The Big 'Which Cambridge College?' Thread
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Original post by The Astrophist
Any oppinions on Peterhouse?
Peterhouse is great. It’s very small, so you’ll know most of the people there, which I really like. You can go work in your department if you want anonymity, and then come back to a place where everyone’s happy to chat to you. Some people prefer a bigger community, though. It’s all personal preference. Accommodation is much better and cheaper than any other college I’ve seen and we have one of the nicest libraries in Cambridge.
On the downside, the food could be better. But it’s not bad and pretty cheap (under £6 for a three-course dinner), plus you get to eat it in the oldest building in Europe still used for its original purpose!*
*Excluding religious buildings.
Hey ! I am stuck between 3 colleges and I want to apply for medicine - they are Queens', Trinity Hall, and Jesus. I am sporty, and pretty musical, but I would defo like accommodation with ensuites in some of the years. Any ideas?? THANKYOU!!
PS I am not a fan of politics so I don't mind if the college is Tory or whatever
PS I am not a fan of politics so I don't mind if the college is Tory or whatever
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by JosephT
I'm thinking of applying to Sidney Sussex but no one I know has ever heard of it. Does anyone know what it's like and why it's not better known?
Hey Joe, your questions weren't really specific enough for me to give a simple answer but if you message me I can tell you all about Sidney, it's know as the friendly college for a reason!
Original post by Reddish
Include other FACTORS not prices oops :0
Hey,
which college in cambridge to apply for engineering?
you should most definetely NOT APPLY TO ENGINEERING AT KING'S
first of all last year it had 97 applications with only 8 places available, whereas other colleges, for example st. John's, are much easier to get into, 87 applications for 18 places.... check for yourself http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/apply/statistics/
furthermore, at king's the interview process is so complicated it's crazy... not only are there interviews, but there are 2 hours of math and ohysics as well as a class you have to take on a crazy topic, which is really stressful and is packed with extremely competitive and gets pretty rough.
Original post by wthomas
Hey,
which college in cambridge to apply for engineering?
you should most definetely NOT APPLY TO ENGINEERING AT KING'S
first of all last year it had 97 applications with only 8 places available, whereas other colleges, for example st. John's, are much easier to get into, 87 applications for 18 places.... check for yourself http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/apply/statistics/
furthermore, at king's the interview process is so complicated it's crazy... not only are there interviews, but there are 2 hours of math and ohysics as well as a class you have to take on a crazy topic, which is really stressful and is packed with extremely competitive and gets pretty rough.
which college in cambridge to apply for engineering?
you should most definetely NOT APPLY TO ENGINEERING AT KING'S
first of all last year it had 97 applications with only 8 places available, whereas other colleges, for example st. John's, are much easier to get into, 87 applications for 18 places.... check for yourself http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/apply/statistics/
furthermore, at king's the interview process is so complicated it's crazy... not only are there interviews, but there are 2 hours of math and ohysics as well as a class you have to take on a crazy topic, which is really stressful and is packed with extremely competitive and gets pretty rough.
I can't speak to your second point, but I can say that application numbers vary year on year, and that as a result of the pool system, just because one college has more initial applications doesn't mean it's automatically "easy" or "hard" to get into. You can try to play the numbers game as much as you like, but it rarely works - just pick a college you like.
Original post by lp386
I can say that application numbers vary year on year, and that as a result of the pool system, just because one college has more initial applications doesn't mean it's automatically "easy" or "hard" to get into. You can try to play the numbers game as much as you like, but it rarely works - just pick a college you like.
Yeah, i dont really know about that...
If you look at the statistics application numbers for engineering at king's have been increasing over the past 5 years, probably due to tis fame. Despite of it having such high numbers of applications and such few places availabe last year it offered 0 winter pool places...
Original post by wthomas
Yeah, i dont really know about that...
If you look at the statistics application numbers for engineering at king's have been increasing over the past 5 years, probably due to tis fame. Despite of it having such high numbers of applications and such few places availabe last year it offered 0 winter pool places...
If you look at the statistics application numbers for engineering at king's have been increasing over the past 5 years, probably due to tis fame. Despite of it having such high numbers of applications and such few places availabe last year it offered 0 winter pool places...
That's completely different to what the pool does. If anything that's a good indicator. It means King's are not making it even more competitive for direct applicants by just choosing from those who chose King's in the first place. There are no statistics available to break down how well people from a specific college did in the pool. But King's overall got I think something like 89 people they pooled offers from other colleges this year, which when added to the number of offers they gave out, brings them in line with the average competition across the whole university.
Original post by wthomas
Hey,
which college in cambridge to apply for engineering?
you should most definetely NOT APPLY TO ENGINEERING AT KING'S
first of all last year it had 97 applications with only 8 places available, whereas other colleges, for example st. John's, are much easier to get into, 87 applications for 18 places.... check for yourself http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/apply/statistics/
furthermore, at king's the interview process is so complicated it's crazy... not only are there interviews, but there are 2 hours of math and ohysics as well as a class you have to take on a crazy topic, which is really stressful and is packed with extremely competitive and gets pretty rough.
which college in cambridge to apply for engineering?
you should most definetely NOT APPLY TO ENGINEERING AT KING'S
first of all last year it had 97 applications with only 8 places available, whereas other colleges, for example st. John's, are much easier to get into, 87 applications for 18 places.... check for yourself http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/apply/statistics/
furthermore, at king's the interview process is so complicated it's crazy... not only are there interviews, but there are 2 hours of math and ohysics as well as a class you have to take on a crazy topic, which is really stressful and is packed with extremely competitive and gets pretty rough.
Well some people must apply to King's, and get in, so why not?
course some are getting in, but it's statistcs-wise a lot harder.
gee guys, i am just giving a tip here to the guy who said whethere King's or St. john's for engineering.
Since King's accpts 8/97 whereas st. john's 18 on 87, i just think that he should not apply to King's college for engineering in Cambridge.
gee guys, i am just giving a tip here to the guy who said whethere King's or St. john's for engineering.
Since King's accpts 8/97 whereas st. john's 18 on 87, i just think that he should not apply to King's college for engineering in Cambridge.
Original post by wthomas
course some are getting in, but it's statistcs-wise a lot harder.
gee guys, i am just giving a tip here to the guy who said whethere King's or St. john's for engineering.
Since King's accpts 8/97 whereas st. john's 18 on 87, i just think that he should not apply to King's college for engineering in Cambridge.
gee guys, i am just giving a tip here to the guy who said whethere King's or St. john's for engineering.
Since King's accpts 8/97 whereas st. john's 18 on 87, i just think that he should not apply to King's college for engineering in Cambridge.
You're making an inference based on one year's data. You don't know that there will be the same number of applicants. You don't know that they'll take the same number of students.* You don't know that the strength of the competition is equal. You don't know how OP feels about their relative admissions practices - maybe they feel that the seminar and tests will improve their chances rather than worsen them. We get applicants on here encouraging other applicants to play the statistics game all the time. It doesn't work, because everybody else tries to do the same thing and you often end up going up against more applicants than if you'd just picked a college you wanted to go to anyway.
In short, don't just take one year's data and extrapolate wildly - it's really bad advice to give.
*Though this is often something worth looking at - the number of other people in your college doing your subject is important for a number of reasons, but it's not that useful in terms of increasing your chances of getting in.
Original post by wthomas
course some are getting in, but it's statistcs-wise a lot harder.
gee guys, i am just giving a tip here to the guy who said whethere King's or St. john's for engineering.
Since King's accpts 8/97 whereas st. john's 18 on 87, i just think that he should not apply to King's college for engineering in Cambridge.
gee guys, i am just giving a tip here to the guy who said whethere King's or St. john's for engineering.
Since King's accpts 8/97 whereas st. john's 18 on 87, i just think that he should not apply to King's college for engineering in Cambridge.
Sorry about this, but after writing this reply I realised it had become a bit of an essay.
It’s a cliché, but you can't really play the numbers game.
The fact that King’s offered only 8 places (and one other person who applied got a pool offer from another college) does not necessarily mean it is technically harder to get into than John’s for Engineering.
You must first bear in mind that these things fluctuate from year to year; if you look at the past 5 or so years, they have at times taken 12 or 13 applicants with fewer applications than this year, for example, so it’s not strictly a question of having 8 places “available”.
Secondly, the statistics suggest, if anything, that although many people applied to King’s this year, as a group they can’t have been particularly strong, because only one applicant to King’s was fished from the pool for engineering. That means that the university as a whole only thought 9 of these applicants should be given a place. It’s not as though a college decides that you’re good enough but they’ve got other good applicants this year so that’s your lot and you can’t come to Cambridge.
Furthermore, high numbers of applicants does not always equal high numbers of strong applicants. It is quite plausible that lots of people applied to King’s simply because it’s a college they’ve heard of, without actually being especially clued-up about the whole procedure. Similarly, we can’t know whether John’s had a bigger selection of talent to choose from this year than King’s, despite having fewer applicants, and thus accordingly decided it wanted to take on a good portion of the very good cohort which applied. Basically, the raw statistics don’t give the full picture because you can never tell how good the applicants actually are each year and in each college – a college with an appealing applicant-to-offer ratio may well just have had a group with a high proportion of self-selecting strong applicants. It’s not necessarily any easier to get in to one of these colleges, because you still have to meet the level required to receive an offer from one of them; there are no easy ways out. Besides, all the other potential applicants are probably looking at the applicant to offer ratio and thinking it’s appealing, too…
King's website says that they don't set a quota for the number they take in any subject (apart from medicine, which the government sets), so that they aren’t turning away applicants who they definitely want. However, admissions tutors do have a rough idea of how many they are looking to take in one year, and some colleges are fairly rigid about this. Looking for trends in the number of offers given is probably the only way in which you can (sort of) usefully use the stats. This is because a college that is rigid in its number of offers that suddenly attracts lots of strong applicants in a certain year (which is more likely but not certain when there are more applicants) might squeeze an applicant out who would have got in first time to a different college with the facilities to accommodate more students on that course. This applicant would be pooled instead. It doesn’t affect the chances of getting into the University, because there are a large number of pool offers given in cases like this, but if you are a strong but not very strong applicant it might make it harder to get into one of these colleges under these circumstances.
However, you should always apply to your favourite college.
If you apply to the college you like but get pooled because you are good enough but there are lots of applicants who are good enough fighting over too few places, you’ll end up in another college and get in anyway. Although this isn’t your first choice college, neither is the college that you would have chosen when playing “tactically”. So you don’t really lose. If you pick a college tactically, this means that if you are pooled, you are less likely to be fished from your tactical college than those who’ve applied to colleges which consistently have high numbers of applicants who are often quite strong, but have been pooled. And if you get in straight away, you end up in Cambridge but never know whether you could have got into the college you really liked.
So basically, you can’t manipulate the numbers accurately enough, and you’d be far better off applying to the college you actually want to go to.
(edited 10 years ago)
My choices are between Trinity, St Johns and Kings, each due to the little things that attract me to them like the beautiful buildings, the history and how close they are to Sidgwick site, as I'm hoping to do German. Though I've read some things about how difficult it is to get in and I think I would be really disappointed if I didn't actually get a place. Also, has anyone taken economics further here? I think it would be helpful to study economics but I'm not sure. Thanks in advance for anyone who does help- oh and please don't give me huge lectures about spelling and grammar because I do my best but sometimes it's just a typo and it bashes my confidence a little. Anyway, thanks
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Original post by CarpeFilia
My choices are between Trinity, St Johns and Kings, each due to the little things that attract me to them like the beautiful buildings, the history and how close they are to Sidgwick site, as I'm hoping to do German. Though I've read some things about how difficult it is to get in and I think I would be really disappointed if I didn't actually get a place. Also, has anyone taken economics further here? I think it would be helpful to study economics but I'm not sure. Thanks in advance for anyone who does help- oh and please don't give me huge lectures about spelling and grammar because I do my best but sometimes it's just a typo and it bashes my confidence a little. Anyway, thanks
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The majority who apply to Cambridge don't get in despite being very talented and able. So in a way you have to be prepared to cope with possible disappointment. However most people get over it and go on to enjoy their university time.
If you are good enough you will get an offer or you will be pooled for other colleges to look at you. So choice of college does not affect your chances of a Cambridge offer. It does affect your chances of getting your first choice college. If you would prefer not to have to cope with the pool (where you are in a state of limbo for a month after the initial offers come out) then choosing a less competitive college still near the Sidgwick site may be a better option. But these tend to be less beautiful!
As regards Economics, I studied the degree but we don't have joint honours at Cambridge and most people are busy enough with their main degree.
Original post by Colmans
The majority who apply to Cambridge don't get in despite being very talented and able. So in a way you have to be prepared to cope with possible disappointment. However most people get over it and go on to enjoy their university time.
If you are good enough you will get an offer or you will be pooled for other colleges to look at you. So choice of college does not affect your chances of a Cambridge offer. It does affect your chances of getting your first choice college. If you would prefer not to have to cope with the pool (where you are in a state of limbo for a month after the initial offers come out) then choosing a less competitive college still near the Sidgwick site may be a better option. But these tend to be less beautiful!
As regards Economics, I studied the degree but we don't have joint honours at Cambridge and most people are busy enough with their main degree.
If you are good enough you will get an offer or you will be pooled for other colleges to look at you. So choice of college does not affect your chances of a Cambridge offer. It does affect your chances of getting your first choice college. If you would prefer not to have to cope with the pool (where you are in a state of limbo for a month after the initial offers come out) then choosing a less competitive college still near the Sidgwick site may be a better option. But these tend to be less beautiful!
As regards Economics, I studied the degree but we don't have joint honours at Cambridge and most people are busy enough with their main degree.
Thanks for the help! I just want a college close to the site I need to be at because I can't ride a bike and getting up early on a morning is a huge no go for me haha
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How is Kings college like socially in terms of events and spaces and things like that, and is there anywhere you can actually sit on the grass in the college? Is the accommodation good? Also are the tourists really that annoying? I want to do engineering, but the main reason i'm thinking of applying to kings is because of the arts centre/studio there.
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by aveytare
How is Kings college like socially in terms of events and spaces and things like that, and is there anywhere you can actually sit on the grass in the college? Is the accommodation good? Also are the tourists really that annoying? I want to do engineering, but the main reason i'm thinking of applying to kings is because of the arts centre/studio there.
From what I have heard, good. The weekly formal is known to be good, and there is the bunker - an underground club/bar type thing which does events. You can walk on the grass along the river bank, as well as all the grass in the Bodley building area. The accommodation looks decent in first year, nothing special, but later years it looks really nice; offering a choice of old 'sets' or more modern rooms, depending on your preference.
I guess at times the tourists may get annoying if you are running late and they get in the way, but they aren't allowed into the college during exam term.
Will need a current member to confirm all the above though
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What have you guys heard about Magdalene College? I want to do HSPS there! How's the accomodation and what about the buildings? I've heard that they're supposed to be quite beautiful and up until now I've only seen nice pictures but then again they wouldn't put up photos of the ugly parts on their website, right? Anyways, if you know something about the college, let me know!
Does any of you know which colleges tend to interview more of their applicants as a matter of principle? My daughter's AS results are not as good as predicted (probably 85 average once she resits the one maths module she messed up), so was told to try and apply to a college that is more lenient towards calling lower UMS average students for interview.
Can't find this info anywhere though, so any insight welcome. She wants to do Bio Natsci
Thanks
Can't find this info anywhere though, so any insight welcome. She wants to do Bio Natsci
Thanks
Original post by cora06140
Does any of you know which colleges tend to interview more of their applicants as a matter of principle? My daughter's AS results are not as good as predicted (probably 85 average once she resits the one maths module she messed up), so was told to try and apply to a college that is more lenient towards calling lower UMS average students for interview.
Can't find this info anywhere though, so any insight welcome. She wants to do Bio Natsci
Thanks
Can't find this info anywhere though, so any insight welcome. She wants to do Bio Natsci
Thanks
I don't think that information is anywhere to be honest! If her UMS aren't as strong as other applicants' then whether she gets called to interview will come down to other factors, such as her GCSE results and the school she attends. She may be wise to phone a couple of the colleges that she was thinking of applying to ask whether they have a specific policy, but the Cambridge interview rate is pretty high across all the colleges as far as I'm aware. Don't get her to phone any of the colleges for a few days though, as they'll be dealing with all their offer holders at the moment
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Original post by Zoedotdot
Thanks! She is volunteering in Ghana until the end of the month, so will do her enquiries when she gets back, which will give plenty of time for offer holders, pooling etc to settle
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