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

Original post by velvetedie

I'm applying for Cambridge but choosing a college is proving difficult since most cater for interests in music, dance and drama for extra curricular activities and societies.
Since I am interested in none of these and instead have a passion for art and drawing, I was wondering if any of the colleges at Cambridge offer art facilities, clubs or classes? If so, this will definately be a crucial factor in my decision.
Hope someone can help

Christ's has Life Drawing and arty stuff. I got runner-up in one of their competitions once. it is the only time in my life I have been good at art.

Reply 2524

Melz0r

16

Emma's also got an ArtSoc :smile:

Reply 2525

Aesc

The open days just made things more confusing :s-smilie:

Reply 2526

SoapyDish

14

Original post by Aesc

The open days just made things more confusing :s-smilie:

Where did you look round?

Reply 2527

Aesc

Original post by SoapyDish

Where did you look round?

Proper tour around Churchill, Magdalene, Pembroke and Christ's
Short look around Trinity Hall, King's, Catz, Sidney

I'd thought I wanted an old one on the river, but I found Churchill really appealing as well and now I'm questioning my earlier decision...
On the plus side I've been convinced that absolutely everywhere is great and pooling might even be a blessing, takes the decision out of one's own hands

Reply 2528

VCR

I also had a tour around Churchill from a slightly nervous-sounding blonde girl. I liked it much more than I thought I would.

Just got one question about Economics interviews there: does the DoS tend to ask specifically History/Politics-related questions at interview? According to the website that's his main topic of interest, but I'm not at all very well-versed in those two areas.

Reply 2529

Original post by VCR

Just got one question about Economics interviews there: does the DoS tend to ask specifically History/Politics-related questions at interview? According to the website that's his main topic of interest, but I'm not at all very well-versed in those two areas.

Unless someone was interviewed by the exact Fellows you're referring to, there's no way we could say. Generally I'd guess not unless you mention something about it in your PS.

Reply 2530

Original post by Groat

So I need to decide between Emmanuel, Christ's and Pembroke to study Economics. Who wants to convince me? :colone:

On what grounds? I'll start with academics - all of my year at Pembroke got 1sts. :awesome:

Reply 2531

Original post by Groat

Does Pembroke work you all hard? Or do they have a laid-back approach and the supervisors are just fantastic? :dumbells:

You're encouraged to work hard but they can't exactly force you to do so. And we do have fantastic supervisors. :yep:

Original post by Groat

I got the impression from Emma that they were quite laid-back, but none of the other colleges spoke about work-ethics.

It's whatever you make it to be. I managed to get all my supervision work done in time despite going out at least once pretty much every week; playing football, badminton and squash for college; helping to run the informal choir with weekly rehearsals; keeping up my piano playing; occasionally going to the ADC and the Union; cooking for myself most days; watching a ridiculous amount of TV (such that I was often struggling to stay within the 2GB a day bandwidth limit); going back home once every two weeks to watch the football (I have an MK Dons season ticket); etc. :h:

Reply 2532

Original post by Groat

You play squash? :eek:

I was slightly disappointed Pembroke didn't have squash courts on-site - are they quite close?

They're at Pembroke Sports Grounds with the football and rugby pitches - it's quite a long walk (about twice as far as the Sidgwick Site) but if you cycle you can get there in 10-15 minutes. You can use the courts whenever they're free without booking or anything and there's quite an active squash club (even with stash - I have a PCSC sports shirt :h:

), such that even I could play for college (only for 2nd team though - I'm not that good :tongue:

).

Reply 2533

Original post by Groat

Ah, that's not too far then. I think an active squash club at a 10 minute cycle is better than a college having one squash court but a small interest.

Christ's seems to have a lot of interest in Squash. The guys at least have an active team and everyone except me seems to know how to play squash...

Reply 2534

Original post by Groat

Do you know how many courts Christ's have? Did you stay in the new or old accommodation? I thought the new accommodation was quite ugly. :colondollar:

I'm liking the way you're all trying to win me over. :colone:

I think it might be one. It's quite popular but you're likely to get in if you want to.

I was in the old accomdation in first year (Z) and in a college house this year. I'm in New Court this year. Not gonna lie, the Typewriter may well be the ugliest building in Cambridge - haven't found an uglier one yet. The rooms are quite nice though :smile:

Ha ha, I think you should just go with whichever one you felt most comfortable in or use arbitrary reasons to cross them off. I mean, the only reason I didn't pick Pembroke is because I'd stayed there before (wanted to try somewhere new) and the grounds are like a museum near my house. I didn't pick Emmanuel because I didn't like its name. Those were literally my only reasons for not picking them.

Reply 2535

Original post by Groat

Were Pembroke and Emmanuel high up in your list, then?

I didn't realise it was called The Typewriter, but I agree it was a pretty ugly building as new ones go. I thought Queens' had some lovely new buildings, but it was a shame they were so unfriendly!

I thought the 3% fee over holidays to keep your stuff in your room was a great idea, but can't see that being a deciding factor.

It's so difficult to discount colleges though, as all three were lovely.

Not really, tbh. I didn't know much about Cambridge colleges so I relied heavily on the prospectus. I discounted Pembroke straight away because I didn't like the idea of applying to somewhere I'd stayed in. Emmanuel just didn't stand out in the prospectus and I didn't like its name.

I think my final three were Christ's, Downing and Gonville and Caius. I discounted Downing because I thought it would be too competitive (I *now* know all the stuff about stats. I didn't when I was 17). I would have picked Caius but my dad said if they asked me why I picked it and my reason was "I really, really like the name" I wouldn't get in :tongue:

Hmm, I'm not so sure about the fee change actually but that's for a legalistic reason with no practical consequence really. And that it will make a difference for some students who already struggle a bit with fees...

Reply 2536

Original post by Groat

Do you know how many courts Christ's have? Did you stay in the new or old accommodation? I thought the new accommodation was quite ugly. :colondollar:

I'm liking the way you're all trying to win me over. :colone:

Christ's have a single court next to the gym in the basement of the Typewriter - I know because I've played there a few times. :smile:

Reply 2537

Original post by gethsemane342

Ha ha, I think you should just go with whichever one you felt most comfortable in or use arbitrary reasons to cross them off. I mean, the only reason I didn't pick Pembroke is because I'd stayed there before (wanted to try somewhere new) and the grounds are like a museum near my house. I didn't pick Emmanuel because I didn't like its name. Those were literally my only reasons for not picking them.

I also had college name (way down) on my list of reasons for choosing a college - I wanted to avoid any overtly religious names, ceteris paribus.

Reply 2538

GH

13

Original post by alex_hk90

And we do have fantastic supervisors. :yep:

I agree

Reply 2539