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The Big 'Which Cambridge College?' Thread

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Reply 2080
Avatar for sand4
sand4
Everyone here says that King's is full of tourists, what difference does this actually make? Do they wake you up in the morning or something like that?
sjb3
Can anyone recommend a college for a non-drinker who's sort of shy? Preferably somewhere friendly but quiet and with less night life... (I know asking for a university with less night life is like asking for an ocean with less water, but still.)


Anywhere's alright - if you don't want to go out or drink, it's up to you; people won't . Girton is pretty much a community in itself so that may be an idea. Fitzwilliam is also out of the city centre. Colleges in the city centre may put you in a room facing the street and, speaking as someone whose room faced the exit of a nightclub, it's noisy. But you can get used to it :smile:
n_251
Ah ok. The one's that come to mind are Corpus Christi and Sidney Sussex. Christ's as well I think.

gethsemane342
Christ's is pretty close-knit and bang in the middle of the centre. Corpus is, presumably, even more close-knit and is near the doctors (and the centre) so if you're anywhere near as accident prone as myself, it's probably a good one to go for :wink:


Thanks guys :smile: xxx
Hey guys :smile: am applying to do medicine and am still stuck over picking a college! (even after reading all the material I can get my hands on) I have to give my decision in two days time so am in panic mode. Right now, am veering wildly between Selwyn and Trinity Hall.
I want a medium/small college, very friendly, with decent accomm and food, and not too into music/sport as I havent achieved hugely in these areas. Any advice? Other colleges will also be considered :smile:
Reply 2084
Avatar for Amy Luo
Amy Luo
I am going to apply engineering.
Can anyone tell me if the competition of engineering in Churchill is very high? (to a female)
I analysed the statistics and found that getting into churchill is 5:1 (all applicants) but to Murray Edwards just 3:1.
As a female applying engineering , will I get any disadvantage in Churchill?

I gotta finish my UCAS by friday .:woo:

thank you 4 helping me!!
Reply 2085
Avatar for Zyphlon
Zyphlon
So, I'm applying for Cambridge this year for Medicine.

I've been there, looked at a few colleges, and two of them really stood out. One was a large college (Downing) and one was very small (Corpus Christi), I can't seem to decide between them.

I was going to just randomly pick, but then I wondered, If you apply to a smaller college, then there will be less people competing for your place. And while the percent of offers might be the same, surely it's easier to stand out at an interview if the interviewer only does 30 as opposed to 130? And this might increase the likelihood of an offer, or even getting pooled.

What do you guys think? Did size influence your college choice?
I really suggest an open application since it seems you don't really care about which college you go to.
Open application will be given to a random college that has vacancies for your subject so it kinda translates into a better chance.
PS: Corpus christi or Jesus college or even Downing.Medicine in Cambridge is medicine in cambridge :wink:
The college you apply to only affects your chance of getting into your first choice college. If you're a good applicant you'll get an offer, be it from your preferred college or the pool. I know a fit girl at downing, so apply there!
(edited 13 years ago)
Reply 2088
Avatar for Zyphlon
Zyphlon
Theconomist
I really suggest an open application since it seems you don't really care about which college you go to.
Open application will be given to a random college that has vacancies for your subject so it kinda translates into a better chance.
PS: Corpus christi or Jesus college or even Downing.Medicine in Cambridge is medicine in cambridge :wink:


Well I do kinda mind. I can;t decide between those two, but there are a few more I didn't like the location or the feel off. If I could do open between those two, I certainly would!
Reply 2089
Avatar for orca92
orca92
13
Don't bother trying to play the system to get a better chance at an offer; it never seems to make much difference what you do. I would go for the larger college as there's more people to socialise with.
The pooling system ensures that there will only be minute differences between your chances at different colleges and those will be hard to predict. Go for whichever one you like more. Downing's marginally closer to the anatomy school, if that makes your choice easier :p:
oh btw good luck on your app.( go for the smaller ads a mystic to you being in the small unknown college)
Hi!
I will be applying for Medicine at Cambridge as an overseas student! ( Chinese ) :smile:
I really want to apply to Christ's college but I have heard it's extremely competitive for international students there! Is it true that last year 25 students competed for 1 place?
Christ's also quite famous :frown:
Any advice? :smile:
why_white_y
Hi!
I will be applying for Medicine at Cambridge as an overseas student! ( Chinese ) :smile:
I really want to apply to Christ's college but I have heard it's extremely competitive for international students there! Is it true that last year 25 students competed for 1 place?
Christ's also quite famous :frown:
Any advice? :smile:


Well, there's quite a few international students but, if you're good enough, you'll get into Cambridge. So no problems there.
Last year (as in the year with the applicants who start in October), there were 121 places for 16 spots in medicine at Christ's. So 25:1 is just a *bit* of an exagerration :wink: Again, don't play the number game - if you're good enough, you'll end up in Cambridge. Christ's had the most applications last year but that may not be the case this year - it changes.

As for it being famous - doesn't matter. If it helps, when i applied there, i had no idea of its reputation and only found out after i sent off my form. I kicked myself when i found out because i assumed they'd want really smart people. And i still got in.

Basically, if you want to apply to Christ's, go for it. If you're good enough, you'll get in there or be pooled and get picked up somewhere else (at a less cool college though *shifty eyes*) (Just kidding, you'll love wherever you end up. I just feel obliged to promote my own college :yes: )
gethsemane342
. So 25:1 is just a *bit* of an exagerration :wink:: )

They're international though. I dunno if it's the same for other subjects, but there's a restricted number of international spaces at cambridge for medicine.

25:1 actually could be plausible.
(edited 13 years ago)
Jonty99
They're international though. I dunno if it's the same for other subjects, but there's a restricted number of international spaces at cambridge for medicine.

25:1 actually could be plausible.


Well, it would probably depend on how many of those medical applicants were internationals (the guy who told me this was reading his way through all 121 personal statements and didn't go into more detail than 'I have 121 medical statements to read!!!'). If that's the case then i'm not sure - i think i misread the post as being 'i'm an international' then 'were there 25:1 places at Christ's for medicine?' However, judging from the amount of international medics in my year (I think there's 4 - 6), there would have had to be about 100 international students at least applying to Christ's. This is relatively unlikely so i think the ratio was lower than 25:1.
gethsemane342
Well, it would probably depend on how many of those medical applicants were internationals (the guy who told me this was reading his way through all 121 personal statements and didn't go into more detail than 'I have 121 medical statements to read!!!'). If that's the case then i'm not sure - i think i misread the post as being 'i'm an international' then 'were there 25:1 places at Christ's for medicine?' However, judging from the amount of international medics in my year (I think there's 4 - 6), there would have had to be about 100 international students at least applying to Christ's. This is relatively unlikely so i think the ratio was lower than 25:1.


Hi! Which college did you apply to? :smile:
Well, the statistic is what the Christ's admission tutor confirmed for me today :frown: They received around 35 international applicants for just 1 place last year! :frown:
I have emailed them and their reply made me scared ! :

Hi,



Thank you for your email



At Downing our quota is one overseas student per year. I will just let you know the process we followed this year. We de-selected from interview all applicants who, on the basis of their paper applications, we believed had little of no chance of being admitted to Cambridge in the end. Those we called for interview averaged c. 92% at AS Level across their three most relevant or best subjects and 6 A*s at GCSE. A significant number of those interviewed also had exceptional references: in some subjects, virtually all the places we were able to allocate this year went to applicants who were described by their teachers or lecturers as being among the brightest students they had taught. It is important to note that BMAT and interviews play a significant part in the admissions process, very academically able candidates will score 5.0+ and that the BMAT forms an important aspect of the admissions criteria to assess scientific aptitude and abilities relevant to the study of Medicine along with UMS etc. There are details about BMAT results publicly available at http://www.admissionstests.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/adt/bmat/about#Results Applicants who received offers from Downing averaged c. 95% at AS Level and 7.5 A*s at GCSE. In the most competitive subjects profiles were even stronger. Students joining us this year actually achieved 2-3 A* in the summer exams (average 2.8).



I hope this gives you the information you need.
(edited 13 years ago)
why_white_y
Hi! Which college did you apply to? :smile:
Well, the statistic is what the Christ's admission tutor confirmed for me today :frown: They received around 35 international applicants for just 1 place last year! :frown:


Whoops, sorry for being distinctly unhelpful - despite 2 of my best friends in uni being medics, i don't seem to know much about them.
(I applied to Christ's and that's where i study now)
Although i *swear* there's more than one international medic in my year. Maybe it changed...

Ha ha, that IS a scary e-mail but don't worry - i have faith in you. That and i'm never entirely convinced by all of this '90%' stuff they say you should average for Cambridge because only one of my AS' was over 90% - the rest were about 84% - 87% (for law, though). So if you still want to apply, just go for it. After all, you never know, right?

(And, just a handy hint - if you have excellent language skills, don't go on about them at the interview. One my aforementioned medic friends did and apparently, if it had been a good enough reason for them not to let him in, they'd have rejected him just because of how irritating it was :biggrin: As it wasn't, they accepted him)
I'm interested in applying to Trinity and St John's for MPhil in Management. Anybody give me some more info on what these colleges are like for graduate students?

I'm considering Peterhouse, Hughes Hall, King's, Gonville and Caius and Girton too. Possibly Robinson.

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