Introduction to the town and University
Location
- East Anglia (East of England)
- 1 hour by train / 2.5 hours by coach from London
- Easily accessible upon arrival – direct coaches from London Heathrow and London Stansted airports
Description
- A student town
- Rather small and quaint, but has all the amenities and entertainment needed. Everyone gets around by walking, cycling or taking the bus.
Collegiate university
- The University is made up of central administration; faculties and departments; and independent, self-governing Colleges.
- Colleges: decide on admissions, provide student accommodation, look after student welfare, manage finance and provide supervisions.
- There are 31 colleges at present – most are for students of mixed sexes; others are women-only; some are for mature students only.
- Faculties and departments: provide lectures, conduct examinations, provide faculty or departmental libraries, etc.
Work 
- Lectures: hours per week are course-specific. Some have a few hours of lectures a day; some have one or two lecture-free days in a week; some have lectures even on Saturdays.
- Supervisions: usually in a small group, between 1:1 (students to supervisor) and 4:1. Conducted differently for each course and supervisor. Some may involve discussions of assignments completed; others may involve general discussions on assigned reading.
- Self-study: most hours are dedicated to completing assignments or reading on your own. There is much freedom in deciding how to allocate your time. Colleges have on-site libraries, often open for 24 hours. Rooms are properly fitted with study desks and colleges often provide special rooms for studying.
Play
- Extra-curricular activities: endless choices! Cultural, sports, drama and theatre, music, literature, language, subjects, editorial, hobbies, religious, political, community, charity, secret societies and yes – drinking societies.
- Entertainment: widely available, even though the town is small. Cinemas, theatres, bowling alley, pubs and clubs (with plenty of discounted student nights!), bops (a Cambridge term for a disco night held in college), shopping malls, restaurants and cafes, parks and our Cambridge specialty – punting!
- People: you will meet many intellectual people, who are generally nice, helpful and lots of fun to be around. Outside the University, people around town are largely polite and lovely – the benefit of not being a big city is a more relaxed way of life among those living in Cambridge.
- Friends: easy to come by – first year undergraduates are required to stay in their Colleges (barring special circumstances) so you will have ample opportunity to hang out with peers. The people you will meet are varied, so there is r eally no pressure to “fit in” as everyone is generally tolerant and enjoy many different things.