College differences

In a previous post I talked about how much college choice mattered when applying to Cambridge. In this post I'll be giving an overview of some of the differences between colleges.

There are 31 colleges at Cambridge from which to choose where to apply. However you can rule out Darwin and Clare Hall as they only admit post graduate students. Three are women only (Murray Edwards, Lucy Cavendish, New Hall) and four are mature students (over 21) only (St Edmund's, Wolfson, Hughes Hall, Lucy Cavendish).

So there are 23 mainstream colleges to choose from. They vary in many different respects. Firstly is age. The oldest college is Peterhouse which dates from the 13th century whereas newer colleges such as Robinson and Churchill were only founded in the 20th century. The age of a college impacts on the architectural style of the college as well as the accommodation style. Older colleges such as Trinity and King's have far more impressive grounds than newer ones such as Robinson however the accommodation in older buildings can sometimes be worse. You are more likely to be able to get en suite accommodation in Robinson than in some of the older colleges.

The age of the college is also correlated with the size of the college's endowment, that is how rich it is. The wealth of a college impacts its students in several ways. Older colleges tend to be richer than newer colleges. For example St John's and Trinity are the richest colleges. However there are exceptions, for example Queens' is 15th century however is not that rich in comparison to the other old colleges.

Rich colleges can afford to give more money to its students. For example there will be more money available in the form of things like travel grants and book grants. Some colleges such as Trinity will reimburse printing and binding costs for things like dissertations, others such as Robinson will pay for students' languages courses (which cost around £100 for students). Colleges also reward students' good exam results with scholarships and the size of these varies greatly between colleges. For example, Queens' gives £75 to people who get a First in their first year whereas Trinity gives £250 and St John's gives £400. The only problem with choosing to apply to an older, richer college is that many people will want to go there and so it might be difficult to get in.

Colleges also vary in the facilities that they have available to students. For example Jesus has its own astro turf sports pitch, most have gyms (although these are poor quality on the whole), some such as Churchill have squash courts, St John's has its own snooker table, some colleges on the river Cam have their own punts and so on. If you are interested in sports, it is worth checking out what will be available at your chosen college.

The location of a college is another factor to take into consideration. Colleges range from being right in the center of Cambridge, such as King's, to 3 miles out of the city (Girton). Girton and Homerton are far out from the city and since no one in Cambridge drives, it means you'll have to walk, cycle or get the bus every day to lectures, which might be quite a distance. I'd strongly recommend applying to a central college unless you have some reason not too. You may want to pick a college near to your faculty or department buildings, where you'll have lectures. For example, Churchill is particularly popular with computer science applicants, in part due to its close proximity to the William Gates Building where 2nd and 3rd year computer science lectures are held.

Overall, I've given an overview of some of the main differences between colleges here but there are more which you might want to look into such as their reputation for your subject, how easy it is to get in, music, arts and drama opportunities, library facilities and so on.