You definately won't be able to park you car in College, only Fellows would be able to. Some outlying residences do have car parking spaces, but again, officially you have to register it. Its something to do with the environmental impact of the University, and a deal they made with the City Council.

The Babraham Institute is well served by buses; they come down my road every 20 minutes or so.

You have to live here I guess to understand how bad the car/traffic situation is. We live here as normal residents and have parking - but we're a bit further out than most people. I have lived closer into town and it is very hard to park your own car near your own house in many areas (and it's all residents permit only).

You could ask about accomodation with parking - but it's unlikely in college itself (I don't know of any).

simuzosha,
as sjo4 said we got a mortgage based on my hubbys wages and also my stipend. The first place would not consider us but we got one with the woolwich in the end.

If you want to use your car - get a flat/house on the side of Cambridge near the exit to Babraham. If your college doesn't have a suitable place there are tons of rental properties here. Traffic through town gets gridlocked.

We are in the process of trying to sell our house and the market is really diving right now. We have had to knock the price down 3 times - and still just got an offer yet lower. We're moving out to the 10 mile limit (but I don't think it's stricly enforced) - property prices in town are VERY high. We plan to park and cycle if we ever get there.

The thing about a car in cambridge is that you just don't need one. We recently moved to Cambourne (about 10 miles away) and I would never ever drive to work- the traffic is awful and there is very little car parking.
The buses are actually pretty good and are quite cheap. You can get a bus pass for a week for £10 and that pretty much goes everywhere within Cambridge. Its actually much cheaper than a car. Although I suppose when it comes to doing the weekly shopping I wouldn't be without a car!!
When I lived in college I had a car parking space.But Selwyn is slightly out of town. I think its tougher with the more central ones.
Perhaps think about applying to Selwyn, Robinson, Girton, Clare hall, Churchill which may (or maynot) have car parking spaces. I know Selwyn does.

Omega-Monkey - we're trying to move to Linton from near Milton. I use the car for the weekly shopping and to drive my daughter out of town. The bus is too unreliable from here but I hear the park and ride/cycle is good.

I would probably want to use the car if I were going out to Babraham every day - I have been to the Inst out there a few times (very good facilities and lots of parking). And you would be going aginst the rush our traffic. But in town - no.

thanks for all your help. I am really worried about my car now. Thinking of selling but really adicted to driving. If I walk for 5mins I get itchy all over my body(no kidding its the truth). I am not that big, I am size 12 going on 14. I guess I am not that fit and cambridge may just be about to teach me a lession. I live in yorkshire now and I drive to pritty much anywhere.

I know at the babraham the parking is there , I saw it when I went for interview.
I guess I just have to check if teh accomodation that I will get from st Johns(my first choice)will have parking.
tell me how do the colleges decide if the accept you or not.
I have a first class undergradute degree , on course for a distinction in my current masters.
So if its accademics i may not be all that bad.

My program is full funded by the BBRSC and so I have secured my fuding and I have the offer from babraham which I have now accepted.

Hello! I just received an offer to do a PhD there too in psychology on the MRC scholarship. Very, very excited, and so far my supervisor has been wonderful and supportive so I've accepted my offer.

I've put Pembroke down as my first choice, and Downing as my second, purely because of the location! Could anyone tell me anything about these colleges?

I'm also worried about how rigorous the PhD programme is going to be......

Also, what's it like living hand in hand with freshers in colleges? Does their revelry get annoying?

''I have a first class undergradute degree , on course for a distinction in my current masters.
So if its accademics i may not be all that bad.''

Hmmm - well I have to tell you that that is far from rare in these parts! Not sure what the criteria tbh.

look into accommodation with a parking - but I still think you should get a bike for town. It's flat here - you can do it really you can. If I can cycle here - anyone can.

Lyra - you are a bit closer to my field. But I don't have any revelry to put up with unless you count my 2.5 year-old who can get pretty bumptious. Nice old colleges - very central.

Few people actually live literally 'in' college for more than a year or two (if that). Then you are in college digs around town.

To Lyra777,
Congrats on your offer. Pembroke is a beautiful college and Downing isnt so bad either. I was initially accepted into Downing but turned it down as they couldnt offer me accommodation ( I didnt apply till july )

Both are located in the centre of town. Where abouts will you be based?

As regards how tough things can be at Cambridge; it really does vary quite a bit for grad students.

Everyone who comes to Cambridge is expected to work quite hard, but how intensive it is going to be for you will ultimately depend on how much support you get from your sup, as well as the demands of the project you are working on....

I went for an interview at Imperial College London a while back and a comment was made by a Professor about the relatively little support students get at Cambridge compared to Imperial. This may be a bit of a generalization, but he has a point in saying that in some quarters, there is a big swim or sink mentality at Cambridge

It suffices to say I had a bit of a rough time in Cambs ( I'm off to Oxford in October)

In my case, I didnt really make any progress in my proejct in my first year and my supervisor wasnt at all supportive. I would on average have a project meeting every two to three months with him. other wise I would have no other formal contact with him. The project wasnt very interesting or novel for that matter but there where huge expectations.

After getting stabbed in the back at my first year review, I left. My head of department, advisor, and college tutor got involved. They took my side and so I had a lot of support to stay in Cambridge but decided it was best to move on...

I do hope you enjoy your time in Cambridge. A beautiful place to live and a world class environment to study and work in.

You may feel intimated coming to a place like Cambridge, but these are feeling most people experience.

I'm at Darwin which has a really friendly, non-competive atmosphere. Everybody on my course is also super friendly and we all help each other out - perhaps more so because of the sink or swim attitude of some of the academics. I lived in college accommodation for 2 years but it wasn't on the main site and did have (minimal fight the neighbours for it) parking. If you are looking for couples accommodation it will probably be off-site. I have never had a car in cambridge. Now I live further out of town but still use my bike everyday and sometimes catch the bus if the whether is bad. Cambridge is so tiny you don't need a car inside it. You'll probably find good buses + car shares going out to the institute you're at.

To rjb203

Thanks for you reply!

I'll be based at the Downing science site. I was thinking first of making Downing my first choice, but then I heard about the Winnie The Pooh society at Pembroke and decided it had to be my first choice :P

I'm getting quite scared reading the testimonials from ex-Cambridge students.... My supervisor so far seems very supportive so I'm hoping that I will not have the same problem!!

lrya,
Ye Pembroke is a great choice.you may be interested to know that the Trinity college library has the original copy of the first winnie the poo book