to think this Cambridge college could have made more effort?

[nandio]

DC was invited to a Cambridge college essay competition winners' lunch. The food was excellent although the event was underwhelming. No photos were taken for the website (previous winners are on there), no college tour was organised and the certificate looks like a primary school kid formatted it.

My reason for posting is that my DC really wanted to attend this college and I'm now wondering if they should reassess.

Does it not really matter in the grand scheme of things or is it a red flag for how this college might operate on a broader level?

Does anyone have any similar experiences to post about?

Why don’t you explain which college it is, and then people can tell you whether it’s representative, rather than make predictions based on a single data point?

Can see you may not want to, and that’s obviously up to you, but you’ll get more helpful answers if you can explain I think.

Sorry they didn't roll out the red carpet, OP. They gave your kid an award and a free meal, how awful.

Perhaps the college had been warned about posting images of children due to safeguarding concerns. Maybe one of the other winners is under some kind of protection order and rather than exclude them from the photos, they didn't take any. I teach sisters who have one parent who is not allowed to know where they are educated. No way would I compromise that, so in their classes, I don't video anything; I use audio recordings instead.

I'm surprised at the lack of a college tour, but if the event was during the summer vacation and at a weekend, they may not have had anyone available. It may be worth getting in touch with them once term has started, or at least towards the end of the month when there are undergrads around who could offer something.

If your DC really wants to attend that college, I can recommend the open days. I took DD2 in early July and we toured 4 in depth. The one she loved on paper was not for her; in contrast, one we went to later on because we were passing was brilliant and is now a firm choice. In each one, we were shown round by current students who had been recruited for the event. There were academic staff around too for more specific entry questions. We had a specific choir question which our guide was not able to answer, but he knew exactly which student to direct us to and we found out everything we needed.

@Nacreous The college is a modern one which DC has chosen for pragmatic reasons (close to Faculty/libraries and decent accommodation) also not hugely oversubscribed.

It is tempting to think that the college is not particularly popular because it is modern but now I'm wondering if there may be other reasons why.

@Medea13 we weren't expecting the red carpet treatment, just something a little slicker. I've seen FE colleges do a better job of selling themselves.

@Malbecfan they did actually cobble together a tour for those that wanted it but it just consisted of a walk around the grounds and into the chapel. DC has already looked around a number of colleges and chose this one which is why I'm now having a slight wobble.

@nandio well Cambridge doesn't really need to sell itself. The pool system means colleges will always have access to a surfeit of exceptionally qualified applicants. I'm going to take a punt and assume you mean Churchill for CS. It may not be "particularly popular" but it is very popular with CS students who perform consistently VERY well in that subject. Depending on your child's constitution and educational environment so far, that may be a positive or a negative.

In any case, this is your child's choice. And they aren't going to university to be schmoozed.

FE colleges probably need to do a bit more work on attracting the punters.

I doubt the Cambridge dons will be crying into their pottage if your kid doesn't get in.

You sound like Hyacinth Bucket. Thinking that things are classy when they're not.

Honestly OP, I wouldn't base your decision on this one thing. The people organising the event will be completely different from the ones teaching your DD.

Entitled much?

Your complaints seem rather trivial.
If what you really mean is that they invited the kids up but didn't really look after them then that might be a bit of a red flag re pastoral care, but what you have basically implied is that you have some fixed ideas about how the thing should have been done, and I think it would be utterly mad to take their not conforming to your arbitrary set of expectations as evidence it's not a good place to study.

If things like certificates being badly formatted bother your dc they had better give Oxbridge a swerve altogether because in my experience of academia (studied at Oxbridge, worked elsewhere) the higher ranked institutions tend to be less bothered about outward appearance as reflected in this kind of thing than the lower ranked.

Not sure Cambridge really needs to “sell itself” 😂

Could also be Robinson as it's near the main library, modern and has lovely grounds.

What more do you want to see, OP? Lectures are by subject and tutorials are in a room in college. You can see great photos of accommodation on the college websites which in our experience match the reality.

DD1 has spent a year in Cambridge. I have obviously been in her 1st year bedroom and the gyp (kitchen). I have visited the Porters' Lodge and the dining hall. We even visited the Master's Lodge on day 1. Where else would I need to go? I'm just delighted she's there, she's thriving and getting a brilliant education. Time to step back a bit OP, I think.

I've seen FE colleges do a better job of selling themselves

Cambridge doesn't need to sell itself. It's nothing like a FE college.

It was not an open day and Oxbridge does not go out of its way to sell itself, as it does not need to. Perhaps they assumed entrants would already have attended open days. Congratulations on the essay success though, dd entered a competition this year but was not shortlisted.

If you really think the organisation of a prize giving event has anything to do with academic supervision at a Cambridge college then you have serious misconceptions about how universities work.

As pp have written, Cambridge places are massively oversubscribed at all colleges. They don't need to invest time and effort into recruitment.

At other universities, more time, effort and money may be put into such events - but this is at the expense of time, effort and money spent on actual undergraduate education.

In the overall scheme of Oxbridge academics and the politics behind those academics, this little gathering was a nice to do but I’m certain no real thought or effort went in to organising it. That’s just the way it is.

We thought similar at the open day, compared to other unis it was lacklustre and not very friendly. I guess due to their status they don't have to try as hard. Definitely put my DS off though who didn't include it in his choices.

Honestly it was a little thoughtless but I don't think it has any bearing on what life would be like at that college as an undergraduate. It was nice of them to put on the event at all. Your daughter should attend open days - talk to students about colleges (each college has it's own atmosphere - there are some that are renowned as posh colleges which attracts all the old Etonians, some are known for attracting people who want to go in for footlights, the modern colleges often have a different feel etc ) and look into the tutors for her subject.

The two things are entirely unconnected. As everyone said, Cambridge colleges do not need to sell themselves in an all singing and dancing way at all. They were presumably nice to your son, and gave him a nice lunch, and as it turns out, did show him around in a mini tour as well.

There's nothing they did wrong and your understanding of Cambridge is not correct, but it doesn't matter, your son is going there not you.

If your DC really wants to attend that college, I can recommend the open days. I took DD2 in early July and we toured 4 in depth. The one she loved on paper was not for her; in contrast, one we went to later on because we were passing was brilliant and is now a firm choice. In each one, we were shown round by current students who had been recruited for the event.

This. Took my niece to Oxford for the open day in July (we stayed the night before in a college, which I do recommend) and the college she preferred 'on paper' turned out not to be her preference after touring several.

In terms of open days you will find that Oxbridge isn't going to try and sell itself because as others have said it doesn't have to. It's also an intense pressured environment which won't suit everyone.

Great stealth boast!

Congratulations to your child for winning an essay competition which will be a great addition to her personal statement. A great acahievement for them but of hardly any importance to the college itself.

Term has not yet started so it is hardy surprising that the college and uni itself is not back in full swing.

Hang on to what it actually means rather than how it is celebrated. I suspect her school/6th form college will be making a much bigger deal of it.

I am imagining you to have your dc in an exclusive private school where the staff fall over themselves to fawn over you. It is very different in the real world.

Did your DC pay to enter, OP?

I'm involved in something similar this year and think you underestimate the nature of the organisation this kind of thing requires considering that the academics/students involved will have been squeezing this in across the year on top of a range of other commitments inc. FT work/study. The event's budget will likely have been separate from college/department funds, so yes, there may not have been enough for an event planner/pro photographer and the certs may have been an MS Word job if the comp's been running a while & original donor funding is running low. Doesn't mean "no real thought or effort went in to organising it" though

Honestly, it's a good thing to put on his PS and he got to go to a nice prizegiving in a beautiful city. It's hardly the intl maths Olympiad either!