Veterinary Medicine at University of Cambridge - Colleges

Really hope someone can advise me here... I'm Irish, currently doing an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Science, but once I finish I'm hoping to study Veterinary Medicine and am now looking at my options in the UK. As of right now, I really like the look of Nottingham but am trying to keep an open-mind and have been researching Cambridge. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me about the different colleges, namely Lucy Cavendish, St Edmunds, and Wolfson's. What are their reputations like, location, and any other information anyone feels is relevant... Also, does anyone know if the living costs in Cambridge are astronomical or are they manageable? I know this has been a bit long-winded but hopefully someone can give a bit of insight!

Reply 1

ReadingMum

You will get much more info on the individual colleges if you look in the Cambridge section:
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=15

The accommodation is actually quite reasonable- the cheapest of DD's offers depending on what room she actually gets allocated. They are only 8 week terms and you only pay for term time as you have to vacate for the holidays so that keeps the price down.

Reply 2

TheMixedVet

Its not too late to consider a better vet uni :wink:

Reply 3

123vet

Original post by rebeccadillon

I'm afraid I can't answer your questions on Cambridge but I'm a Nottingham vet student, so if you'd like to know anything about this vet school, just ask! xx

Reply 4

TheVirtualPhoton

Here's an interactive uni map to search the locations of the colleges: https://map.cam.ac.uk/
Important lecture sites for the preclinical course are New Museums Site, Downing Site and the Department of Chemistry
Some preclinical lectures and all clinical lectures are at the vet school. There are also practicals at the university farm.

I've linked some website pages that may be useful:
Vet Med at St. Edmund's - https://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/veterinary-medicine
Accommodation at Lucy Cavendish - https://www.lucy.cam.ac.uk/college-community/place-live-and-study/accommodation
Vet Med at Wolfson - https://www.wolfson.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate-study/subjects/veterinary-medicine
Links on these pages will guide you around to find other information that you're looking for. I can't tell you any more about accommodation for these colleges than the internet can, unfortunately, as policies differ between them. It is common for students to move out of college accommodation into shared housing for clinical years but some stay in college if this allows.

Reputation-wise, I don't hear much! I only know people from St Edmund's out of those 3 but they are very friendly and seem happy! Everyone definitely seems to love their college no matter which they go to. If you have any extra-curricular interests you may want to see if you can find a college society for it, if that would help your decision! But there are university-wide societies too.

Reply 5

animalmagic

Original post by TheWannabeFarmer

Its not too late to consider a better vet uni :wink:

I agree

Reply 6

rebeccadillon

Thank you all for your advice!

Original post by TheWannabeFarmer

Its not too late to consider a better vet uni :wink:

Original post by animalmagic

I agree

I am curious as to why Cambridge seems to get some bad press when it comes to vet med? Is it a general disdain for the University itself or do people feel as if there's actually something wrong with the course? Like I said in my original post I haven't committed to any one University just yet so would love to hear people's opinions on them if they'd care to share!

Original post by 123vet

I'm afraid I can't answer your questions on Cambridge but I'm a Nottingham vet student, so if you'd like to know anything about this vet school, just ask! xx

That would be fantastic, I might just take you up on that!

Thanks again for your responses :smile:

Reply 7

animalmagic

Original post by rebeccadillon

Thank you all for your advice!

I am curious as to why Cambridge seems to get some bad press when it comes to vet med? Is it a general disdain for the University itself or do people feel as if there's actually something wrong with the course? Like I said in my original post I haven't committed to any one University just yet so would love to hear people's opinions on them if they'd care to share!

That would be fantastic, I might just take you up on that!

Thanks again for your responses :smile:

There's absolutely nothing wrong with Cambridge university, it's just not good for vet med in comparison with the alternative options (in my opinion). If it's the only option though then I'd always recommend someone took it as it gets you to where you want to go, and if you want to go into clinical there are things you can do along the way to help get yourself into a better place for a clinical career.

Reply 8

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by rebeccadillon

My impression is that it's partly because the department (and hence course) at Cambridge are very focused on research, and so the course is very scientific with more pronounced preclinical divide, and so there is a perception (how true or not I don't know) there is less emphasis on clinical skills and time spent "in the field". Up until a couple years ago most of the core scientific teaching was shared between medicine and vet med (they attended the same lectures for basic physiology/biochemistr/pharmacology etc, and had separate anatomy and clinical work). NB I am not a vet though, so this is mainly based on what I've seen others comment on about the course :smile:

As far as the colleges go, academic reputation isn't really a relevant concern; outside of Cambridge no one will really know any of the individual colleges except Kings and Trinity, and even they aren't likely to care much about it. This is probably even more true in vet med, given the clinical nature of the profession; in such clinical professions notions of "prestige" and "reputation" tend to not hold much weight (although of course vet med may be a bit different to "human" clinical professions :tongue:

). Costs might vary a bit between each college but generally the colleges subsidise the cost of accommodation compared to the private market in Cambridge (which is very expensive). Something possibly worth noting is Lucy Cavendish used to be a mature, women's college up until now, but from 2021 onwards will be a mixed standard entry college. So if you specifically were hoping to go to a women's college or a mature college, that may be worth bearing in mind.

Location wise I don't think any is particularly better than the others; Lucy Cavendish and St Edmunds are on a bit more of an easy to navigate route to the West Sites (where the Vet School is located) down Madingley Road, although I don't imagine it would take much longer to get there from Wolfson. All are probably about a 5-10 minute cycle from the city centre (where I think a fair bit of the preclinical teaching occurs), although Wolfson a different side (and hence route) to the other two. None are particularly far from either the West Sites or city centre, although Lucy Cavendish and St Edmunds might be slightly closer to the university farm (where there might be some work in e.g. lambing etc, for vet students), but really none are that close because it's a bit out of the way anyway. For non-academic things Lucy Cavendish and St Edmunds are a bit closer to some shopping and cultural sites in town than Wolfson though, although if you were spending a day in town on a weekend I don't think it'd make much difference which college you started out from :tongue:

Reply 9

TheMixedVet

Original post by rebeccadillon

Cambridge is considered a very good university, one of the best in the UK if not the world (subject to league tables changing every year)
But as a vet school it would be the last on the majority of peoples list - there is a reputation with Cambridge which whilst perhaps no longer true remains with employers and vets alike, that they produce very academic vets that are far less practically competent than other vet schools. If a career in research interests you it is likely that this would be the best course for you to proceed - if one of general practice is your goal I would avoid Cambridge at all costs. That being said it could be a strategic application (pending your results) as whilst having a smaller cohort Cambridge receives less applications due to reputation, and the college system, than other universities. I (and I imagine every other vet/vet student) would attend Cambridge if the option was between going or not going to vet school so it could be a tactical option pending circumstances.

Reply 10

rebeccadillon

Hmm that's interesting... it's great to get that sort of insight. General practice is definitely my aim at the moment, maybe with a view of going into research further down the line. Obviously, I'd prefer to go somewhere with a focus on the practical side. Having said that I certainly wouldn't rule it out completely. Vet med is vet med at the end of the day - a "strategic application" is always good to have up your sleeve. Thank again everyone. That's certainly cleared some things up in my head!