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The Big 'Which Cambridge College?' Thread

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Original post by Super_Alex_Song
Anyone have anything to say on Pembroke which I won't find on their website or could you point me in the direction of information on the college which isn't written by the College itself


I graduated from Pembroke last year (2011) - what do you want to know? :smile:
Original post by The Mr Z
Ouch...was I really that bad back then, I scarcely remember? (Ok, I know I was bad back then, just not how bad. Pre-interview stress certainly didn't help!)


For various reasons I remember that day (not all related to you), but you were certainly, er, enthusiastic! :tongue:

Original post by The Mr Z
I don't remember it...not sure I do want to story told.


Ok :smile:
Original post by ukdragon37
For various reasons I remember that day (not all related to you), but you were certainly, er, enthusiastic! :tongue:

Ok :smile:


I recall one instance of making a particular fool of myself, but not the one in question! What other reasons?
Original post by The Mr Z
I recall one instance of making a particular fool of myself, but not the one in question! What other reasons?


In fact, besides me remembering you were debating about public schools the other reasons aren't related to you :tongue:
Original post by ukdragon37
In fact, besides me remembering you were debating about public schools the other reasons aren't related to you :tongue:


come on, what are the other reasons? I remember so little of that day, despite it being such an important day of my life!
Original post by The Mr Z
come on, what are the other reasons? I remember so little of that day, despite it being such an important day of my life!


They concerned your competitors so I don't think it'd be fair displaying their dirty laundry when I hid away yours :tongue:

This is why people should sign up: it's fun, you get to talk to applicants, you get paid, plus you see a side of people you probably won't see otherwise especially if they then get in :colone:
Original post by alex_hk90
I graduated from Pembroke last year (2011) - what do you want to know? :smile:


Standard of accommodation and food. What is the atmosphere like. How much of a mix of people is there.

Is sport taken very seriously or is it more relaxed?

thanks
Original post by Super_Alex_Song
Standard of accommodation and food. What is the atmosphere like. How much of a mix of people is there.

The accommodation is pretty good - the majority of Freshers stay in Foundress Court (which is a relatively new building so pretty much modern hotel-room standard) or otherwise in the older (and cheaper) rooms in college. The food is excellent. There is a mix of people (not sure what you mean by this question?).

Original post by Super_Alex_Song
Is sport taken very seriously or is it more relaxed?

Sport is taken as seriously as you want it to be. If you play for a college first team there will probably be training and it will be moderately serious, but if you just want to play for fun most of the bigger sports will have college second or even third teams. Which sports are you thinking of specifically? :smile:
Original post by alex_hk90
The accommodation is pretty good - the majority of Freshers stay in Foundress Court (which is a relatively new building so pretty much modern hotel-room standard) or otherwise in the older (and cheaper) rooms in college. The food is excellent. There is a mix of people (not sure what you mean by this question?).

I mean is it dominated by Public school or state school or is there a good mix. Also between the genders.

Sport is taken as seriously as you want it to be. If you play for a college first team there will probably be training and it will be moderately serious, but if you just want to play for fun most of the bigger sports will have college second or even third teams. Which sports are you thinking of specifically? :smile:


Cricket and Rugby mainly
Original post by Super_Alex_Song
Cricket and Rugby mainly


I don't have any personal experience of either of those, but I think our rugby team was quite competitive. :smile:
Original post by ukdragon37
They concerned your competitors so I don't think it'd be fair displaying their dirty laundry when I hid away yours :tongue:

This is why people should sign up: it's fun, you get to talk to applicants, you get paid, plus you see a side of people you probably won't see otherwise especially if they then get in :colone:


This sounds too good not to share at least privately (or anonymously)
Original post by LeSacMagique
This sounds too good not to share at least privately (or anonymously)


I shan't be gossiping now, I have moral standards :tongue:
Reply 3552
Avatar for Sharqawi
Sharqawi
What college should I apply to if I am going to study Chemical Engineering via Earth sciences?
Rate these in order please:
Churchill, Christ's, Corpus Christi or Pembroke.
A fast reply would be very much appreciated.
which college has the best chance of ensuite for first year, and possibly future years. I'm considering Downing, Homerton and Robinson right now, but essentially any college with great accommodation and where I can get ensuite will be my first choice. I'm not too fussed about the rest to be honest.
Original post by badatgow
which college has the best chance of ensuite for first year, and possibly future years. I'm considering Downing, Homerton and Robinson right now, but essentially any college with great accommodation and where I can get ensuite will be my first choice. I'm not too fussed about the rest to be honest.


Robinson you have a good chance of an ensuite for your whole course if you wanted one :smile: the accommodation is really nice (even the college itself is very bricky - which you get used too).

Homerton is a bit further out than most colleges (but not as far as girton).

Downing is very big and has lots of lawyers - I haven't heard of them having many ensuites though..
This just in from the Department for Misleading Statistics.

The pooling system works, ish. It seems like, basically, if you're good enough the Cambridge admissions system will probably find you. Weak applicants who try to game the system by applying to less popular colleges are less successful than confident strong applicants who apply to whichever college they fancy. However it's also seemingly the case that a nationally-famous college like King's attracts a certain number of less successful chancers who don't really look into colleges much and just apply because it's the only one they've heard of. It's hard to come up with any very convincing conclusions on the whole though because it seems a lot of it is pretty random--there are so many variables at play, like the number of applicants, the number of places each college has, and, obviously the quality of applicants. Hopefully this is because most people just apply to places they like rather than being cynical about it.

University-wide admissions 2008-2011: http://i50.tinypic.com/29o0js1.jpg
So I applied to Trinity last year for Physical Natural Sciences and got an interview but was rejected after that. I really want to go to Cambridge so I've decided to take a gap year and re-apply. In my A-levels I got 3A*s (Maths, Further Maths and Physics) and 2As (Chemistry (very nearly an A* and they look at UMS so hopefully not a problem) and General Studies), and a Merit in the AQA Bacc.
Everyone keeps giving me advice on which college to go to and I don't really know how to decide :/ My parents, grandpa (ex-Oxonian) and aunt (Oxbridge admissions private tutor) say to find one that takes a higher percentage of state school students and to pick a lower ranked one to have a better chance of getting in, but all the websites and my school admissions tutor say that wont help so not to bother, and to just go to one you like. Also, i don't know if only getting an A in Chemistry will affect it.
I really like Emmanuel, it wants a TSA which I think I'd be good at, I tend to do well on the practices, it basically has everything I want and my friends are trying to make me apply there. But a friend of mine is going there so my parents would assume I was just applying there because of that, plus its ranked I think second, so they're fairly against me applying there. And if I did apply and didn't get in I'd always think it was because of that.

So basically where should I apply? Thanks for any help :smile:)
Original post by Cassie218
Robinson you have a good chance of an ensuite for your whole course if you wanted one :smile: the accommodation is really nice (even the college itself is very bricky - which you get used too).

Homerton is a bit further out than most colleges (but not as far as girton).

Downing is very big and has lots of lawyers - I haven't heard of them having many ensuites though..


cheers mate
Well, the best way to choose a college is to go and visit them! There shouldn't be any 'easier' college to get in to, as if there isn't enough places you *should* get picked up in the winter pool.
Reply 3559
Avatar for wawa1906
wawa1906
Parents/family who try to influence university decisions like this annoy me. Apply to where you want. Emma is a lovely college. But I'm also sure you'd be happy enough whichever college you were at.

The whole application statistics thing is just silly, in my opinion. If you're supposed to get in, you'll get in. That's my opinion. I know some people will disagree with it. If you want to actually look at the stats though....in 2011, 27.5% of Natsci application to Emma got into the University (note not necessarily the college). For Downing it was 28.2%. Caius was 33.3%. Fitz made 28 offers, but 11 of those were from the pool (for example to the people who applied to Emma!). The overall success rate if you applied to Fitz for getting into the Uni was 22.9%. For Robinson it's 21.9%.

But don't think the trend necessarily falls in the other direction. Pembroke had a 20.3% success rate.

I'm not good at maths so correct me if I've interpreted the stats wrong. Also I am not saying that Fitz and Robinson aren't good college - in fact for my subject they have some of the best fellows in the university - but I'm just trying to give a cross-section/idea. I hope this helps - apply to the college you want to be your college!

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