[Note: This letter is written for a friend in HKU who is about to apply to Cambridge. As it must be, all views conveyed here are personal and subjective]
Dear friend,
You told me you were thinking about applying to do a master’s in Cambridge. I hope you will enjoy it. However, Cambridge is such a peculiar (positively or not) place, and I would like to tell you some of the things that I wish somebody had told me before I went to Cambridge.
Firstly, at postgraduate level, all teaching is carried out by the faculty/department. You may have heard about the famous 1-to-2 supervisions (known as tutorials in Oxford), but they are only offered to undergraduates, mainly by colleges. Teaching at master’s level is mainly lectures and classes (perhaps 1-to-30 – that what I had for MPhil Economics), and is probably not as exceptional as you might have expected.
As colleges do not teach, they serve only two purposes for you: (i) a place to have meals and socialise, and (ii) an institution that will most likely provide you accommodation. Once you get admitted by the department, the Board of Graduate Studies will refer your applications to two colleges of your choice, and must ultimately find you a college somehow. There are a few types of colleges:
1. Traditional, undergraduate colleges (Trinity, St John’s, Clare, Trinity Hall...)
These are the colleges that most tourists associate Cambridge with – pretty old buildings with 400+ year old history, with Isaac Newton or Oliver Cromwell on their list of alumni. However, they tend to be very undergraduate-focused. As they expand to take more students over past decades, they tend to put masters student (not PhD – they could serve as wardens etc after first year) in off-campus houses that they acquired. An analogy might be you are a member of Ricci Hall, and you can go to social events and its canteen whenever you want, but you actually live in a flat in Kennedy Town owned by Ricci (and you pay rent to Ricci). Very often the MCR (postgrad social room) is located in the college, and it tends to be quite quiet except on the days when the committee holds some formal event, while the JCR – the undergrad common room – tend to be crowded.
2. Postgraduate / mature colleges (St Edmund’s, Wolfson, Clare Hall…)
These are mainly new colleges founded over the 19th and 20th centuries as Cambridge was becoming a research university. They do not have undergraduates, which mean you do not have great balls after exams – but it also means you don’t see drunken people on the corridor much, and you are right in the heart of the college. Postgrads are normally placed on campus (except Hughes Hall, which do not have a campus at all), and they tend to be quite close to each other. They also tend to treat you more like an adult – their kitchen facilities tend to be better, while in undergraduate colleges they (understandably) are more concerned with fire hazard…
3. New undergraduate colleges (Churchill, Fitzwilliam, Newnham, Girton, Homerton…)
They are the new colleges founded in 19th or 20th century for various social causes – Churchill in 1960 to foster science and engineering (they are quite easy-going, and they don’t even wear gowns – being ‘modern’ became part of their tradition), Fitzwilliam to cater for poorer students who can’t afford full college life, Newnham and Girton to further womens’ education, and Homerton to train teachers. Personally, I attach more admiration to the founders of these colleges than the conservative, stubborn, and posh masters of the established colleges in 19th century; they truly opened the university to talents of both genders and from all background. They tend to be less pompous, and because they are in more spacious corners of Cambridge, they usually place postgrads on / near to their main campus.
4. My preferred options (Corpus Christi, Peterhouse, Pembroke, perhaps a few more)
These are all old colleges (founded before 1500), but don’t have the fame of Trinity. This means they’re easier to get in. Corpus has a separate campus (Leckhampton) for postgrads, complete with MCR, library, its own canteen, and the deputy master. So you have the experience of being in an old college, while you also have the amenities and bonding (far from undergrads) of a postgrad college. It’s like you get best of both worlds. Pembroke and Peterhouse also tend to place students near to their own campus.
Your college will be a big part of your life in Cambridge. Although it does not teach you, it has a big impact on what you eat and where you live. Choose your college wisely – have a look on their websites, especially where the postgrads are placed (much of the headlines will be targeting undergrads, so be careful), and think about what you want to get out of a year in Cambridge. Chat to me whenever you want to.
And, finally, have the best of luck!
Cheers,
E.
