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The Big 'Which Cambridge College?' Thread

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Original post by Tortious
Doesn't everyone have to pay the KFC regardless of college anyway? I think I do and yet I never use my gyp room...

It's also for subsidising Trough, and the amount varies from college to college.

Original post by Tortious
Also, out of interest, how much is a typical meal for you? For a main with a side and dessert here, you could easily be talking a fiver.

Things have changed since my day - back in first year that would've been more like £3...
Original post by alex_hk90
It's also for subsidising Trough, and the amount varies from college to college.


Ah, I see. Interesting...

Things have changed since my day - back in first year that would've been more like £3...


Looks like the Wiki might need updating! :s-smilie:
Original post by Tortious
Doesn't everyone have to pay the KFC regardless of college anyway? I think I do and yet I never use my gyp room...

Also, out of interest, how much is a typical meal for you? For a main with a side and dessert here, you could easily be talking a fiver.


Not sure if all other colleges have it, but I've heard that a couple do.

A typical meal is much cheaper than a fiver. I think it's currently £1.68 for a main, and then something like 60/70p for sides and about that much for a dessert.
Original post by tommm
Not sure if all other colleges have it, but I've heard that a couple do.

A typical meal is much cheaper than a fiver. I think it's currently £1.68 for a main, and then something like 60/70p for sides and about that much for a dessert.


Yeah. For comparison, I've logged into my Upay account. Based on what I had last night (scampi, chips, dessert), the breakdown is:

Main - £3.30
Chips - £1.10
Dessert - £1.20

...and that's the "Pembroke price"! :eek:
Original post by Tortious
Yeah. For comparison, I've logged into my Upay account. Based on what I had last night (scampi, chips, dessert), the breakdown is:

Main - £3.30
Chips - £1.10
Dessert - £1.20

...and that's the "Pembroke price"! :eek:


Wow. That comes to about £1 less than Sidney formal...
Original post by Tortious
Doesn't everyone have to pay the KFC regardless of college anyway? I think I do and yet I never use my gyp room...

Also, out of interest, how much is a typical meal for you? For a main with a side and dessert here, you could easily be talking a fiver.


You have to at Christ's. We thought it was for Hall until my friend asked to opt out (on the basis that the KFC is now about twice as much as the amount he spent in Hall) but they said it's also for the upkeep of the gyp rooms which would make sense if we had better gyp rooms really (we have hobs and often microwaves and that is it. And the hobs can be dodgy. Our kitchen's switches on and off whenever it feels like it...)
Original post by Tortious
Yeah. For comparison, I've logged into my Upay account. Based on what I had last night (scampi, chips, dessert), the breakdown is:

Main - £3.30
Chips - £1.10
Dessert - £1.20

...and that's the "Pembroke price"! :eek:


:eek: I'm glad I haven't gone to Trough for lunch or dinner since first-year. :yes: Formal is much better value. :yep:
Original post by Tortious
Yeah. For comparison, I've logged into my Upay account. Based on what I had last night (scampi, chips, dessert), the breakdown is:

Main - £3.30
Chips - £1.10
Dessert - £1.20

...and that's the "Pembroke price"! :eek:


That is really expensive for hall food... ours is about half that price. I hope your food tastes about twice as better, otherwise that'd suck a bit...
Reply 2428
Avatar for gcw1216
gcw1216
Hi guys! I'm planning to enroll myself into Cambridge for law but choosing a college is one of headache~I really hope anyone who is taking Law in Cambridge would give some tips or advice on which is the best college for me to get in to study law. Before that, I've already eliminated those colleges who only accept women and graduates. I don't quite understand about the statement:redface:ver 21 at matriculation though~can amyone help me answer that?
Original post by gcw1216
Hi guys! I'm planning to enroll myself into Cambridge for law but choosing a college is one of headache~I really hope anyone who is taking Law in Cambridge would give some tips or advice on which is the best college for me to get in to study law. Before that, I've already eliminated those colleges who only accept women and graduates. I don't quite understand about the statement:redface:ver 21 at matriculation though~can amyone help me answer that?


I've moved your post to a thread where you're more likely to get an answer :smile:

Over 21 at matriculation means that you'll be over 21 when you start Cambridge. Matriculation is just a ceremony where you enroll in your college and it happens in your first few days, sort of like the opposite of graduation but with a bit less fuss.

As for the best college to study law, you'll find that the colleges are largely equal in terms of teaching provision and these days you wouldn't really say that one college is 'the best' for a certain subject. Downing is a very popular choice for lawyers and is often regarded as the law college, but in practice people do well everywhere and you might as well just pick the college you like the look of the most :smile:
Original post by gcw1216
Hi guys! I'm planning to enroll myself into Cambridge for law but choosing a college is one of headache~I really hope anyone who is taking Law in Cambridge would give some tips or advice on which is the best college for me to get in to study law. Before that, I've already eliminated those colleges who only accept women and graduates. I don't quite understand about the statement:redface:ver 21 at matriculation though~can amyone help me answer that?



Original post by Zoedotdot
I've moved your post to a thread where you're more likely to get an answer :smile:

Over 21 at matriculation means that you'll be over 21 when you start Cambridge. Matriculation is just a ceremony where you enroll in your college and it happens in your first few days, sort of like the opposite of graduation but with a bit less fuss.

As for the best college to study law, you'll find that the colleges are largely equal in terms of teaching provision and these days you wouldn't really say that one college is 'the best' for a certain subject. Downing is a very popular choice for lawyers and is often regarded as the law college, but in practice people do well everywhere and you might as well just pick the college you like the look of the most :smile:


This, exactly. I did consider applying to Downing since it has a reputation as "the law college" due to the sheer number of lawyers around (20 in comparison to the average of 8-10!), but in practice, all of your lectures are organised through the Faculty anyway. Whilst it's true that your Director of Studies will have a hand in organising your supervisions and the law library, a higher number of lawyers means increased competition for resources (which is likely to undermine any "benefit" from attending a college geared towards lawyers).

Also, for what it's worth, there were six Firsts awarded in first year this year. Two of them went to Pembroke lawyers. I think the the message is that you're more likely to achieve if you're happy with your surroundings and your college (or that we have an amazing DoS. Whichever :cool:).

If you've got any specific law queries, do feel free to PM me. :smile:
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by gcw1216
Hi guys! I'm planning to enroll myself into Cambridge for law but choosing a college is one of headache~I really hope anyone who is taking Law in Cambridge would give some tips or advice on which is the best college for me to get in to study law. Before that, I've already eliminated those colleges who only accept women and graduates. I don't quite understand about the statement:redface:ver 21 at matriculation though~can amyone help me answer that?


I'd say any college will be fine. As Tortious said, Downing has a reputation as the law college and Trinity has a strong reputation but I wouldn't say it necessarily means anything. You'll do well regardless of where you are. The only issue is the quality of the supervisors but this can be circumvented and most supervisors are halfway decent. Equally, you can have the best supervisor in the faculty and not do well. A lot of it is down to you.

(Interestingly, in Part IB, there were 24 firsts. One was from a Trinity student and 4 from Downing. But there were 2 from Fitz, 4 from Christ's, 2 from Churchill etc. There isn't really a correlation between college and success rate)

So just pick wherever you'd like to live for 3 years.

The over 21 thing is for mature students. When you matriculate, if you're 21 or over, you're a mature student. Not all colleges accept mature students though most do, I think. That being said, Lucy Cavendish, Hughes Hall, Wolfson and St Edmunds look like Grad Colleges but also accept mature students so if you are a mature student, don't rule those out automatically.
Original post by gethsemane342
(Interestingly, in Part IB, there were 24 firsts. One was from a Trinity student and 4 from Downing. But there were 2 from Fitz, 4 from Christ's, 2 from Churchill etc. There isn't really a correlation between college and success rate)

I agree with everything else but from what I've seen (mainly in Economics), this isn't quite true - some colleges do tend to do better and others do tend to do worse.
Original post by alex_hk90
I agree with everything else but from what I've seen (mainly in Economics), this isn't quite true - some colleges do tend to do better and others do tend to do worse.


I think it's to do with supervisors to be honest because some colleges just have better links. So your chances may increase but it depends on a lot of factors, I think. And for me, at least, I don't find supervisions amazingly useful - not as useful as they're supposed to be - except with truly exceptional supervisors. But even then, you can contrast it this way:

I had an amazing supervisor for international law and really understood what she told us. International was my worst mark for both years I've been here.

I had a bit of a dodgy supervisor for another subject (which I probably shouldn't name) and didn't feel I learnt anything off this person (heck, they even got some of my questons wrong) which is a feeling common to anyone who got supervised by this person for any subject. I got a first in that paper.

So it does have some influence but I think if you're willing to put the work in, you'd be fine anywhere.
So yesterday I went to an open day to King's College, currently finished year 11, and I fell in love with the character and history of the place as much as the teaching. Although I know it is very hard to get into Cambridge, I was wondering if you guys knew of any other college's in cambridge that would encompass this same character, whilst providing brilliant teaching levels.

If it helps I want to do Maths at Uni.

Thanks :smile:
(edited 12 years ago)
Oxford? Durham?
Yeah, Oxford obviously is quite similar. :wink:
Original post by Sapientia
Oxford? Durham?



Original post by punctuation
Yeah, Oxford obviously is quite similar. :wink:


Soz; I meant college's in Cambridge instead of other Uni's
My own mistake when making the thread - changed now.
Original post by 4mar_ar5en4l
Soz; I meant college's in Cambridge instead of other Uni's
My own mistake when making the thread - changed now.


I'd heard Merton is quite good for maths. ^^
All of them will provide brilliant teaching. As for character...you'll have to decide if it feels right for you when you visit it. From the sounds of it, King's seems to be a good fit for you.

However, I would say that you should check out St Catharine's for the simple reason that it is damn awesome!

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