Got pooled to murray edwards

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Not an insular college – people know a lot of people from other colleges.

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Community with the hill colleges – Fitz and Churchill. They share a lot of ents together.

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Relaxed atmosphere – gowns are not compulsory for formal and you can walk on whatever grass you like.

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The largest collection of Women’s Art in Europe, and second in the world! These are different from the classical paintings the older colleges get. They definitely give the college a fresher feel. There are also regular exhibitions to which students are free to go.

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The girls here are absolutely lovely and really supportive. They are not overly-competitive, so it makes studying a lot more enjoyable.

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Different architecture

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Really good, modern accommodation – you can generally get an en-suite every year if you want, all first years get en-suites and large, spacious rooms. Buckingham House has amazing, hotel-standard accommodation with huge kitchens

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Sports grounds on site

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Easy to get to a lot of the main sites – West Cambridge, Sidgwick, Downing, New Museums

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Good pastoral support – something that is seriously lacking in some other colleges

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Amazing and very popular Saturday Brunch

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Generally very good catering facilities – all first-year accommodation has an (admittedly fairly small) kitchen with all the essentials (hob, oven, microwave, cupboard each, rather a small fridge, etc.) and all second-year accommodation comes with decent kitchens too – the more modern accommodation blocks have very large kitchens with ovens etc., and most of the kitchens in the old block have been refurbished to a really high standard (although they don’t always have ovens, generally this isn’t an issue as most students just use the hob anyway)

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Get fit cycling uphill to get there!

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Gap year bursaries

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Generous scholarship essay examples for receiving a 1st in any Tripos exam

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A friendly, supportive space for female students and academics – a lot of emphases is placed on challenging stereotypes about women

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Gateway programme – a series of careers and academic workshops aimed to help you make the most of your time at Cambridge and think about your future, as well as teaching you how to tackle exams etc. These workshops are all free to attend and generally come with free cake, and you earn ‘Gateway Credits’ – if you get 100 credits (not particularly challenging, usually it’s about 20 credits a session) you can apply for Gateway Challenges Funding towards summer projects/ travels etc.

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The misconception that people from girls’ colleges are not as intelligent as people from mixed colleges – probably because of Con 2 below.

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~90% of people there were pooled and didn’t pick it as a first choice

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Different architecture – the modern, white and grey brick buildings are not to everyone’s taste.

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You have to cycle uphill to get there.

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Overpriced accommodation – not much of a range in price between the luxury en-suites and small single rooms in the old block. However, there is the option to share a ‘split double’ room which is significantly cheaper

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Pretty expensive for things like food (~£3-4 a meal, £11.50 for formals), wine (£7.50), laundry (£3), Wifi (£24.53) etc.

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Highest kitchen fixed charge (£200)

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No dinner is served on Saturdays – can sometimes get a bit crowded with everyone trying to cook in the kitchens. Mind you, at least we have decent kitchens…

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Quite a long way from South Cambridge sites – e.g. the Lensfield Road Chemistry Department is a 15-minute cycle ride away