University of Cambridge

Location

The University of Cambridge nicely places itself in the centre of the city of Cambridge (known as the University city) with their student population living in 20% of the city. Several departments divide the university into several parts, some of the main parts being: Addenbrooke’s, Downing Site, Madingley, New Museum Site, Old Addenbrooke's, Old Schools, West Cambridge, Sedgwick Site and Silver Street. The proximity of each of these sites from each other makes it a favourite choice for bike rides. In fact, 1/5th of the travel in the city happens on bicycles. And anyway, students are not allowed to hold car parking permits, so no option of driving a car. One can reach to Cambridge by boat too. Cambridge is just a 45-minutes train ride away from London.

Campus

Spread across 90.5 acres, Cambridge University is known for displaying the world's oldest patterns of brickwork such as that of Queen's College and St. John's College. It has beautiful patches of greens and eye-pleasing gothic architecture. Some of the buildings that speak of architectural brilliance are ‘King's College Chapel' (History), ‘Cripps Building' at St. John's College. Cambridge University. The campus infrastructure has been an enigma that has been a constant source of imagination for literature and often filmed in movies.

Residing Options

Unlike most colleges that ask graduate students to live off campus, Cambridge insists that students live on campus. If you live off-campus, rent for a private 1-bed that is relatively close to the city centre or in the residential parts of Cambridge will be about £700-£800, 2-beds range up to about £1200. A minimum of £30K per annum is enough to live off but not live it large. Comberton and Cambourne are the cheapest localities in Cambridge.

Faculty

The faculty to student ratio is 11:1 and the pedagogy at Cambridge is admired for reasons more than one. Each college is a self-governing institution which makes its own recruitments and academic decisions. Undergraduate students are assigned supervisors who review their assignments before submissions and those who constantly stay in touch with the students under a process called Triposes, a process that is exclusive to only Cambridge. Students say that at Cambridge, there are no “office hours” for the professors unlike the American schools like MIT. Professors are easily accessible at a mutually convenient time. Cambridge has a ton of rules about attendance and one must follow them. You will be treated like an adult capable of independent study. Some of the popular professors at Cambridge are Ryan Schill (Business), Hallvard Lillehammer (Philosophy), Simon Cohen (Psychology), Frank King (Computer Science), Wilson Lee (Law) and Philip Xiu (Medicine).