[HDNG]INTRODUCTION:[EHDNG][PARA]If it weren't for the University, Cambridge would have remained [PARA]pretty much as the Romans left it: a fairly insignificant village, [PARA]surrounded by flat fenlands, where East Anglia starts to bulge [PARA]from the rest of England. It wouldn't, in recent years, have [PARA]burgeoned a throbbing industry of scientific and computer [PARA]research around the town. It would just have been blown by cold [PARA]winds from Siberia in winter and the river Cam would have [PARA]flowed through gently, uncluttered by tourist's punts in summer. [ITAL][PARA]Fortunately, [EITAL]it didn't happen like that. About a century after the [PARA]trend started in Oxford, higher education sprouted in Cambridge [PARA]and now, more than 700 years later, these are the most famous, [PARA]most highly revered and [ITAL]possibly the most extraordinary[EITAL] [PARA]universities in the world. The University remains (much more [PARA]than at Oxford) the focal point of the city, which[ITAL] is very pretty, [PARA]with lots of attractive buildings[EITAL] in light golden stone. The [PARA]University buildings are its colleges - 31 in all (depending what you[PARA]count as a college) - [ITAL]and they are as attractive examples of [PARA]English architecture spanning 8 centuries as are likely to be [PARA]found anywhere[EITAL]. The area they cover is [ITAL]remarkably compact [PARA]and has an utterly surreal feel about it, aided and abetted by the [PARA]suffused quality of light and the names of the areas: the Backs, [PARA]Commons, Pieces. These words occupy this separate world [PARA]inhabited by the elite - a controversial word to which the University[PARA]objects. They are elite not necessarily because of their [PARA]astonishing intellect, social background and astounding talent in [PARA]sport, music, drama or whatever, (although often it is also one or [PARA]more of these), but elite by the mere fact that they are students [PARA]here. More or less, the centre point of Cambridge (for the [PARA]purpose of distances to the colleges in [EITAL][PUSH]push[EPUSH][ITAL] entries, at any rate) [PARA]is the breath-takingly beautiful King's Parade with a view of King's[PARA]and Gonville and Caius.[EITAL][HDNG]ATMOSPHERE:[EHDNG][PARA][ITAL]Okay, so Cambridge and Oxford are more similar than orange [PARA]trolleys and fried eggs. If you want someone to say they're [PARA]completely different, go look in their prospectuses. [EITAL][PUSH]push[EPUSH][ITAL], [PARA]however, is quite happy to concede that, whilst they have their [PARA]similarities, (1) it is not sufficient to dismiss them both as [PARA]'Oxbridge', (2) they are unlike each other in as many respects as [PARA]they are alike, and (3) Kurt is Dead. Like Oxford, most of the [PARA]students' social concerns and the intense academic life revolve [PARA]around the colleges which run themselves and arrange their own [PARA]admissions. However, unlike Oxford, there are plenty of [PARA]opportunities to switch courses and an even stronger sense that [PARA]this is a student city.[EITAL][PARA][ITAL] 3 years at Cambridge is one of the most intense educational [PARA]experiences you can hope to have with your clothes on. There is [PARA]virtually no escape. It can be challenging, it can be claustrophobic[PARA]and it can be compared to watching Neighbours twice daily for a [PARA]fortnight. The city (the beauty of which cannot be praised too [PARA]much) is overwhelmed by the University. It offers little by way of [PARA]diversion that is not connected somehow and it's rare for [PARA]students to walk through the streets without meeting faces they [PARA]know at every other step (unless of course they're sad cases [PARA]with no friends, and sad cases don't read [EITAL][PUSH]push[EPUSH][ITAL], do they?). [EITAL][PARA][ITAL] Students have no spare time, not because they're working [PARA](although, in Cambridge, the words 'doss' and 'course' rarely go [PARA]together), but because their leisure time is spent buzzing away in [PARA]some hive of activity: sport; drama; journalism; music; politics; [PARA]archaic drinking clubs; whatever. Cambridge students do a lot of [PARA]whatever. They need to have good time management skills or [PARA]learn them pretty quick. But anxieties about applying should be [PARA]waylaid. Apart from the occasional accusations of allegedly [PARA]lubricated application procedures for top sports people and minor [PARA]royals, many students only discover their talents once they've [PARA]reached Cambridge. It is an excellent environment for [PARA]self-development and the students that come here are not always[PARA]that special. [EITAL][PARA][ITAL] Life in the colleges is even more cosseted, closeted and [PARA]all-consuming: ranging in size from Lucy Cavendish with 53 [PARA]undergrads, to Trinity College with nearly 700. Most colleges [PARA]have around 400 undergraduates (slightly larger than Oxford on [PARA]average) and many students experience a little shock when they [PARA]enter the big bad real world. The colleges themselves vary [PARA]enormously and it's a foolhardy fool who uses the pinprick [PARA]method of picking. Remember, Tom Sharp's 'Porterhouse Blue' [PARA](where students ate swans, banged the table ceremoniously and [PARA]performed the strangest rituals for no apparent reason) was [PARA]allegedly based on Peterhouse and/or Pembroke (the story [PARA]changes), but some of the colleges are quite modern and even [PARA]progressive, and the public school stereotype is fading (slowly). [PARA]The following [EITAL][PUSH]push[EPUSH][ITAL] entries expose the naked truth and the [PARA]clothed falsehoods about each of the undergraduate colleges. [EITAL][PUSH][PARA]push[EPUSH][ITAL] doesn't cover Hughes Hall, St Edmund's or Wolfson, which[PARA]are postgrad colleges. We suggest you write to the above [PARA]address or the colleges themselves if this upsets you (NB letters [PARA]of complaint to [EITAL][PUSH]push[EPUSH][ITAL] will be duly noted and ignored).[EITAL][HDNG]THE CITY:[EHDNG][PARA][STAT][BULL] Population: 100,000 [BULL] London: 58miles [BULL] Oxford: 77miles [PARA]Norwich: 57miles[ESTAT][PARA][ITAL]People in Cambridge seem to be either students or tourists. The [PARA]permanent residents just get lost in the throng and, although there[PARA]are all the basic ingredients you'd expect in a relatively [PARA]prosperous city of Cambridge's size. Superficially, at least, most[PARA]of the shops are trying to appeal to a passing trade: [EITAL]quaint shops [PARA]and tea rooms, pubs with horse brasses, that sort of thing. [ITAL]The [PARA]river Cam couldn't have been better designed if it had been put [PARA]there especially for tourism. It's littered with ducks and drunken [PARA]punters at almost every turn.[EITAL] On a more sober note, the local [PARA]amenities including the Grafton Shopping Centre, big book shops [PARA](1st and 2nd hand), a street market, the Kettles Yard Art Gallery [PARA]and a mass of museums: the Fitzwilliam, Zoology, and [PARA]Archaeology Museums; Museum of Technology; Folk Museum [PARA]and so on. There is, however, a shortage of supermarkets (1 [PARA]small and busy Sainsbury's) and convenience shops in the city [PARA]centre. Some colleges and departments, quite apart from being [PARA]tourist attractions in themselves, have [ITAL]impressive [EITAL]collections of [PARA]art or artefacts.[HDNG]TRAVEL:[EHDNG][PARA][BOLD]Trains:[EBOLD] Some mainline connections - Cambridge Station to [PARA]London King's Cross and Liverpool Street (57mins, 2/hr), Bristol, [PARA]Edinburgh and Birmingham.[PARA][BOLD]Coaches:[EBOLD] Plenty of [ITAL]competitive [EITAL]services, for example, Greenline, [PARA]Premier Travel and National Express who offer services to [PARA]London (ú6.50, 1:50hrs, 1/hr), Manchester (ú6.50, 6:20hrs, 2/day), [PARA]Oxford (ú10.25, 3hrs, 4/day), Bristol (ú19, 4:50hrs, 1/hr) and [PARA]elsewhere .[PARA][BOLD]Car: [EBOLD]Just a few minutes off the M11 from London. Also A45, A10 [PARA]and A604.[PARA][BOLD]Air: [EBOLD]There's Cambridge Airport, but unless you own your own jet,[PARA]you'd better think more in terms of Stansted, 23 miles down the [PARA]M11 and on a direct train link, with domestic and European flights [PARA]and flights to the Channel Islands.[PARA][BOLD]Hitching: [EBOLD][ITAL]Variable; aim towards M11 junctions, or [PARA]A10/Trumpington Road for London.[EITAL][PARA][BOLD]Local: [EBOLD]The local buses, [ITAL]which are regular as prunes[EITAL], go round the[PARA]surrounding villages, the station and the outer colleges. [PARA]Cambridge is too small to need much more and only has one BR [PARA]station .[PARA][BOLD]Taxis:[EBOLD] [ITAL]They work out quite cheap (mainly because it doesn't take [PARA]too long to get anywhere). Some colleges have free taxi [PARA]arrangements at night. See separate entries.[EITAL][PARA][BOLD]Bicycles:[ITAL] [EBOLD]A bicycle is an essential part of the stereotype. Apart [PARA]from looks, it's almost essential to be able to cycle around town [PARA]and especially to remote departments or colleges if the need [PARA]arises. Everything has been provided for cyclists: lanes, sheds, [PARA]thieves, vandals... An Amsterdam-style free bicycle scheme [PARA]was a short-lived boom period for second-hand bike salesmen.[EITAL][HDNG]FACULTIES and STUDENT NOS:[EHDNG][PARA][BOLD]Social Sciences[EBOLD] 1,500[BOLD][PARA]Arts[EBOLD] 3,200[BOLD][PARA]Science[EBOLD] 4,500[BOLD][HDNG]LIBRARIES and COMPUTERS:[EHDNG][EBOLD][PARA][BOLD][STAT][BULL] Books: 7million [BULL] Periodicals: 2,200 [BULL] Study places: 6,000[PARA][BULL] Computer workstations: c2,500[ESTAT][EBOLD][PARA]The University Library is one of 5 copyright libraries in the country[PARA]and as such has the right to claim a copy of every new book [PARA]published in the UK. Every year, the number of new additions, if [PARA]laid end to end, would extend the collection by a mile. As if that [PARA]weren't enough, every college has its own library and there are [PARA]more than 30 libraries devoted to individual subjects. [ITAL]Quite a few [PARA]books, then.[EITAL] The general level of computer facilities is [ITAL]good [EITAL]but [PARA]varies between colleges. Centrally, there is a mainframe to [PARA]which almost every computer in the University is linked and [PARA]which has over 10,000 registered users.[HDNG]CAREER PROSPECTS:[EHDNG][PARA][STAT][BULL] Careers Service [BULL] No of staff: 18full/12part [BULL] [PARA]Unemployed after 6mths (1992): 7%[ESTAT][PARA][ITAL]It is rumoured that certain professions regard those without an [PARA]Oxbridge degree as unsuitable, and, since it would be quite [PARA]wrong for [EITAL][PUSH]push[EPUSH][ITAL] to point the finger, we won't mention the civil [PARA]service, the Bar, the Beeb or others. Suffice it to say that a [PARA]Cambridge education rarely does harm on a job application and, [PARA]supposedly, employers find Cambridge students more down to [PARA]earth than those from Oxford (who must surely then be utter [PARA]space cadets).[EITAL] Cambridge also has a[ITAL] hyper-enthusiastic[EITAL] careers[PARA]service, which carries on helping students even after they've left, [PARA]such is the determination to keep the number of unemployed [PARA]graduates down. (The figure above includes a number of [PARA]unknowns.) Although (allegedly) Cambridge was the spawning [PARA]ground for most of the spies on every side of the Iron Curtain [PARA]during the Cold War, strangely, vacancies for budding Bonds and[PARA]Burgesses are not advertised on the careers vacancies board. [PARA]More than 1/3 of Cambridge graduates (35%) go on to further [PARA]study - more than any other University.[HDNG]SPECIAL FEATURES:[EHDNG][PARA][BULL]Cambridge runs STEP (Sixth Term Examination Paper), [PARA]after A-levels; see the prospectus for details, or contact STEP [PARA]Office, Purbeck House, Purbeck road, Cambridge CB2 2PU. Tel:[PARA](0223) 411211.[PARA][BULL]Cambridge has 8 week terms, but this doesn't mean any lazy [PARA]days - exams and work pressure manage to ruin all hopes of [PARA]long vacations with nothing to do.[PARA][BULL]All undergraduate degree courses (except a BEd for [PARA]education and 4 year MEng in Engineering) lead to a BA, and, 3 [PARA]years after graduation, an MA can be bought (yup, bought) [PARA]without any further work.[PARA][BULL]Undergrads have to 'keep term' which means that they may [PARA]not live more than 3 miles from the city centre and they must get [PARA]permission before going away during term time.[HDNG]FAMOUS ALUMNI:[EHDNG][PARA]See individual colleges. [ITAL]Cambridge seems particularly strong on [PARA]Tory MPs and comedians[EITAL] [ITAL]- little bit of politics there....[EITAL][ITAL][HDNG]FURTHER INFO:[EHDNG][EITAL][PARA]Prospectuses for undergrads, postgrads from the Cambridge [PARA]Intercollegiate Applications Office ([ITAL]aka CIAO... mio babbino [PARA]caro...)[EITAL] and the individual colleges. CUSU also produces an [PARA]alternative prospectus, available at ú3.50.
