Cambridge University has a reputation of academic excellence and social decimation. It is viewed as a place where people strive for academic success whilst committing their brains to the psychological torture of uncaring professors and no mental health support. Anyone who has so much as considered an application there can attest to the praise and warning such an idea provides.
But how true are these beliefs? We asked a group of Cambridge students to find out their opinions.
Academics are evidently a large part of the Cambridge experience and three out of the eleven Cambridge students listed these as their favourite part of the university, with one stating that "academic excellence" was the reason for choosing to attend. This idea seemingly bleeds into the academic support offered by the university, which 45.5% of the respondents claimed they were very satisfied with (giving it a four on a scale of five).
However, four out of the eleven responses detailed their social life and friends as their favourite part of the university, seemingly disproving those notions that attending Cambridge is the act of 'social suicide' it is frequently deemed. 72.8% of applicants listed themselves as being very or extremely satisfied with the social life their time in university provided them (granting it either a four or five on a scale out of five). One responder even noted how "Cambridge is quite good for beginner sport and activities" which equally also aid people's lives, although they did also state how these do "come with a high workload".
When asked about the mental health support provided by the University, the vast majority of responders (53.7%) stated they were relatively unsatisfied, giving it a two or three on the scale out of five. The students did note how there are large amounts of variation between the colleges and courses within the university, with a music student claiming the "music department was full of friendly and understanding professors and supervisors" and found her "professors are always happy to provide extra academic support outside of their hours", stating she believes this was because of "a small cohort" of "around 75 students in a year for music". One student went as far as to suggest that "Cambridge cares more about its students than most universities" but also believes that Cambridge has a far "higher difficulty" level in comparison to other universities which results in generally "lower happiness".
Despite qualms and complaints posed by the students, 100% of them responded that they believed attending Cambridge was worth it, with nine of the eleven applicants saying they believe their Cambridge degree has provided them opportunities they would not have otherwise received.
The students’ experiences at Cambridge, whilst varying greatly, seem relatively easy to sum up in a single quote: “[it was] the best educational experience ever but I was very glad to be leaving”. Whilst it seems that Cambridge’s social reputation is not representative of most people’s experiences, the academic rigour, whilst valued by students, makes for a deeply challenging environment that many are ready to move on from.