Cambridge-MIT Undergraduate Exchange

The College System
From the Perspective of an MIT Student
Advising and Counseling

The College System

In addition to academic departments and research laboratories, the University of Cambridge is comprised of 31 distinct Colleges. Regular, full-time Cambridge students apply for admission to one of these Colleges instead of directly to the university. However, as a student in the exchange program, you will be assigned to a college based on your interests and available space.

The College is the center of social and academic life for Cambridge students. Your College will provide you with a diverse community of people to get to know. Most of your friends will probably come from here - you may eat dinner in Formal Hall (served dinners) with them, join a lot of the societies (extracurricular groups), and you may row or play another sport for your college. And because people have so much independence in academics, they have time to pursue extracurricular interests, which are a very important part of Cambridge life.

Meals are provided in the College dining hall and (sometimes) in additional cafeterias, so you don't have to worry about shopping and cooking unless you really want to. Most meals are self-service, but there are regular Formal Halls as well.

Back to top

From the Perspective of an MIT Student

LIFE IN CAMBRIDGE : An Insider's Guide for MIT students (PDF) addresses various aspects of living and learning at Cambridge. The first version of this guide was written by Gina Kim (CME '01 Alum), updated in the summer of 2004 by Oneil Bhalala, Henry Bergquist, Rajini Haraksingh, Jeremiah Yu and several other CME '04 Alums, and updated again in the summer of 2005 by Ryan Allard, Monica Lewis, and Amy Wu, CME '05 Alums.

Back to top

Advising and Counseling

The following people will be important in supporting you during your time at Cambridge:

• Your Director of Studies (DoS) -- who may be a fellow of your college or sometimes a fellow of another college -- is appointed by the college to look after your academic welfare. He or she will advise you on your program plans generally (including which options you might consider taking), arrange your weekly supervisions, monitor your progress, and help you with any problems arising from your studies.
  
• Your tutor will also be an academic but normally in a different subject from the one you are studying. You will usually meet with your tutor about once a term and s/he is there to protect your interests, to help you in 'domestic' college matters such as rooms, book grants, travel grants and so on, and to give you specific personal advice when you want it.
  
• Your College will also support you in other ways. There may be a college nurse, welfare officer, chaplain, or a college-based counsellor, all of whom are there to help you with any problems you might have. Colleges also provide funds for a variety of prizes, scholarships, book and travel grants.
  
• The University of Cambridge Counselling Service has a team of professionally trained and widely experienced counsellors, psychotherapists and cognitive therapists, who are accustomed to helping people from many different backgrounds and cultures and with a wide range of personal issues.

Back to top