I definitely prefer Cambridge as a town/city (much quieter, fewer cars etc). However I saw Oxford at the open day far more recently and found some colleges (merton, magdalen) I really love. When I went to the Cambridge open day (last year now...) I didn't have such a clear idea of what I was looking for in a college so now have little idea of where I'd apply to if I chose Cambridge (this is putting me off the idea). Specifically I'd be looking for a college with a fair amount of green space (where you can actually sit...), decent music/drama societies, some kitchen access (even if this is just a shared kitchen) across all years, and architecture on the older side. Compared to Oxford this info seems far less accessible online for Cambridge so wd appreciate if someone cd send a link/provide info themselves?

As regards the courses themselves... it's very mixed. From the paper info I've found on department websites a few differences have stuck out to me:
- Cambridge has more lectures/week than Oxford
- Cambridge allows you to take 4 papers/term compared to Oxford where you can do 7. Is the Oxford course broader then? Is the workload more intense as a result of more papers?
- Cambridge gives much less choice in politics papers compared to Oxford (particularly in 2nd yr). Again, does this make the Cambridge course narrower (to clarify, this would be a negative)?
- Counterpoint to the above two: From their descriptions the Cambridge papers seem broader and more interdisciplinary than Oxford's (e.g. The Twentieth-Century World as opposed to European and World History 4). So is there little difference in the range of content covered overall? I'm worried that if I went for Cambridge I'd miss out on the sociology/economics-centred side of things offered in some of the Oxford politics papers - does Cambridge integrate these elements into its papers?
- Generally, the Cambridge papers sound more structured (references to "parts" of each paper) as opposed to Oxford where things seem more independently-led and based around specific text analysis rather than a more holistic analysis of things. The Cambridge papers also seem more modern? As in a little more critical of established thinking. I'd be interested to know if there's any substance to all this, or if it's just coming from how the course info's presented by each department..... :/
- Finally, the Cambridge course seems to have more unity/overlap between the two subjects than Oxford's? I say this because of Cambridge's course info being on 1 website (as opposed to Oxford's which separates info between departments) and the compulsory papers focusing on both subjects. Again, is this actually the case?
I'd appreciate any advice about further differences that I haven't mentioned!!!