The Student Room Group

Cambridge Colleges

Hi! I’m planning on applying for Cambridge and have been looking into the colleges. I was wondering if anyone could give me a rough run down of the pros and cons of each as an undergraduate (+ female) since although I can use the actual websites I was interested in the opinions from an actual students perspective. Any thoughts are appreciated :smile:Thank you!
Reply 1
Hey, there are 31 colleges so running thru pros and cons of every college would be difficult…

It honestly depends on what you’re looking for. All colleges are great and people come to love their colleges despite being dismayed when they were pooled.

But some general points…
Maybe look at colleges near your faculty site. Especially if you don’t want to walk/ cycle everyday.
See whether you’d like to attend an all women college or if you dont mind at all.
Dont quote me on this, but I think some colleges have more competitive students than others…
Would you prefer a smaller or larger college
Does reputation matter?

Honestly I was allocated Murray Edwards and I fell in love with it at the offer holder day. It may not look the nicest from the outside, but the interior is quite homey and nice. The atmosphere is chill and the staff are quite funny and laidback. I don't imagine you’d find such a laidback atmosphere at certain other colleges. It has its cons, but like I said, everyone falls in love with their college either way.
https://www.uniadmissions.co.uk/application-guides/how-to-choose-a-cambridge-college/
this website looks quite useful.

The colleges that are more academic and "snooty" imo are Trinity, Christ's, Johns, and Peterhouse. So i'd avoid these.

The "Hill colleges" which are Churchill, Trinity Hall (from second year), Fitz, Edmunds, and Medwards are a little far out but not an issue if you will cycle and are okay walking.

the ones with the best vibes (again imo) are Corpus, Selywyn, and Pembroke.

but ultimately you can't really get a proper feel for them without being there so just go off things like location, size, etc.
You can find a very quick summary on Cambridge student union website aside from the sources already mentioned

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