Question by NeRdYkId1101: How to choose a college at Cambridge?
I’m an American student and I’d like to apply to Cambridge but I can’t figure out how to choose a college. Reading about them all on the website really didn’t give me a clear idea of how I would like living there. Do they have personalities and reputations that I might know if I lived in the UK? I want to study physics but I’d also like to participate in a jazz band and I’m a rock climber, should any of that be helpful to me picking a college?

Best answer:

Answer by John D
You don’t say whether you are intending to do an undergraduate or a postgraduate degree, which makes a difference. Nor do you say what subject you are planning to study, which also makes a difference. Most of the teaching at Cambridge takes place in the university departments, which are for undergraduate courses supplemented by small group tutorials within the colleges in the first two years and at department level in subsequent years. I’ll make some general points of advice.

If you are studying one of the big science disciplines or law or engineering at undergraduate level, then it really doesn’t matter in terms of your studies which college you attend as there will be enough college supervisors in all the colleges, but check with the college. If you are studying one of the specialist discursive subjects such as Anglo-Saxon or American history, say, then consider going to a college that has a well known fellow in that discipline, but bear in mind that supervisions will be organised at department level anyway. From an academic point of view, there isn’t a big advantage to being in any one particular college unless you want to be in the same college as an accepted world leader in your area, where you could have access over and above what you will get to him/her through the department. This might be more important in post-graduate studies, but then your life will revolve around the department more anyway.

In terms of social life, consider a couple of things. The larger colleges will be more likely to have other American students. This may be a good thing or a bad thing, from your point of view. Again, it depends on whether you are going to be an undergraduate or a postgraduate: the postgraduate student body is incredibly diverse. Since none of the colleges are specialists (except possibly Homerton for education and Lady Cavendish for mature women) you’ll meet lots of people doing very different subjects, which is one of the enriching parts of the Cambridge student experience.

Rock climbing will be organised through a university level club. East Anglia is incredibly flat, so other that climbing walls practicing this sport will involve travel. Here, college choice may be relevant because you need special permission from the university to keep a car in Cambridge as a student – from the Proctor for Motor Vehicles no less – and the main criteria are (a) demonstrable need and (b) availability of off-road parking. At its heart, Cambridge is a compact medieval town, so expect to walk or cycle everywhere. A small, city-centre college such as Peterhouse will have a lot less in the way of parking spaces than one of the outlying colleges, such as Churchill, Girton or Robinson. Also, the university wouldn’t give a motor vehicle licence to every member of the climbing club, as it would expect people to car share. Access to parking is an issue, and might influence your choice of college. There may be small rock climbing clubs in some of the larger colleges, but they’ll be rather informal.

There’ll be jazz bands in some of the colleges and also at the university level. The university ones will be quite serious. Most colleges organise their owns gigs and have their own, small venues attached to the college bars. Each college should be able to tell you whether there is currently an active jazz band, so just ask. You could, of course, always start your own: it’s the kind of thing that pops up every now and then, and because a lot of Cambridge students have excelled at different types of music (amongst other things) you’ll probably get enough people together for a small combo fairly easily.

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