01. Choosing Universities (& all about Cambridge Colleges!)
Before you apply to an architecture degree, you have to know what you’re applying for. In the U.K., that involves selecting five universities to apply to through UCAS. For the University of Cambridge, you’ll also have to apply to a specific college.
In this post, we’ll give some advice on selecting those courses, before breaking down what the Cambridge collegiate system is, and how to choose a college that’s right for you.
UCAS: five choices.
There’s many other resources out there on choosing universities, and we’re not here to toot our own horn too much — it’s generally sage advice to have a range of admissions requirements in your five choices, so that if one offer falls through, you have plenty others to still be excited about.
We hope this guide will be useful whether you’re applying to Cambridge or not, but if you are… we can help in demystifying the Cambridge collegiate system, and some tips for choosing a college. That’s what we cover in the rest of this post.
What is the Cambridge collegiate system?
The University of Cambridge is a ‘collegiate’ university, made up of many smaller academic communities.
There are 29 undergraduate colleges, which provide accommodation for their students and bring together teaching staff and students from all the University’s departments. Each colleges has its own library and canteen (known variously as butteries, eateries, serveries, and more), and is where the vast majority of students will live in their time at Cambridge.
Teaching, meanwhile, happens in the Architecture Department, where you’ll spend most of your time (in architecture, the balance of time spent in college versus in department is higher than in most courses, as our degrees involve so much time spent in studio).
Counterintuitively, though, it’s the college that you make your application to, not the University! While the Department is the body that eventually awards you your degree. Confused yet? Honestly, so are we sometimes, and this University of Cambridge web page will probably do a better job than we ever could.
What matters, though, is that colleges are a significant part of student life in Cambridge, and as an applicant you get to decide where you would like to be. So how do you make that choice?
Choosing a College
You won’t have the chance to visit all the colleges before applying to Cambridge, and the whole system is quite alien to most people entering the University, so it can be difficult to navigate. Below, we’ve put together a list comprising some of the biggest factors that make up how people choose between colleges, which will hopefully make clearer what is important to you in this decision.
If it all feels a little overwhelming, you always have the option to enter with an open application. In an open application, your UCAS submission will be assigned to a random college for the rest of your application process. Once allocated, it’s treated just the same as any other application and gives you no disadvantage. If you have particular mobility and/or sensory impairments, or any other conditions or considerations that require particular support, however, it’s highly advisable to apply to a specific college and communicate your requirements with them early on.
Okay, so what’s important in this choice?:
Differences in Application Process:
Some colleges have slightly different application processes than others (they just love to make it difficult). In 2022, Trinity is the only college running its interviews in-person. In architecture, the biggest things to consider are that some colleges require Maths or Physics A-Levels (or equivalent), while most do not. Some colleges also have slightly higher entrance grade requirements — A*A*A rather than A*AA.
Directors of Studies:
Directors of Studies (DoS) are another only-at-Cambridge thing. They’re affiliated with your college and offer academic advice and support, meeting with you a couple of times a term. In architecture, some Directors of Studies are practicing, professional architects, while others are more in the academic research side of the department.
You spend lots of time with your DoS, and having shared interests can make for rich, valuable relationships. Have a look into the research areas or projects that the Directors of Studies for architecture at different colleges have worked on.
Subject Intake:
The ‘pool’ system (more on this at the bottom*) means that whether you apply to colleges with high admissions rates or low ones is unlikely to affect your chances of eventually receiving an offer. What does matter is the number of architecture students in a year at each college. Some take around 4–6 architecture students per year, while some take only 1–2. It can be nice to live with other architects, but you might have had enough of them after a 12 hour day in the studio… You can find out these admission stats here.
Location:
This map shows the location of all the Cambridge colleges. You’ll notice a few clumps, and a couple of outliers. The central colleges arrange themselves around the city centre. Students here rarely have to walk more than ten minutes for a lecture. These are also typically the oldest and wealthiest colleges. The colleges closes to the Architecture Department is Peterhouse, closely followed by Pembroke and Downing. To the West, there are some more modern colleges near the University’s Sidgwick Site. These are still only a short walk over the river to the centre of town. In the North, you find the ‘Hill Colleges’ — walking from Churchill to the architecture department takes a little over half an hour, but there’s also a handy bus for a pound.
The two outliers are Girton and Homerton, in the North and South of the city, respectively. Expect to spend 10–20 minutes cycling to and from the Department if you live here, but don’t be too quick to entirely write off these colleges…
Amenities, Aesthetics, Special Extras:
For one thing, Girton has a swimming pool (as does Christ’s, and Emmanuel), and Homerton has a beautiful new hall by the architects Feilden Fowles (and a tight student community.)
Some colleges have great art rooms, which can make fun alternatives to studio if you want a change of scene, or, er… have a deadline the next day and it’s past 10p.m… There are also music practice studios in many colleges.
There’s a big debate over college bars. Some, like Clare’s Cellars in the crypt under their chapel, are run by students and have near-legendary status; others, are friendlier to laptops than pool tables…
There’s also just some extra-special things, too: King’s iconic Gothic chapel, Trinity’s Wren Library; those with more modern tastes might be smitten with Churchill’s extreme brutalism.
The good news with all these points, is that you’d likely visit all the Cambridge colleges at some point in your time here, and not being a student of one rarely stops you from getting to experience its quirks.
Culture:
Choosing a college is a chance to choose somewhere you fit in within the often confusing, sometimes otherworldly, land of the University. Some colleges have far higher numbers of students from state-school backgrounds than others; some have active communities in certain religions, touring choirs. Have a look at the student communities at each college to check if there are any that really interest you.
Money:
Okay, we left this big part for last. Being a student at Cambridge already comes with financial benefits in terms of travel, books, and much more. That said, some college can offer important additional support, which can make a massive difference for many students. Here’s some things to look out for:
— Supplementary Bursaries: some colleges will top up the Cambridge Bursary given by the University on a sliding scale to all students from households earning less than £62,215 per year. These additional college bursaries can be quite significant!
— Travel Grants: architecture students make use of these all the time. Colleges will often give money to students travelling for dissertation research, site visits, or simply to go see some interesting buildings — some colleges are much more generous than others!
— Rent: typically, older, more established colleges have cheaper accommodation costs for better rooms on more central sites than younger ones. All colleges include utility bills in their rent fees, which are typically priced per week of residence.
— Help Buying Laptops/Equipment: the Architecture Department now offers all materials free of charge, and claims that a laptop isn’t necessary to completing your degree. That said, you would likely struggle without one, especially for out-of-term coursework. Colleges can sometimes offer support here!
— Awards and Prizes: most colleges offer prizes of a few hundred pounds or more for high academic achievement — some more than others!
— Food costs: the prices at different college eateries/butteries/serveries (the list of names for these goes on — they’re canteens.) vary wildly. If you expect you might eat there lots, it could be worth comparing costs.
If you’ve gotten to the end of that list… we know it can feel overwhelming, and we’ve probably not even covered everything. It’s important to remember that most students end up loving their colleges anywhere, and wouldn’t ever want to change.
Some student testimonials on choosing their college:
“I chose to apply to Emmanuel to study architecture as it has a reputation for being the friendly college, has a pool and a free laundry service! I also loved that my college was central to Cambridge yet tranquil and peaceful within”
— Sophie Shaw, 2nd Year Student
“In all honesty I didn’t really know how to go about choosing a college. I ended up choosing Jesus College due to location, accommodation (it’s really nice and conveniently all central), and I also spent some time looking into the DoS’s at each college!”
— Isabella Cederstrøm Palliotto, ARCSOC President, and 3rd Year Student.
Next Steps:
Now we’ve covered Colleges, it’s time to move onto writing a personal statement! That’s covered in the next post!
