oxbridge application requires completing a jigsaw of many parts. No harm being tipped off about some of the pitfalls😜

Reply 9

Original post by 210555

There can be up to a 10% difference on these tables between colleges so there is a difference between colleges on degree classification. I assume nobody fully understands why, quality of teaching/ undergraduate cohort??? These tables also need to be balanced against the arguments for academic rigour which is what has been highlighted to me by students I now know.. As we both agree definitely research college choice😀

Totally agree the new assessment is only part of the process, but in my opinion a step forward. Am just trying to give honest advice to make it a level playing field for all applicants. I am from a state school, I was not made aware of any of this last year. This is why I think TSR can be a good source of info. You're right, an Oxbridge application requires completing a jigsaw of many parts. No harm being tipped off about some of the pitfalls😜

The 10% difference is NOT due to an artificial quota. It's likely to be down to quality of the cohort, and to a much lesser extent, quality of supervisions. Lectures, labs, etc are all departmentally delivered. Colleges are only responsible for supervisions (and admittances).

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Reply 10

samb1234

Original post by 210555

There can be up to a 10% difference on these tables between colleges so there is a difference between colleges on degree classification. I assume nobody fully understands why, quality of teaching/ undergraduate cohort??? These tables also need to be balanced against the arguments for academic rigour which is what has been highlighted to me by students I now know..

A 10% difference is nothing with the sample sizes we have - even the biggest colleges for engineering have about 20 people, and most a lot less so while it seems a big difference in reality it only takes 1-2 students to produce such a large % difference

Reply 11

Original post by jneill

The 10% difference is NOT due to an artificial quota. It's likely to be down to quality of the cohort, and to a much lesser extent, quality of supervisions. Lectures, labs, etc are all departmentally delivered. Colleges are only responsible for supervisions (and admittances).

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Never suggested the table was due to an artificial quota? The table is just one thing that should be considered against the belief for academic rigour. We are not enemies here, we can politely debate and disagree. 😀I am not "in love" with any uni including Cambridge. In my humble opinion, a good scientist is able to objectively critique anything ( I work towards this). If, as you suggest, the difference is due largely to cohort, what does that say about the applications procedure? As I say again, just trying to give open honest advice to level the playing field. Nothing is perfect, not even Oxbridge. Thank you

Reply 12

Original post by 210555

Worth doing some research. I may be wrong but some students have told me there is a reluctance by some colleges to give out too many of these classifications and there is an "unofficial limit". As I say, worth investigating degree classification by college if one can. I stand by my advice to research college choice although I am an advocate of the new centralised departmental assessment, seems logical to me 😀

Original post by 210555

Never suggested the table was due to an artificial quota? The table is just one thing that should be considered against the belief for academic rigour. We are not enemies here, we can politely debate and disagree. 😀I am not "in love" with any uni including Cambridge. In my humble opinion, a good scientist is able to objectively critique anything ( I work towards this). If, as you suggest, the difference is due largely to cohort, what does that say about the applications procedure? As I say again, just trying to give open honest advice to level the playing field. Nothing is perfect, not even Oxbridge. Thank you

Your earlier post intimated some colleges had an unofficial limit (ie artificial). They don't.

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Reply 13

Original post by samb1234

A 10% difference is nothing with the sample sizes we have - even the biggest colleges for engineering have about 20 people, and most a lot less so while it seems a big difference in reality it only takes 1-2 students to produce such a large % difference

That's very true too.

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Reply 14

Original post by jneill

Your earlier post intimated some colleges had an unofficial limit (ie artificial). They don't.

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Unofficial does not equate to artificial, just my viewpoint (how are you so sure "they don't BTW." I was informed by current students at the college I applied for, that engineering staff most definitely do. I have already posted that this may be untrue to provide a balanced view so I consider your response inappropriate.) However, it does distract from my much longer original post in which I try to give objective advice about the whole UCAS process to assist other students. Is there anything else on that original post you disagree with? I would love to know.

You have picked up on one sentence only. It seems to me, having read many of your posts over the last few months you are a massive fan of Cambridge, I am not nor any other uni for that matter. It is going to cost me and my family. Approx £18,000 a year for four years to study for my degree. £72,000 is a huge investment, I consider a pros/cons approach to the decision the way forward. I am not against Cambridge, it is clearly a top uni and I have never said or intimated otherwise. Please some respect all round for different viewpoints/experiences, we are not enemies. SIncere best wishes for all future Cambridge applicants.😀

Reply 15

Original post by 210555

Unofficial does not equate to artificial, just my viewpoint (how are you so sure "they don't BTW." I was informed by current students at the college I applied for, that engineering staff most definitely do. I have already posted that this may be untrue to provide a balanced view so I consider your response inappropriate.) However, it does distract from my much longer original post in which I try to give objective advice about the whole UCAS process to assist other students. Is there anything else on that original post you disagree with? I would love to know.

You have picked up on one sentence only. It seems to me, having read many of your posts over the last few months you are a massive fan of Cambridge, I am not nor any other uni for that matter. It is going to cost me and my family. Approx £18,000 a year for four years to study for my degree. £72,000 is a huge investment, I consider a pros/cons approach to the decision the way forward. I am not against Cambridge, it is clearly a top uni and I have never said or intimated otherwise. Please some respect all round for different viewpoints/experiences, we are not enemies. SIncere best wishes for all future Cambridge applicants.😀

No the rest was fine :wink:

but that one questionable statement does undermine an otherwise useful post.

There's enough mythology around Oxbridge already that adding to it is unhelpful. Its important that people understand colleges do not unofficially or otherwise try to reduce the number of Firsts they award. I think you would agree if that this was indeed the case students affected (or potential applicants) would have cause to be very concerned. It's not true and doesn't happen.

Now let's move on :wink:

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Reply 16