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The Big 'Which Cambridge College?' Thread

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Original post by Zoedotdot

Original post by Zoedotdot

...It is DEFINITELY not the only college to offer Education. Lots of the other colleges also offer it, just not in the same numbers that Homerton do. There's only one Education student in my year at Emma, for example.



Original post by gethsemane342

Other colleges offer it as well - Christ's does, for example. Homerton just has the majority of them


My bad, mistake acknowledged, cheers.

Carry on.
Reply 2361
Avatar for cz100
cz100
14
Original post by Zoedotdot


EMMA :biggrin: You know you can go to Cambridge and look round the colleges any time? Just tell the porters that you're a prospective applicant and they're always happy to let you in and point you in the right direction. There won't be a welcoming committee or anything like you sometimes get on open days, but it'll help you get a feel for the colleges themselves :smile:
.


Well I live in NI, so it's not really a simple case of popping to the uni to have a look around for a day out :frown:
Original post by cz100
Well I live in NI, so it's not really a simple case of popping to the uni to have a look around for a day out :frown:


Oh no :frown: Well it's not a big deal really, plenty of people apply without looking round first. My friend actually did make it to an open day and applied to Emma, and then realised when he arrived for his interviews that he'd actually never been to Emma before - he'd looked round Christ's and loved it, but got them confused and applied to the wrong one! And he's happy with where he ended up so I wouldn't worry too much if you can't get here :smile: Most people won't have looked round all of the colleges anyway - I think I only went to Queens', Catz, Pembroke and Emma so it's not like I had a representative view of it either.
Original post by Zoedotdot
Oh no :frown: Well it's not a big deal really, plenty of people apply without looking round first. My friend actually did make it to an open day and applied to Emma, and then realised when he arrived for his interviews that he'd actually never been to Emma before - he'd looked round Christ's and loved it, but got them confused and applied to the wrong one! And he's happy with where he ended up so I wouldn't worry too much if you can't get here :smile: Most people won't have looked round all of the colleges anyway - I think I only went to Queens', Catz, Pembroke and Emma so it's not like I had a representative view of it either.

:teehee:
Reply 2364
Avatar for cz100
cz100
14
Original post by Zoedotdot
Oh no :frown: Well it's not a big deal really, plenty of people apply without looking round first. My friend actually did make it to an open day and applied to Emma, and then realised when he arrived for his interviews that he'd actually never been to Emma before - he'd looked round Christ's and loved it, but got them confused and applied to the wrong one! And he's happy with where he ended up so I wouldn't worry too much if you can't get here :smile: Most people won't have looked round all of the colleges anyway - I think I only went to Queens', Catz, Pembroke and Emma so it's not like I had a representative view of it either.


Haha, well that gives me some reassurance about Christ's anyway! I did go to Cambridge once when I was 8, but that doesn't really count. I don't even remember which college it was, only rowing in the river but my dad tells me it was King's and I have a pencil from it as a souvenir.
Does Maths differ at different Cambridge colleges? I mean, does it matter which college you go to if you want to do maths?
Original post by Procrastinate
Does Maths differ at different Cambridge colleges? I mean, does it matter which college you go to if you want to do maths?

You all do the same course, if that's what you mean.
Original post by alex_hk90
You all do the same course, if that's what you mean.


Yes, but why is there some emphasis about some colleges being better at Maths? Trinity being quite popular for maths for example.
Original post by Procrastinate
Yes, but why is there some emphasis about some colleges being better at Maths? Trinity being quite popular for maths for example.


It tends to be to do with alumni (i.e. Newton at Trinity) and number of places for a subject in that college, I think. The only part of a Cambridge education that differs by college is the supervisors you get, and even then, you're often supervised by someone who's not from your college.

Trinity takes a lot of maths students compared to other colleges, Caius takes a lot of medics, Downing a lot of lawyers, etc...
Original post by Topaz_eyes
It tends to be to do with alumni (i.e. Newton at Trinity) and number of places for a subject in that college, I think. The only part of a Cambridge education that differs by college is the supervisors you get, and even then, you're often supervised by someone who's not from your college.

Trinity takes a lot of maths students compared to other colleges, Caius takes a lot of medics, Downing a lot of lawyers, etc...


So technically it wouldn't really matter which college you go to to do ANY subject?
Original post by Procrastinate
So technically it wouldn't really matter which college you go to to do ANY subject?


Nope :smile:

And besides, there's the chance you could get pooled to a different college anyway! No matter which college you go to, you learn the same stuff and sit the same exams, so pick which one you'd prefer to spend 3 (or however many) years at :smile: Everyone ends up loving their college best anyway :smile:
Reply 2371
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Melz0r
16
Original post by Procrastinate
So technically it wouldn't really matter which college you go to to do ANY subject?


Correct, although there are a very few subjects not on offer at certain colleges (e.g. Emma offers everything except Land Economy and certain combinations with Education), so double-check before you get your heart set on somewhere (see prospectus).
Original post by Procrastinate
So technically it wouldn't really matter which college you go to to do ANY subject?

In theory it doesn't, no. Though in reality some have much better supervisors for certain subjects so it does make a difference. However this is not something you can easily tell before you get here.
Does anyone here go to Jesus college? If so what is it like? I really liked the look of it (I want to read english) as it's medium sized, pretty, old, fairly central but quietish and just seemed quite laid back in general. Also the directors of studiesfor english seem to have the same literary interests as I do, which is nice!
I know Kings is like one of the most competitive, but I like the look at Corpus christie and St Johns, just wondering do they get alot of applicants?
Reply 2375
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n_251
12
Original post by multiplexing-gamer
I know Kings is like one of the most competitive, but I like the look at Corpus christie and St Johns, just wondering do they get alot of applicants?


I've said it before and I'll say it again; DO NOT PLAY THE NUMBERS GAME! Come to Cambridge, look at the colleges, do your research on facilities, location, etc and then select a college based on that.

The three colleges you have listed are very different.

Corpus is right on the opposite end of the scale to John's in terms of number of students. So, would you prefer a tiny college or a massive one? Or a middle-sized one?

What subject are you applying for? You might want to take in to consideration how far a college is from your lectures (though this is not too important a factor)?

Also, what kind of accommodation would you like? Brand, spanking new? Proper old-school? Guaranteed en-suite? Good food? Good cooking facilities?

Those are the sort of questions you should be asking. Playing the numbers game is very rarely (if ever) a successful tactic. If you're worthy of a place, you'll most probably get in through the pool anyway so don't worry about which colleges have a lot of applicants :smile: Good luck! :biggrin:
Id like the centre of town (they both are)
Small...
Geography...
Old fashioned.
But, my dilemma is st johns looks ace aswell, and they take in 7 geog stidents and Corpus Christie take in something like 4, yeh i know your not supposed to play the numbers game, but clearly they let more students in at st johns...
Anyway, based on the info I just told you, what would you suggest?
Reply 2377
Avatar for kpatb
kpatb
2
Original post by multiplexing-gamer
Id like the centre of town (they both are)
Small...
Geography...
Old fashioned.
But, my dilemma is st johns looks ace aswell, and they take in 7 geog stidents and Corpus Christie take in something like 4, yeh i know your not supposed to play the numbers game, but clearly they let more students in at st johns...
Anyway, based on the info I just told you, what would you suggest?


Yes, but there could be a far higher number of applicants for Geography at John's.
(Actually I'm sure there are because it's a much bigger college than Corpus)

Link to Geography Statistics from the Cambridge Website

And as I thought...
John's has about 20-30 applicants every year for geography and every year 10 people get offers, either from St. Johns or other colleges through the pool
At Corpus there are about only 5 or 6 applicants every year but only 3 people get offers either from pool or from the college.

So really, JUST looking at numbers mean nothing because though John's takes in more students, it has a lot more applicants too. So don't play the numbers game - apply to a college that appeals to you :smile:

For example, I was given an offer for Chemical Engineering from Christ's - Christ's only gives out offers to about one or two chemical engineers every year. When I saw that on their website, I almost had a heart attack, but applied anyway and received an offer :smile: So there you go :smile: (although admittedly, Chemical Engineering isn't a good example. )
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 2378
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rhose
Is it true that there is a bit of an 'image' attached to st. john's students? Because I really like the look of it, and I like the idea of all the accmodation being on site, but I've got the impression it isn't the most popular college.
Original post by rhose
Is it true that there is a bit of an 'image' attached to st. john's students? Because I really like the look of it, and I like the idea of all the accmodation being on site, but I've got the impression it isn't the most popular college.

The 'image' (well, 'stereotype' really) is that it's full of posh people ('rahs') but most people don't take these stereotypes seriously (it's more just a bit of fun/'banter' between colleges), and besides - what better way to change the image than going against it? :smile:

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