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Why is Homerton disliked so much & consider it to be 'lower' than other colleges?

Chloedanielle

2

Begining to bother me.. after all its Cambridge!!!

Reply 1

FadedJade

15

We don't hate it, its just very far away, we mock Girton for the same reason. Plus I think some people don't like it because its so new, I know a lot of people who seem to think there's no point going to Cam if you're not going into an ancient college (which seems a bit daft to me!) I do'nt really see that myself (despite being at Pembroke). I've never been to Homerton, as it is so far away, but everyone i know there really loves it!

Reply 2

Jigglypuff

16

I've never been but I've heard good things about it. Yes it's far away, but lots of other universities have accomodation further away from lectures etc. It's only far by Cambridge standards. Don't let other people influence your opinion of it. Despite living in an old college (King's) I can see the attraction of a newer one, especially facilities wise.

Reply 3

username36063

11

Hello there, I have had friends at Homerton and the main problem why people regard it lowly is becuase it takes in PGCE and other education type folk. Basically you can go to Homerton to become a teacher with a 2:1 with not the best A-levels (as my friend did) and the rest if the uni percieves the place to be less academic and therefore inferior.

This is just his experiences, not sure if this is true.

Reply 4

Llamaaa

15

it's true- they make very low offers such as BBC or BBB for education which makes other colleges look down on them a little. Plus it's only really been an academic college for about 5 years whereas other colleges have hundreds of years of reputation. And it's really far away.

Reply 5

IronicDory

I spoke to the dean of education during my interview and asked about Route 2 (the more vocational education course which gives BBB offers and prepares people who want to enter primary education) and apparently they have stopped offering this course.
Therefore now the lowest offer from Homerton is AAB (but only in circumstances where the pupil is from an underprivileged schooling), also because they have stopped this route, I believe they are taking more people for non-education degrees. So maybe the perception of Homerton will begin to change a little. Unfortunately there is not much that can be done about distance!

Reply 6

Llamaaa

15

i don't think the perception of homerton will change for many years because it's hard to change that reputation. I know Homerton has improved a lot in the last 5 years or so but people still have the same image in their minds when they think of homerton. At least it's members know what people say isn't true! Also Homerton has a reputation for being the friendliest college in cambridge because with it being far away from the centre they have their own little community thing going on. And it is a really stunning building.

Reply 7

thefish_uk

14

I don't have a negative perception of Homerton... I know a few people from there and they're great!

Reply 8

Kerrigan

Homerton didn't use to be a "proper" college, as most Cambridge graduates from a few years ago will tell you...

Reply 9

Jucus

5

Actually I quite liked Homerton at least on photos...I think this bad opinion about it originates from the Education thing...

Reply 10

thefish_uk

14

fibiso

Hopefully the reputation doesn't come from being new. Because its nice to look at big castles and looming towers, but it just seems so much more comfortable to live in a modern building.
But maybe thats just me.

When I went to the Cambridge Open Days in the summer I was actually choosing between applying to either Homerton or Robinson, although I chose Robinson in the end just because its more convenient and closer to the Law Faculty.
But I liked Homerton! :smile:

Exactly... also... escape the tourists!

Reply 11

boomboomboom

fibiso

Hopefully the reputation doesn't come from being new. Because its nice to look at big castles and looming towers, but it just seems so much more comfortable to live in a modern building.
But maybe thats just me.

When I went to the Cambridge Open Days in the summer I was actually choosing between applying to either Homerton or Robinson, although I chose Robinson in the end just because its more convenient and closer to the Law Faculty.
But I liked Homerton! :smile:

lol i m regretting not applying to robinson for economics. In the end i got in homerton for economics.lol. would have been soo much better if i lived right next to sidgewick site, where economics lectures are.crap!i didnt even know about history of homerton when i applied and it looked much much much nicer than robinson.lol.
btw is it true that teachings for supervisions varies considerably across colleges, with the more prestigious colleges like caius having the best fellows(nobel prize winners) who teach you?

thanks

Reply 12

Llamaaa

15

yes, that is generally true. But that's not to say that the supervisors in Homerton aren't good- they are cambridge supervisors afterall. They just generally haven't won as many awards as supervisors elsewhere. Having said that, if you are not doing education then chances are you will have a few of your supervisions in a different college, so you won't miss out. It certainly won't set you back at all- teaching standards are high across the board.

Reply 13

Epicurus

15

Homerton just needs time. Im sure when Robinson came on the scene; it was probably looked down upon relative to the more ancient colleges. The difference with Homerton is that unlike Robinson it has had an interesting and varied history dating back to the 17th Century; which I think works in its favour. The only negative being that it is too specialised in Education but however steps have been taken to integrate it with the rest of the university. The faculty of education is now next to Homerton rather than on it. The BBC/BBB courses have been dropped; as my fellow poster pointed out. Give it 20 years and I'm sure Homerton will be up there with the good and great of Cambridge.

Reply 14

groovy_moose

1

I think the other thing about homerton is that there's a seemingly very large contingent of actors there - from Ed. studies with drama and english (most of the ones i've spoken to only do education so that they can do the drama) - and people in general don't think actors are that bright... i don't suppose this helps...

i think i read some wheer that in the next few years they're widening the band of colleges that will offer 'education studies'; perhaps in the long run this will help eventhings out a bit

Reply 15

Opsimathmo

6

People hate St John's more :biggrin:

Reply 16

Illusionary

19

Opsimathmo

People hate St John's more :biggrin:

They're just jealous :wink:

Reply 17

coldfish

12

boomboomboom

btw is it true that teachings for supervisions varies considerably across colleges, with the more prestigious colleges like caius having the best fellows(nobel prize winners) who teach you?

thanks

I think you'd be hard pushed to find a nobel winner who was teaching undergrads... especially for supervisions. Whilst it might be true that the bigger/richer/more prestigous colleges are more likely to provide more senior fellows as supervisors, this doesn't necessarily reflect on their ability to supervise... the best supervisions I've had have come from PhD students.

Reply 18

thefish_uk

14

groovy_moose

I think the other thing about homerton is that there's a seemingly very large contingent of actors there - from Ed. studies with drama and english (most of the ones i've spoken to only do education so that they can do the drama) - and people in general don't think actors are that bright... i don't suppose this helps...

i think i read some wheer that in the next few years they're widening the band of colleges that will offer 'education studies'; perhaps in the long run this will help eventhings out a bit

Yes actually I've noticed so many people involved in theatre who do "English and Drama" at Homerton. And I think "does English with drama actually exist?"

And you mean techies in general don't think actors are that bright... all the ones I have met (not a huge number) have been really interesting and smart people. Though they probably don't seem like it when they're tripping over stuff backstage / standing 3 inches too far back so their face is in darkness / missing out lines so you almost miss your cue etc...

As far as quality of teaching between colleges goes - even if old colleges nab the best academics they are not necessarily the best teachers. Out of all my supervisors the best teacher is a probably a guy who does it entirely voluntarily - he doesn't even write us supervision reports normally because he doesn't have to because he's not being paid. My current DoS is quite young, the youngest Fellow in college in fact, but he is really good at it because he can remember when he was doing his degree! Next year we get somebody older and more strict though.

Reply 19

IronicDory

groovy_moose

I think the other thing about homerton is that there's a seemingly very large contingent of actors there - from Ed. studies with drama and english (most of the ones i've spoken to only do education so that they can do the drama) - and people in general don't think actors are that bright... i don't suppose this helps...

Ouch. But I probably prove this. :rolleyes:

I have resolved myself to the fact that at an institution there is a group or subject which is looked down on, and if it's at Cambridge then it's probably not a such bad thing. Also it probably takes a lot of the pressure off whenever one says anything stupid 'It's alright she's one of those drama teachers...'

Can't wait :biggrin:

But I am comfortable in the knowledge that to get there in the first place I need to get the same grades as anyone else planning to study an arts subject at Cambridge, so I don't feel totally unworthy (although education is ridiculously uncompetitive... shh... I didn't say that :p:

)

Why is Homerton disliked so much & consider it to be 'lower' than other colleges?

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