Hey, my name is Francesca, and I am an English student at Emmanuel College. I applied to Emma (the nickname for the college!) because of its partnership with Villiers Park Educational Trust; when I was in sixth-form I had the opportunity to take part in an outreach scheme called ‘Inspire2INVOLVE’ run by Villiers Park, which involved a five day residential in Cambridge followed by a project about the experience. Inspire2INVOLVE completely transformed my view of life beyond A-Levels and gave me the confidence to apply to Cambridge; for me Emma was an obvious choice since it is a college well-known for supporting access schemes and it admits a large proportion of state school students.
If I could have applied to another college it probably would have been Downing because it also does a lot of access work in the area where I’m from, and is located in the city centre like Emma. However, I am so pleased that I applied to Emma: it has beautiful grounds with a paddock occupied by ducks, a blue and gold dining hall and a chapel designed by Sir Christopher Wren. It also has a reputation as the ‘friendly’ college and my experience of the students and staff at Emma reflects this: the college is small enough to get to know lots of people in every year, and the staff are always around to chat to about anything. I always find myself running late to things because I get caught chatting with our friendly porters on the way into town!
Emma is located in the centre of Cambridge, opposite John Lewis and only a stone’s throw away from everywhere you need to be. It is next door to a Sainsbury’s Local, a ten minute walk away from the ADC Theatre, and five minutes away from the city’s market where you can grab lunch when dashing around. It’s great only walking fifteen minutes to my lectures at Sidgwick Site! One of the best things pre-covid was only having to walk five minutes to any of Cambridge’s nightclubs, so it always felt safe going out at night since I was never far from college.
Emma is unique for its student-run bar and the events that the student body organises, such as bar ex’s (meaning ‘bar extension’); pre-covid, bar ex’s were twice termly themed parties where all Emma students came to the bar dressed up in fun costumes. My favourite was a Christmas-themed bar ex when my friends and I dressed as the chocolates Celebrations! Emma is also unique for the close and friendly relationship the students have with the college Master, which I think greatly helps to create the college’s friendly reputation.
Student accommodation at Emma is great because during your three years at Emma you are never more than a ten minute walk away from college site. All first years live on site, either in Old South, New South or North Court, whilst second years often live off site in student houses. What’s more, new accommodation is currently being built which means that all undergraduates will be able to live on site! If I’m being completely honest, one of the drawbacks of being at Emma is the balloting system, which is how students decide where to live in second and third year. This system means you don’t always have much control over who you end up living with if you’re near the bottom of the ballot, which can be quite stressful. This tends to be a problem at other college’s too, since nearly all Cambridge students are provided accommodation via college as opposed to privately renting. However, Emma’s student union (called ECSU, short for Emmanuel College Student Union) has recently pushed for a lot of change when it comes to balloting and from next year students will be able to live with more of their friends! ECSU is a great part of college life and enables the student body to push for important change within college.
You should apply to Emma if you are keen to get stuck into student life at Cambridge – Emma is a really popular and inter-connected college, and I have met so many interesting people who are keen to engage with activities that broaden your interests beyond studying. It is a diverse and welcoming place: I have never felt out of place at Emma despite coming from a less ‘traditional’ background, and this is because of how friendly, supportive and progressive the college is.
Visit the Emmanuel College website for more details!