In this post I am going to give a couple of my top tips to consider when choosing a Cambridge college. These are not the only things you should consider when choosing a college at Cambridge but they are a good start.
Big vs small
One of the broad differences between Cambridge colleges is the size of the college. Here I am referring to size in terms of student numbers. The number of students in each year at a college can vary greatly, from under 100 to over 150. Small colleges such as Corpus Christi will have a very different feel to larger colleges such as Trinity. At smaller colleges, you will know a large number, if not all of the other students by name. This creates a different college atmosphere to at larger colleges where you will know a smaller proportion of the students there. I do not think that the size of the college makes that much difference but I would broadly favour larger colleges over smaller ones.
College location
Another key factor to consider when choosing a college is the location of the college. This is important and varies greatly. There are quite a few central colleges which are right in the heart of Cambridge such as King's, Caius and Trinity. These will likely be very near to your lectures which is very convenient. They are also near to all the local Cambridge town shops and amenities which is useful. In contrast, some colleges such as Homerton and Girton are far out from the city centre. These are not as convenient although some people might not mind being far out of the city. If you go to one of these you'll probably end up doing a lot of cycling to get to lectures or if not then you'll end up getting the bus. This is not as convenient and creates a different sort of environment where you have to commute in for lectures then leave to go back to college in comparison to central colleges where you can go in and out of the city in a few minutes very easily. I would say it is definitely preferable to be at a central college to a far out one. However since central colleges are on the whole more popular with applicants, they might be more difficult to get into which you'll need to take into consideration when choosing a college.
I want to study English at Cambridge. I love football and play piano and french horn. I wonder which college is best for me. Thanks in advance for your advice.
ReplyDeleteHey. Kind of difficult to say what college without some more info.
ReplyDeleteWhat are you looking to study and what kind of school do you go to (state/private/grammar/selective etc.) ?
I am a UK born Singapore descendent and currently studying in a very good private school. I want to read English to become a journalist. I heard that some of the colleges are very traditional, may not like Asian to study English with them.
ReplyDeleteThere are quite a few Asian people at Cambridge. Most of the international (ie live overseas, not international descent like you) Asian students hang out together and are not that integrated with the UK students.
ReplyDeleteHowever among the UK students there are quite a few people with non UK backgrounds/parents, for example Asian heritage. Since you are UK born I do not think there will be any real problems with integrating with the other British students, even at the more traditional colleges, especially since you go to a good private school - you will have had similar experiences to a lot of the other students here.
I have not really come across people not wanting to interact with people with different backgrounds much although some (a small number) may not be used to it, but there is not usually any animosity.
Overall, I would not let the fact that you are of Singaporean descent affect your college choice too much as I really don't think it will make much difference. If you want to go to a more liberal college you could look at ones like Fitzwilliam and Churchill although personally I would probably opt against them as I prefer more geographically central colleges. King's is also quite liberal and centrally located so you might want to look at that. I don't know how good or how selective these are for English though.
Since you go to a good school, you probably have a fair chance of getting in (I don't know without more info) so you can be a bit more free in college choice. I'd probably focus more on other things you want at the college, and how likely you are to get in.
Hope this helps and let me know if you have any other questions!
Thank you so much for taking time helping me. I will look at the colleges you suggested. I hope I will be able to get into Cambridge. That will be my best way to thank you.
ReplyDeleteDo you know Gonville and Caius and Homerton well? Do they have accommodation?
ReplyDeleteYes they both have accommodation. All colleges should provide college owned accommodation (although it may not be on site) for all 3 years.
ReplyDeleteI would advise against Homerton though as it is quite far out to the south of Cambridge - will involve a lot of biking to classes.
Hi i'm Scottish and going to apply to Cambridge, i went to a Scottish private school, and want to study law, but which college should i choose??
ReplyDeleteHi, I want to apply economic at Cambridge, which college I will have more chance to get in? I am now studying at state school.
ReplyDeleteHi, I am currently on a government scholarship to private school doing Maths Physics Chemistry. I went to state school before that. I would like to study Natural sciences but am aware that competition is very high. Which college should I choose. Are there any which are easier to get into since they are further away/less popular? I thought that Downing might be good as it is split between state/private. I also play a lot of football!! Thanks so much
ReplyDeleteHey. OK so being at private school should mean that you are better prepared by your school for the application process than if you are at state school however it also depends on the specific school you went to and whether or not they have a history of getting people into Cambridge.
DeleteYes it is difficult to get in but by no means impossible. Are you at school in England/the UK? If so that greatly increases your chances of getting in.
With regards to easier colleges to get into, you need to look at the admission statistics for Natural Sciences by college which are available here:
http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/statistics/docs/natsci.pdf
Look at the percentage admissions rate for each college to find the easier ones to get into. I calculated this for all colleges for the most recent year. It seems that St Catharine's and Gonville and Caius would be two colleges that might be easier to get into for natural sciences. They both have admitted larger proportions of students than other colleges. In the past 4 years Caius admitted 31%, 33%, 42%, 30% and Catz admitted 32%, 31%, 31%, 29%.
These are comparatively good odds. Higher than the Cambridge average for natural sciences and higher than some other colleges such as Trinity which only admitted 19% most recently.
I would look into these colleges and see whether you like either. If not you could consider other colleges but just remember the main objective is to get into Cambridge. I picked a slightly "worse" (as I saw it) college instead of my "ideal/dream" college but if I hadn't done that, I probably wouldn't have got in so am very glad I did now.
You have to be really confident to pick a tough college to get into. I would never advise it unless you go to a really good school with a strong history of Cambridge admissions.
Hope this helps!
it is absolutely impossible to get into Oxford or Cambridge. No one ever managed to do so, because of the extremely high entry requirements
DeleteDo you know if it is difficult to get into Cambridge to study music? I guess whoever applies for music would be guineas at the subject and passionate on music. Although there are not as many applicants as other subjects, the intake is small and standard of applications is high therefore the competition is higher. I am tore between English and Music. I would prefer Music but fear competition is higher than English.
ReplyDeleteHey. I do not know specifically how difficult it is to get into Cambridge for either music or english since I did not apply for these subjects. However I have looked at the statistics and over the past 4 years Cambridge admitted an average of 24.5% of all applicants for english and 45.2% of all applicants for music. Hence it seems you are statistically much more likely to get in for music as opposed to for English.
DeleteHowever: you would need to look closely at what the requirements are for entry to these subjects, particularly for music. I suspect for music most people have prepared for this outside of school, for example through private music tuition, outside music lessons etc. so the applicant pool may be quite different for those applying for music as opposed to for other subjects where people are prepared for them in school, for example maths, natural sciences, english etc.
If you would prefer music, I suggest you strongly research how well qualified you need to be to get in, for example look at how strong other people who got in for music are and see how you compare to them.
I remember when I applied I was considering applying for an "easier" to get in for subject, but in the end decided against it since you're going to be studying at Cambridge for at least 3 years so you want to make sure you enjoy your subject. On the other hand though, you do want to maximize your chances of getting in so although I picked my top choice subject to apply for, I did not pick my top choice college as I wanted to maximize my chances of getting in over everything else. The difference between Cambridge and anywhere else is huge but the difference between colleges, whilst big, is comparatively small. That is another thing to consider.
Thanks for your promote reply. I strongly agree with you that music candidates have already accumulate at least ten years of efforts inside and outside school and usually are confident with their abilities oppose to other subjects. Therefore it is crucial to find out how strong my competitors are. But the question is HOW.
DeleteAlso in term of interview, I wonder if the procedure is different. I will check their web closely and go to open days. But just in case you already know……
In terms of finding out, I do not know for music but what I did was look at the first year course materials before applying. That will give you an idea of what you need to know. I read through some of that information in order to prepare for interview. It can be difficult to find out what they are looking for though, I do not know for music what the standards are that they expect.
DeleteYes I don't know about interview for music but the interview is definitely extremely important, possibly the most important part of the application so you need to make sure that you are well prepared for it.
Also, are you applying from the UK (ie a home applicant) or are you an overseas applicant? Which country are you applying from?
Do you have any views on making an open application or do you have the impression that it is better to apply for particular college?
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm a student from Hong Kong and I would like to study English in Cambridge,
ReplyDeleteDo you have any ideas that whether it is hard for an overseas Asian to get into English in Cambridge? I realise that the competition is extremely intense.
My English results are considered outstanding in Hong Kong compared to my peers, and I have a great affection towards the language and literature.
I wonder which college I should consider as well.
Thank you!
Hi, I'm an American considering applying to Cambridge for PBS. Earlier you mentioned overseas Asian students not integrating as much into the lifestyle. Is the same true for Americans? And also, do I actually have a chance of getting in as an American?
ReplyDelete