Advice for Girton College Cambridge

Hello! I have an offer for an MPhil in one of the courses offered by Department of Clinical Neurosciences.
I just found out that I’ve been pooled to Girton, and after looking it up, it seems quite far from the main campus 🥺 I can’t ride a bike, but I’m willing to learn. Also I saw that the main postgrad accommodation is at Swirles Court?
So um, do any of you have any advice regarding living in Girton? And probably where to buy a bicycle and what kind? 🥹 I literally have never ridden a bicycle my whole life lol 😭
And is it almost guaranteed to get the Swirles Court? Because frankly I have very limited funding so I’m super worried because I saw that the rate was like, 201-208 pounds per week 🥹
Thank you in advance! And I hope to connect with fellow students! 🥺

If you've never ridden a bike before, then Cambridge isn't perhaps the best place to learn. It's reasonably flat, but busy - so prioritise learning the Highway Code and the rules, don't copy other cyclists! Buying a bike is easy at the start of term, there are loads of bike places and Girton may well hold a bike sale - contact the MCR and ask, or see if any adverts come up.
Swirles Court is a brand new (well, maybe 5 years old now) block that Girton have leased in the new Eddington development. It has lots of facilities on its doorstep, including a frequent bus service in to town. I suspect that creates quite a strong PG community.

Thank you so much! 🥺 Also, sorry if this is a dumb question, but am I allowed to contact the MCR if the course hasn’t started yet? 🥺
And do you perhaps know when do colleges usually hold a bike sale? Like is it around a week or maybe a month before October course starts? 🥹
I’m so glad to learn that Swirles Court has a bus service! 😭 Quite frankly, as I am relying on scholarship fund, I don’t have a lot of living allowance, so the rent in Swirles Court is quite high to me 🥹 I’m so confused whether I have to look for cheaper accoms online 😭 I only know SpareRoom, and I’m very unfamiliar with how renting works in UK so it’s kinda scary 🥹

Yes of course, you can contact the MCR reps at any point, though you may not get much response in the vacations. Just remember they are students voted into posts, and it's exam season, they might not know the answer or be able to answer immediately.
Everything happens around student timings, so bike sales, gown sales etc will be once everyone has come up at the start of term. You will get emails to your @cam.ac.uk account.
College accommodation is almost always cheaper than living in private accommodation, not least because a whole range of extras, utilities, maintenance, internet access etc is included in College accommodation. So be very cautious about giving up College accommodation just because the headline price somewhere else (probably much further out from the centre of town) seems cheaper.

I'm in the same boat (although I chose Girton, because I don't like central Cambridge much)
I've been in my head about it a bit though because of how expensive Swirles Court is - I'm also relying on Cambridge funding and their figure is based on c. £850 a month for rent whereas Swirles Court is closer to £910. I've been thinking about asking for one of the shares houses, but the rent isn't even that much cheaper.
I'm sure it'll work out fine and Girton is so so beautiful

Ah I understand! Thank you so much for your help 🥹 I’m so glad that Cam is very accommodating to its students by holding all these sales/events 😭
After contemplating your advice, I think maybe college accom is the best way to go after all 🥺 afaik, college events are also usually held on the college grounds, so it’d be much more convenient to live in college accom 🥺 Will have to pinch pennies tho 😭
Is there perhaps a possibility of, let’s say, grabbing a spare college room from another college? 🥹

Living in other Colleges really only happened during Covid. It's not a thing - it's like telling your parents you want live with your neighbours because the neighbours don't ask you to do the washing up, but you want all the benefits of living at home as well.

Hello! I have an offer for an MPhil in one of the courses offered by Department of Clinical Neurosciences.
I just found out that I’ve been pooled to Girton, and after looking it up, it seems quite far from the main campus 🥺 I can’t ride a bike, but I’m willing to learn. Also I saw that the main postgrad accommodation is at Swirles Court?
So um, do any of you have any advice regarding living in Girton? And probably where to buy a bicycle and what kind? 🥹 I literally have never ridden a bicycle my whole life lol 😭
And is it almost guaranteed to get the Swirles Court? Because frankly I have very limited funding so I’m super worried because I saw that the rate was like, 201-208 pounds per week 🥹
Thank you in advance! And I hope to connect with fellow students! 🥺

Swirles Court looks nice - but yes, too expensive.
I'd thought about the shared house, but it's not even much cheaper than Swirles Court. That's a downside about Girton - all of the accommodation is priced the same, from 'worst' to 'best'.

Swirles Court looks nice - but yes, too expensive.
I'd thought about the shared house, but it's not even much cheaper than Swirles Court. That's a downside about Girton - all of the accommodation is priced the same, from 'worst' to 'best'.