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I am considering applying to Cambridge. It would be amazing if someone can tell me what exactly the differences between the colleges are. I've read the "prospectus" and alternative one. However I'm confused about a couple of things. Ahhhhh. a) you still have the same teachers, same degree, no matter what? b) in another post someone said that new colleges are considered less prestigious (20th, 19th century), however is the quality of education considered lesser? Thank-you so much for you consideration!

By Yahoo231 (Yahoo231) on Thursday, July 17, 2003 - 02:39 pm: Edit

Thought of a few more questions:
c) How hard is it to switch colleges?
d) are the admissions rate for any of them signficantly low or high
e) what would you recommend for an economics... or history major?
f) any recommended websites/books to learn more about Cambridge

By Texas137 (Texas137) on Thursday, July 17, 2003 - 03:25 pm: Edit

You may hear from someone who knows more than I do, but I just returned from a family vacation to England. The day we made a little day trip from London in order to see Cambridge happened to be a big open-house for prospective students in the natural sciences. So we made an on-the-spot shift from being tourists to making a college visit. I had some of the same questions you do. Here's what I was told (we were mostly talking to computer science people):

You apply to a specific college. But they don't appear to be "colleges" in the sense of an academic unit, the way we think of it. They are basically residential units. The fact that applications go to individual colleges instead of to the university as a whole seems to be an archaic historical accident which has outlived it's usefullness. Anyway, once you're accepted to a college you take the same courses in the same classroom (at least in natural sciences) and receive the same degree regardless of which "college" (think "house") you live in. The student who showed us around the computer labs said that the 110 people in his program were spread out among all the colleges, with at least a handful from each. But they are all lumped together for all classes and all have the exact same educational experience. He said that some people choose a college based on proximity to the computer science building.

If whatever college you apply to can't take you, but still considers you "Cambridge material", they throw you into a "pool" where all the other colleges can look at your application and decide if they are interested in you. Then it becomes more like the university-wide application system we're used to. A serious downside to this is that your interview doesn't go into the "pool". It only applies to one college. The student we were talking to about this made a special trip to interview with college A, and then when he got thrown in the pool, he had to make another trip to interview with college B. I don't know how they would work this out for international students.

Apparently some people do change houses. When I asked about differences btw them it seemed to have more to do with atmosphere than anything else. They look different and come in different sizes. And the British equivalent of jocks, nerds, and prep-school rich kids tend to segregate themselves by college. I have no idea how an outsider would be able to figure out which was which. I've never seen anything like a key to them. That's probably what the interview is for, so they can see if you're "their sort". Of course, if you don't know what "sort" gravitates to each one, you're kind of shooting in the dark when you apply.

By Dave26199 (Dave26199) on Friday, July 18, 2003 - 02:52 pm: Edit

Well, I've been a Cambridge student at Gonville & Caius College for two years (Computer Science), so hopefully I can help...

Let's see...

a) Yes, you have the same degree, but, no, not the same teachers exactly. The lectures and practical work are all university-based and will be the same, but you will be more likely to work and go to lectures with people in your college.

Supervisions, which are absolutely key to learning at Cambridge, are often organised by colleges. In my first year all my supervisions were Caius-based, which meant I was supervised by Caius fellows and grad students. The computer science supervisions were good and I think this was very important.

In my second year, supervisions were again arranged through Caius but were with people who supervised Computer Science generally. I was still supervised exclusively with Caians.

In my third year it will be entirely university-based. This varies per subject, but if you're going to end up being supervised at your college, it would be a good idea to try and end up at one which does good supervisions...

(some supervisors are truly awful, some are excellent -- most are okay -- best to talk to current students if you can)

So -- there will be a big difference in terms of who you end up working with and who is influencing your academic career. Things such as course changes and choices, etc, etc, are arranged via your Director of Studies at your college.

The degree you end up with is exactly the same on paper -- no mention of college at all as far as I'm aware.

b) Eh. I don't think the quality of education is lesser, and I'm not aware of any colleges being regarded as 'the dumb college', for example. Besides, the quality of education at Cambridge is very much up to you... you'll have access to some lectures, some libraries, a lot of like-minded people, and (with any luck) some supervisors who are probably extremely knowledgable about the field... what you do with all that is up to you.

c) I've never heard of it happening... since housing is arranged through your college, as are all other details (tuition fees, examinations), I can see it being rather difficult. I'm not sure why you'd want to, though... a college is a group of people more than anything else, and it's impossible not to end up with friends in your college...

d) I think the prospectuses give details of the different courses and how many people are trying for each place -- it varies much more by subject than by college, I think.

e) Er. Not my department... :-)

f) Talk to people!... pretty much everyone is online, there are lots of email addresses out there... hmm... there are probably plenty of homepages belonging to Cambridge students that are findable by a simple web search or two...

Texas137 makes some good points -- the simple fact of where you'll end up living and where you'll end up studying is not a bad one to consider. Might be a bit tricky to find out, though.

Hmm, and if you haven't looked for individual college websites/prospectuses yet -- they're all out there too. Each college has its own prospectus and alternative prospectus, and the latter will tell you a lot about what life's like at each college, with any luck...

The college system is an odd thing. I have to disagree with Texas137 on one point -- they're much more important than just being housing. They have different traditions, customs, people, complete different feels to them... the whole experience will be radically different depending on what college you end up at. But I would also say that they're all pretty good, and picking one at random can't hurt all that much. I think that's effectively what most people do...

Anyway. If you have any more questions, ask away :-)

By Pds112 (Pds112) on Friday, July 18, 2003 - 07:39 pm: Edit

Why not consider Oxford? Oxford is more famous and more prestigious than Cambridge. The only place that actually recognizes Cambridge to be better is in the U.K.. That's a very narrow degree!

By Texas137 (Texas137) on Friday, July 18, 2003 - 08:45 pm: Edit

Hey Dave! Maybe I saw your project. I was there about 2 weeks ago (I can't remember the day of the week, I think Fri). The open house seemed to be a pretty big deal. There were lots of visitors. It was standing-room only in Cockscroft Theater. Then they cabbed us to the Gates CS building and showed us a computer lab upstairs. Various students were there demonstrating their sophomore projects.

Are you a US or British student? My son didn't feel that Cambridge would have any advantage over MIT, Berkely, etc for an American interested in CS. (although specializing early and getting out in 3 years would be an advantage). What do you think? It sure is a pretty campus and town. On the other hand, the Gates building seemed to be a significant schlepp from the main part of campus.

By Sprite04 (Sprite04) on Saturday, July 19, 2003 - 01:56 am: Edit

Guys let me first thank you for all the valuable information you are sharing. How is the geography program at Oxford and Cambridge? How difficult is it to get into? If I do not pick a college and let the university choose for me are my chances for admissions much higher because I am filling a college's void?

Thanks!

By Heartfang (Heartfang) on Saturday, July 19, 2003 - 05:12 am: Edit

HELLO PDS112, Asians in general recognize Cambridge, not Oxford.

By Arealtexan (Arealtexan) on Saturday, July 19, 2003 - 07:43 am: Edit

That's probably what the interview is for, so they can see if you're "their sort". Of course, if you don't know what "sort" gravitates to each one, you're kind of shooting in the dark when you apply.

This sort of thing is perpetuated a lot in the media. It is completely and utterly incorrect. The personalities of each college are greatly exagerrated, and most of them are large enough to accomodate all sorts of different people. You'll still find Old Etonians at King's and members of the Young Communists League at Caius. The interview is to test whether or not you have the academic potential to succeed at Cambridge. It is not a personality test.

How is the geography program at Oxford and Cambridge? How difficult is it to get into?

Cambridge is rated higher than Oxford for Geography. It has average A-level grades of 0.3 points under AAA. Oxford is 0.4 points under AAA. The acceptance rate at Cambridge for geography is around about 38%, at Oxford it is the same. It differs quite a bit between colleges and from year to year.

If I do not pick a college and let the university choose for me are my chances for admissions much higher because I am filling a college's void?

The chances of admission for people who do this are actually slightly less. Whether this is a reflection on university attitudes or the type of person that makes an open application is open to debate. If you are a female, you will be assigned to New Hall or Newnham if you make an open application, so be prepared to go to an all-female college if you do this.

e) what would you recommend for an economics... or history major?

Peterhouse has the reputation of being "the history college", and there are a lot of historians for such a small college. The best advice for those wanting to read history is to look at the history fellows in a certain college and their areas of expertise. Choose one where the college fellows' interests correspond to your area of history. That said, if you have your heart set on College X and the fellows' areas of study don't overlap with your own, you can take supervisions outside of college.

There doesn't really appear to be any college that is considered better than others in economics.

f) any recommended websites/books to learn more about Cambridge

http://www.oxbridge-info.co.uk is very good. I think one or two of the people who got into Oxbridge on this board have their profiles up there, and if you ignore the bitter losers who write things like "all people at this university are snobs" you can't go wrong. Oh yes, and ignore Pds112's arguments about prestige.

By Yahoo231 (Yahoo231) on Saturday, July 19, 2003 - 04:28 pm: Edit

Thank you guys so much for all the information. I can't believe how hard it is to find out some of this stuff by just looking on the web. Also, its pretty funny how within the past month or so all these "Cambridge/oxford" posts have been popping up. One thing that scared me though was the Pembroke website that said only 3 or 4 students were offered conditional offers on AP scores... Is this true??????? Well... I guess it has to be. Does this imply that only 4 American students in the AP program get offers of admission a year? Ahhhhhh.... Any information on this would be helpful. oh and the website http://www.oxbridge-info.co.uk is really good!

By Africaccc (Africaccc) on Saturday, September 20, 2003 - 11:50 am: Edit

Do some research before paying top $ in the UK. Reputation not enough!
I for one am NOT applying to do Political Science or the Social Sciences in Cambridge after reading what the QAA says. This is the UK government's own quality watchdog for unversities - hardly biased!
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/revreps/subjre...01_textonly.htm

Several colleges got top marks... but not Cambridge because of bad management and bad coordination on the SPS Social and Political Sciences Courses course. Confirmed by Cambridge itself in its newspaper:
SPS Tripos about to "CRACK" http://www.varsity.cam.ac.uk/8025694E0073CFEB/Pages/2712000_Morechaosin.html
“SPSed off!”
http://www.varsity.cam.ac.uk/802569...RIPOSABOUT.html
And the QAA lists other Universities getting straight As (bottom of page, like Oxford, King's College London, Warwick, York, Nottingham. Anyone else got good recommendations, views????

This QAA report destroys my illusions. Just goes to show you, buyers beware! Reputations can change!
I read in my econ history that Technische Universität in Charlottenburg Berlin used to be considered the best University in the world (at the turn of the century). Not so any more!