The Student Room Group

Your top reasons to ACCEPT or DECLINE a Cambridge offer

I have always been undecided whether i actually want to go to Cambridge or not. So please could you tell me and others reasons why Cambridge is great, or why it is a place to avoid. If you can be bothered, then read the rest of my post (i say bothered because i hate reading).

I have heard many people say Cambridge will set you up for life, it is the best university in the UK and the world, the fellows and teaching staff are great. However i have also heard people say Cambridge is hell, and you are worked really hard constantly, everyone is very competitive, if you are bottom of the class you are worthless, nobody has a social life, there are hardly any bars and so on. So what is it like really, ideally i want to hear from people at Cambridge and who have been to Cambridge, but all comments are welcome. The reason i post this now is because i have received an offer which i am capable of, and so if i want i can go to Cambridge. One hour i am thinking - wow, i can go to Cambridge. The next, i am thinking - Cambridge, i want to relax and have a good time at uni, not work the whole time. I apologise to those people who didn't get offers and really wanted to go to Cambridge, but i just wanted to know really what Cambridge is like. There is a 80% chance i will go to Cambridge happily. If there is anyone who declined a Cambridge offer please post as well.
Reply 1
Im not there mate (got pooled) but my bro is so i have a reasonable idea:

Pros:

great reputation
College and supervision system
Gorgeous place and nice architechture and pretty colleges
Sports facilities all really close to each college
Tradition (if you like it)-formal halls,cambridge blues, Varsity with Oxford etc.
Some of the greatest minds in the world teach you
People with a real passion for their subject teach you and although there is a heavy workload it is not unmanagable and if you really are into your subject (like most people at cambridge are) you will flourish and thoroughly enjoy it
Lots of support available
Punting
Long holidays!!!

Cons
heavy workload-and fi you're not super into your subject may not love it as many people around you will be
Not everyone is anti-social but you will get a larger proportion of "bookworms" or whatever word you want to use
Only 4 clubs in Cambridge (although many traditional pubs)
VERY VERY stressful during exam time and many people can become stressy, and very competitive (although i hasten to add not all people!)



Thats all I can think of form the top of my head.....the thing is I was pooled from Cambridge but have offers from LSE and UCL and think perhaps going to London I would become very careerist whereas perhaps at cambridge I could truly appreciate my subject and value it for what is it and even be drawn into academia (although I could be wrong, its just the impression I get)

Cambridge is a UNIQUE university experience, but it may not be for everyone
Reply 2
I couldn't cope.

I wouldn't have coped had I got in, I don't think.
red_roadkill
I couldn't cope.

I wouldn't have coped had I got in, I don't think.


yep, i agree. i applied for oxford by the way.

especially because of what the other guy above wrote about everyone being stressy at exam time! that would kill me!
Reply 4
There are about three or so threads going on this which answer all your points :smile:
LondonTown
nobody has a social life, there are hardly any bars and so on.


Erm, it has like one of the largest concentrations of pubs in the country, not to mention almost 30 college bars, almost all of which break even or make a small profit. Now, given that the student population in 18,000, I'd say that's a lot of drinking per capita.

MB
Reply 6
LondonTown
I have heard many people say Cambridge will set you up for life, it is the best university in the UK and the world


second best thank you very much. (i have an oxford offer, that's my reasoning)

This goes for any oxbridge person:
You applied to cambridge for the same reason everyone else did. You want to be somewhere with people as passionate about your subject as you. Oxbridge is the best place for this, probably in the world (american universities are less subject focused). An oxbridge offer is a very unique opportunity, no matter what university you go to, in order to do well you will have a massive work load (you've applied to cambridge and probably lots of other top institutions, so no matter where you go you'll have to work you're ass off to get top grades, the difference with cambridge is they force you to get the grades you deserve). Your social life will change drastically in structure, no matter where you go, and there will always be like minded people at your uni. where ever you go, so no worries there.

at the end of the day, going to oxbridge will provide you not only with a first class education, but skills applicable to work, contacts and a great 3 or 4 years of intellectual stimulation (what a dork i am).
Reply 7
Mr. Pink
second best thank you very much. (i have an oxford offer, that's my reasoning)



Check the league tables :p:

Don't worry - 2nd place isn't THAT bad... :biggrin:
Mr. Pink
second best thank you very much. (i have an oxford offer, that's my reasoning)

This goes for any oxbridge person:
You applied to cambridge for the same reason everyone else did. You want to be somewhere with people as passionate about your subject as you. Oxbridge is the best place for this, probably in the world (american universities are less subject focused). An oxbridge offer is a very unique opportunity, no matter what university you go to, in order to do well you will have a massive work load (you've applied to cambridge and probably lots of other top institutions, so no matter where you go you'll have to work you're ass off to get top grades, the difference with cambridge is they force you to get the grades you deserve). Your social life will change drastically in structure, no matter where you go, and there will always be like minded people at your uni. where ever you go, so no worries there.

at the end of the day, going to oxbridge will provide you not only with a first class education, but skills applicable to work, contacts and a great 3 or 4 years of intellectual stimulation (what a dork i am).
Well said (obviously apart from the whole Oxford being better than Cambridge thing :p: ) The best reason I can see for *not* going to Cambridge is simply if the course doesn't suit you. & if it didn't, it seems unlikely you'd've put yourself through the application process which is more gruelling than most :smile: It sounds to me as if it's perfectly possible to have an excellent social life at Cambridge. Yes there's a lot of work, but if it's a subject you love it should be awesome :biggrin: Basically I'd say the supervision system, incredibly high standard of teaching, and beautiful accommodation/colleges are all good reasons to accept. Most importantly, accept the university that offers the course you think is best suited to you. That's just what I think anyway
Reply 9
see, that's what i mean...

tabs and their league tables.... will they ever learn to accept their place as second best??

(coincidentally oxford is first on the tables and has been for a few years now)
Reply 10
*Bethany*
Well said (obviously apart from the whole Oxford being better than Cambridge thing :p: ) The best reason I can see for *not* going to Cambridge is simply if the course doesn't suit you. & if it didn't, it seems unlikely you'd've put yourself through the application process which is more gruelling than most :smile: It sounds to me as if it's perfectly possible to have an excellent social life at Cambridge. Yes there's a lot of work, but if it's a subject you love it should be awesome :biggrin: Basically I'd say the supervision system, incredibly high standard of teaching, and beautiful accommodation/colleges are all good reasons to accept. Most importantly, accept the university that offers the course you think is best suited to you. That's just what I think anyway

I disagree, obviously you want to do a course that suits you, there is no point applying to a course at oxbridge you dont want to do just becuase its 'easier to get in' or they dont offer your course. However SPS wasn't what I would have called my ideal course, I didn't particuarly want to do social anthropology and was more interested in other areas of psychology that were offered. However its a sacrifice I was willing to make and I don't regret it. I also thought i wanted to do politics mainly but have decided that actually sociology is brilliant. Likewise lots of people come here and actually find the parts of the course they love most were things that never really appealed to them before. Its also difficult to work out which course will suit you best if you are applying for something you haven't done before (ie medicine, arch/anth, law, sps)

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Mr. Pink
see, that's what i mean...

tabs and their league tables.... will they ever learn to accept their place as second best??

(coincidentally oxford is first on the tables and has been for a few years now)

Cambridge ranked 2nd best in the world. Oxford rated lower!
The Times admitted also that with the national league tables is becuase of the pay cambridge spends money compared to oxford and that cambridge is actually better :smile:
Reply 11
when you said you wanted to go to a uni where you could relax and have a good time, I think you need to decide what type of "relaxing" and "having a good time" do you want. At cambridge, the workload is indeed very intense, but from week to week there is a certain amount of "work-free time" that you have available to you. If you're focussed, you can work hard in your hours of work, and hence concentrate that free time together, and you will find there is quite a bit of free time available to you (if you worked really effectively, you could probably have most evenings free).

If you like to procrastinate between activities though (like me), you will find you have to spend quite a few evenings getting work done. But even with my incredibly busy schedule (I guarentee it is busier than the average cambridge student) I still find I have 1 or 2 evenings relatively free to relax a week.

But the main difference between cambridge and elsewhere is summed up in the phrase "work hard, play hard". The way I look at it is at other universities you will have a moderate amount of fun, spread reasonably evenly throughout the year. At cambridge, your have a lower amount of fun for most of the year, but then you have may week: the best week of the year. No other university (other than oxford) could possibly come close to may week: the exams are over, the parties start...and the stereotypical cambridge excess begins.

so the way I look at it is you have to choose between having a relatively relaxed time at another university (but you're still gonna have to do quite a bit of work wherever you go remember), or you come to cambridge, and work hard for a year and then have one of the most unforgetable weeks of your life! And after having experienced the cambridge way for a year now, I know I definitely wouldn't pick anything over it!
The reasons I applied and the reasons I'm going to accept my offer as conditional firm include:
-Best university in the country (no matter what those Oxonians say! :p: )
-I want to be at a uni where other people are as academic, hard working and passionate about their subject as I am
_Really flexible languages tripos with lots of options
-The supervision system, which means you get personal one to one or small group teaching with world leaders in the subject
-Accommodation in college for 3 years rather than having to rent privatey after the first year
-Only an hour away from home
-Beautiful place to live

As Bethany said, the main reason I can think of for rejecting a Cambridge offer is you don't like the course or you prefer it somewhere else. In my opinion, worrying about not coping with the workload or not fitting in aren't really reasons to turn down such a fantastic opportunity because everyone has those fears and they're generally unfounded. There's also the location though- I'm not much of a socialiser myself, so the lack of clubs isn't an issue for me, but nightlife is important to you, you might be happier in a bigger city with more going on.
Reply 13
yer but, no but, yer but no!

anyways all bias aside, the two are just about equal don't you think?
notyourpunk
I disagree, obviously you want to do a course that suits you, there is no point applying to a course at oxbridge you dont want to do just becuase its 'easier to get in' or they dont offer your course. However SPS wasn't what I would have called my ideal course, I didn't particuarly want to do social anthropology and was more interested in other areas of psychology that were offered. However its a sacrifice I was willing to make and I don't regret it. I also thought i wanted to do politics mainly but have decided that actually sociology is brilliant. Likewise lots of people come here and actually find the parts of the course they love most were things that never really appealed to them before. Its also difficult to work out which course will suit you best if you are applying for something you haven't done before (ie medicine, arch/anth, law, sps)

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Cambridge ranked 2nd best in the world. Oxford rated lower!
The Times admitted also that with the national league tables is becuase of the pay cambridge spends money compared to oxford and that cambridge is actually better :smile:
Fair points, I was just speaking from my own experience (which is all I can really do) applying to universities for English which obviously was a subject I'd studied before and I had quite definite ideas about what kind of course I wanted. One of the main reasons I would have been so upset had Cambridge rejected me is that I couldn't find a single other English course that was so perfectly geared to what I wanted to study. Only York came close. I can see that it might be different if you were applying for something you hadn't studied in any kind of depth before.

Kelly-got to agree with all of that :smile: (apart from the hour away from home thing - damn it :wink:)