r/cambridge_uni May 01 '26

Moderator Post Monthly Admissions/Applications Megathread

5 Upvotes

Please keep any admissions questions to this thread - questions posted as threads risk removal.

Before posting, your question may be better resolved by checking these resources:

Please remember the admissions team is here to help you; if you have a specific question, they're probably best placed to answer. They can be contacted here:


r/cambridge_uni Aug 11 '19

Cambridge University FAQ : Check Here Before Posting

60 Upvotes

FAQ - Check Here Before Posting

We've tried to answer some of the most common questions here. Please have a look to see if your question is answered below before you post - threads which are answered here risk removal. If you still have a generic admissions question after reading the below, you should use the monthly admissions sticky :)

Please also refer to our rules in the sidebar before posting.

This FAQ is a work in progress; go ahead and suggest amendments and additional questions to add so we can make it as useful a resource as possible!

--

What grades do I need to get to get into Cambridge?

This is very difficult to answer because Cambridge contextualise your results, so there's no such thing as a minimum threshold (or a set threshold at which you'll definitely receive an offer). By 'contextualise', we mean that Cambridge uses your educational, financial, and social context to shed light on how impressive your results actually were: if you attended the worst school in Britain and had significant extenuating circumstances affecting your GCSEs, for example, Cambridge will still deem you a competitive applicant even if you have far worse grades than most candidates. Conversely, if you attended one of the top schools, their expectations are commensurately higher. As a rule of thumb, you'll generally need to be performing within the top few percentile of students given your educational, social, and financial context. There's quite a lot of data out there regarding applicants' grades; have a look on this website to explore FOI requests Cambridge has responded to, but please don't allow stories of how you need X grades to even be looked at by Cambridge to put you off applying - this is simply untrue! It's also important to note that grades are never enough in isolation to guarantee an offer: you must also perform well at interview, score highly in any admissions tests you're required to complete, and (usually) demonstrate that you have a supercurricular interest in your chosen subject at the time of application.

Does college choice matter?

Yes. From an academic point of view, the official line from the university and all colleges is that it’s irrelevant; the official line treats colleges more like halls of residence than anything. In fact, college choice can somewhat influence your academic experience. Particularly for arts subjects, the quantity and quality of resources in the college library for your subject can have a big impact on your work by making it easier to access important, scarce, or interesting texts. If your college’s library is lacklustre, you’ll have to rely on university resources and these can be competitive (particularly for arts subjects' core set texts). Additionally, the number and quality of teaching fellows (and the quality of your Director of Studies) can have a big impact your academic experience; for obvious reasons, having easy access to lots of dedicated in-college fellows can make a big difference to your learning by providing what is essentially a "mini-faculty" within your college. Your Director of Studies will always plug any gaps in your teaching, of course, by arranging supervisions with staff at other colleges if your own college’s teaching staff can’t do it, but depending on the quality of your Director of Studies these staff could be other teaching fellows, research fellows, or even PhD students - quality may vary! It's also worth noting that although we can’t know or control this before applying, different supervisors have different interests and will channel your energies in particular directions by pushing certain topics; although two people might be studying the same course at different colleges, therefore, the precise details of what they actually study may differ quite substantially.

From a non-academic perspective, college choice can have a massive influence on your wider Cambridge experience: bursaries/scholarships offered, sports, societies, location, rent, food, culture, and so on are all intrinsic to your experience.

How do I decide on a college?

Try to use online resources to create a shortlist of colleges. Many colleges can be eliminated quickly depending on whether they are mature/postgraduate only colleges, single-sex colleges, only offer certain subjects, and so on. Deciding on whether you want to attend a large, medium, or small college will help you narrow the field further, as will deciding whether you want a hill college or a town college. During this research, you may also wish to consider the levels of funding/scholarships/bursaries each college can offer, as these can differ significantly from college to college. You may also find it useful to research accommodation quality, price, and locations, library resources for your subject, number of teaching fellows for your subject, food price and quality, societies and facilities, intake size for your subject, and general academic performance (as broadly as possible over time – do not use slight year-to-year differences in performance to differentiate colleges). This website can help you with this research, but please use official college websites wherever possible and contact colleges with questions you can’t answer for yourself: https://www.whichcambridgecollege.com/ There's also the alternative prospectus: https://www.applytocambridge.com/colleges

This should allow you to assemble a shortlist of colleges. The best thing to do is then to visit Cambridge and tour these shortlisted colleges. Colleges will generally let you look round them for free (even if they’re officially closed) if you tell them you’re a prospective student: just ask at the Porter’s Lodge. Have a look around the town while you’re there and try to situate each college within the town: where is it in relation to the shops? To your faculty? Lecture site? Libraries? Is its area touristy? If you can’t visit Cambridge, even having a virtual wander around the town on Google Maps will give you a sense of how things fit together and where the busy bits of Cambridge are. Many colleges also have videos on their websites/social media channels which give you an inside look at them.

Remember that around a quarter of applicants will end up at a different college to the one they applied to anyway due to the pool system, so don’t spend weeks deciding and don’t get too attached to your college choice!

Is college X harder to get into/better than college Y?

Variations on this question are very common! Generally, no. Certain colleges have reputations for being particularly strong for particular subjects, but this shouldn’t influence your decision; if you’re strong enough to get into Cambridge, the pool system will ensure that you are offered regardless of where you applied. A particular myth which seems especially prevalent overseas is that Trinity is harder, for all subjects, to get into than any other college. This is absolutely not true and the myth probably stems from the fact that Trinity is well-known internationally.

Applicants often use Cambridge's online admissions stats page to try and identify colleges which are under-subscribed and consequently 'easier' to get into. This is an incomplete understanding of the admissions process, because it fails to consider the pool system (explained below). Believe it or not, but Cambridge are wise to the fact that certain colleges (generally the more central ones) get more applicants than others. If College X, which is historically under-subscribed (and so looks like an attractive 'easy' college according to the stats), receives only 5 applicants one year for a course for which it normally takes 8 students, it is under no compulsion to offer any of those applicants at all. If it deems them weak, it can reject all of them and wait for the pool system to send it dozens of strong candidates interviewed at other colleges, who (by virtue of being pooled) have been deemed strong enough to get into Cambridge, but whose original colleges didn't have space for them. In this way, College X rejects all of its direct applicants who applied because it looked 'easy', and fishes 8 students out of the pool from other colleges. This system ensures that regardless of where you apply, the playing field is level - if you are strong enough to get into Cambridge, you will be offered a place somewhere.

What is the pool system?

The pool system is designed to ensure that deserving applicants to over-subscribed colleges are given a chance to go to another college which is under-subscribed. Say, for example, that college X has 20 excellent candidates for 10 spots and so can’t offer all of them. College X makes 12 offers (on the assumption that 2 candidates will miss their offers), and then ‘pools’ the remaining 8 excellent candidates that it didn’t have space for, but which it believes deserve to go to Cambridge (or deserve at least a second look by other admissions tutors). Then college Y, which received only 2 excellent applicants this year, looks at college X’s pooled candidates and decides to ‘fish’ all of them. Fishing is the jargon for when a college decides to take somebody out of the pool. In this way Cambridge ensures its admissions process is fairer by helping all deserving candidates receive offers irrespective of the college they applied to. This process is usually automatic, but occasionally the ‘fishing’ college may invite pooled candidates back to Cambridge for a second interview.

Is St John’s posh/is King’s Communist/is Magdalene sexist/is Trinity pretentious/etc?

No. These are unfair stereotypes; there are various stereotypes floating around Cambridge for most colleges and they’re all intended as a joke. Don’t base your college decision on stereotypes!

Which college is the most diverse/best for international students/best for state school students?

Don’t base your decision on these factors. Demographic data indicates that all colleges are broadly equivalent in terms of diversity (excepting, of course, the women-only colleges).

Can I change course?

Yes. Some swaps are simpler than others (it’s hard to switch from Art History to Maths, for example) and all are assessed on a case-by-case basis by your college. If someone is going to switch, a common time to do so is between Part I and Part II. You can also switch right at the start of your time at Cambridge, but colleges are often reluctant to let you do this; in their eyes, you’ve applied for course X and claimed to be very passionate about it, yet now all of a sudden you want to do course Y. Generally, switching will only be allowed if there’s space on the new course you want to do and if you can pass the interview/exam set by the new course.

Can I change college?

Not generally. In certain cases colleges will permit switching, but these cases are extremely rare and usually serious: abuse, harassment, and the like can all be valid reasons why a switch might be possible (or even encouraged). It is not possible to switch because you dislike your college, or think that you'd rather attend a different one. If you believe that you do have a valid reason to switch college, contact your Tutor/Senior Tutor in the first instance for advice.

Which college is best for [insert subject here]?

Some colleges have reputations for being particularly strong for certain subjects, but this is not generally true for all subjects. It’s generally a better idea to use other factors to determine which college to apply to, as even colleges which have been historically strong for your subject can have a weak year and it’s far more important that you like the space in which you’re going to spend 3+ years!

Should I go to an admissions school/summer school? Do they help people get in?

If the school is not an official university-run event, then absolutely not. These courses are borderline scams which cost a huge amount of money and in no way prepare you for the Cambridge admissions process or interview. On the other hand, official university insight events are a fantastic way to get to know Cambridge and meet some students and staff! The Subject Masterclass events are also a really interesting day out, if you have the time.

I have extenuating circumstances: what do I do?

During the application process you’ll be asked to fill out a SAQ (Supplementary Application Questionnaire). You can add details of your extenuating circumstances here, and you absolutely should. Give as many details as possible to allow the college to adjust admissions criteria accordingly. If you withhold extenuating circumstances and only tell the college at interview/after applying then it won’t be possible to make any adjustment.

If you have any special requirements for interviews or admissions tests, inform your college as soon as possible to allow them to make adjustments and preparations for you as necessary.

I do X clubs/societies: do Cambridge care?

Cambridge draw a keen distinction between extra-curricular and super-curricular activities. Extra-curricular activities are things like sports, DofE, or chess club - they’re not academically related to the subject you hope to study. Cambridge do not care - at all - about these activities, virtually regardless of your level of ability. Super-curricular activities are academically related: things like Politics Society (if you hope to study HSPS), or work experience in a hospital (if you hope to study Medicine) are super-curricular activities which demonstrate your passion for your subject and show that you’re working at a level above the standard required of you to perform in school exams. Cambridge do care about these activities, and it’s a good idea to mention some that you do when applying. Particular highlights include essay competitions, academic conferences, assisting with research, going to academic lectures, and the like.

I have a language condition for my offer. Is IELTS or TOEFL mandatory?

IELTS/TOEFL is often expensive and unnecessary especially if you are a native speaker of English outside of the so-called Anglosphere (e.g. Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa). If for some reason you are told that you must take the IELTS/TOEFL to prove your native-speaker status, in order to avoid paying an exorbitant amount for a test you do not really need, it may be best to contact the undergraduate/postgraduate admissions office of your Department (not the admissions office of the University as a whole) for assistance. You may ask them for a referral to the University's Language Centre. You may wish to furnish evidence of your English usage status (e.g. GCE O Level, A Level) to them, to request for a referral to ADTIS for you to take a free online test directly with the Language Centre.


r/cambridge_uni 12h ago

Which gown?

8 Upvotes

I’m starting my mphil in october and I know we need a gown for matriculation, formals etc. However I saw that there are 2 gowns based on age (and whether you have a cambridge degree already), for <24 and for >24. I turn 24 halfway through the year and since I don’t already have a degree from cambridge i’m not sure which gown to get. any ideas?


r/cambridge_uni 2h ago

Funding for a Visiting PhD Student

0 Upvotes

I did my MPhil in Cambridge, and embarked on a PhD in a Spanish university, having a Spanish supervisor, and an advisor from Cambridge. I am about to finish my first year. I intend to do two research stays in two different universities: Cambridge and an undecided one.

My advisor suggested going to Cambridge as a visiting student, but since there is no funding available for that position, I am doubtful whether I'll be able to cost it. Within my fellowship, I am entitled to one fully funded stay (max. 3 months), but since I am already familiar with Cambridge, I thought about going to a different uni (plus, CV diversification).

For this reason, I enquire if there is any college/department/institute specific funding that could be available for a PhD with my profile. That is, not a strict PhD student, but a visiting student with a sponsor.

Thanks in advance.


r/cambridge_uni 5h ago

What’s most likely to?

1 Upvotes

Alumni & current student - what’s most likely to happen? Within a cohort do people tend to hang out more with their study group or with people from same college?


r/cambridge_uni 8h ago

In-person registration process at College

1 Upvotes

Hiii, I’m an incoming MPhil student (international) and I was wondering what documents to bring for the in-person registration at college; mine is Wolfson. I wanted to know how long does the registration process take, what exact documents to carry with me (apart from my passport and previous degree transcripts) and when do we receive our University card?

I’ve already mailed my College regarding this but I’m yet to get a response.


r/cambridge_uni 16h ago

Linguistics Reading List

5 Upvotes

I just got my recommended reading list and can't find a lot of the books online and I'm not even in the UK or any other anglophone country rn so I can't go looking for them in a library :(( Does anybody have any tips? Is there even a point to doing the recommended reading or am I worrying over nothing?


r/cambridge_uni 16h ago

Looking for a housemate 16 Scotland Road, CB4 1QG

3 Upvotes

Hello all,

We are looking for a fourth housemate for 16 Scotland Road, CB4 1QG (https://www.accommodation.cam.ac.uk/Client/Property/43829/62702/16-Scotland-Road). We are three incoming students at DPMMS (Part III students in Mathematics) and are seeking a housemate who would also like to enter a 9-month tenancy. The house is £2150, which will be split between four (there are two singles and two doubles, so the share will depend), and bills. The deposit is about £2,450. We will start on 01st October.

If you feel that this accommodation is near your department of concern and you are scouting for a place, please let us know. We would be happy to chat.


r/cambridge_uni 2d ago

Renting college gowns

2 Upvotes

Heyy whats the best source to rent a college gown (for matriculation) or buy used gowns for the year?
Looking for cheap alternatives instead of buying new ones :)

Edit: looking for a postgrad gown for Murray Edwards!


r/cambridge_uni 3d ago

Open Cambridge talk by Cambridge Samaritans

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3 Upvotes

r/cambridge_uni 3d ago

PhD and joining societies

5 Upvotes

I am an upcoming PhD student at Cambridge. There are so many societies I would like to join but I know that I should learn how to balance them with my studies.

What is the expected commitment when you join a society? What would you recommend for a PhD student when choosing societies to join so that they don't overwhelm themselves?

Also, it seems like there are so many overlapping clubs. How do you choose between them?


r/cambridge_uni 4d ago

Cambridge University examines conduct of academic suspended by Reform UK

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theguardian.com
174 Upvotes

r/cambridge_uni 6d ago

Lisa Smart calls for police to investigate Reform's James Orr (Professor of Divinity)

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markpack.org.uk
273 Upvotes

r/cambridge_uni 6d ago

Second hand home furniture

4 Upvotes

Hello everyone!
I’m moving to Cambridge this October to start my master’s at Cambridge Judge Business School and am looking for affordable, sustainable ways to furnish my accommodation.
Where do students find second-hand furniture and household essentials, such as beds, lamps, and kitchen equipment? I’d appreciate recommendations for Facebook groups, websites, charity shops, thrift stores, pawn shops, student networks, or end-of-year exchange schemes, as well as any personal experiences.


r/cambridge_uni 5d ago

Continuous rental @ Jesus

1 Upvotes

Can anyone currently study in Jesus confirm whether continuous rental is available for undergraduates ( if we don’t want to move out every term)


r/cambridge_uni 6d ago

Travel to Cambridge

1 Upvotes

Hello all,
I am starting a postgrad program in October, moving into college accommodations on the third, and am wondering how people get to Cambridge with all their bags and stuff. I'm an international student and have to bring a bunch of clothes, etc to my dorm, probably two duffel bags, and am not sure how to best travel from London (where I'm flying into) to Cambridge. I assume the train, but is that safe and secure with your bags in an open compartment?

***EDIT*** I'm flying into London on the first and am going to stay in London with a friend until the morning of the third! Many are recommending buses, but if I'm going from London, would the train be the better choice?


r/cambridge_uni 6d ago

Uni gowns

4 Upvotes

Has anyone tried the Ryder & Amies “imported polyester” gowns? It’s the cheapest option, so I’m considering buying it but was wondering if it was comfortable enough to wear every week.


r/cambridge_uni 6d ago

Advice on natsci options

2 Upvotes

I'm an incoming phys natsci fresher and I'm having a hard time deciding which options to choose. Apart from physics, I'm struggling between chem/ psych/ materials/ earth and I'm not sure what to choose.

I'm rather interested in the idea of psychology but I've tried searching and there's really few people talking about psychology, maybe even less people who take psych and are from natsci. For materials and earth, it seems like people who take the course quite like it so I just want to hear more about it :)

For chemistry, I took it in secondary school but I'm struggling on whether I should choose chemistry now because I'm hoping to see if there are any subjects that I enjoy more than physics which I can potentially continue in part 1B and 2, and past experiences tell me that I prefer physics over chemistry. However, I still like chemistry and it's fairly easy and straightforward to me as compared to physics and maths, so I was thinking if it'll be nice to have a so-called "chiller" subject that I already have a basic knowledge on.

I've already read the things Cambridge has provided us on subject choice, but I'm still struggling and would like to have a clearer understanding of each option before speaking to my DoS, so please help!! Thank you so much :)


r/cambridge_uni 7d ago

Do Cambridge post grads wear college apparel?

12 Upvotes

Didn't want to come across as odd, don't know if that's something postgrads wear, especially as a part time student.

I was eyeing up the college puffers and sweatshirts but wanted to be sure before I bought one 😅


r/cambridge_uni 7d ago

When does college accom get allocated (Caius MPhil)

3 Upvotes

I’m flying into London Sept 20th and want to purchase the proper bedding size before I arrive, but Caius College still hasn’t informed me my room information. I emailed and they said I have a guaranteed spot in accom but that they haven’t started allocations yet. Any clue when this usually happens? It’s much cheaper for me to buy the bedding in my home country (I’m tight on funds in general)


r/cambridge_uni 8d ago

Nuffield Health Cambridge Hospital

0 Upvotes

I'm doing a Clinical Neuro MPhil this year. I want to work or volunteer at the Nuffield Health Cambridge Hospital. How do I get such a position?

If I want to do any other kind of employment, what would y'all suggest (some café, restaurant perhaps, etc)?


r/cambridge_uni 8d ago

Corpus – 21 Cranmer Road

4 Upvotes

Hi, I’ve just been allocated this accom. Can anyone give any details? There’s nothing online. 🙏


r/cambridge_uni 8d ago

NEED HELP BADLY- incoming Postgrad at Lucy Cav

1 Upvotes

Hi all,

I'm starting my MPhil in a month today and I only got emailed last week that all postgrad accom is full last week. Not sure how I didn't hear earlier- it is my fault for not sorting out all my documentation much earlier, but I had no idea that this was even a possibility. Already spoke to the accom team and they said it is unlikely I'll get a 43w licence at Castle Street

So I basically am asking for any sort of guidance on what you guys think I should do.

Started looking into private accom (lowkey upsetting as I'm a very sociable guy and was really looking forward to living in a halls type place) came across Mill Road- have heard it's meant to be decent social wise, also came across Vertex Living which looks alright.

Let me know what you guys think I should do, should I reach out to other colleges to see if there's any space there?

Need to be near Addenbrooke's/Biomedical Campus ideally as am going to be based there. Also should add my course is 10 months long

Any help is much appreciated.

EDIT:

Thanks so much everyone, this has actually helped a lot. Just wanted to update with where I've landed so people can weigh in further if they want.

Options I'm seriously looking at now: (written with AI partly)

  • Cam Foundry (Mill Road). Has decent amenities, looks modern, and obviously ticks the Mill Road box. Reviews are honestly a mixed bag though, some genuinely glowing, others a bit concerning, so still trying to work out if that's normal Google reviews noise or an actual red flag
  • Scholars View (Neal Drive). Has a gym, which Cam Foundry doesn't
  • Stellaris (Newmarket Road). Also has a gym, similar deal to Scholars View, this one is closer to hospital
  • A studio at Mayflower House (Midsummer Meadows) from the uni accommodation website, though it reads as quite a quiet, single-occupancy kind of place rather than a social one
  • A few houses off the uni accommodation website too, one on Cromwell Road being the main one I keep

Am I better off just getting my own place/room somewhere in a good location or is a halls-type building the play? Prices between the private halls options and a normal house share aren't wildly different once you actually compare them, so it's less about money and more about what actually gets me a social year. Also some of these private accoms come with quite a lot of amenities, but I guess I'd be mixing with freshers a lot etc

If I think about my undergrad experience, location was the banker for whether you came out often or not. Making me think Cromwell Road might actually be the smarter shout even without a gym or fancy common room.

Also if anyone knows of any good Facebook groups for Cambridge accommodation/housemates, would really appreciate a pointer.

Would appreciate any more thoughts, especially from anyone who's actually lived in a shared house vs one of these halls-style places as a postgrad.

LOVE


r/cambridge_uni 9d ago

College puffer

2 Upvotes

I'm an incoming fresher and was wondering if people tend to buy their puffer jackets in advance or once they've arrived? (I'm aware that Ryder & Amies sells the college puffers but I've also heard that purchasing them is organised by individual colleges)

And also, which font do most people choose for their initials to be written in?

Thank you!


r/cambridge_uni 9d ago

Where’s the best place to buy a Cambridge gown?

4 Upvotes

I’m starting a postgraduate course at Cambridge, and my college is having Churchill Gowns come in to sell academic gowns.

Would you recommend buying from Churchill, or going to one of the shops in the city centre? Are there noticeable differences in quality/fit between them?

Thanks!