I drive so I am bringing my small clio.
I am also married but no children hence my question about the accomocdation requirements. I know that the have couples accomodation but it seems expensive and was conserinding squting with my hubby for two months in halls until we find cheaper private acco

Hi simuzosha,
I'm a member of selwyn. Its a pretty nice colleg but to be honest I don't go into college that much. I own my own house and we live alomost 10 miles out of cambridge.
Be careful putting both st johns and clare. They are both pretty popular. I think to be honest all colleges are pretty good. What ever college you get put in you will enjoy it.
Most college have couple accomdation and there are other places that you can rent form. The uni has a housing place which can help you. As a couple you will probably pay around £600-£700 a month for college accomadation (for both of you) although if you rent privately will be more. ALso there are bills. I think £1200 should be fine although it does depend how much your partner earns.
Hope that helps!!

It is VERY VERY difficult to use a car in Cambride. Is your dept out of town (I know a lot of the science labs are)? It will be great if that's the case - but in Cambrige itself driving and parking is a nightmare. I cycle in - there's nowhere for me to park a car. Buses are pretty unreliable too I'm afraid.

No idea about managing the money. My grant is about the same but mostly goes on nursery fees - so if hubby wasn't working I couldn't manage at all.

Hey, a few points:

1. Congratulations!

2. The whole accepting then cancelling at a later date (I know the conversation is past this now) is a bit dodgy because you might still be working in the same area, and its probably not a great idea to annoy a future post-doc partner or collaborator, or just someone you might meet at a conference! I'm sure they'd understand.

3. The Graduate Union website goes into the whole College thing in detail, and they produce an alternative prospectus for Colleges: www.gradunion.cam.ac.uk/forum

4. Officially, as a student you're supposed to register your car with the University (you're not allowed one at all as an undergraduate except for medical reasons) but I think in practice you can get away with it: www.cam.ac.uk/cambuniv/studenthandbook/studentlife/vehicles/motors.html

5. Have fun!

Well - I had no idea I should register the car. You learn alsorts around here.

You cant go wrong with St Johns. It's Rich, famous, has beautiful buildings and supposidly has one of the best Balls in June ( although tickets are expensive). They also have their own punts which can be taken out onto the river.

St Clair is quite a pretty college. It is right in the centre of town as well. I dont know if they offer accommodation to all grads for three years though. The bar is quite nice as well. It is kind of like an old wine cellar.

I have been to darwin. not a bad little college. built around Darwins house I believe ( My advsior was Darwins great grandaughter )

As smilodon said, get yourself a bike and a very good lock. I had two bikes stolen in Cambridge.

I have been accepted to Oxford for a masters and I applied to two big colleges: Magdelen and Trinity which means there is a good chance I will not get into either as most people apply for the well known and famous colleges.

Hey Darwin has punts too you know

And it wasn't Darwin's actual house - it was his granddaughter's.

Good luck rjb - I also abandoned my first PhD after the first year review ** shudder**. Ghastly experience. Then I did an MPhil and now PhD again.

Hey :)

Well done for choosing the lovely city I live and work in. You'll love it! The car indeed is not the best option in Cambridge, especially if you are to live or study in the centre (traffic-wise it is hell, and they are thinking of making car drivers pay to get into the centre at rush hours...). A bike with a VERY VERY good lock is the best, I agree.

Indeed, as a student you are normally not allowed to bring your car over, unless you get permission from the City Council. If you're sharing it, could you declare the car as your partner's? If not a student too, that would do it I reckon.

Oh, and for private accommodation, you might want to check Gumtree or http://www.brettward.co.uk/canb/

If you're willing to live in a flat/studio flat, expect it to be a minimum of 550/600£ a month. It can double, pretty much, depending on the areas.

For a room in a houseshare for a couple, count at least 400/450£ a month - although it is not quite worth it for a couple I guess.

I thought it was the rsearch reputation of your department that counted, I didn't realise that the big choices happened over punts

Alas my punting days are over. More likely to catch me in Tescos with a raving toddler in the trolley.

I cant tell you how surprised I am about the whole car issue. What town are you not allowed to bring your own car.
well, is there parking spaces at the st jones residences (I hope I will get this one)becasue thats all I care about. My dept is the Babraham Institute so I definately need a car.
Will I be allowed to park my car at the college where I live.

omega_monkey

I meant to ask you if you can get a mortgage on witha partner and declare your studentship as proof of income

Simuzosha, we managed to get a mortgage based on my wifes salary and my PhD stipend - although not all banks will take it into account (Abbey wouldn't)

we went through an independant financial advisor and got the mortgage through the Halifax/ Bank of Scotland