Cambridge Applicants for 2013 Entry

Haha! The accents....

That's a great film!


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Oh good, you managed to see it before it got removed




It's really weird seeing all the Cambridge places in it now.

Still confused about colleges. Don't have time to go to Cambridge again. Don't want to put in an open application and get sent to Homerton. Would like to go to a college with a friendly atmosphere where I can get to know people (none of those tiny places like Corpus Christi). Would prefer onsite accommodation with large rooms. Don't want to apply to Trinity because of the test at interview (it's a silly reason, but it's putting me off). Don't want John's because I don't want to be surrounded by toffs. Want to go somewhere with a good maths culture and good results in the maths Tripos.

I was looking at Emmanuel but I'm not sure about the offsite accommodation. I guess you wouldn't suggest any other colleges, though!

Have you looked at Downing? Also, Trinity is famous for having a test, but in reality most colleges will give you a problem sheet at some point during the interview stage. Oh and have a look here, I found it helpful!

. Don't want John's because I don't want to be surrounded by toffs.

It is ironic you say this. Someone I know (definitely not a friend) two years above us was unhappy at john's because every other mathematician in his year was not from private school (he was a toff). And look on the extremely bright side...you'll get to be in a college with me!


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But I don't know if I'd rather be at Oxford than John's.

I've been to Downing. I didn't look at every part of the college but it seemed to have a cold atmosphere. Maybe that's just because it was absolutely pouring down with rain.

I know, but in other colleges you don't sit a one hour test, alone, knowing that everything you've done up to that point might fall apart if you can't answer a couple of questions to a decent standard.

Still confused about colleges. Don't have time to go to Cambridge again. Don't want to put in an open application and get sent to Homerton. Would like to go to a college with a friendly atmosphere where I can get to know people (none of those tiny places like Corpus Christi). Would prefer onsite accommodation with large rooms. Don't want to apply to Trinity because of the test at interview (it's a silly reason, but it's putting me off). Don't want John's because I don't want to be surrounded by toffs. Want to go somewhere with a good maths culture and good results in the maths Tripos.

I was looking at Emmanuel but I'm not sure about the offsite accommodation. I guess you wouldn't suggest any other colleges, though!

Magdalen has an 1h30 long test, Churchill has an hour long test, Downing has a 45 minute test, Pembroke has a 30 minute test, Robinson and Girton both have a test of unspecified length, and Homerton, Caius, Corpus, Jesus, King's, Murray Edwards, Catz, Trinity Hall, all give "material/questions" to work on prior to interview.

So I wouldn't be put off by Trinity's test too much.

The thing is, Emma isn't in that list! Anyway, I'll speak to my teachers about how previous applicants from my school prepared for their interviews, whether anyone made any particular comments about the tests etc, and I might even try to get in touch with a couple more people at the colleges I'm interested in. If all of that fails, I'll make an algorithm for choosing a college by tossing a coin a certain number of times.

The thing is, Emma isn't in that list! Anyway, I'll speak to my teachers about how previous applicants from my school prepared for their interviews, whether anyone made any particular comments about the tests etc, and I might even try to get in touch with a couple more people at the colleges I'm interested in. If all of that fails, I'll make an algorithm for choosing a college by tossing a coin a certain number of times.

Pff of course I would suggest other colleges And yes the alternative prospectus is helpful.

John's is alright - the toffs thing is actually just made up and in fact it takes ones of the largest proportions of state school pupils.

Downing is good for accommodation, although some people find it too luxurious.

For Emmanuel you will be forced to live offsite for at most one year, and I managed to live in college for all three years.

Caius and Christ's are academic and I hear they have quite good atmospheres. For Caius though you might find it too small and they often put people offsite.

Both King's and Queens' have plenty of quality on-site accommodation and they are rather large collges.

Clare and Jesus are both rich and large, with Jesus in particular you have the chance to live in extremely nice (but I hear expensive!) accommodation. Although both colleges have a lot of offsite accommodation so you might want to avoid them.

Trinity Hall is a rich and academic college, although you might find it too be on the small side a bit and insular since it's squeezed between other colleges.

From those remaining, Pembroke, Robinson, Sidney and Selwyn are decent-sized and are good choices with their own advantages, although they too have lots of offsite accommodation (the colleges own land all over the place...)

Are there any that take your fancy particularly? If you want to decide on location and size you should first decide whether you want to live in a town college (those in the centre) or one that's further out, and if you want to live in town whether you want a college with backs (i.e. next to the river, with potential for punting from your college).

Unfortunately I don't know the particulars for maths at each of these colleges...

Thanks, that's a really useful summary of the main points that I was interested in!

John's, Trinity, Emma, Christ's, Queen's (where does the apostrophe go? ), and potentially King's/Caius all interest me. I'm going to have to narrow that down a lot if I'm to actually make a decision though!

Fair enough. It's just that it seemed your only reason for discarding Trin was the test, and I don't think that's a good enough reason.

Multiple queens, so Queens'.

From the list of admissions tests I linked above, it seems that Clare and Queens' are good alternatives to Emmanuel for you (both do not administer a test). You could also consider Sidney and Tit Hall, and even Selwyn if you are willing to live a bit further out (all no-pre-interview-test).

...

Hm, all this talk is making me nervous about Pembroke's test now. Thanks a lot und.

Anyway, I'm already pushing it with the amount of sleep I'm going to be getting tonight, so thanks everybody and good night!