Freshers Handbook 2021 24-09

2. College Life
2.1 Weeks begin on Thursday?
Yep. This largely makes no difference, but your timetable will start on Thursday and
end on Wednesday, and if you have different lectures on odd- and even-numbered
weeks, you may need to be a bit more careful than usual! Weeks are generally
referred to by numbers with Week 1 being the first week of ‘Full Term’ (the part of
Term when lectures occur). For example, Week 1 of Michaelmas Term 2021 starts
on 7th of October.
2.2 Michaelmas? Lent? Easter?
The year at Cambridge is split up into three terms, each lasting eight weeks. The first
of these terms is Michaelmas Term (sometimes referred to as Mich—pronounced
‘mick’) which starts at the beginning of October and runs until the start of December
(or end of November, depending on the year). Lent Term runs from mid-January
until mid-March, and Easter Term is between the end of April and the middle of
June.
2.3 Fellow, Director of Studies, Tutor, Supervisor...
When you arrive there will be a few people you’re introduced to with strange titles.
Let’s clear that up now, because we’ll use these words a lot throughout.
A Fellow is an academic who works for the College and sometimes the University
as well. There are many different kinds of Fellow, some not much older than PhD
students and some that are very senior. They are full-time academics and many
give lectures, or have important roles within the College or University. The act of
Fellows passing their knowledge down to current students, some of whom become
Fellows themselves, has been a fundamental part of Cambridge University since it
was founded. Some Fellows have made significant contributions to their field, and
all Fellows should be treated with the highest level of respect (e.g., all emails to