The Big 'Which Cambridge College?' Thread

Ah, I see. I think Sidney's quite nice - Queen's has a good location on the Backs, but I thought it felt quite small and cramped when I walked around last term (it might just be me though ). If you really like the College, I wouldn't let doing the essay question put you off - if it's anything like the Law test I had to do, it won't require prior knowledge and will only last an hour.

Erm...to be honest, I don't really know. I did check the Maths page on Pembroke's website, but all it says is this:

It doesn't really tell you much!

However, I'm friends with a couple of Pembroke mathmos (including the Jack Hurst ) so I'll try and find out what their offers were.

My only goal is to get INTO CAMBRIDGE! no matter what it takes!~ so i am wondering which courses and college are relatively easier to get into?

My only goal is to get INTO CAMBRIDGE! no matter what it takes!~ so i am wondering which courses and college are relatively easier to get into?

I heard trinity maths was the easiest.

hey I am an international student trying to read law at Cambridge!
I am a Korean studying in Singapore (A-level).

Okay, so I am considering

Downing
Selwyn
Gonville and Caius
Trinity
Trinity hall
Girton
St. Catherine's

what I am looking for is fairly large number of lawyers (around 10, rather than like 5..)
good teaching fellows
friendly environment
good accommodations
and whether the college is favourable towards international students (I heard some colleges don't accept a lot of international students? Like Downing only selects 2 out of 96? I mean, I think I am pretty strong applicant but still... seriously, 1/48... sigh)

okay, I like Downing coz I heard a lot of good things about Virgo, and there are nearly 20 lawyers at Downing every year.
Selwyn I like because it is really close to the law faculty, and the fellows seem to be nice.
Caius I heard is quite strong for law with good law fellows, and the competition doesnt seem to be so tough?
Trinity because it is known to be the "international" college, and the number of lawyers is pretty substantial.
Trinity hall because law is traditionally strong, and the environment seems to be lovely
Girton, I heard a lot of female lawyers from Girton do well. And I am a woman, so.. XD
St. Catherine's I liked their alternative prospective. Very funny haha. But didn't hear much about their law fellows.. any comment?

Since I can't physically visit Cambridge (although I lived there when I was like 6. Back then my favourite used to be like Queens' and St. John's because they were very pretty!), I would really appreciate your comments/advice! thanks a lot heehee

hey I am an international student trying to read law at Cambridge!
I am a Korean studying in Singapore (A-level).

Okay, so I am considering

Downing
Selwyn
Gonville and Caius
Trinity
Trinity hall
Girton
St. Catherine's

what I am looking for is fairly large number of lawyers (around 10, rather than like 5..)
good teaching fellows
friendly environment
good accommodations
and whether the college is favourable towards international students (I heard some colleges don't accept a lot of international students? Like Downing only selects 2 out of 96? I mean, I think I am pretty strong applicant but still... seriously, 1/48... sigh)

okay, I like Downing coz I heard a lot of good things about Virgo, and there are nearly 20 lawyers at Downing every year.
Selwyn I like because it is really close to the law faculty, and the fellows seem to be nice.
Caius I heard is quite strong for law with good law fellows, and the competition doesnt seem to be so tough?
Trinity because it is known to be the "international" college, and the number of lawyers is pretty substantial.
Trinity hall because law is traditionally strong, and the environment seems to be lovely
Girton, I heard a lot of female lawyers from Girton do well. And I am a woman, so.. XD
St. Catherine's I liked their alternative prospective. Very funny haha. But didn't hear much about their law fellows.. any comment?

Since I can't physically visit Cambridge (although I lived there when I was like 6. Back then my favourite used to be like Queens' and St. John's because they were very pretty!), I would really appreciate your comments/advice! thanks a lot heehee

Most colleges have around 10 lawyers. Very few have 5 or so (I think Robinson, Clare, Churchill and one or two others)

Competition doesn't matter - if you're good enough, you're good enough.
All have great fellows though you're not always taught by them, please bear that in mind. St Catz has Mark Elliot, I believe, who's a great consti lawyer apparently (my knowledge of constitutional law is abysmal. I think everyone involved was shocked that I got a 2.1 in that paper)

Tbh, any of those colleges is fine for law. Most colleges are fine for law so there you go. I don't know about the international figures though.

Thanks!



Oh great! Is Pembroke one of the famous colleges for Maths? Would they give out very hard offers to conditional offer holders? Anyways, I wouldn't put much hopes on it cause Maths at Cambridge is traditionally super hard to get in.

I've spoken to my friend at Pembroke - he was doing Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Physics. His offer was A*AA excluding Chemistry, and 1,1 in STEP.

Awesome! I'm doing Maths, Further Maths, Economics and Physics, so it's almost the same as his subjects combination. I think I should be able to achieve that, given that I have achieved AAAB (B in Thinking Skills) at AS Level, with 3 other strong As (>90). Going to start practicing STEP after my A2 Trial next week.

Sounds good, best of luck!

Hi, I saw you in many threads! and I find your comments very helpful. haha
anyway, I know it is a bit irrelevant to this thread but can you look at my profile and see if I have realistic chance at applying to Cambridge? (I know my odds are a bit slimmer because I am an international student, but still..)

Okay, so I am studying under Singapore-Cambridge-GCSE A-level system,
my latest grades for content-based subjects were
History A (98.6% in my school)
English Literature A (91.7%)
China Studies in English B (although I topped my cohort, so no one got A haha my school is extremely strict in marking I guess..) (95.1%, because only 44 people take this course. me and other two people got the same grade, and we topped the cohort)
Mathematics A (82.2% .. I kind of screwed up math this time. I am usually better. like 94%..)

We also have this general paper thingy which is not really relevant to overseas application, but anyway I got C for that. I cannot do well for this subject, although I don't really know why...... sigh.

I also take this research-based higher literature course.

I would most likely get predicted straight As (all 7 subjects including project work, which I already got A)

Also, I have been involved in quite a lot of law-related activities
I participated in the Empire City Invitational Mock Trial Competition held in New York in 2008,
I won second place in Korean high school mock trial competition as a team leader, also in 2008.
I have been interning at the Supreme Court of Korea for the past year and a half, whenever I went back to Korea during holiday. Mostly done translation, but this summer I actually worked as liaison following around the Chief Justice of Singapore during the Asia-Pacific Chief Justices' Conference held in Korea.
I participated in electronic litigation conference held in Singapore as an interpreter to Korean judges (one of them is my mother. haha.. she was abusing me to avoid hiring professional interpreter)
And for the China Studies in English, I am writing a 2500 word research paper on China's legal reforms and their contributions to the FDI increase. (it is a syllabus requirement to write a research paper on China)
I also worked as a shadow jury for the Supreme Court of Korea.

My parents are both legal professionals. My mom is a judge, my dad is a former public prosecutor who is now a professor of law. So they kind of sparked my interest in law, although they did no more than that. (actually, my father is always telling me not to read law. He finds it boring. lol)

I think my biggest weakness is writing essays because my English is still imperfect. I only lived in English-speaking country for about 3 years and a half in total, 10 months of those I spent in Cambridge (when I was six). While I am good enough to do well for exams, I still don't think I am Cambridge-standard in terms of writing ability. (or maybe I am just too insecure, I don't know. haha. What I do know is that I am super horrified by the thought of having to sit for the Cambridge Law Test. I do well for interviews, though.)

Wow. That's long.
Okay, sorry. I tend to ramble on and on about things.
Thank you so much for reading such poorly organized post. hahaha
I would really appreciate your comment!!!!

....

You need to improve on essay writing in that case. I know they speak English in Singapore but if it isn't your first language, you may be asked to do the IELTS. I *think* you need to get 7.0 on this (any international student who knows better, please feel free to correct me here) which I've been told is pretty hard to achieve. But as long as you're relatively fluent in English (bad choice of wording but still), you should be fine.

Alright, I'll try breaking it down and see if I can help - though bear in mind I'm not an admissions tutor and not familiar with international applications

Your grades are fine if A is the highest grade. Your A2s matter more (you do those in Singapore, right? I think my Singaporean friends did Singaporean versions of them)

Your extra-circs are impressive. Cambridge generally don't care about extra-circs but I'd guess that having so many related to law will help show your passion for studying it. The fact your parents are lawyers isn't really that relevant: they want to know why YOU want to study law, not what your parents do

You need to improve on essay writing in that case. I know they speak English in Singapore but if it isn't your first language, you may be asked to do the IELTS. I *think* you need to get 7.0 on this (any international student who knows better, please feel free to correct me here) which I've been told is pretty hard to achieve. But as long as you're relatively fluent in English (bad choice of wording but still), you should be fine.

Adding to what geth said...
It is quite possible that you will be asked to do the IELTS and I think a 7.0 is quite tough - if you're a somewhat fluent English speaker and speak on a daily basis it should be okay.

I didn't need to give any test or verification for my English ability because of the interview.
When I was at interview, I think it was pretty evident that my English was fluent and they didn't feel the need to stipulate IELTs as a condition, so I guess it depends on the individual.

Also, since you've done an English Lit paper, that's got to count for something!

It really does depend on the individual case - but you only have to worry about IELTs after your final exams are done, so don't worry about that now.
(Saying that, because you seem to be applying for law, you will probably be expected to have quite good communication skills which only you can judge!)

Haha thanks for the help!
I just mention my parents in my PS because they really started my interest in law.
Just a few sentences. After that i mostly talk abt legal issues that im most fascinated with and my extra circ in relation to them.
As for my english, i didnt mean to the extent that i need to take IELTs. I speak better than most my Singaporean friends and they are not asked to take ielts. So i guess i am fine. What i was referring to is that my essay writing skills in terms of phrasing is a bit awkward and i seem to make quite a few grammatical mistakes probably because i havent lived in english speaking countries long enough to familiarize myself with some idiomatic phrases and stuff. So yes, i guess as long as my english is fluent enough to get me past ielts its fine? Besides, i did way better for my english literature test than most Singaporeans so i guess that says something, at least lol
Oh and the grades that i provided is the A2 level. Those r just predicted grades and the percentiles from my latest internal exam. I hope this clarifies things.

Okau. Again, thanks a lot for answering

I don't know how the IELTS thing works so kpatb is better equipped to answer My information came from some kids I taught in Romania who I'm not sure knew that much about it.

But yeah, essay writing is, essentially, the entirety of the law course. You need to be able to write essays in English. Your supervisors will ask for typed essays/problem questions and your exam is essays/problem questions.