Selwyn Alternative Prospectus

Contents
Welcome to Selwyn!
3
Societies
18
Why we love Selwyn
4
Living in Cambridge
24
College life
6
Academic life
26
Accommodation
7
Subject profiles
27
Facilities
8
Finances
54
JCR
11
Useful links
55

Welcome to Selwyn!
Hello!
We’re Chloe and Joe and we’ve
just completed our third year at
Selwyn College.
Working alongside many other
current students here at Selwyn
we’ve made this Alternative
Prospectus so that prospective
students – like you – can get a
better idea of what life at
Selwyn is like!
We hope to give you a diverse
and honest range of
perspectives so that you can
make an informed decision
about whether our college is
right for you.
All contributions are written by
current undergraduates here at
Selwyn and are up to date for
2020.
With 29 undergraduate colleges to
choose from in Cambridge, it is by
no means an easy decision but
hopefully this is just a small
insight into why we’ve found
Selwyn the perfect place for us –
and why it might be for you too!
If you can’t make up your mind, (wherever possible) we always
recommend a visit to see Selwyn (and the other colleges) for yourself!
Just contact: admissions@sel.cam.ac.uk to find out more, or if you have
questions for the students, please send them to jcraccess@sel.cam.ac.uk
3

10 reasons we love Selwyn!
1. Friendly (students and staff) and inclusive atmosphere, there’s always
someone around to have a chat with in times of need or just boredom.
2. Diverse community: an approximate 1:1 male to female ratio and
around 75% (rising annually) of students are state-educated. Around one fifth
of the students are from outside of the UK, and representing more than ten
different countries, from both within and outside the EU.
3. Accommodation is provided on site for all three years, so you’ll always
be close to the facilities you need. All freshers live together too so you get
to know each other quickly!
4. Founded in 1882, we’re old enough to have traditional and impressive
architecture (and a hall like Hogwarts) but we can still provide a choice of
more modern rooms with en-suites too.
4

5. Beautiful gardens where you
can walk, eat and study on the
grass, and enjoy the occasional
free garden party there! If you’re
lucky, you might even see
Selwyn’s Master walking his two
‘very large cats’!
6. A perfect location for everyone- we’re next door to the University
Library and Sidgwick site (home to most of the arts and humanities
faculties) and midway between the West and Central Cambridge sites.
7. Our newly refurbished bar/café
is a great space! We’re also
renovating many of the student
rooms and our new library should
be finished by 2021!
8. Many flourishing societies including sports, music, drama and our
own feminist society - all of which host regular events and are almost
all free to join.
9. Off the tourist track, so we have the place to ourselves!
10. Great support systems: each student is allocated a tutor, whilst a
Chaplain, College Nurse, and many trained student welfare
representatives are available to all. 5

College life
There are a total of 29 different undergraduate
colleges in Cambridge, but no matter which one you
choose to apply to your course and quality of
teaching will be the same. A college is your homefrom-home
for the duration of your life at university.
It is where you will be eating and sleeping, as well as
meeting lots of friends studying things other than
your own subject. Old or new, large or small, it’s an
entirely personal choice.
6
The next section is designed to tell you all you need to
know about what will be available to you at Selwyn.

Accommodation
All freshers in Selwyn live together in
Cripps Court (top right) so you get to know
each other very fast! Everyone has an
en-suite and shares a kitchenette between
4-8 people. Each floor is mixed gender and
people studying a range of subjects.
After first year, students choose their
accommodation by a random ballot (you
may enter with a group of friends); the
ballot order is then reversed in the third
year. Room prices, including utilities, vary
between £110-£180 a week, as there are a
variety of sizes to choose from, some of
which are en-suite, and you only pay for
the time you’re in residence (30 weeks per
year, with an average annual fee of £4,350).
Old Court (middle right and bottom left) is
the oldest part of Selwyn, and many of the
rooms here have recently been refurbished.
These rooms have great character with old
windows and some rooms will have a
separate bedroom. As they mostly have
shared bathrooms, they are relatively cheap
in cost.
Ann's Court (bottom right)
is the newest of the
buildings and has the
more expensive rooms as
they are all en-suite. These
rooms are generally larger,
with a kitchenette shared
between up to six people.
7

Facilities
Servery and Hall
If you don’t like cooking for yourself, there’s no need to worry because
breakfast, lunch and dinner is available to buy from the servery and eat in
Selwyn’s hall (or you can get a take-out). Vegetarians are always catered
for and there is usually a vegan option – but the catering staff are always
happy to help whatever your dietary requirements. A main meal would
typically cost £3-5 depending on how many sides you want. Brunch is
also an especially popular social occasion at the weekend.
At Selwyn, you pay for food on your student card and you are then billed
at the end of a term. Formal dinners (including a Christmas dinner at the
end of the Autumn term) are also held in Hall. These are an entirely
optional Cambridge tradition and involve dressing up, wearing a gown
and attending a three-course sit-down meal.
Porters Lodge
8
Every College will have one of these. The Porters’ Lodge is the College’s
reception in which our friendly Porters are available 24/7, in person, or by
phone, here they handle the post, patrol the grounds and deal with any
problems that may arise - they are all first-aid and fire-safety trained and are
on hand to help no matter the nature of your problem.

Library
All College’s will have their own library which stocks the core textbooks for
each course and usually has enough copies for everyone. You can borrow
these books even outside of term-time and so it is rare you ever need to buy
your own. Selwyn’s library is open from 7 am - 2 am daily during term
time. There are a variety of work spaces including a silent area and access
to computers and a printer. Selwyn is also just a five-minute walk from the
University Library and many subject libraries on the Sidgwick site – most
of which are available for anyone to use regardless of subject. By 2021
Selwyn will have a new, much larger library (artist’s impression pictured).
Gardens
The Gardens feature plants and flowers found in the Pacific Rim as George
Augustus Selwyn - who our College was named after - was the first
Anglican Bishop of New Zealand and a keen botanist. The gardens are
open to anyone and
during the summer
many students can be
found here revising,
eating or relaxing with
friends. Many subject
societies also host
Garden Parties here in
the summer term
which are free to
attend, with music and
refreshments.
Gym
The College gym is on site and is free for all Selwyn students to use, it’s
open 24/7 and is usually quiet but students can pay to access the larger
University gym, a 5-minute cycle away.
9

Bar/Café
The bar was refurbished in 2019 and is
now an inviting and thriving
environment which provides food and
affordable drinks throughout the day. It
is a social space for the entire college
community and visitors, in which
students can be always be found either
relaxing or studying with friends.
Chapel
The Chapel is as a multi-faith space
which a student of any faith or none can
use. Throughout term, there are weekly
Sunday services and ‘Evensong’ a few
times a week (an evening service sung
by the talented choir), as well as special
services such as a Christmas Carol
Service and on Remembrance Sunday.
The space is also used as place of
reflection and our friendly Chaplain
even offers tea and cake to students
before exams. The Chaplain is a source
of excellent pastoral support, regardless
of its nature, available to students here.
Sports Pitches
A 5-minute cycle away from Selwyn, there are multiple sports pitches
available used by the various College sports societies, including football and
netball.
Laundry
There are multiple laundry rooms, each with plentiful washing machines and
tumble dryers, across Selwyn so you never have to carry your washing far.
There is additionally an ironing-board found here available for students to
use.
Music Practice Rooms
10
All Students can book a slot in the music practice room, free of charge, and
music students can additionally request accommodation with a piano.

JCR
REPLACE WIRH PHO-
TO FROM BILLY!
“‘JCR’ is one of the
many strange words
that you won’t hear
outside of Cambridge -
technically it’s the
collective name for the
undergraduates in the college, but usually people are referring to either the
JCR common room or the JCR Committee.
The JCR common room is a space in the basement of Ann’s Court set aside
for the use of undergrads. It features table tennis, a pool table, table football,
games consoles, vending machines, two large TVs and a computer suite with
a printer.
We host ‘Sunday Tea’ there every week where we give out free food and
drink. Beyond that, it’s the students’ space to use. Often students socialise
here and make use of the TV, but it’s also used for table tennis, society
meetings, play rehearsals - and anything else students need a space for!
The JCR Committee is elected
every autumn by the
undergraduate body, and
spend the following
year working to make life
better for undergraduates by
running events and working
with the fellows in college.
Any undergraduate can run
for election onto the JCR
Committee, with 20 different
roles to choose from.”
- Joe F, JCR President 2019
The following pages explain just some of the roles you can apply for, but
there are others. To find out more visit http://selwynjcr.org/
11

JCR Committee
Access Officers
“Our role is an exciting task as we get to work with such a vast number of
students, from prospective applicants in schools to the students at Selwyn.
We aim to make applying to Cambridge an accessible and inviting
opportunity for all, regardless of their background; in particular aiming to
increase the proportion of students from underrepresented backgrounds
(including but not limited to those from working class, state-comp educated,
low-income, first generation, estranged and care leaver students).
Selwyn is one of the best colleges in Oxbridge for outreach work, with
around 75% (and increasing annually) of Selwyn’s UK students stateeducated.
We work to increase this further through demystifying the
application process,
preparing resources for
potential applicants,
visiting schools to meet
and answer questions from
prospective students,
assisting with Summer
Schools, and answering
queries sent via email. “
- Chloe & Joe M
BAME Officer
12
“As the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic officer, I am in charge of helping to
improve student life by liaising with students, the JCR, College itself and the
wider CUSU BME Campaign. The role involves both an educational and fun
side such as the fact that I am able to put on events such as the BAME Chills
but also facilitate the Anti-Racist Workshop. I get an opportunity to talk and
collaborate with other BAME officers throughout the university but
specifically our close neighbours Newnham and Robinson. I believe that the
role is an essential aspect of improving student life at the university as it
provides an additional level of support BAME students may need. It also
improves the visibility of the richness a diverse student body brings to a
world-class university and helps to foster a community within Selwyn.”
- Itunu

Disabilities Officer
“One of the most important aspects of this role is flexibility: being approachable
in the eyes of students who suffer from poor mental health, who have long term
medical conditions and who are disabled in the physical sense. I offer complete
confidentiality and no judgement; no student ever has to ‘prove’ their disability. I
am tasked with helping students gain access to the support networks, which are
in place for students of the University or for Selwyn students specifically as well
as working with the CUSU Disabled Students’ Officer and making CUSU projects
and resources known and available.
If an issue arises in college, or within a student’s faculty, the Officer will voice
this to the Fellows if the student does not feel comfortable doing so themselves,
or, equally, will support the student in their own mission to further improve
Selwyn’s accessibility for disabled students. As one of the four Welfare Officers at
Selwyn, the Officer is on hand to talk about welfare concerns and queries, which
may not relate to a disability. For one hour a week, the Officer holds a welfare
hour, which is a drop in session open to all Selwyn undergraduates who which
to speak privately about their own wellbeing or perhaps the wellbeing of
someone who they are worried for. “ - Cerys
Ents Officer
“In this role I’m responsible for
organising fun events around college,
including quizzes, film screenings and
“bops” (college parties). It’s important to
have a good work-life balance and these
social events are a good opportunity to
have a bit of fun with friends from around
Selwyn of all year groups.” - Michael
Gender Equality Officer
“My role as gender equality officer is pretty
much self - explanatory: I’m committed to
making sure that there is gender equality
across college at all times. I do this in a
number of ways, such as hosting talks, activities
and events celebrating women/non binary people
across college. Last year I organised our annual
‘Galentines’ day event as well as a formal (dinner)
and talk for international women’s day. I also run
Selwyn Femsoc, which has been rejuvenated this
year and held lots of successful events.” - Mattie
13

Green, Ethics and Faiths Officer
“The Green, Ethics and Faiths JCR officer role covers three diverse and
pivotal aspects of student life in college. The JCR recognises that we live in a
climate where it is vital that we take responsibility for our actions and strive
to improve environmental awareness, and it is our role to encourage the
College to support divestment and reduce food waste, for example.
Just last year (2019) for example, Selwyn sold all direct investments in Fossil
Fuels in the latest step in its commitment to combating the Global Climate
Crisis. Over the past few years Selwyn has also improved its standard of
catering for vegans as a result of pressure from students, and will no doubt
continue to do so as lifestyles change. It’s my role to influence the way
College events are run to make them as green and ethical as possible, as well
as being inclusive to all, no matter what faith or dietary requirement or other
ethical or environmental grounds. This may be from improving recycling
provisions (in 2020 food waste composting in student kitchens was
introduced at Selwyn, completely led by students) to introducing
sustainability officers at large College events and working with the JCR Ents
Officer to run more ethical, sustainable and inclusive events including
collaboration with other Colleges.
As a faiths officer, offering support and advice to people of all faiths and
none, we ensure there are sufficient provisions from suitable prayer spaces
on a day-to-day basis through to catering tailored for those who may be
fasting during various religious festivals. If a student contacts me with an
issue, regarding concerns or suggestions on any aspect of my role, I can
communicate directly with the College to ensure that it is solved efficiently
and effectively.”
14
- Dan

International Officer
“British universities are renowned for their international student body. Cambridge
confirms this impression – its students are nationals of 146 countries and in total,
over 40 percent of all under- and postgraduates are from abroad. While Cambridge
represents an incredible chance for students to live in a unique academic and social
environment and the university therefore attracts a high number of applications
from outside of the UK every year, international students may find it more difficult
than UK nationals to cope with the challenges they are presented with here. Often,
they have been taught in a different school system, do not have English as their
first language, and encounter many practical difficulties that come along with
moving abroad at a young age. It is important that international students therefore
receive special support before and after they arrive at Cambridge, and the role of
JCR International Officer is designed to ensure this happens.
The JCR International Officer will contact the incoming international freshers
before the start of each new academic year and organise a range of events for them
taking place prior to the arrival of the UK freshers. Thus, the international students
have the opportunity the voice any questions or concerns they might have before
the official start of term. The JCR International Officer can offer things such as a
tour through Cambridge to help students find their way around in their new home
and set up talks by college staff which contain helpful information about life in
Cambridge and can also arrange meetups with other colleges where international
students may meet some of their co-nationals and exchange common experiences.
They will remain a point of contact for all international students, freshers or not,
throughout the year and represent their interests towards college. This includes
practical matters such as making sure that there is enough storage for everyone
returning overseas for the term breaks as well as university-wide issues which may
arise.
With the role of International
Officer, the JCR aims to create a
network of support for students
who come from abroad and can
benefit from the first-hand
experiences and advice of an
older international student at
their college and come together
with students who are in the
same situation as them.”
- Chiara
15

LGBT+ Officer
As the LGBT+ Officer, I
have a wide range of
responsibilities. Firstly, I
represent the views and
concerns of the Selwyn
student body on any
issues related to sexuality
and gender identity to the
JCR, the college and also
the Student Union’s
LGBT+ campaign, which
is the university-wide
LGBT+ organisation. My role also involves campaigning for greater LGBT+
acceptance in college, both with regards to the student body and the college
authorities. Thankfully, in many parts due to the great work of past LGBT+
Officers, I haven’t had to do much in this respect at all - Selwyn is home to an
incredibly welcoming community of students and fellows, and is moreover
proud of its diversity and inclusivity. Testament to this is the yearly tradition of
the LGBT+ Officer and the Master of the college raising the Pride flag from
Selwyn’s tower in February, in recognition of LGBT+ History Month.
As the LGBT+ Officer, I am also part of the team of Welfare Officers in college.
For the welfare side of my role, I run a weekly ‘Welfare Hour’ in my room. This
just means that anyone can pop in for a cup of tea and a chat, whether they want
help and support for some problem they might be experiencing, or they just
want to talk to someone! Just taking a moment out and talking to someone
different can be really beneficial, especially if you’ve just been sat in the library
all day! All the Welfare Officers also distribute free sexual health supplies
anonymously through an online form.
Finally, there is also a fun side to my role! I organise social events for LGBT+
students in Selwyn, both within the college and with other colleges. This can be
a really nice way to meet other people with similar experiences in a chilled-out
environment. In particular, I make sure to hold a social event in Freshers’ Week,
so that incoming LGBT+ students can feel welcomed from the get-go!
16
If you have any questions about my role, about being LGBT+ at Selwyn,
Cambridge, or even just at university, please feel free to contact
jcraccess@sel.cam.ac.uk and they will pass the message on.
- Olly

Welfare Officers
“Selwyn has two general welfare officers, occupied by one
person who identifies as female or non-binary, and another
who identifies as male or non binary.
One of our main roles is to ensure students have
somewhere they can go if they need to talk or gain specific advice on how to access
support from the college or university. We each hold a confidential weekly welfare
hour where people can come to talk to us and have a cup of tea and some
snacks. This means you can come to us with any problem or query, no matter how
big or how small - we’re here to help! Another part of our job is voicing your
concerns about welfare care in other areas of the college and broader university.
We are here to improve access to the services you can receive at college and other
centres to help you have the best time you can at Cambridge. We want students to
approach us with the knowledge that their concerns will be taken into account and
be voiced to superiors, to promote beneficial change for our college community.
Every Monday night we run a yoga club. We have a professional yoga teacher who
leads the class and helps the students to relax and de-stress. Being at Cambridge
can be quite intense sometime so going to this class once a week can really help.
One of our other roles is distributing
sexual health supplies. We have an
anonymous online form where people
can request things like condoms and
pregnancy tests. This ensures that all
students have access to the protective
measures they need, free
of charge and at the last minute.
On top of this, the welfare team
hosts events such as free pizza
evenings, walks in the
countryside and bar quizzes.”
- Georgia & Felix
See more on Facebook
@selwyn.welfare
17

Societies
There are a whole range of societies on offer for Selwyn students: subject
societies such as Music, History and Natural Sciences, which host guest
speakers, annual dinners and garden parties and sports societies ranging from
dancesport (ballroom and Latin dancing), to football and rowing. Others include
Jazz, Minecraft, Politics and Cookery.
In addition, the University offers an even larger range of societies, which are all
showcased at the Fresher’s Fair. In every college, you will be able to join both
their societies and those offered by the University, most of which are free to join.
You can create your own society if you don’t find the one you’re after, and can
apply for funding from Selwyn to do this and get all the resources you need!
To see more of Selwyn’s societies:
https://selwynjcr.org/college/sports-societies
...or the University’s 600+ societies:
https://www.societies.cam.ac.uk/
You’re able to join as many or as few
societies as you like and commit however
much time you’re willing to, so University
is a great opportunity to try new things
out!
18
Over the next few pages some of our
largest societies will tell you a bit more
about what they do.

The Boat Club
“SCBC (Selwyn College Boat Club) is the largest and
one of the most successful sports societies in Selwyn.
Founded in 1882 along with the
college, we give Selwynites
(Selwyn students) the chance to
become part of Cambridge’s longstanding
rowing tradition. We
pride ourselves on offering a
welcoming culture of inclusivity,
sportsmanship and openness,
while providing a strong
community that will last
throughout your degree and
beyond.
Fittingly for a college named after
a Cambridge rower – George
Augustus Selwyn rowed in the first
Boat Race in 1829 – our rowers
have achieved great success at the
college, university and even
international levels. In Bumps
(college races at the end of term)
our senior boats have put in some
fantastic performances, with our men recently winning ‘blades’ and our women
getting their best results for eight years. We also support rowers who want to trial
for the University Crews.
Sound exciting? Well, what you might not realise is most of the people rowing
with us learned to row at Selwyn - we welcome students of all abilities regardless
of experience! Every year in Michaelmas (first) term we put together novice boats
full of freshers and older students alike and teach them how to row, with the
novice term being a great way to get involved in college life and meet people from
all years and all colleges. SCBC also has a lively social scene, including events with
other Boat Clubs, BBQs and end of term dinners to celebrate your hard work.
If you’d like to learn more about rowing at Selwyn, including how to join our club,
please check out our website at http://www.selwynrowing.org.uk. Or, if you have
questions, email jcraccess@sel.cam.ac.uk and they will pass the message on.”
- Stella
19

The Choir
“Selwyn College Chapel
Choir is made up of up to 28
singers at a time as well as 2
to 3 organ scholars. Our
main role in college is to
sing choral evensong three
times a week during term
time. This is a peaceful
church service led by the
choir that focuses on restful
contemplation for Church
members, agnostics and
atheists alike. We also have an extra
rehearsal on Wednesdays which is
sometimes replaced by a late night
candlelit compline service.
One thing that is particularly lovely
about Selwyn College Chapel Choir is
that we sing a wide variety of repertoire,
from Renaissance composers (such as
Byrd) to premiering newly composed
works. Our choir director, Sarah
MacDonald, makes sure that our music list
features a diverse range of composers; we
sing at least one piece by a female or nonbinary
composer each service and we sing
music from different traditions.
20
Singing choral evensong isn’t the only thing we do. Choir is a wonderful
community to be a part of - we do spend 8+ hours a week together after all! .
We all eat a free ‘chapel supper’ together each Sunday and organise several
formal halls (dinners) together each term. For a week either side of the
Christmas holidays, we do a little concert tour round East Anglia and London
and usually record a CD in Ely Cathedral in January. We have games nights
and movie nights in these weeks, as well as making the most of the coach
journeys and other free time to socialise.

We also take part in a new music concert each March called JAM and have a tour
every summer. Every other year we go somewhere big like America or Canada - in
2019 we went on a highly subsidised tour to the East Coast of the US for 10 days.
We also do other recordings, radio broadcasts, cathedral visits and joint projects
with other Cambridge choirs. Oh, and we get free singing lessons, half price formal
hall and a financial stipend of £100 a year.
If you love music and want to be part of a close knit, welcoming community then
you should definitely consider auditioning for Selwyn Choir! Most choir members
had only sung in a school or local choir before joining and choir is open to people
of any faith or none.
Unusually for a Cambridge society, you can audition for Selwyn Choir before you
arrive, usually in the March after offers are received. There is more information
about this here:
https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/finance/music-awards/choral-awards
It is also possible to audition for the choir when you arrive or later in your time at
Cambridge (e.g. at the end of year 1 or 2) if you realise you want to be in a choir.
Auditions aren’t scary; you sing a piece of music of your choice and do a short
piece of sight reading and aural/ear tests - you don’t need to think of yourself as a
really great solo performer to audition.
If you’d like to find out more about being part
of Selwyn Chapel Choir, email our director of
music, Sarah MacDonald at
seam100@cam.ac.uk. Or email
jcraccess@sel.cam.ac.uk who can pass on
questions to choir representatives. Check out
our Facebook page @Selwyn.college.choir to
find out what the choir has been up to!”
- Mads, Isabel & Jenny
21

Selwyn FemSoc
“Despite only being launched in 2019,
Selwyn Femsoc has already become one of
the most active societies at Selwyn. From
hosting social events and curating
exhibitions to display the art work of female
and non-binary students, to providing free
period products in all public toilets in
college, we not only practice but promote
inclusive and intersectional feminism.
We often collaborate with the JCR to host
casual events such as movie and open-mic
nights, which help relax, engage and
empower students. As a political society,
discussion and debate is central to us and we
have arranged for some highly prestigious
speakers to give talks at Selwyn, ranging
from Dr Charlotte Proudman, the ‘Feminist
Barrister’, to Lily Madigan, Labour activist
and first trans woman to hold the title of
Labour Party Women’s Officer.
We also participate in university-wide
activism, most recently joining the
Cambridge Women’s Campaign to march
with hundreds of women and non-binary
people at the #ReclaimTheNight rally in a
stand against sexual violence. The majority of
our events are open to all genders, however,
some are exclusively for women and nonbinary
individuals only.
22
We would love for you to get involved by
following us on Instagram (@selwynfemsoc)
and Facebook (Selwyn Femsoc) as many of
our campaigns are online!”
- Mattie

The Mighty Players
“Cambridge is home to a uniquely vibrant world of theatre, from
sketch comedy to musicals, there’s something here for everyone! The Mighty
Players are a funding society that give students from Selwyn and the rest of the
university the opportunity to get involved behind the scenes. We receive
applications from production teams, and from there we decide who to fund and
how, often assisting in many facets of
production.
With our recent relaunch, The Mighty Players
have also been getting more directly involved in
events, with our stand-up comedy night this
year hopefully marking the first of many
exciting new endeavours. We’re also very keen
to promote involvement in all forms of theatre
here at Selwyn: we produce a Freshers’ Play
every year and we’re always happy to hear any
new ideas or proposals for this from Selwyn’s
students.
We’re so excited to welcome new
generations of students into Cambridge
theatre, and to the work of the Mighty
Players in pushing it forward.
If you’re interested in finding out more
about the Freshers’ Play, or have
questions about anything to do with
theatre in Cambridge, don’t hesitate to get
in touch with us by emailing
jcraccess@sel.cam.ac.uk who will pass
your message on, and find us at
https://www.camdram.net/societies/themighty-players!
“
- Boris
23

Living in Cambridge
Cambridge is a small city which makes
it very easy to get around quickly by
just walking; you can reach any
department in 20 minutes, or only 10
minutes by cycling. There’s also the
University bus, which only costs £1 for
any journey!
During the day, especially in the
summer months, the city of Cambridge
is full of tourists, but its popularity
means that local businesses are
thriving. The city centre is historic with
colleges and university buildings
distributed throughout it, so the city is
also largely student influenced and the
many cafés, shops, bars, clubs and pubs
throughout it are bustling.
Another great thing about Cambridge
is how much green space there is!
There are so many large public parks
and beautiful walks by the river .
Grantchester, a picturesque rural
village with an orchard tearoom, is
only half an hour’s walk from Selwyn.
Be sure to try your hand at punting
along the river on a sunny day!
24

For food shopping, there are plenty of supermarkets close by, including an
Aldi, multiple Sainsburys, a number of Co-ops, and a little further away a
large Tesco. There is also a local market in the city centre daily selling a range
of fresh produce as well as a plastic-free market stall with a wide range of
products! Other than that, lots of independent shops and high-street chains
can be found throughout the cobbled streets of the city, as well as in two large
shopping centres.
There are also a range of facilities you
can make use of. To name a few, there’s
the University sports centre, a public
sports centre and a large public
swimming pool, complete with diving
boards.
In addition to university-owned libraries in Cambridge
via Colleges and departments, there is a large
central public library available to students. And, as a
member of the University, you have access to all the
colleges (convenient for visiting friends across the
city), the Museums (open to the public), and the
Botanic Gardens too!
25

Academic Life
There are no two ways about it - the
courses at Cambridge will challenge
you and may be more time consuming
than other universities. Students we
surveyed from a variety of
subjects reported spending
anywhere between 30 and 60
hours per week on their
academic work. However,
that still leaves plenty of
hours for extra-curriculars,
socialising and relaxation.
The number of contact hours
is always specific to your
course, so refer to the course
websites for more details, but science students may have 16-24 hours
contact hours a week, while arts and humanities students may have 6-16
hours (there is much more independent study). All students have a mixture
of lectures and supervisions with one to three students, along with many
also having classes of larger group sizes. Some courses, in particular the
sciences, also have practical work to complete in labs.
Supervisions form a very important part of teaching at Cambridge and are a
privilege you don’t get at many universities. They are small-group teaching
sessions with a subject-specialist who may be anyone from a PhD student to
a Professor. They may supervise you all year or change regularly,
depending on the course. You will have several supervisors, and usually
multiple supervisions per week. Usually, they last one hour but take
different forms depending on the subject – for example you may receive
feedback and discuss an essay, or work through a set of problems during
the hour. Whilst they may seem a nerve-wracking concept at first, they
quickly become the most rewarding part of the course for many students!
26
As academic life contrasts so greatly between subjects, here we’ve compiled
a contribution for every undergraduate subject available to study at Selwyn,
written by a current student to tell you more specific information on their
experiences. We’ve focused on telling you details you can’t find elsewhere,
so if you want more general information on a course please refer to the
course websites: http://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses

ASNAC
27
Maths
44
Archaeology
28
Medicine
45
Architecture
29
MML
46
AMES
30
Music
47
Chemical Engineering
31
Natural Sciences
48
Classics
31
PBS
49
Computer Science
32
Philosophy
50
Economics
33
Theology
51
Education
33
Veterinary Medicine
52
Engineering
34
English
35
Geography
36
History
37
History & Languages
37
History & Politics
38
History of Art
39
HSPS
40
Land Economy
41
Law
42
Linguistics
43
27

ASNAC
“ASNAC (Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic) is a degree which you will
spend your whole university career explaining to friends and family! In
essence, ASNAC is a degree that focuses on the early medieval history of
the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia, touching lightly on other major
European players during this period such as France. However, what makes
ASNAC different to a standard history degree is the fact that you can also
learn the old languages and literature of these regions, be that old Welsh,
English, Irish or Norse. The department even offer free extra-curricular
lessons in modern Irish and Icelandic, with the modern Icelandic course
tailored to compliment a summer course in an Icelandic university (there is
both departmental and college funding in place for opportunities such as
this).
Being a small department, there will likely only be a couple of students in
your entire college studying ASNAC which could seem a little isolating.
However, in my experience it means you create friendships across the
university and across year groups, particularly when a member of the
ASNAC Social Society, which organises inter-college formals, film nights
and even an end of year play. At Selwyn in particular, the Linguists Society
also includes ASNAC and this is another great way of making friends
across subjects within your college.
Finally, due to the small size of the course and the niche nature of ASNAC
as a subject, your lecturers and supervisors are more often than not world
experts in their field and you will often end up writing essays on their
books! The size of the course also makes for an incredibly close knit
community and I can honestly say that the ASNAC department is one of
the friendliest, most helpful and most welcoming departments in
Cambridge.
28
It is also briefly worth noting that the contact hours for ASNAC are
relatively low, (for example, in first year I had 10 a week; this year I'm
down to 7) which does inevitably mean a lot of independent work.
However, supervisions are predominantly one to one and lectures are
often twenty people and under, meaning the contact time you do get is
comparatively intense and focused on you as an individual.”
- Hannah F

Archaeology
“Archaeology (in my un-biased opinion) is
the best subject to study at Cambridge, but
where you live has a big impact on how
you experience the subject. Selwyn may
not be the most central college, but is
placed close enough to the Archaeology
Department (situated on the Downing Site)
to be easily walkable in 10 minutes, and
makes an easy and picturesque walk over
Queens’ Bridge. Its placement may be ideal
for the ease of access into town and the
lack of tourists – but it is the people at
Selwyn which truly make it excellent – its
reputation as the ‘friendly college’ holding
true for its members.
Archaeologists who study here tend to
bond closely - sharing the same Director of
Studies, Tutor and supervisors, at least for
the first year. This allows you to get to
know your classmates well and form
strong friendships, meaning you always
have someone to geek out with over your
time period of choice.
Potential applicants for studying
Archaeology at Selwyn can expect a tightknit
year group both within and without
college, a lively social scene to go alongside
their studies, beautiful surroundings – but
most of all, a warm welcome.”
- Helen
(Featured photos were taken during an
archaeological dig I participated in)
29

Architecture
“Studying architecture at Cambridge is by all means an eclectic pursuit! In
addition to what may be considered standard architectural training in
representing and communicating spatial ideas through plans, sections,
elevations, axonometries, collages, renderings and physical models, you'll be
bombarded by all sorts of "technical" instruction. First and second year lecture
courses cover topics in Historic and Theory, Construction, Structure, and
Environmental Design. You'll be learning seemingly irreconcilable subjects
such as Islamic architecture and sustainable building systems, or the effects of
psychoanalysis or post-colonialism on architecture thought and practice
alongside learning how to conduct structural analysis and calculations. In
third year a greater range of technical lectures are covered, and whilst it may
seem overwhelming to attempt to synthesise all these sources of academic
knowledge, it’s one of the most challenging and rewarding parts of the course.
Studio and design work is at the heart of the Cambridge course and it will be
where most of your time goes. Projects in first year are welcoming playful,
explorative, abstract and open ended. One of the most enjoyable being a large
scale first-hand build project with a real client and site. In second and third
year, projects are more architectural, with three studio options per year
offering varied teaching styles and design briefs.
There is a vibrant architecture society called Arcsoc. Through this we partner
up with different organizations such as the Cambridge Union to run events
that help to fundraise for the annual year-end exhibition in London which is
all student run and organised. Study trips throughout the year are extremely
relaxing and fun but surprisingly didactic, and going on one will make sure
you don't travel the same again!
Being one of the smallest subjects at the University, every year group of
architects is extremely tight-knit and even across the years in the department.
After all, architecture is termed a "social art", which makes it easy for you to
make friends across colleges, and for lecturers to notice if you decide to miss a
lecture!
30
If you're considering studying Architecture, why not apply to Selwyn as your
College? We're on the other side of the river, far away enough from town to be
off the crazed tourist tracks but close enough to make transport short. We're
also very close to the University library, always a great go-to place when
books in the department have already been taken out!” - Emma

AMES
“At Selwyn we are lucky
enough to have our own
AMES (Asian and Middle
Eastern Studies) Fellow, Dr
Young, who acts as a Director
of Studies for AMES students
and is extremely kind,
supportive and knowledgeable. AMES itself is split
into two separate departments, that of East Asian
Studies and of Middle Eastern Studies. This section
has been co-written by students from both
departments in order to give you an insight into the AMES Faculty.
Life as a student of AMES is undeniably challenging although we cannot
express how rewarding it is. In first year, MES contact hours are quite high, for
example, there is six hours of teaching for Arabic language, but on the bright
side none of our language classes were 9am starts! Although the timetable for
EAS students does include early mornings, this allows you to structure your
afternoons very easily as you never finish later than 2pm. That being said, even
when classes and other lectures are scheduled at 9am, we don’t need to leave
our rooms until ten minutes before and a gentle stroll through Selwyn Gardens
is always a good way to start the day.
As both MES and EAS students are sparsely spread out over a number of
colleges, supervisions take place in the faculty building, which again cuts
down on travelling time and means it’s no bother to pop back to your room or
to Hall to grab lunch in between contact hours. However we are often perfectly
happy to spend time in the faculty building itself, both to do work and escape
it! The common room is a great place to chat and always has a lively
atmosphere whereas the library is reserved for quiet study. There are both
large and small tables and you’re often spoilt for choice as to where to settle
down, as it is one of the Sidgwick libraries that is largely undiscovered by non-
AMES students.
The Selwyn library too is great for AMES, since you can find the basic
textbooks but also plenty of material relating to lectures. It was comforting to
not be the only AMES student in the Selwyn cohort, but equally it was good
that there was not a lot of us, as we are able to balance friendships from
college, a group which contains students reading a whole range of subjects,
with friendships from the faculty.” - Cerys & Helena
31
(Featured photos were taken on a trip to Amman, Jordan)

Chemical Engineering
“Chemical Engineering is one of the smallest courses offered at Cambridge.
There are only 60 people in my year, so when you turn up to our fancy new
department in the West Cambridge site you really feel as though you’re
getting special treatment! Everyone is well spread between the colleges too, so
you might not be studying alongside many other Chemical Engineering
students at Selwyn – if any at all! I’m the only one in my year here, but that
definitely hasn’t been a disadvantage.
I can’t speak for those who came over from Engineering, but when I
transitioned from Natural Sciences after first year it was a big change – both in
course size (over 600 down to 60) and in the learning style. You’re still taught
primarily through supervisions and lectures, but there was a Engineering
mindset that I had to get myself into.
I definitely feel as though I’m getting my
money’s worth from the course. There’s great
support from Selwyn, the Department and my
peers. Everyone is always happy to offer a
helping hand and there’s a strong sense of
community – we’re all in it together after all!”
- Joe M
Classics
“Choosing to study Classics at Selwyn was the best decision I ever made -
being surrounded by the most friendly and encouraging people has really
made my experience at Cambridge so special. I am incredibly grateful to Dr.
Rupert Thompson for all his expert advice and guidance - I could not have
hoped for a better Director of Studies. Classics in itself is a fascinating subject,
its multidisciplinary nature is something that greatly appeals to me. I have
relished engaging in a wide range of literary sources, unpicking the language
and exploring such areas as Platonic philosophy, Athenian drama and
Spartan history to name but a few.
32
The Classics Faculty, which is situated at the Sidgwick site, is only a stone’s
throw away from Selwyn. Both the Classics Faculty Library, and the
University Library are close by, something which I have found invaluable. In
addition, the library at Selwyn is a great asset, packed full of Classics
resources to assist with essays and extra reading. Aside from academic
studies, there are many other exciting, social opportunities at Selwyn, I have
enjoyed countless linguistic events at Selwyn, and our annual college Classics
dinner arranged by Dr. Thompson never fail to impress!” - Lydia

Computer Science
“Computer Science has science in the name, and in many ways it is similar
to the Natural Sciences. You have practicals to complete (around 1 a week
for much of first year), but unlike science you can do these in your own
time, freeing up much of your afternoons for studying, and giving you
relative freedom with your evenings. The Cambridge course is fairly
theoretical, and while this often puts students off, the theoretical aspect is
what differentiates Computer Science from Software Engineering. If you
take the theory you learn and code it up/understand it, you’ll come out with
a huge toolbox of algorithms and methods with which you can approach
almost any problem - making you extremely employable.
Selwyn is a great college for CS for a couple of reasons. Firstly, location, in
general being near but not in the centre of town is a great plus, and CS
lectures in first year are at Mill Lane, and in second and third year they are
at the CS Department, with Selwyn being almost exactly in the
middle. Secondly (and more importantly in my eyes), CS at Selwyn is quite
a small subject, with only 2-3 students in a year group. Don’t worry, you
won’t struggle to meet other CS students through lectures, and more
importantly you’ll be forced to have a wonderfully diverse group of friends
at college, letting you take a break from all that code. Also worth a mention
is Selwyn has an excellent CS Director of Studies, he really understands each
student’s individual strengths and motivations, and supports all students
(regardless of ability) when they ask or need it - I’ve discussed this with
students from other colleges, and he almost invariably comes out on top.
I’ve just graduated with a BA in CS and would thoroughly recommend the
course to anyone interested in CS or Software (CS/Computing A Level is
definitely not required). The course
sets you up fantastically for further
research or study, and (in my case)
provides the tools you need to land
an awesome job. My one top tip
though, don’t study too hard, it is
easy to be overwhelmed, focus on
the aspects you enjoy, and have a
life outside of CS (don’t worry too
much about landing internships
every summer holiday).”
- Oliver
33

Economics
“Economics is a challenging and varied
experience that introduces you broadly to the
subject and the problems it can be used to solve.
The supervision system can be intimidating but the one-on-one experience with
leading experts in their fields means you can get clear answers to problems and
deeper understanding to topics relevance in the subject. There are many
opportunities to get involved with your subject outside of your course as well, or
even others, with the university and societies providing regular talks and events.
The topics of these can range from future careers to more neglected topics in
economic teaching generally.
Cambridge culture means you’ll meet all sorts of peers on the course and there’s
lots of activities to do other than study; whilst you won’t be able to do them all
it’s a good way to relax. The college system is a fantastic way to make friends and
ensures that you’ll have a community of like-minded individuals to be a part of.
Selwyn is next door to Sidgwick, where lectures and some supervisions are held
and is a convenient location with many libraries and green spaces around. With
everyone living on one site, its easy to know most people in Selwyn and make
lots of friends. “ - Kevin
Education
“I enjoy the Education course as it is rather small with only 40 students so you
don’t sit anonymously in huge lecture halls which helped me a lot with the
transition from school to university. You can always ask questions in the lectures
and it’s quite interactive. You get to choose a particular track in education
(drama, psychology or politics) and then pick one of your papers from elsewhere
related to this which I think is a big plus. In the 2 nd and 3 rd year you can also
choose papers from other tracks which brings quite a broad experience as you
can engage with literature, sociology, and international relations.
34
It’s one of the newer courses which means that they really take students’
feedback into account and most lecturers and people at the faculty in general are
relatively young so that the vibes in the faculty are really nice and refreshing. A
cool thing about the course is that the faculty has one of the coziest libraries in
Cambridge where studying is super easy. Also, a nice way to procrastinate is to
watch the squirrels in the gardens from the library. It is, however, quite a trek
from Selwyn to the Education faculty and it takes 15 minutes by bike but if you
do not mind cycling it’s not a big deal.” - Fabian

Engineering
“Studying Engineering at Cambridge may seem daunting considering the fact
you’re studying multiple disciplines in your first two years. However, it
allows you to keep your options open, and you may be inspired by a field of
engineering that you’ve never considered (this certainly happened for
me). Selwyn is a great place to study Engineering as
the department is only a five minute cycle away and
the engineers are both inspirational and friendly
-we roughly have ten engineers per year, which
is more than enough people to fit around a gyp
table to speed through some supervision work.
The support network (both mentally and
academic) from both the staff and students is
what gives Selwyn the reputation of being the
“friendly college”. I also think that the size
contributes to this too – it is big enough to host a
diverse bunch of people, yet there is still a sense
of community within the college.
As you will find out, the supervisions, which are
run internally by the college in the first two
years, are the best resource to excelling in your
studies. Selwyn provides an amazing roster of
supervisors for engineering, who are both
experienced in their careers and with the course
itself. On top of this, the Selwyn Engineering
community host numerous social activities to get
to know engineers in other years, and it is a great
opportunity to get advice on what modules to
pick as well how to deal with certain topics.
The course can be very intense and it is good to
get involved with a society to take your mind off
work. There are plenty of societies to get
involved in at Selwyn, and I definitely
recommend trying out as many as possible at the
start – as the term goes on, it is inevitable that the
work gets progressively more time consuming
that you may not have time to try out a new
society and have to prioritise which ones to be
part of.” - Jeev
35

English
“Selwyn generally has around
4-6 English students in a year,
large enough to mean you
have supervisions with a
variety of different people, but
small enough that you know
everyone really well. There’s
always someone willing to
swap essays if you want a
second pair of eyes to glance
over your ideas, while the
Selwyn English Society allows us to socialise as a subject group at events
like the English Society Dinner and the end-of-year garden party.
English at Cambridge is generally a pretty flexible degree, and at Selwyn
our supervisors are keen to allow us to take our weekly essays in whatever
direction we want, meaning that although there isn’t much actual choice of
modules until third year, there’s certainly never a feeling that the course is
in any way prescriptive. We start off with Paper 7, the modern paper,
rather than the scary-sounding medieval stuff, which makes the transition
to university level work quite a lot easier!
36
In terms of contact hours, we have two supervisions a week, usually in
college but sometimes somewhere else. One of these will have an essay set
for it each week; the other, Practical Criticism (or “Prac Crit” as everyone
calls it) will generally have work set every week but this will alternate
between short essays, research tasks and presentations, something which I
found a relief after worrying slightly in my first term that my degree was
going to be nothing more than endless essays! There are also a few lectures
on most days, which aren’t compulsory but which are usually interesting
and helpful for giving you new points of view to think about (and which
you definitely don’t have to memorise every word of) College is right next
door to the Sidgwick site where most lectures are held, which makes
getting up for those 9ams so much easier! It’s also only about a five-minute
walk round the corner from the University Library, which, along with the
faculty library has basically every book you could ever need….what more
could you ask for as an English student, right?” - Cadence

Geography
“Geography is one of the smaller subjects at Selwyn, taking just 2-3 students per
year. This is great in first year as all supervisions are organised through college
and attended by just the Selwyn geographers. This means you get to know the
others extremely well and is useful for sharing out the workload. Later in
second year supervisions are organised by the geography department meaning
that they are attended by students from a mixture of colleges, I loved this, as it
gave me the opportunity to meet new people from across Cambridge. Selwyn is
about a 15-minute walk or 10-minute cycle from the geography department
which is in the centre of town on Downing site. However, the geography
department is also closely linked with the Scott Polar Research Institute which
is located a little bit further away from college. Despite this, Selwyn is just two
minutes away from the University Library, which has every book you could ever
need, and is right next-door Sedgewick site which has a huge range of faculty
libraries, so it is not necessary to go into town every day!
Geography is extremely diverse and throughout the degree
you have the opportunity to adapt your reading to the subject
areas that specifically interest you. In each year of the degree
there are between 5-8 contact hours per week including
supervisions, so you must be prepared (and motivated!) to do
a lot of independent study. A key aspect of both second and
third year is the dissertation project, for this aspect of the
course you can choose any subject within geography that
interests you (whether you have studied it or not) to focus on.
Selwyn really supported me during my dissertation project by
providing me with accommodation outside of term time so I
could use the university laboratories. There are also plenty of
opportunities to travel during your geography degree, there
are several fieldtrips (see photos!) as well as one residential
trip abroad organised by the department. Selwyn College also
gives the Ball travel fund to geographers for internships,
dissertation research or other projects. During my second year
the fund allowed me to travel to volunteer with a Croatian
NGO to help conserve bottlenose dolphins in the northern
Adriatic Sea.” - Jasmine
37

History
“Equipped with a well-stocked library and just a few minutes’ walk to the faculty
or the University Library, Selwyn is a great place to study History: a course in
which you get to choose between over 20 different options in your first two years
and even more varied subjects in your third.
Fellows in History at Selwyn specialize in a range of topics—from British
economic & social history to early modern British political history to American
history—but there are no restrictions on what papers you can take because a
supervisor will be arranged for you even if they are at another college. One-toone
weekly supervisions may sound intense, but there will usually be around
8-10 other history students at Selwyn, some of whom may have chosen the same
papers as you have to share lectures with. Furthermore, all history students are
required to take the Historical Argument & Practice paper which is examined in
your final year, and college classes are provided for it in preparation. Being at
Selwyn also means you are a member of the college’s History Society, which
holds an annual dinner during Lent term and a garden party at the end of Easter
to suitably reward you for all the reading that you’ve done.” - Ming
History & Modern Languages
“The best thing about HML is the variety of work and topics you get to study,
so you’re never bored! It enables you to widen your perspective, and being part
of a small cohort within college (and the wider uni) from my experience makes
for a really unique degree experience. Also doing two subjects allows you to
meet lots of people both on your course but on both the History and language
sides, and within college creates a lovely environment for living and studying.
An average day includes a 2 minute walk to Sidgwick at around 9, usually for a
morning lecture in either history or Spanish. Then I usually go with some
friends to one of the libraries on campus, MML library or the Seeley historical
library are among our favourites! The arc cafe is also great for a coffee break.
We’ll often go back to college for lunch, and then back to campus for a language
class or to college for a supervision in the afternoon before coming back to
college for dinner in hall at 6 with my friends. In the evenings we find time to
relax, either talking for hours in a friends room or for me dance classes!
38
In a typical week I usually do one small language assignment (translation or
grammar exercise or oral class preparation etc.), one history essay and every
second week a literature/film essay for my literature paper. At Selwyn, your
director of studies work to help support you in combining the two sides of your
degree, and being part of two subject groups at Selwyn (and two subject
societies!) has been a really lovely part of a joint honours degree.” - Evie

History & Politics
“Are you someone who is interested in both History and Politics but find it
difficult to decide which subject you prefer? Did you study both subjects at A-
Level and feel reluctant to drop one of them? Do you think that you would
enjoy the intellectual challenges and benefits that come with studying two
subjects at degree-level? If one or more of these apply to you, keep reading.
Selwyn is perfectly located for students studying History and Politics, as both
departments have their buildings and lectures on the Sidgwick site, which is
no more than a five minute walk away from any part of the college. As well as
lectures, students are taught through small-group or individual supervisions
with subject specialists. These supervisions are fantastic in allowing you to
explore your course in depth, and supervisions often take place in different
colleges, which give you a great opportunity to make new friends and
explore other college environments. In my time here, I have had supervisions
at Queens’, Magdalene, King’s, Christ’s, Trinity, St John’s, and Pembroke, and
it’s always an exciting experience to go to a supervision for the first time at a
new college. One of the biggest attractions for me was the opportunity to take
papers I wanted, rather than having to take certain papers.
Throughout school, I had already studied a lot of British History topics and
so I wanted to take papers in topics that were new to me. History has loads of
papers that were appealing to me, but if you study straight History then you
have to take at least one British Political History paper and one British
Socioeconomic paper for two years. And although I thought the Politics
papers in HSPS sounded interesting, I didn’t want to take the Social
Anthropology and Sociology papers that were compulsory for first-years.
There are only two compulsory papers in History and Politics; they offer a
great opportunity to explore the intersection between the subjects, and
provide a strong base for understanding the rest of the course. The flexibility
and intellectually complex nature of History and Politics makes it a fantastic
choice for students who want to have variety in their study, be challenged
and find new ways to explore the areas that interest them.” - Malcolm
39

History of Art
“Like all colleges, Selwyn only has one or two art history students a year.
Far from being a disadvantage, this means that you will make friends with
people from different courses. This also means that everything related to
the course, such as supervisions and DoS meetings, is done outside of
college. Nevertheless, Selwyn accommodates us well. Selwyn library has a
generous art history section and our small number means that there is
never any fighting over books.
Sidgwick site, the humanities campus, is just next door and also has
countless libraries with art history sections such as the MML (languages)
library and the Seeley History library. Not to mention, if necessary, the UL
(University Library) is 5 minutes away. The department is only a 15 minute
walk away and has all the resources you could need, plus a great café (Hot
Numbers) across the street.
Art history in itself is a fascinating subject. Though the department
historically has more of a medieval and European focus, it is currently
trying to diversify to answer student demands. First year gives a very
general overview of the history of art from antiquity to contemporary art.
Starting in second year, you can choose special subjects that are taught by
experts and allow in-depth focus on topics of your interest. Most of the
work is done on your own, reading from the substantial bibliography and
allowing you some flexibility to direct your research when writing weekly
essays.
Overall, Cambridge is an exceptional place to study art history due to the
incredible density of specialists and artworks available to students, and
Selwyn provides a friendly and central environment to do so.”
- Mia
40
Mia is also credited with the design of the front page and art featured
within the Alternative Prospectus

HSPS
“HSPS (Human, Social and Political Sciences) is a massively diverse
subject which you can take in almost any direction you want! In first year
you choose four papers from 8 options both within HSPS and beyond,
while in second and third year you narrow down to one or two subjects.
For example, during my degree I’ve studied topics as varied as the
anthropology of Latin America, statistics, life in cities and the
relationship between science and society!
Lecture-wise, in first year there’s
around 12 lectures per week
which are mostly in the
mornings, leaving afternoons
free for supervision work.
Workloads can vary depending
on what papers you take, but in
first year you generally get set 12
essays per term (1-2 per week –
not easy, but manageable!) which
you discuss in supervisions.
Small group teaching like this, in
groups of 2-3 students, is really
handy – I’ve often found myself
remembering conversations I
had with my supervisor when
writing exam answers!
Selwyn’s location is great for HSPSers – there’s some lectures,
supervisions and loads of libraries next door on the Sidgwick Site, while
other lectures in town and the HSPS library are only a 10 minute walk
away. On top of this, Selwyn has a large and really friendly community
of HSPSers, with everyone being willing to help and support each other
if the going gets tough. But it’s not all work - we also have a subject
formal once a year, and you’ll find HSPSers doing all sorts of extra
curriculars from acting to Snowball to sports. Overall, Selwyn is a great
place to be a HSPS student!”
- Stella
41

Land Economy
“If you are interested in studying land economy, you are probably
already concerned about, or aware of, the stereotypes floating
around - of both the course itself and those who study it. Having just
finished my first year, however, I can confirm that my fellow course
mates are incredibly diverse in terms of background, opinions on
current affairs and ambitions for the future (not everyone wants to
work in the City, I promise). This provides a great basis for engaging
supervision discussion, particularly as the course content is so
closely aligned to some of the most immediate global challenges.
Therefore, if you hope to study a subject that is highly relevant,
varied in content and offers great career prospects, land economy
may be right for you!
In my first year, I have been amazed by the pivotal impact some of
our supervisors have had on policy decisions on topics ranging from
carbon pricing and sustainable urban planning frameworks, to
progress in terms of gay marriage in the U.K.
A further benefit of studying land economy is that, much unlike
other courses at Cambridge, land economy students’ supervisions
are arranged independently to the college system, so there are lots of
opportunities to get to know people at different colleges.
Selwyn is a great college to consider if you hope to study land
economy: our Director of Studies is really supportive and highly
regarded within the department; you would most likely have one or
two course buddies, which is really helpful particularly in first term;
most importantly, I am yet to have to cycle more than 5 minutes to
reach a lecture or supervision!”
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- Charlie

Law
“Law is a diverse and stimulating course and studying at Selwyn only
enhances the experience the university has to offer. What makes
Cambridge unique is the expertise of those teaching us, many of whom
are leading academics in their field and write much of the legal content
we study.
First year consists of four papers (Criminal Law, Civil Law,
Constitutional Law and the Law of Tort) while the second and third
years involve a mixture of compulsory and optional papers, creating
opportunity for students to pursue areas of study which they find
engaging.
Learning is delivered via a combination of lectures (given in the faculty
building) and supervisions, which are small teaching groups that allow
for legal debate and analysis of legal problems. The majority of study
comprises of independent reading in preparation for supervisions, using
lecture content and supervision reading lists to guide your learning.
Law at Selwyn is particularly advantageous. The college neighbours the
Sidgwick Site, where the law faculty and Squire Law Library are situated,
meaning going to lectures is as simple as walking through Selwyn’s
gardens. The Squire boasts one of the UK’s largest legal collections and
provides excellent space for quiet study – having such an asset so close to
Selwyn is particularly handy. Furthermore, Selwyn has three law fellows
which supervise and lecture on many of the papers, meaning a good
proportion of learning takes place within college, the remainder of
papers being supervised by fellows in other colleges.
Selwyn also has a brilliant law society which hosts termly black-tie
dinners, mooting competitions, presentations with top law firms and
alumni events – all great opportunities to discover the various avenues
down which career in law can lead. Above all, there is a genuine
camaraderie between the lawyers at Selwyn which makes studying the
subject truly enjoyable.” - Will 43

Linguistics
“As you know, Linguistics is the best subject so I’m going to tell you
why Selwyn is the best college for Linguistics!
The first reason has to be Selwyn’s back door to the Sidgwick site where
Linguistics lectures are held. So with lectures in Cambridge beginning
five minutes past the hour as a rule, you can leave for a 10am lecture at
10 and still get there early! Sidgwick is also where you’ll find the MML
library which is the Linguistics faculty library and one of my favourite
libraries in Cambridge. And as you can work in all the libraries in
Sidgwick (as well as the University Library which is a five minutes’
walk from Selwyn) you’ve got a lot of scope for a library crawl!
Selwyn has one of the most Linguists per year – well only about three
but that’s more than most colleges. This means there’s a nice support
network as well as opportunity for having linguistics geek
conversations over dinner!
Finally, we have great Linguistics
fellows at Selwyn: our DOS Kirsty
McDougall who is a forensic
phonetician and Rupert Thompson
who specializes in the linguistics of
Classics. And the MML fellows
organise fun social events which are
for Linguistics people too – like the
MML Welcome Drinks at the
beginning of Michaelmas and the
MML Garden Party in May Week.
So if you choose Selwyn and Linguistics you can be sure you are
choosing the best subject at the best college!”
44
- Sarah (who also drew the ‘Linguists’ bird’ pictured in a Selwyn scarf)

Maths
“As a former student from a state school with a low number of Oxbridge
applications, I had little knowledge of the admissions process and courses
offered. After visiting a summer school hosted by Selwyn, I knew that
Cambridge was the place for me. I instantly felt at home in the friendly
environment that everyone loves talking about.
With Selwyn’s yearly intake for maths being around 5 students, you will get
the chance to make lifelong friends with the others. You will spend a
significant amount of time helping each other with lectures and example
sheets. Selwyn has a tight knit family of mathmos (Cambridge students
studying maths) ranging from all years. We are always up for going to formal
hall (fancy dinner) and Selwyn College’s bar to discuss maths and socialise in
general.
Selwyn’s location is only a few minutes’ walk away from the Centre of
Mathematical Sciences (CMS) where third years lectures take place. It’s also a
great place to study and socialise with other mathmos. If you choose to do
Maths with Physics in first year, then the Physics Department where your
labs will take place is just down the road. Also, with Selwyn’s recently
renovated bar, new library and proximity to Sidgwick site, you are spoilt for
choice for workspaces.
The Mathematics Tripos at Cambridge is regarded as one of the most
rewarding but demanding undergraduate mathematics courses available, and
rightly so. It is difficult both in terms of workload and subject matter. Loving
the subject will not only allow you to enjoy your unique university experience
but will enable you to power through when things eventually get tough. The
Tripos will not only explore some beautiful and truly elegant mathematics,
but it will teach you how to creatively think about problems. If you are
passionate about maths, then I urge you to apply.”
- Dom
45

Medicine
“Medicine is one of the most intense yet
rewarding subjects that you can study at
Cambridge. Whilst the workload can be
at times slightly intimidating, there is a
really strong support network amongst the Selwyn medics and vets. This
means that if you ever need some advice and guidance, there is also someone
you can turn to. As such, Selwyn really does live up to its name for being the
friendly college.
One of the major benefits of studying medicine at Selwyn is that most of the
supervisors are clinicians. This is great because the supervisors help make
sure that the lecture material feels relevant to medicine, as sometimes it’s
easy to get bogged down with all the scientific details that are taught on the
course. Also, our Medicine Director of Studies (DoS) teaches you physiology
in first year and as he works at Addenbrookes Hospital, you will occasionally
have supervisions there. This is great as you get to go on a ward round and
see how the concepts taught in lectures apply to everyday medicine.
Also, we have a great Selwyn MedVetSoc that run several events throughout
the year. These include swaps with other colleges (going to another college
for a formal dinner), pizza nights and text a treat, where they give you free
sweet treats on a Sunday night (when you’re most definitely doing a last
minute essay or practical paper!)
46
Finally, Selwyn has a great location. We are close enough to town that it takes
around 20 minutes to walk but is far enough that it’s not inundated with
tourists. There are also lots of green spaces around Selwyn (something you
don’t find in the centre of Cambridge), which are nice for walks or runs if
that’s your sort of thing.“ - Layla

MML
“MML (Modern and Medieval
Languages) is one of the few, if not the
only subject, where you can say that
going on holiday and watching Netflix
is productive work that contributes
towards your degree. It’s also far much
more than just learning the language –
the Cambridge course gives you an introduction
to literature, film, linguistics,
history, and philosophy, with the
option to take more in depth papers in
these areas in 2nd or 4th year. No
matter whether you’re studying a
language post A Level or
‘ab initio’ (from scratch), you can be
sure that you will be pushed
academically and study things that you
had never considered before.
Selwyn is an excellent college for MML students that really takes the subject
seriously; not only are we no more than 2 minutes away from the MML
Faculty, but there are very generous travel grants available if you are
interested in spending time in a target language country during the vacation,
for example to take part in a language course or just to spend some time
immersing yourself in the culture. There is also a strong MML presence at
Selwyn, with around 10 undergraduates in each year group, and Fellows in
the vast majority of languages offered as part of the MML Tripos, so you are
always really well supported in all areas of your studies, whether that be
planning your Year Abroad or panicking over Russian verbs of motion.
I just finished my first year of studying German and ab initio Russian at
Selwyn, which was a challenge that I definitely underestimated when
applying – going from no knowledge in Russian to A Level standard in 16
weeks of teaching is no mean feat – but I was so well supported during the
year, and there is no way that anyone here will just let you struggle during
your degree without helping you out. I’ve had a trip to Germany and to
Russia during the Long Vacation fully funded, and extra supervisions for both
German and Russian that were really helpful.” - Gemma
47

Music
“There are usually three or four music students (or ‘musos’) in a year at
Selwyn, and in your first year all of you live together on the same floor, as
you are given large ground-floor rooms with a piano in. This unique
room requirement has the added benefit of being able to skip the room
ballot system for next year’s accommodation, as you get to pick a ground
floor room (in D or E staircase, right next to the library) in Old Court for
the next two years (although you can choose to live elsewhere, if you
like!).
One of the main benefits of
studying music at Selwyn is its
close proximity to the music
faculty, which is only a threeminute
walk away from your
room: with the earliest lectures
beginning at 9:30am, you never
have to get up very early at all!
Music at Selwyn is a very social
subject: at the start of every year we all meet up for tea and cakes, along
with all the fellows (all of whom are incredibly friendly), and after exams
our Director of Studies takes us all on our annual punting trip to
Grantchester meadows for a picnic! The third years normally arrange for
all the undergraduate musos to meet for a formal at some point in
Michaelmas (first) term as well.
Aside from their degree, musos here are given the opportunity to run the
college music society (SCMS) in their second year, providing a brilliant
taster of arts administration, and enabling you to organise a weekly recital
series, plus the occasional (usually one a term) larger orchestral concert.
Recent highlights have included a performance of Vaughan Williams’
opera, Riders to the Sea, and the launch of the Female Composers’
Festival, in which we managed to fit around 80 performers into chapel!
48
Many music students also choose to sing in the chapel choir: this is a big
commitment, but immensely rewarding, with the opportunity to go on
heavily subsidised tours (most recently to the east coast of the US),
professionally record CDs, and sing alongside other very talented
performers.” - James

Natural Sciences
“Natural Sciences (NatSci for short) allows you to
study more than one science subject, before
specialising later on. This is great if you want to
keep the variety or if (like me) you’re not sure about
which subject you want to focus on yet.
Selwyn is in a great spot, being 10 minutes cycle
from the Chemistry Department and Downing site
(where most lectures are held) and West Cambridge
(for the Materials and Physics practicals), though I
prefer to walk. We’re also next-door to the Sidgwick
site libraries, handy during revision, though many
prefer to use Selwyn’s own library or (like me) to work in their rooms.
Being one of the larger courses, there are around 25 NatScis in Selwyn each
year: we’re a friendly group and we like to sit together in lectures, and the
large cohort means Selwyn’s Natural Science Society is thriving and lively.
Given that first years all live together, you’re never far away from a fellow
scientist. We can easily be identified in practicals by our Selwyn-crested lab
coats, highly envied by the other colleges!
The work is undoubtedly hard: you have over 20 contact hours a week and
plenty of work besides, especially around exams - you can often spot us
puzzling over a problem in the kitchen or discussing the latest practical over
dinner. That said, you are rewarded with great lecturers, personal and
productive supervisions and practicals which are often pretty interesting.
They say work hard, play hard for a reason: fitting it all in can be a squeeze
with such a busy timetable, but there is time in the week for hobbies (for me
it’s badminton and music) as well as socialising with friends. The course is
social by nature too; you get to know your supervision partners, people you
sit with in lectures and those you work with in labs really well.” - Sam H
(Featured photo from second-year Earth Science field trip)
49

Philosophy
“Selwyn is a fantastic place to study philosophy. We’re right next to the
faculty and the lecture block on the Sidgwick Site, so almost all of your
lectures and supervisions will be within 5 minutes of your room -
definitely a bonus when you don’t want to get out of bed! Plus, because
Selwyn currently accommodates all students within the college for their
whole degree, you know you won’t end up halfway across town.
The nature of philosophy means
you’ll spend a fair bit of time
reading. If you want to escape
from the libraries, Selwyn’s bar
has just been refurbished, and is
now a cafe in the daytime, giving
you a more relaxed place to work
(plus they do great coffee). And if
you do want to work in the
library, we’re building a lovely
new one which is scheduled to
open late 2020 to early 2021.
At the time of writing, Selwyn doesn’t have any fellows in philosophy -
instead, your Director of Studies ('DoS’) will be an academic from another
college or part of the university, for example my first DoS was from
Queens college. Having a DoS from another college can be nice - we got to
have several subject dinners with the philosophers from Queens. Nor
does it impact your teaching. Because philosophy is relatively small
faculty, your supervisors will be from right across the university
regardless of your college.
50
The small size of the subject also means that in each year there may only
be one or two philosophers (at most colleges). Fortunately, Selwyn really
is as friendly as everyone claims, and has a great sense of community, so
you’ll end up with friends from across a whole range of subjects. The
atmosphere here feels supportive and relaxed rather than formal or
competitive, which can make the middle of an intense term that little bit
easier!” - Joe F

PBS
“Psychological and Behavioural Sciences (or PBS) is a psychology degree
that has a far more diverse curriculum than those at many other
universities. In the 1 st and 2 nd year, you can choose two of the four papers
that you take, giving you an opportunity to study a wide range of
subjects and find the ones that interest you. These papers are often
‘borrowed’ from other courses and, while the exact options available can
vary from year to year, they generally include subjects such as politics,
evolutionary biology, philosophy, sociology, economics, and
neurobiology.
Studying psychology at Selwyn is amazing because there are generally
two PBS students per year, meaning that there is always someone to go
over supervision work with or to take notes for you if you cannot attend
a lecture. In fact, Selwyn is a nice size in general, being a medium sized
college with ~100 undergraduates in a year group. There is a sense of
community throughout the college, something that is exaggerated by the
fact that all students live on the same site for their whole three years,
meaning that Selwyn is full of familiar faces.
Selwyn is also in an ideal location; being away from the centre of town
means that there are fewer tourists coming and going, but it is still only a
5 minute cycle, or a 10-15 minute walk to Mill Lane and Downing site,
where most of the psychology lectures take place. Additionally, Selwyn
is right next to Sidgwick site, where lectures for options such as politics,
sociology, and criminology take place.
Contact hours are relatively low, with 8-10 hours per week plus 2-3
hours of supervisions. For supervisions you are expected to further
knowledge from lectures using material from a reading list and from this
submit an essay. Selwyn’s library facilities are highly useful for the
multiple essays you are churning out a week; it almost always has the
material you need from the reading list which means the resources are
on your doorstep. And even If it doesn't...you're less than five minutes
from the University Library!”
- Shemaya
51

Theology
“Theology is probably one of the most broad-based subjects you can
study at Cambridge, with topics ranging from ancient languages and
history to contemporary anthropology, as well as world religions and
Christian doctrine. With all this variety also comes choice – in first year
you choose five papers from a choice of about ten, and in subsequent
years just four from an even longer list. This means you can really shape
the degree to suit what you want to study.
You will typically have around seven or eight lectures and seminars each
week, as well as a couple of supervisions on essays you’ve written that
week. As a result, you generally have plenty of time to read for your
essays around this, although the turnaround for each essay is normally
pretty quick so you will be kept on your toes!
52
Selwyn has a strong tradition in Theology, and I’ve found it a really
engaging and supportive place to study the subject. Our director of
studies is really great, and has a
knack for organising good
supervisors which can make a
huge difference. Like a lot of
people, I was a bit apprehensive
about learning an ancient
language from scratch, but she
was very good at allaying my
fears and ensuring I had access to
the right help. There is
also plenty of study help
on hand; the college
library is pretty well
equipped (Selwyn was
founded in memory of a bishop
after all!) and the other Theology
students are always friendly and
happy to lend a hand. Last but not
least, you will have one of the
shortest walks to the faculty in the mornings!” - Sam F

Veterinary Medicine
“Firstly, there is no need to worry about the stereotype of Cambridge being
a very academically orientated course, you will have animal handling from
week 1! The course is divided into the first three pre-clinical years where
you will live in college, and then the final three clinical years where you are
based at the vet school.
As Cambridge only has 8 week terms, there’s no denying that the course is
quite intense with a high number of contact hours per week. However an
advantage of the short terms means longer holidays, which is really useful
for when you do your EMS (extramural studies, more information on the
RCVS website), so that it’s not all crammed in consecutively.
The collegiate system is such an advantage for this course. It means that you
can spend a lot of your chill time with people other than other vet students -
which after spending 9-5 with, 5 days a week, is nice to have something
different to talk about. It also means that you have immediate friends and
support from the other Selwyn vets (around 4) and medics (around 8) in
your year. There is a Selwyn MedVet society which arranges talks, dinners
once a term and other socials for all years, and friendships between years are
common (and very helpful!). Selwyn is ideally situated for your preclinical
years. It basically lies halfway between town (where you’ll have lectures,
dissections and labs) and the vet school (where you’ll have a few lectures,
animal handling, live anatomy, post mortems).
Also as the course has a small intake – around 70 per year – you’ll get to
know all the vets in your year! It’s a really great community to be part of,
I’m so glad I applied.” - Hannah L 53

Finances
Whilst you can’t officially take up a part-time job during term whilst
studying in Cambridge, the University has a policy that nobody should drop
out because of financial difficulties so whatever support you may need, there
will be someone to offer you it. As well as the government-funded student’s
loans for tuition fees and maintenance you are likely to receive, Colleges can
provide extra financial support. For example bursaries, which are not paid
back, are available for students from low-income backgrounds.
With budgeting, day-to-day life can be done at a surprisingly low cost. At
Selwyn, you save money on accommodation by only paying for the 30 weeks
you are in residence; a survey of Selwyn students spent on average a total of
£215 per week, with a range from £145 to £300.
Although you shouldn’t ever
need it, there are also informal
opportunities to earn
supplementary cash such as
working at college events like the
end-of-year May Balls, working in
college cafés and bars or taking
part in schemes such as
CAMbassador run by the
Cambridge Admissions Office, by
for example helping with Summer
Schools.
54
During your time
here, many travel and
research funds from
Selwyn are also
available for you to
apply to use in order
to support activities
you may wish to do
to support your
academic learning
over the summer.

Useful Links
We’ve hope you’ve found this guide useful, finally here we’ve compiled some
links to other useful resources for you to look at!
More from Selwyn JCR …
Our website: http://selwynjcr.org/
FAQs for Prospective Applicants: https://selwynjcr.org/faqs
See more student profiles:
‘Students of Selwyn’ on Facebook @studentsofselwyn on Instagram
Help with applications:
https://www.insideuni.org/
https://projectaccess.org/find-your-mentor/
https://www.zerogravity.co.uk/
https://www.universifyeducation.com/participating (access via your school)
Super-curricular:
https://www.myheplus.com/ - for advanced subject exploration
https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/events/masterclasses - subject
masterclasses
https://www.suttontrust.com/ - for summer schools
https://www.applytocambridge.com/shadowing/apply/ - shadow a Cambridge
student!
Information about the University of Cambridge:
https://map.cam.ac.uk/colleges/
https://www.applytocambridge.com/
https://twitter.com/cambtweetcusu
https://www.cusu.co.uk/ - Students Union website
`
YouTube vlogs are also good and there's loads of possible channels (including
some official college ones for practice interviews)
Lots of further general University and Oxbridge information found here, on
the Seren network:
https://hwb.gov.wales/distance-learning/resources/seren/ 55