The Student Room Group

Girton College

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Reply 60

That sounds like such a good club, I'm surprised it doesn't exist already...

Reply 61

By the way, I don't think anyone actually actually *enjoys* waking up at the crack of dawn! :tongue:

Reply 62

sbailey
By the way, I don't think anyone actually actually *enjoys* waking up at the crack of dawn! :tongue:

I do :smile: I like to go running early in the morning.

Reply 63

Helenia
You and Baz should get a club together to bitch about women's lower boats. I'm sure you'd have fun :tongue:

If I did row (and I'm not a morning person) then I'd have to become a lot more organised, that's for sure. I do have a bike though, living at the Colony I'm going to have to anyway, so I might occasoinally make it to lectures on time :eek: Obviously you managed it :tongue:
6.30am is the best time of the day; nice crisp water, nice breeze, no novices... wonderful.

And there is nothing more frustrating than being stuck behind a W3/W4 on a narrow strech of water. :rolleyes: All respect for them for giving it a go, and some turn out pretty good. But the majority (similar to men in a way) really aren't suited to rowing. If they can't pull though a minor crap, or complete a full stroke, maybe it's for the best if they chose another sport.

"GET OFF THE WATER AND BACK IN THE KITCHEN!!!" :mad:

Reply 64

I stand corrected, Shiny.

By the way, which college are you at?

Reply 65

BazTheMoney
6.30am is the best time of the day; nice crisp water, nice breeze, no novices... wonderful.

And there is nothing more frustrating than being stuck behind a W3/W4 on a narrow strech of water. :rolleyes: All respect for them for giving it a go, and some turn out pretty good. But the majority (similar to men in a way) really aren't suited to rowing. If they can't pull though a minor crap, or complete a full stroke, maybe it's for the best if they chose another sport.

"GET OFF THE WATER AND BACK IN THE KITCHEN!!!" :mad:


Unless they're pretty fine, in which case they should surely stay on the river in any case.

Reply 66

sbailey
I stand corrected, Shiny. By the way, which college are you at?

I used to be at Trinity :smile:

Reply 67

Have you left uni now?

Reply 68

sbailey
Unless they're pretty fine, in which case they should surely stay on the river in any case.
That's true, W1's are a bit butch for me; but some of them are pretty fine. Saying that, 5 weeks before bumps, even the finest specimens can be annoying. :rolleyes:

Reply 69

sbailey
Have you left uni now?

Yep. Left on Sunday :smile:

Reply 70

Cool, I think congratulations are in order! Although I suspect the regulars on this board have already made a fuss!

Reply 71

sbailey
Cool, I think congratulations are in order! Although I suspect the regulars on this board have already made a fuss!

See my other thread entitled "Ladies and Gentlemen" :smile:

Reply 72

rowing is fun, especially in the lower boats where the atmosphere is a lot less pressurizing. i did the entire 3 terms in Caius' men's lower boats, and had a really good time. will probably be coxing novices and maybe rowing 2nd Michaelmas senior boat next term, if such a boat exists... i'd really recommend it to anyone, medics or not.

(BTW, i'm a medic, i rowed, and i still managed to pass with a decent grade. to all other medics on this forum - how did you guys fare in the Tripos? it can be done, for those who have their doubts/have not tried it/are convincing themselves to give it a go...)

as for reputations, personally, i feel it's more of a conversation topic than something that really intrudes upon social interaction and gets into the way once you start meeting and talking to people at cambridge. the reason why so many people on this board seem to be obsessed about reps is probably because some new person pops up, asks about colleges, and reps, and culture, etc., and the enthusiastic replies... well, maybe slightly too detailed and enthusiastic... :rolleyes:

to be honest, differences exist, but they exist for a reason, and to the world outside of cambridge, these differences are minimal and largely irrelevant :eek: , despite whatever indignance you might feel if you're from Trinity, John's or other such old biggies, and get accused of coming from Clare Hall or some relatively unknown and "unfamous" college :eek: .

as for the differences, they are due to a few reasons.

1. the type of person that applies - people read prospectuses and choose colleges. so, people who are attracted to whatever atmosphere the college prospectus is "selling" tend to apply to the same college and contribute further to this particular college atmosphere/culture.

2. the type of person that is accepted. let's face it, admissions tutors are not all the same - one person might be accepted by one tutor and not another, simply due to personal preferences of the tutors. and this has an effect on the nature of the student populations in different colleges too. this is particularly relevant to open applications - you're playing russian roulette with your application, because you have a personality, and each college has a preferred personality type for their applicants. there are 31 colleges, of which maybe 3 or 4 fit your personality. now, what are the odds... hmm...

3. the type of teaching you get. cambridge has supervisions, which after a year of them, i'd loathe to do without. however, the system is such that you get rather massive deviations in teaching quality for a system that is supposed to be uniform across the university. fact is, a professor or someone involved in the exam process - setting the paper/marking it, will definitely be more "in tune" with the nature of knowledge and teaching required of them, as compared to a PhD student in his/her first year in cambridge who has a minimal knowledge of the Tripos system and the unique essay styles that cambridge markers tend to favour and thus award good marks to. the reason i know this is because for my 3 main subjects this year, i had one of each - a professor, a fellow involved in marking our exams, and a "virgin" PhD supervisor - all three were nice people and all, but the difference in quality was obvious, and large. essay questions set by the PhD student were interesting and all, but quite "out of this world" when taken in the context of the Tripos... the other two supervisors, on the other hand... :wink:

how does the long paragraph above transpose into college choices and reputations? well, think about this - if a college has a large number of fellows/professors in the particular subject you are reading, chances are, you get more "higher quality" supervisions, and thus are potentially equipped to do better in the Tripos as compared (ceteris paribus) to someone else. which is why trinity mathmos, downing lawyers, caius medics, all have reps.

as for girton, people take the piss out of anybody from Girton because of the unbelievable, epic 15-minute voyage across the vast expanse of cambridgeshire countryside they embark upon daily in order to seek and acquire knowledge in the centrally located lecture/lab sites in cambridge. to be honest, i've heard nothing but good things about girton aside from that... minor inconvenience :wink: good food, their own spa/sauna? and swimming pool, nice rooms (i think), etc...

oh, to put things in perspective - the downing medics roll over the wrong side of their beds and end up falling into the lecture theatre. lucky bastards. and i've heard rumours that they wondered why no other medics seemed to go back to their rooms during our hour-long lunch breaks for a nap!!! :eek: :mad: :rolleyes:

Reply 73

Go Girton! :smile:

Reply 74

Well, a lot of bits of messages to reply to; I hope this is comprehensible...

BazTheMoney

"GET OFF THE WATER AND BACK IN THE KITCHEN!!!" :mad:


Stop living in the 1920s! Grow up and stop being such a pampered spoiled Mummy's boy. You've made your point that they annoy you. But while they're in the kitchen, you don't know what they're adding to your food...:tongue:

sbailey
Unless they're pretty fine, in which case they should surely stay on the river in any case


:rolleyes: I've seen the comments on the CUCBC (I think???) messageboards, I thought you men were supposed to have your eyes in the boat bubble? Whereas clearly some people don't, else they wouldn't be able to make enlightened comments like "X college W1/2/3 are looking particularly nice this term...*insert sordid rowing based innuendo here.*" Well that's one thing I won't have to worry about next year :rolleyes:

KHL
(BTW, i'm a medic, i rowed, and i still managed to pass with a decent grade. to all other medics on this forum - how did you guys fare in the Tripos? it can be done, for those who have their doubts/have not tried it/are convincing themselves to give it a go...)


Gah! All the scary boatie medics are coming to torment me with their better grades than mine. :frown: I got a 2i, with my worst mark in MIMS, despite a year of the formidable Webster. :eek: There's a lot more to be done, although if rumours about 2nd year workload are true, I don't know how I'm going to manage. I might be able to fit in rowing as well, as my main problem this year was not lack of time but laziness/GF-induced lethargy (for most of Lent term), but I'm still not convinced, especially when threatened with the prospect of receiving an earful of Baz' choicest abuse!

Reply 75

Lol, eyes in the boat! My memories of Lent term rowing are of our bow shouting at passing (women's) boats to arrange formals. Quite embarassing actually! It worked quite well on the whole, but it was getting beyond a joke after Pembroke W2 had turned us down half a dozen times... :tongue:

Having said that, we still won the Pembroke Regatta (Lower Division), so personally I think we had our training style perfected :smile:

Reply 76

sbailey
Lol, eyes in the boat! My memories of Lent term rowing are of our bow shouting at passing (women's) boats to arrange formals. Quite embarassing actually! It worked quite well on the whole, but it was getting beyond a joke after Pembroke W2 had turned us down half a dozen times... :tongue:

Having said that, we still won the Pembroke Regatta (Lower Division), so personally I think we had our training style perfected :smile:


I think it's much easier to perve on boaties from a nice comfortable seat on the bank :wink:

And I know who your bow is/was and I'm not surprised at all. :rolleyes: At least those Pembroke girls had some sense :biggrin:

Reply 77

He's a cheeky bow. :wink: How do you know him?

Reply 78

never knew ladies' crews were actually amenable to arranging formals whilst on the river... hmm... will certainly keep a lookout next term then... particularly as i'm going to be a cox.

but half a dozen times for one crew? either your bowman was REALLY hard up, or there was a crew out there who were a LOT fitter than i had seen/thought.

then again, if i'm shoved into a ladies' boat, damn...

just curious, sbailey, which maggie boat are you in?

Reply 79

Hey, call me Steve. I didn't row in May term :frown: In the first two terms I rowed for Maggie Third Men, at 2 in Mich term and 6 in Lent term. I actually got selected for the second boat for Lent term but the committment put me off.... in the end we had a lot more success in third boat :smile: