The Big &#x27;Which Cambridge College?&#x27; Thread

Original post by princess dora

Hey!
I'm planning to apply to Cambridge for History.
I've been thinking about King's, but it seems to be insanely competitive.
I want a big college, nice old architecture, centre location, pretty gardens and international atmosphere, so King's seems to be the only option. Would it be a good choice for an EU applicant? Any opinions about King's? Thanks!

Have you thought about Pembroke or maybe St Catz?

I don't know much about the latter since I only have one supervision there so I haven't seen a lot of the college, but Pembroke is known for its atmosphere and is actually a fairly sizeable college. The thing I like about it is that it's central (everything's within a 15-minute walk) and there aren't as many tourists as you'd get at King's.

Also, have you visited King's before? I'm not trying to put you off it, but from what I've seen, it's not as big as it looks from the street. There's the chapel and some oldish buildings at the front (which look pretty magnificent!), but after that most of the grounds are just open space. The first time I went there, I thought: :lolwut:

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Reply 2384

Original post by Tortious

Also, have you visited King's before? I'm not trying to put you off it, but from what I've seen, it's not as big as it looks from the street. There's the chapel and some oldish buildings at the front (which look pretty magnificent!), but after that most of the grounds are just open space. The first time I went there, I thought: :lolwut:

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The first time I went there (on an open day), I got lost...

Reply 2385

Original post by alex_hk90

The first time I went there (on an open day), I got lost...

I should add that I've only seen it from the plodge, but it didn't seem to have as many buildings/quads as I expected a "big college" would...

I vowed never to apply to a large college like King's/Trinity/John's without realising that Pembroke actually has roughly the same number of undergrads (just checked the prospectus). I think each college has a unique feel to it, and Pembroke just seems more homely to me. I know that doesn't appeal to everyone though. :h:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 2386

princess dora

Original post by Tortious

Have you thought about Pembroke or maybe St Catz?

I don't know much about the latter since I only have one supervision there so I haven't seen a lot of the college, but Pembroke is known for its atmosphere and is actually a fairly sizeable college. The thing I like about it is that it's central (everything's within a 15-minute walk) and there aren't as many tourists as you'd get at King's.

Also, have you visited King's before? I'm not trying to put you off it, but from what I've seen, it's not as big as it looks from the street. There's the chapel and some oldish buildings at the front (which look pretty magnificent!), but after that most of the grounds are just open space. The first time I went there, I thought: :lolwut:

.

I've never been to Cambridge actually, I'm from Hungary and I've only been to Oxford :redface:

I googled all the colleges, and somehow didn't like the look of St Catz. I know it's a stupid way of choosing but I don't think there's too much difference between the colleges :biggrin:

I really like the way King's looks, the only thing that could put me off is the competition, but it's the same at Pembroke. Thanks for the help!

Reply 2387

Original post by princess dora

I've never been to Cambridge actually, I'm from Hungary and I've only been to Oxford :redface:

I googled all the colleges, and somehow didn't like the look of St Catz. I know it's a stupid way of choosing but I don't think there's too much difference between the colleges :biggrin:

I really like the way King's looks, the only thing that could put me off is the competition, but it's the same at Pembroke. Thanks for the help!

No worries, it's what we're here for! :h:

Reply 2388

Zoedotdot

18

Original post by Groat

It has been suggested to me that I make a shortlist of 4 or 5 colleges before going to the open day, allowing some sense of direction instead of mindless visiting. However, I am struggling to narrow it down past 10!

Any recommendations on how to get a shortlist together?

I made a little spreadsheet of the colleges and entered things like the size, age, politics and stated friendliness towards state schoolers, compared them all and picked out four - Catz, Queens', King's and Pembroke (the latter because I'd visited it on the MML open day and thought it was really nice). I visited Catz and Queens' on the uni open days and wasn't all that enamoured, and then en route to King's my dad decided we had to go and look at Emma because he thought it looked the nicest from the alternative prospectus, and then I never actually made it to King's :p:

I think the spreadsheet was a good idea anyway! I'd say read all the prospectuses and alternative prospectuses available and maybe do a spreadsheet or something like mine, as you'll have to eliminate based on some kind of criteria, but then keep an open mind when you're looking round, and if you like the look of a college from the outside go and have a look :smile:

Reply 2389

Original post by Groat

It has been suggested to me that I make a shortlist of 4 or 5 colleges before going to the open day, allowing some sense of direction instead of mindless visiting. However, I am struggling to narrow it down past 10!

Any recommendations on how to get a shortlist together?

I know this is stating the obvious, but create a list of criteria and use a spreadsheet and the prospectus to make a list of how each college stacks up.

For me, I knew I wanted a "smaller feeling" college (not King's/Trinity/John's, but equally not Corpus/Peterhouse!), to be relatively close to the centre and my lectures, and to cater to people like me (not Queen's (the "party college" because it's near the Backs...although I can't say it's lived up to that reputation from what I've seen of it!) or Jesus ("the sporty college"). I get the feeling some of these stereotypes are outdated. Oh, and not an all girls' college, although I'm now curious about what goes on in them. :p:

)

I was fortunate enough to get a place on the Cambridge Law Conference and ended up staying in Pembroke; I loved the feel of the college and the accommodation/food and knew what to expect from it, so I was already pretty sure I was going to apply there. I had a last-minute wobble about applying to Downing since it seems to have a reputation as "the Law college", but I didn't like it as much when I was walking around and I thought it better to stick with what I knew, especially as the teaching is done through the Faculty anyway.

Hope this helps! :smile:

Reply 2390

Zoedotdot

18

Original post by Groat

That's great help, thank you very much both of you.

I've got a few criteria so far: total number of undergraduates, old/new, sports facilities. I'll try and think of some more, else that doesn't get me very far! Do all colleges guarantee accommodation for the three years?

Yes

Reply 2391

Original post by Groat

Ah, that won't be something to consider then. I notice quite a lot of colleges have squash courts which is great. :u:

What kind of thing are you looking for? We might be able to help.

This could end up like the Amazon system:

Where do applicants ultimately apply after visiting Clare College?

42% apply to this college
25% apply to Pembroke College
11% apply to Oxford

Reply 2392

Original post by Groat

Middle-sized, beautiful buildings (old), offers Economics (which excludes Corpus), has squash courts and other sports facilities, friendly, ability to cook (not always, but kitchens would be nice), great food, not too full of tourists.

Obviously I'm biased but I'm doing Economics at Pembroke and would definitely recommend it. :yep:

We are middle-sized, have beautiful buildings (old), offers Economics, have squash courts (though they're not on site but out at our sports grounds), are friendly, have reasonable kitchens (though probably not ovens in first-year accommodation), great food, and not too full of tourists (surprisingly seeing as we're quite central). :smile:

Reply 2393

Original post by Groat

The Pembroke admissions tutor came to my school and she seemed very down to earth. :smile:

I also have Pembroke's prospectus and it looks lovely.

Do you know what the written test at interview is for Pembroke? Other colleges specify an essay, mathematical test or the TSA but Pembroke's information is simply a written test.

It is? I took the TSA when I applied in the 2008 UCAS cycle. I could easily find out after my exams though (remind me in a couple of weeks :smile:

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Reply 2394

Original post by Groat

The Pembroke admissions tutor came to my school and she seemed very down to earth. :smile:

I also have Pembroke's prospectus and it looks lovely.

Do you know what the written test at interview is for Pembroke? Other colleges specify an essay, mathematical test or the TSA but Pembroke's information is simply a written test.

I don't know much about other courses, but the Cambridge Law Test was a one-hour written test that had Law as its subject matter but which didn't require any prior knowledge of Law; essentially, you had an hour to write one essay and could pretty much reason your way through it using common sense and "ethical principles". I imagine it'd be fairly similar for most things.

What are you applying for? :smile:

Reply 2395

Original post by Groat

Economics.

Thanks for the help, by the way. :u:

No worries - thanks for the rep! :wink:

Reply 2396

Original post by Groat

I would've thought they'd say if it was the TSA, so I assume it's changed. I'll try and remember to ask you, but I won't make any promises. :colondollar:

Was Pembroke an easy decision for you?

It was between Pembroke, Emmanuel and Queens', but I went to the Pembroke open day first (it was before the general one) and I had pretty much made up my mind after that. :smile:

Reply 2397

gethsemane342

11

Original post by Groat

Middle-sized, beautiful buildings (old), offers Economics (which excludes Corpus), has squash courts and other sports facilities, friendly, ability to cook (not always, but kitchens would be nice), great food, not too full of tourists, a nice balance of private/public schools (I don't know much regarding this matter but thought I'd add it).

There's probably more that I can't think of at the minute but any recommendations would be great!

If you'll forgo good food, go to Christ's :wink:

(Heck, we even have squash courts. The fact I've never found them is beside the point - my friends use them all the time)

Reply 2398

Zoedotdot

18

Original post by gethsemane342

If you'll forgo good food, go to Christ's :wink:

(Heck, we even have squash courts. The fact I've never found them is beside the point - my friends use them all the time)

Even Emma people use Christ's squash courts! Ours were turned into library storage while we had our refurbishment done so we got to use yours for a while :smile:

Reply 2399