Cambridge college choice - tactical

[eggsbenedict23]

Is there any point looking at admission statistics for Cambridge colleges to see where is more likely to get in?

Is it worth choosing colleges tactically or does the pooling system eliminate this need?

My idea is that for Economics Trinity and Kings would be very very popular choices.

I'm not particularly fit but used to cycle up Castle Hill in Cambridge when I was pregnant and had DS aged 4 on the bike. Murray Edwards and Fitzwilliam are up the hill, too, although there are longer ways round with a gentler slope, especially to Girton.

Girton has some new accommodation in Eddington which isn't even up the hill and is very close to the West Cambridge Site. That's where Sciences and some Engineering departments are located.

Girton is the only college with its own swimming pool - although this wasn’t a sufficient carrot for DS who prefers to be more central (he thinks he can join the university swim club instead)

Indeed. Somebody at my DD’s school last year was predicted full marks 45 at IB which is harder than A* x3. She didn’t get an interview and she is a UK student. She also ended up getting 45. You just never know.

Girton may be the only undergraduate college with an indoor swimming pool.
Clare Hall (postgraduate) also has one.

Corpus, Emmanuel and Christ's have outdoor pools.

Murray Edwards and Fitzwilliam are up the hill, too, although there are longer ways round with a gentler slope,
And Churchill

How do you find out which are the rich colleges?

Wikipedia, there's a table which includes their assets

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CollegesofftheUniversityyof_Cambridge

You may well be right, but I hadn't thought of it that way. Is this because it's ChurcHILL?

Churchill is not central, certainly.

I don't have a child studying Land Ec, but no idea why some people are being snooty about it. Look at the stats, it's a more competitive entry rate than many other subjects. Economics has a 10% success rate and Land Ec is 13%, so hardly a massive difference. Also, a quick glance at the course details shows it has nothing whatsoever to do with farming or managing estates!

This shows 'success rates' for all courses in 2022

Check the tutors for Econ for the colleges on his list. Then read what they have published! See if you like how they think. An inspirational tutor is far more important than what college.

DD1 applied to Girton because of the swimming pool but got Murray Edwards. Bit disappointed about it at first but really excited about going now. And it’s closer into town and the vet school.

At the offer holder day they told her 80% of the offers were made to kids who hadn’t applied there, so I’m not sure that weaker candidates to boost their chances all that much applying to a less popular college.

After first year you probably won’t be supervised in your college and your DoS doesn’t always directly teach you, plus you might be pooled or the staff might move.

I wouldn’t worry about college choice too much tbh (easier said than done) but people are generally happy wherever they end up and who teaches you is more dictated by module choice.

Oh ok. Thanks. DS and I were under the impression that the people who interview you at a Cambridge college would ultimately teach you if you're successful.

They do, but only really in the first year, depending on the tripos and your subject. For mine, the first year of the course was the same for everyone, and most supervisions took place at my college. After that, we could pick the modules that interested us, which were taught by whichever fellow specialised in that topic, and we'd go to their college for supervisions.

Edited to add: your Director of Studies remains at your college throughout though, even if they're no longer teaching you.

@septembersunrise I din’t know whether you meant me. I don’t feel the least snooty towards Land Economics; I just said it won’t prepare you for Investment Banking.

Not at all @poetryandwine. I just think there is still this misconception that people taking LE are like something you would find at the Royal Agricultural College, but this is not the case. DC says everyone they know taking this degree is from India or HK or the Middle East. That is just anecdotal obviously, but certainly it's not 1700 and the landed gentry are few and far between! It's one if the more competitive courses too. The course outline looks very relevant and contemporary. There is a course at Bath called International Development with Economics that seems quite similar. This is how Cambridge LE is described on the website -

"Law, economics, and their relationship to the built and natural environments are central to Land Economy, along with other areas such as business regulation, the financial aspects of real estate and international development.
The multidisciplinary nature of the course is particularly relevant in the 21st century where the environment, law and economics and the control of scarce resources affect the daily lives of people around the world."

Land Economy can lead to varied degrees. My dn did this, went on to get a law training contract and is now a qualified lawyer and is on track to be earning £150K in the next year. She is 26 years old.

Meant to say varied careers, apologies.

DD chose a college with a tutor/ department head that aligned with her interests. It didn't make any difference during the course but it helped them gel during the interview which may have helped her get an offer.

Apologies to the girtonians whose hill height i overestimated – just to say I have no issue with Girton at all, I knew people who loved it, but when someone asked why it wasn’t the most popular choice that would be my explanation. But after this thread, I bet they see a vast surge in applicants this year!

What happens if you go to girton but can't cycle?

You walk or get the bus.

DD can't cycle (dyspraxic) and was at O. She walked everywhere, and mostly still does.

I be went to the other place and played the stats game. Female doing a science subject in a male dominated college. Not sure it works that way now.
I have one piece of advice that I repeat to everyone. Please check the course and you want to do that one, the options are what you want to do etc. I knew several people who felt it was the wrong choice but had been so bamboozled with oxbridge and getting in they failed to see if they would enjoy what they would study. Eg language involved studying old texts and not much else.

They probably meant me being snooty, which I was of course! I don't share those views of Land Economy, they were just the jokes that did the rounds about it when I was at Cambridge. That was nearly twenty years ago though, it's probably very different now.

Re: going to Girton and not cycling. I did cycle most of the time, but I walked a lot too and also had my car there in second and third year, because I did a lot of extracurriculars that involved schlepping gear about. It was also much cheaper and quicker for me to drive myself to and from home than take the train, due to living in the arse end of nowhere. There's a lot of parking at the college (you have to apply for permission to bring your car). I didn't use the bus much, because I have a weird aversion to waiting around and preferred to walk even if it ultimately meant taking longer - at least I was on the move! Friends used the buses a lot though.

I don't know anyone who didn't feel their college was right for them, there's not a huge amount of difference between them really. That said, all my friends from other colleges absolutely loved Girton! It's a special place.

In general undergrads in the first 3 years can't have a car (afaik this applies to all colleges) unless there's some particular medical need or they use it for some particular uni club purposes. I'd have thought parking at the departments would be limited even if there's spaces at a college.

www.proctors.cam.ac.uk/motor-control