Hey everyone,
I hope you are having a good day. Today, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about my experience at the Cambridge Open Day last week.
Before I go into detail, I just want to say that overall it was quite a pleasant experience. The scenery, people, and places were wonderful, and it was a change of pace from London life.
I spent the first part of my day at the Computer Science Department in the West Cambridge Site, starting off with an admissions lecture. The lecture covered what is required to get into Cambridge Computer Science, and also the history of the subject at Cambridge. Cambridge was is in fact the first established CS Department in the country, with it also being the first to have a computer. I found it quite insightful, and the academic delivering the presentation was quite funny. Overall, the course is more academic than that of Imperial. They start you off with a good foundation in the first 2 years, allowing you to explore a range of fields within the subject in the following year. The Masters in the 4th year is called the ‘0th year of a PhD’ as you take part in a research project of your choice to prepare.
Overall, the Cambridge course allows you to delve deep into both theory and practice. On the practical side, apart from individual and group projects, there is a graduate fair held at the end where 50+ companies come to recruit students. Cambridge’s goal in their CS course is to produce ‘future-proof’ computer scientists to innovate, hence the heavy mathematical basis. Thus, it’s not as practical as Imperial, which emphasizes experience. Cambridge is known to have many CS graduates who go on to produce startups, but this seems to be more from their own volition due to the course's focus on theory rather than entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, I found the Cambridge course quite decent, with the taster lecture offering an interesting sneak peek into what is to come. The professor leading it worked on systems for space missions, which I thought was quite cool. The aspect that stood out to me during this hour was the initiative and confidence of some students, which is not surprising since the room was full of hardworking and bright individuals. I then set out to see some presentations of student projects and ask around. I found some startups there, which was cool to see (they built an AI learning platform which I was planning on making) and some PhD students doing Cybersecurity.
If you don’t already know, Cambridge has a college system, which means that as part of the university, you attend lectures at the department but also have 1-1 tutorials with a director of study at your college of choice where you also live. There are 31 colleges in Cambridge, so a lot to choose from. Naturally, one of the first questions I asked students was which one they recommend. The general advice is that every college is at the same level and it doesn’t matter which one you choose, but that doesn’t really help much in narrowing it down. From those I talked to in the presentations room, I was recommended Churchill and Robinson. However, on my way out, I met a YouTuber I discovered in my search of ‘day in the life’ vlogs - Film by Zeb. I asked him the same question and got a direct answer: ‘Queens - Good amount of CS students, good Director of Studies, good vibe’. So off I went to Queens, then Pembroke (since it was close by), then Emmanuel (since that’s where Ali Abdaal went along with a Computer Science student doing reviews online). It was lovely to see so many colleges and how unique they are. Before I came, I was actually considering Trinity College (where Isaac Newton went) but I’m keeping an open mind since they require an extra test. I can’t really say which was my favourite as I liked each one for different reasons, but I think I might devote a future post to the colleges since I’m still processing them.
Another aspect I wanted to mention is that I found Cambridge to be in its own bubble. It’s pretty much in its own world, probably because it’s a university city. I think this atmosphere has its advantages in terms of focus and reflection given the slower pace compared to London, though I’m not sure if it is a disadvantage in the sense that it’s not connected with the latest innovation outside of what Cambridge does. I saw lots of WeWork offices, so it’s clear that startups are popular in the area. I haven't been left overwhelmingly inspired yet, but I guess that moment for me for both the subject and the universities has already happened. We shall ponder.
Gratitude for every word read and every thought shared. Until next time!
Best wishes,
Ismail
P.S. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out Success Posts by Simo! Find out what success really means and how to achieve it.
Link —> https://substack.com/@thesuccessfulposts
P.P.S. Spain won Euros. Did we expect it?
Really interesting article.
I didn't know Cambridge uses this system but hey that's Cambridge.
Good Luck