Picking colleges for Cambridge and Durham

[Londonbridge21]

I’m going to apply to both of the above unis for law. How do I pick a college at each? They all look great! I am sociable, don’t mind whether catered or not and love my netball. I also quite like drama - behind the scenes production not acting. Any suggestions would be great!

First of all - the systems are very different - at Cambridge a lot of your teaching (supervisions Aka tutorials) is in college whereas in Durham college is where you live and eat.

at Durham you apply generally but specify a college preference only after an offer. At Cambridge you apply to a college but May end up interviewing at a different college

what subject arc you looking at?

I don't know about Durham but for Cambridge I'd look at - who will be your director of studies in the college and what are their specialisms, how close is your college to the law faculty, how many law students do they tend to have per year, do they have any general or subject specific bursaries or awards, how much is rent? Id also consider do I want old or new, big or small, traditional or less so, is being near the city centre important to me, what is the food like,is all the accommodation in college or is some elsewhere.

Oh I see you mentioned sport and drama so of course you'd want to look at the facilities for both

For Cambridge, the most beautiful colleges (nice to be on the Backs, for example) are often the busiest, most touristy places, which can be trying, depending on your peresonality. Quite nice to be somewhere beautiful but a bit quieter in my opinion (e.g. Peterhouse, Jesus, Emma, Downing, etc).
Check out whether there's college accommodation for all three years - a plus if that's an option.
How close to college sports facilities if you're playing college sport - nearer can mean more support at matches.
Drama didn't seem to be very college based in my day.
Do some places still make you pay termly for meals and others let you self cater all the time if you want?
Director of studies for your subject is v important though, so go with someone you think you can get on with and has some clout in the college and the faculty.
And what sort of school are you coming from? One theory is, if from state school, better to apply for a college with the highest stats of private school students, as they'll be more keen to swing their numbers towards state students. But obviously only do that if you think you can cope with lots of private school kids. The more modern colleges + Kings tend to be the less private schooly, I think - but you can find up to date stats on that.

Downing college has a thriving drama society and its own theatre.

Here. https://www.dow.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate-study/college-spaces-and-facilities/howard-theatre

You can state a preference at Durham, but no guarantee at all that you’ll get your first choice (and in fact the college you are allocated might be completely the opposite of that choice)

If my memory is correct for Durham, all the colleges have their own netball teams and because of the different levels of ability they have multiple teams listed as A, B, C etc. See the league table here

https://apps.dur.ac.uk/collegesport/public/league/30/2023

As above, Cambridge have tutorials in their colleges whereas Durham is more like a school house, there are traditional songs, games, they have their own bar and drink and there is friendly rivalry between the colleges. Some of them have gowned formals some don't.

Some will believe that certain colleges have a "type" which is completely not true because the cohort changes every year and no one is doing a personality test when they apply. However, some colleges (I think Chads and Hatfield) have a higher percentage of shared room for undergrads so some boarding school kids apply liking the sharing aspect. My own child would rather have gouged their own eye out than share a room. In the past according to Student Room posts some people will reject Durham when offered a place because they weren't allocated the college they wanted which is ridiculous in all honesty.

For all those people who didn't get their first choice they soon love their new college and to be honest, it is usually only 1 year in halls, and not even that, supposedly a 30 week year but it isn't, it is more like 25 because the exams, depending on course, can be over before the end of May.

Thank you all for the feedback. I didn't realise how different the college systems were at Cambridge and Durham. At Durham, the college is basically what other unis call a hall of residence it seems? The link to Durham sport was particularly helpful and I think I will pick Collingwood as it has the most netball teams - seems as good a reason as any! As to Cambridge, I am just not sure which college!

Collingwood used to be known as the hotel on the hill when I was a student! I was at Trevelyan which was smaller back in the day, but had/has thriving netball teams and theatre groups.

No, Durham colleges are "more than a hall" - I don't think halls in other unis have their own sports teams, etc.

Durham colleges are definitely more than halls of residence, there's much more in the way of sports teams, music groups, and everyone has a college tutor for more wellbeing activities, as well as an academic tutor through their department. You're a member of the college throughout your time at university whether you still live there or not. If you live out in 2nd year then there would still be events such as formal dinners and balls to attend at college. They also used to have an "academic parent" system which was a mentoring thing with someone from the year above.
It's probably stereotyping a bit but in general the "town" colleges were considered to be posher and more dominated by the public school brigade and the "hill" colleges were a bit more down to earth. Check what they offer in the way of shared rooms and option to live there in your final year (which used to be the norm).

Re Cambridge, how good a netballer are you? If you're likely to make the University sides then the college is slightly less relevant as you'll be training 4 x a week with the Blues squad. Otherwise choose a college in the first two league divisions- Jesus looks like a good bet in that regard, but I'm a little biased.

No idea about Durham, but with Cambridge it's best to visit on an open day, wander around the different colleges and get a feel for them. Some might not be an option (women's colleges, postgrad students); you might prefer big/small, very central or less so etc etc. Some colleges have a reputation for being particularly sporty or musical, say... but ultimately they are all great.

The important thing is not to overthink it. About a quarter of all Cambs offers are from the pool - meaning that you get an offer from a college you didn't actually apply to, so it would be silly to get to attached to one particular college before you have an offer from there. Everyone usually ends up happy with where they are and thinks their own college is the 'best'. 😂 Good luck!

Whatever college at Cambridge you end up at there are Uni level theatre options. The Downing New Writers festival for example is open to all and they put on an act of each play that gets through and a professional panel critique. It is the only college with a Drama professor who is amazing! DD isn’t at Downing but does visit through drama.

One other thought to throw in the mix is do you want an all Women’s college? Cambridge has two. Newnham is particularly lovely but I am biased as DD is there. They use the old labs for drama rehearsals a fair bit and have their own sports fields next to the accommodation but some other colleges sports grounds are a way out.

Clare is the best!

You can get involved in plays at any college. Sport is more college specific

I did a lot of theatre at Cambridge, mostly behind the scenes rather than on stage. Although a lot of colleges have their own drama clubs, the ADC theatre is the best place to get involved behind the scenes—loads of facilities, and they have a club just for techies. If you're going to be doing a lot of that stuff, you might want to think about a college close to the ADC, because you'll be doing some late nights. I was at Girton and had a lot of long, cold, nighttime trudges back up to my college after a show.

Actually, these days you get to rank all the Durham colleges in order of preference, so that in the highly likely scenario there is no room at your first choice, the computer will go down your list college by college until they reach your highest preference with a place for you.

So it's not as dicey as in the past, when you'd select University College - since you can only choose one -, it's oversubscribed and an indiscriminate algorithm lumps you into the college that you liked the least of all.

Ahh I’m about 7 years out of date 😆

Have a look if there's a document online listing wealth inequalities between colleges. If funding is a concern at all, the wealthier colleges will have cheaper rent, cheaper food in Hall, more wealthy donors offering random travel grants etc, and more options for emergency funds.
Also re tutorials and specialisms, you will be sent to specialists for the specialist papers. You don't need to pick a college based on your tutor's specialisms now, your interests will likely change by second year anyway. Not sure how much choice you have in Cambridge law, but if there are options papers you will be sent to the correct tutor for the paper for tutorials.

I see you've mentioned Collingwood for Durham. It is very sporty. It also has a fantastic theatre and brilliant AV facilities - so back of house for you is well catered for there. (But, the usual caveat applies ... don't get hung up on Durham colleges as you may not get what you want).

A PP suggested Newnham and Murray Edwards colleges in Cambridge as female only. Both say they accept women in all their diversity as is the current lingo du jour. One of my daughters is currently thinking about Cambridge colleges. Both are very lovely but the doublethink puts me right off.
https://www.murrayedwards.cam.ac.uk/study-us/how-apply
https://newn.cam.ac.uk/study-here/undergraduates/advice-applications/faqs-applicants

As a PP said, the ADC in Cambridge is where it's at for learning about backstage. Lots of backstage stuff is done by a town group called The Penguin Club; they are a mine of knowledge and worth looking up. Working backstage is such fun!

All best wishes with your applications!

@LaPalmaLlama Wave from a fellow Jesuan. Jesus is definitely best!
In reality, other than perhaps Girton because far out and the all-girls colleges for social reasons (are there any girls' only colleges any more?) it's vanishingly rare to meet someone who regrets their choice of college. But Jesus is objectively and indubitably best.

Well I was at Girton and it was unquestionably the best college, so there.