Mature applicants to Cambridge University and availability of college choice

Can a mature student apply to any college at Cambridge university or can they only apply to mature student colleges (identified as Wolfson, St Edmund's and Hughes Hall)?
Appropriate weblink: https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/apply/before/mature-student-applications

I would appreciate if someone from the department of admissions at Cambridge or someone with experience here would respond.

Kind Regards,

A mature applicant

Reply 1

BetaVersion2.9

I'm assuming you are applying for an undergraduate course.
It depends upon your age and how involved in College life you want to get. If all you want to do is attend tutorials and have meals in the dining hall then any College would suffice. However, if you wanted to get more involved with the social life, sports etc., then maybe think about a mature student college. Someone in their 40s may feel uncomfortable in a college where the average undergraduate age is 19.

Reply 2

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by CSstudent1

You aren't obliged to apply to a mature college in general. You can apply to any undergraduate college. The mature colleges support the all age colleges with mature applications they receive to provide specialist input as I understand anyway so there shouldn't be any difference in the admissions side of things in principle as I understand.

The main thing to consider from an admissions side is that the mature colleges have a later application deadline for some courses (to facilitate mature students doing e.g. Access courses who may not have enough time on the course to get an appropriate academic reference by the October deadline), which can make a big difference for some students!

Outside of that as above it's primarily just a matter of how you want your experience at the university to be in terms of your living arrangements. Do you want to live with a group of 18 year old school leavers in the surrounding rooms?

Spoiler

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 3

Laylafromleeds

Original post by artful_lounger

You aren't obliged to apply to a mature college in general. You can apply to any undergraduate college. The mature colleges support the all age colleges with mature applications they receive to provide specialist input as I understand anyway so there shouldn't be any difference in the admissions side of things in principle as I understand.
The main thing to consider from an admissions side is that the mature colleges have a later application deadline for some courses (to facilitate mature students doing e.g. Access courses who may not have enough time on the course to get an appropriate academic reference by the October deadline), which can make a big difference for some students!
Outside of that as above it's primarily just a matter of how you want your experience at the university to be in terms of your living arrangements. Do you want to live with a group of 18 year old school leavers in the surrounding rooms?

Spoiler

(edited 1 week ago)

Reply 4

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

Original post by CSstudent1

Can a mature student apply to any college at Cambridge university or can they only apply to mature student colleges (identified as Wolfson, St Edmund's and Hughes Hall)?
Appropriate weblink: https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/apply/before/mature-student-applications
I would appreciate if someone from the department of admissions at Cambridge or someone with experience here would respond.
Kind Regards,
A mature applicant

It's absolutely standard to be a mature student at an all age College. Just some mature students prefer to live in a more collectively mature environment. Apply wherever you want though.

Reply 5

Stiffy Byng

Entertainingly, there are people in the Oxford sub-forum claiming that being admitted to a mature student college at Oxford or Cambridge is some sort of grave injustice. It may be that some people have been watching too much Harry Potter and may need to get out more.