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Choice Of College
Cambridge is made up of
31 colleges. Some of these are post-graduate colleges only, while the
majority are for both undergraduates and post-graduates.
All undergraduate
colleges accept students for medicine, with the exception of Homerton.
There are a number of
things that you should look for when picking a college. This is just a
general guide, not to sway you towards one college or another, but to
allow you to make a better choice on which college would suit you.
The things which I think
people should consider when choosing a college are:
- Size of college
Do you want a large college like St Johns or Trinity, or would you prefer
a small college like Corpus Christi? You might be better suited to a
medium sized college like Downing or Pembroke.
- Location
Personally this is very important, proximity to lectures and practicals
can be very useful after a large night out. It is common to have some
lectures in the morning and then a practical in the afternoon, and the
ability to return to college between, have some food and drink, or to be
able to do some work (or go to sleep) is big bonus for those who have
their college close to the faculty buildings. So if you are looking for
somewhere close by then Downing is ideal, as well as Emmanuel (1st and
3rd year anyway), Christs and Pembroke. These colleges are well within 5
minutes of the majority of your lecture theatres, while the majority of
the rest are within 10-15 minutes. Some like Robinson and Girton are
quite a bike ride from lecture halls, but have proximity to other places,
such as Grange Road, (close to Robinson and Selwyn) which is useful for
university rugby players.
- Accomodation
When you visit, ask what the accommodation is like in the college, and
where it is located. Some colleges, Downing, St Johns and Trinity for
example, give accommodation in college grounds for the whole of your
undergraduate studies, while others such as Emmanuel, Clare and Trinity
Hall will give accommodation in college for the 1st and 3rd years, but in
the 2nd year, although it is still possible to live in college, the
majority of houses are outside of college (e.g. for Emmanuel 2nd year
accommodation is towards the Grafton Centre, while Trinity Hall 2nd year
accommodation is towards Fitzwilliam College and Christs send some of their
students out to Jesus Lane.)
- Academia
Do you want a college which is notoriously academic? That is personal
choice, and while all Cambridge colleges are very academic, there are
some that undoubtedly perform better than other. League table are
published in a Tomkins table annually. Consistently good performers
include Emmanuel, Gonville & Caius, Pembroke and Christs. This takes
into account all subjects. If one is just considering medicine, then Emmanuel,
Christs, Downing and G&C are very strong.
- Amount of
applicants
Most Cambridge colleges have a very high amount of applicants for
medicine. It is a heavily oversubscribed subject. Some colleges are more
so than others. Emmanuel, St John’s and Downing for example are
always inundated with applications. One could see this as a good thing,
as colleges do not receive a large amount of applicants for no reason, or
one could say that this lessens my chance of getting in. I would
definitely go with the former attitude for the positive reason given, but
also because your choice of college can enhance your Cambridge experience
greatly, and you should not be put off by the number of applicants. Also
Cambridge has a pooling system, whereby if you are thought to be good
enough for Cambridge, but your chosen college is already full for that
year, you will be placed in a pool. You can then picked out by any other
college which has not fulfilled it’s quota of applicants. Open
applications are also an option. This is where you do not apply to a
college, but are later assigned to one, and go through the normal
application procedure from there. I would personally not recommend this
as you tend to get allocated to the colleges with a low application
number for that year.
- Sports
Some colleges are
very good at sports. St John’s have always had a very good
reputation, while Downing won the Tab College Cup in 2009 (measuring
colleges’ all-round performances in the rugby, hockey, rowing,
netball and football). Certain colleges and known to be very good at
certain sports, for example Trinity at rowing and St Catherine’s at
hockey.
- Music
Many colleges have choirs as well as music societies. Kings college is
world famous for its choir, although it is possible to sing for other
colleges even if not a member of the college.
- Ents
This is Cambridge talk for parties. Certain college host ents on a weekly
basis, some host a couple a term. The majority fall into this latter
category, although Queens and Clare are well known for their sell-out
weekly ents. The King’s mingle, hosted at the end of the first and
second term are definitely worth a visit at some stage!
- Balls
Cambridge is well known for having the best balls. Balls are held by a
college, in college grounds. The May week balls are the most famous, with
Trinity and St John’s the most popular balls. As well as St
John’s and Trinity, Clare and Jesus college host balls on an annual
basis. Many colleges host balls every other year. These include Downing, Queens,
Christs, G&C, Magdalene, Sidney Sussex, Peterhouse and Corpus
Christi. Be warned, these balls do come at a high price with tickets varying
from a minimum of £70 (approx) to over £130. There is unlimited food,
drink and entertainment from 9pm-6am and with lots of your friends they
are definitely an unforgettable Cambridge experience not to be missed.
There are other balls in the other two terms. Selwyn holds a Snow Ball
while Churchill and Girton host Spring Balls. While not the most
important factor to many people it does become obvious that if you go to
a college with a major ball that their balls are infinitely better due to
amount of people you know attending. It is very hard for groups of
friends from outside one of John’s, Magdalene or Trinity to get
lots of tickets to that ball in the same year while students at these
colleges are assured of a certain amount and can apply for more.
These are just some
things to consider when thinking about which college to apply to. I would
definitely recommend a visit on an open day, whether it is a university
open day for medicine, or a specific college open day.
If you are just coming up for the day and you are not visiting on an open
day have a list of potential colleges in mind and visit these. It is
almost impossible to visit all the colleges in one day, and definitely
not possible to do every college properly. The Porters of each college
are often extremely helpful, and will happily give you useful tips for
getting around each college if you introduce yourself as a prospective
applicant at each Porters’ Lodge.
I hope this has been of
some help, and best of luck with your application.
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Choice
