Choosing a College

When it comes to selecting a College, you have two options:

1. choose a College yourself
2. make an ‘open’ application, and accept the allocation made by a computer program.

In both cases, your UCAS application will be sent to a College, and that College will assess it.

How to Choose a College

‘How do you choose a College?’ is one of the most frequently asked questions we receive, but as everyone’s different there’s no single answer. It depends on you, and what you’re looking for. The individual entries within this section introduce each College and give you an idea of what they’re like and have to offer. When choosing a College, we suggest that you take the following points into account:

• Course – most Colleges take students in all subjects, but there are some that don’t
• Admissions criteria – these are similar for all Colleges. However, there can be small differences in arrangements before and at interview
• Your age – four Colleges are exclusively for mature students, and their facilities are geared accordingly
• Your gender – three Colleges are exclusively for female students
• College size (number of students), location and type of buildings
• Particular facilities

Once you’ve read the College profiles, consdider making a shortlist of around half a dozen then look at their websites or contact them for further information or to request a copy of their College brochure. Staff in College admissions offices will be pleased to answer any questions you may then have. You may also wish to visit a few Colleges so you can meet current students and see for yourself what it might be like to live and study there.

Don’t agonise too long over choosing a College. They have many more similarities than differences and most students quickly settle in and really enjoy their College, wherever they end up! Each year around 700 applicants receive an offer through the pool system from a different College to the one they originally applied to. This is about 20 percent of all offers made.

How NOT to choose a College

Alongside the suggestions above, you should be aware of some misconceptions that exist about ways of choosing a College.

• Based on application statistics – many applicants think, or are advised, that choosing a College that attracts fewer applications or making an open application will increase their chance of getting an offer. In fact, careful analysis of our admissions statistics shows that, for equally well–qualified applicants, College or open application choice does not affect the chance of being offered a place. This is because we have rigorous procedures in place to compare all applicants for each subject before selection decisions are finalised. Strong applicants who’ve been squeezed out by the competition at their original College can be made an offer by another College through the pool. Colleges would rather admit a strong applicant from the pool than a weaker applicant who applied directly to them.
• Travelling time – it’s worth remembering that Cambridge is a very compact city and that all the Colleges and departments are accessible either by foot, bike or bus; so wherever you are, getting between your College and your department isn’t going to be difficult.
• Discounting single–sex Colleges – there are many misconceptions about single–sex Colleges. University teaching, such as lectures, practicals and seminars, is mixed and attended by students from all Colleges, and male friends are welcome in the women’s Colleges at all times. Women may apply to any College but the women’s Colleges are able to provide an environment focused entirely on the needs and expectations of female students.
• Age of the College – Cambridge Colleges range in age from over 700 to 30 years. No matter how old or young a College is, it’ll have its own traditions and history. It’ll provide the facilities that you’d expect to find, together with high quality supervision and support. In other words, the age of the College will not affect the quality of your student experience.
• Specialism of College Fellows – contrary to what some people believe, the research specialisms of a Colleges Fellows won’t dictate what you can study. If a Fellow of your College is an expert in the aspects of the course you’ve chosen, you may be supervised by them. However, if you want to study a different area, arrangements will be made for you to be supervised by an expert in that area at another College. Teaching is a level playing field across the University and is not determined by the College you attend.

Making an open application

If having looked at the different Colleges, you don’t mind which College you attend, you could make an open application rather than trying to choose. After the closing date (15 October), a computer program randomly allocates each open application to a College. Applicants from the UK/EU are allocated to Colleges which happen in that year to have had fewer applications per place in the subject than the Colleges generally. Applicants from outside the EU are evenly distributed across Colleges in each subject. Once allocated to a College, your application will be treated exactly the same as any other application to that College and for equally well–qualified applicants, make an open application or applying directly to a College makes no difference to your chances of being made an offer.

If you decide to make an open application, you should select ‘9’ as the campus code on your UCAS application.

If you’re an applicant with unusual qualifications (eg a non–standard choice of A Levels for your subject), a mobility and/or sensory impairment, or if in some other way you need special advice, then it’s advisable to approach an individual College at an early stage, rather than make an open application.

Before you submit an open application, be sure that you’ll be quite happy whatever the outcome of the allocation: we can’t change it once it’s done.

Further information about where your College or open application choice fits into the application process can be found in the applying section.