Cambridge Colleges - QUITE CONFUSED

Hi, I am applying to Cambridge on Tuesday and I am not sure on what college to pick. For context, I come from quite a low income background and have never really been around quite 'well off people', I would prefer a college that I would fit in with if that makes sense. I don't want to seem like an outsider. What college would suit me, in terms of people? I am not fussed on aesthetic-ness.

Could someone please help?

Thank you!

Reply 1

yeonjung

5

Original post by anqero

Hi, I am applying to Cambridge on Tuesday and I am not sure on what college to pick. For context, I come from quite a low income background and have never really been around quite 'well off people', I would prefer a college that I would fit in with if that makes sense. I don't want to seem like an outsider. What college would suit me, in terms of people? I am not fussed on aesthetic-ness.
Could someone please help?
Thank you!

hey! i’m also applying to cambridge and come from a low income background. i’d say don’t get too bogged down on college stereotypes, as everyone has different individual accounts, which don’t always paint the broader picture of a college.

there will always be “posh” people at every college, and vice versa for more working class people. but if you care to know, i have heard that newnham, emmanuel, and kings (the one i applied to!) are the more liberal of the colleges, and lucy cavendish and churchill tend to admit the most state school students

Reply 2

melancollege

Universities Forum Helper

18

Original post by anqero

Hi, I am applying to Cambridge on Tuesday and I am not sure on what college to pick. For context, I come from quite a low income background and have never really been around quite 'well off people', I would prefer a college that I would fit in with if that makes sense. I don't want to seem like an outsider. What college would suit me, in terms of people? I am not fussed on aesthetic-ness.
Could someone please help?
Thank you!

Lucy Cavendish is the college with the highest proportion of state-school students and often pioneers a lot of things aimed at helping those from disadvantaged backgrounds; however, since the college isn't as financially well off as some of the others, particularly larger and / or older ones, financial support can be quite limited. Some others, like St John's, for example, can afford to give much more financial support but have a much higher proportion of private-school and wealthy students. Ultimately, it can be a difficult balance to find and I would recommend choosing based on location, rent costs, facilities, etc. as these may be more impactful on your daily life.

Many of the stereotypes of Cambridge come from a time where it was much more of an 'old boys' club but it is much more diverse and inclusive nowadays. I was also strongly convinced I should apply to a college based on metrics such as state-school intake but I'm very glad that I focused on other things like location and vibe (I ended up choosing Sidney) as I found that the fact I was from a state school didn't really matter when I got here and I quickly settled in just fine.

Reply 3

lalexm

16

Original post by anqero

Hi, I am applying to Cambridge on Tuesday and I am not sure on what college to pick. For context, I come from quite a low income background and have never really been around quite 'well off people', I would prefer a college that I would fit in with if that makes sense. I don't want to seem like an outsider. What college would suit me, in terms of people? I am not fussed on aesthetic-ness.
Could someone please help?
Thank you!

Homerton is a good pick - the cheapest accommodation out of any Cambridge college, great facilities, very friendly, and only a 10 min bike ride to the town centre.

Reply 4

emmalie

1

I wouldn't bother with 'fit', especially if one of your concerns is being from a low-income background — there is no such thing as a Cambridge college where most people won't be relatively well-off compared to most of the country, let alone outside of it. Instead, I'd concentrate on finances, especially rent and potential for awards, bursaries and so forth, since these vary massively between colleges and will mean the difference between actually having the time and energy to find people you 'fit in' with and constantly being anxious on account of your finances — the difference between a 'posher' college with an enormous endowment and lands it's had almost a thousand years to profit off of and a 'friendlier' college with a more moderate endowment and more modest lands can often, at least in my experience, be more or less the difference between thousands of pounds in tuition, hundreds of pounds in rent, and numerous awards given out based on academic merit or so that students might get new books, equipment, opportunities to travel and so forth. As someone from a very low-income background, and no carers to alleviate the burden or provide a residence outside of term either, I find that people like us are often encouraged to apply to colleges based off of nonsense like state school numbers, but this ignores that the state school students at Cambridge will usually have more in common with the public school students at Cambridge than with us, and that by being steered away from the 'posher', richer, older colleges, we're also being steered away from having our financial burdens alleviated as much as possible while at university.

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 5

emmalie

1

I wouldn't bother with 'fit', especially if one of your concerns is being from a low-income background — there is no such thing as a Cambridge college where most people won't be relatively well-off compared to most of the country, let alone outside of it. Instead, I'd concentrate on finances, especially rent and potential for awards, bursaries and so forth, since these vary massively between colleges and will mean the difference between actually having the time and energy to find people you 'fit in' with and constantly being anxious on account of your finances — the difference between a 'posher' college with an enormous endowment and lands it's had almost a thousand years to profit off of and a 'friendlier' college with a more moderate endowment and more modest lands can often, at least in my experience, be more or less the difference between thousands of pounds in tuition, hundreds of pounds in rent, and numerous awards given out based on academic merit or so that students might get new books, equipment, opportunities to travel and so forth. As someone from a very low-income background, and no carers to alleviate the burden or provide a residence outside of term either, I find that people like us are often encouraged to apply to colleges based off of nonsense like state school numbers, but this ignores that the state school students at Cambridge will usually have more in common with the public school students at Cambridge than with us, and that by being steered away from the 'posher', richer, older colleges, we're also being steered away from having our financial burdens alleviated as much as possible while at university.

Cambridge Colleges - QUITE CONFUSED

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