A l t e r n A t i v e p r o s p e c t u s
the students’ Guide to Murray edwards college
You are holding the Murray edwards college Alternative prospectus, a student-writ
ten guide to life at a unique ca
mbridge college. the aim of this prospectus
is to give you a view of our college from a
student pers pec-tive, and let you know wh
y we think Murray edwards stands out. this prospectus m
at-ters to us – Murray edwar
ds is our home and our community, and is a college t
hat has given each and every one of us a sens
e of courage, opportunity and
empowerment. As students, we want to see our college c
on-tinue to thrive and develop, and for th
is, we want you – enthusiastic,
bright, individual young women – to consider coming he
re. Murray edwards is one of the newer cambridge colleges and w
hile you get to enjoy the splendour of ‘old’ cambridge
, you also have the chance to be
part of creating something new: Murray e
dwards is still writing its history, and th
at’s something that all studen
ts are a part of shaping and
developing.
Being an all-female colleg
e is only one aspect of our identity, and is far from the on
ly thing that sets us apart. t
he architecture, the accessibility of the gr
ounds, and the sup-portive ethos of the colleg
e are just some of the things that make our
college a fantastic working environment. no
t to mention the termly film festivals, the environment
on the edge lectures, and the
small fact that the college hosts the world’s second la
rgest collection of women’s art, all of which
allow you to be stimulated and challenged o
utside your studies.
if you are looking for a co
llege that is far from “stuffy”, very suppo
rtive of student ini-tiatives and involvement, and that dar
es to do things differently, con
sider coming to our open Day, have a wander
around the college and see if it’s what you’re looking for.
staff and students will be more
than willing to an-swer any questions you m
ay have. Good luck with your decis
ion-making!
The Altern
ative
Prospectus
team
Welcome to
the collegiate system is just one of the things which makes cambridge special. colleges are responsible for your accommodation: they are where most people sleep, eat and study and each has its own unique identity. Mur-ray edwards is a relatively small college with only 360 undergraduates, and this makes college a strong com-munity where we make some of our closest friends.
Although as a student at cambridge you belong to a college this doesn’t mean that you’re restricted to it. lectures and practicals are all organised by subject de-partments and are in mixed groups from all undergradu-ate colleges. socialising is also not restricted to college. Murray edwards students are involved in university clubs and societies and regu-larly head to other colleges’ ents (strange cambridge vo-cabulary for music events in colleges) or into town to the pubs and clubs.
Murray edwards is about
a 20min walk or a 5min free wheel from town. Being slightly removed means that we get to escape the claus-trophobic centre, have more space in college and aren’t constantly photographed by passing tourists (which re-ally annoys students at the old colleges after a while). Murray edwards is also one of the hill colleges – the other two being Fitzwilliam and churchill. the three col-leges are all nestled together on the hill and collaborate frequently such as with the hill college magazine and the ‘orchestra on the Hill’. Being close to Fitzwilliam and churchill, it is easy to visit their college bars, pop along to their events and make lots of friends.
Murray edwards stu-dents are hugely active within the university and the college is generally seen as very outgoing. Murray ed-wards is far from insular and this works both ways. students from other colleges are always found at our
ents, events, and just visit-ing. Friends from home or college, boyfriends or family are always welcome and visi-tors can stay in students’ rooms or book accommoda-tion in the college.
We get the best of both worlds. We belong to a unique, interesting and sup-portive community within college, as well as to the more diverse wider univer-sity. We can mix with other colleges, make friends else-where, get involved in uni-versity-wide societies and projects and yet can also come back to our ‘home’.
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Murray edwards college has very few “re-stricted areas” that we, as students, can’t ac-cess. We’re encouraged to take as much advantage as we can of all the facilities that college has on offer and this means that the whole college becomes a second home very soon after arriving. However, there are some spaces that we use particularly frequently.
the Jcr – Junior
combina-tion room
the Jcr is the student-“owned” room. it’s a good space for spending time with other peo-ple, and is furnished with sofas, tables, bean-bags and cushions. there is also the Froud room - a room for chilling and watching films and tv with friends.
the Bar
Murray edwards Bar has a very distinct ar-chitecture because it has two floors. the Bar is used for a bit of everything – live music nights, film screenings on the 60” tv, casual afternoon art workshops… not to mention breakfast.
the Dome
the Dome is the Grade ii listed venue where both cafeteria meals and Formal Halls (we have some of the best college food in cam-bridge!) take place. But it is also the best place in college to throw a really, really good party. the students’ union holds “ents” here several times a term, with everything from a Burn’s night ceilidh to nights with the hottest DJs in town.
Music and sports Facilities
We have several music practice rooms and anos (including a steinway for the keen pi-anists), as well as good sports facilities, such as our squash, netball and tennis courts and gym, so that most hobbies can be catered for!
Art Facilities
in the midst of all the hustle and bustle of uni life, Murray edwards’ art facilities offer a lit-tle oasis where all creative juices can spill, from stick men to photography, finger paints to batik prints. the coach House and adjoining dark room are unique art and design spaces available to all students, around the clock. these facilities can be used by students work-ing on their own projects, and for the art workshops frequently arranged both for col-lege and the wider public.
the Gardens
Murray edwards gardens are beautiful but dif-ferent from all other cambridge colleges. For starters, we can walk on the grass, and we’re also allowed to pick the flowers, grapes, apples and herbs that our award-winning gardeners provide the college with. it’s all there for stu-dents to enjoy, amongst the contemporary art statues dotted around the gardens.
And finally…Your room!
this is where you work and live and is your own personal space, which you can decorate as you wish! rooms can become incredibly per-sonal. they are the best places to spend an evening in with friends – especially our unique (and huge) split level rooms!
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societies
there is plenty to get involved in at Murray edwards. there are lots of different soci-eties and you can get involved with as much as you want! For sporty people, Murray ed-wards has plenty of teams from football to hockey, badminton to rugby, or you can try something a bit different: how about ulti-mate Frisbee? Anyone who is a little bit cre-ative might want to get involved with life-drawing classes, or Madhouse, Murray edwards’ drama society, which puts on pro-ductions every year. Many subjects have so-cieties such as the Franklin society for natural scientists, or the politics society, which put on talks and debates. if you want to try something a bit different, how about the Fairtrade society, or the ice-cream Mak-ing society? if there is somethMak-ing else you want to do, then any student can form their own society, so you needn’t feel limited by what’s already on offer. college also hosts lots of interesting events that students are encouraged to attend. these include termly film festivals and
regu-lar art exhibitions, which are free. past film festivals have looked at issues as di-verse as human traf-ficking and the future of evolution; they often include films that you wouldn’t get the chance to see any-where else! Whatever you are interested in, there is always plenty to do!
I've taught English at a local primary school, written for student newspapers and volunteered for Linkline, Cambridge's phone-in student support service. I'm most proud of my role as Student Ambassador for SOS Children's Villages, the world's largest orphan charity, in which I founded a teaching project to inform Cambridge school children on global and social issues such as AIDs. I also hitched from London to Morocco to raise money for charity, and received funding from College and the univer-sity to work in Thailand and Nicaragua in summer vaca-tions. My best memories of Cambridge, however, will be the times I spent with the friends I made at Murray Ed-wards – going out, staying in, moaning about boys or hav-ing a brilliant time without them, and eathav-ing the best hall food in Cambridge! There are so many opportunities at Cambridge – social, academic and extra-curricular – and
Murray Edwards is a friendly, supportive place to take advantage of them, I wouldn't
want to be anywhere else and I'll be very sad to leave when I graduate. Primrose Lovett, Theology
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if you are coming to cambridge, or thinking of ap-plying, then you probably enjoy learning, and will thrive in the intellectual community Murray ed-wards provides. Hopefully you will soak up as much knowledge as your curiosity allows you to, and get up to lots more on the side. At Murray edwards you will be given the support you need to believe in yourself and in your intellectual and academic potential. the
number of alumnae that re-turn to give talks, offer in-ternships and are willing to be contacted about careers through our Development office is testament to the bond that students form with college. in addition, the college provides sup-port in making the transi-tion to university, and making career choices through the Gateway
pro-gramme (which is unique to our college). there are various ways of learning at cam-bridge, such as lectures, supervisions, practicals and personal study. lectures are held in your de-partment, and are attended by all students doing your course. this is a great place to meet stu-dents from other colleges. You will be taught by the top specialists, whether they are into digging up dinosaurs or reading
baroque poetry.
supervisions are small group sessions, with
often only two or three students and a supervi-sor. You will have at least one, if not more, super-visions a week. they give you a chance to dig deeper into the parts of your subject you love most, challenging you to explore a whole range of ideas and giving you the chance to stretch your-self intellectually. supervisions at Murray ed-wards aren’t designed to test you, but to help you
learn progressively. You will also spend a lot of time study-ing on your own, which gives you the chance to concentrate on the topics you find fasci-nating.
Murray edwards has a re-ally well stocked library (which means a lot in cam-bridge), that is open 24/7! in a recent debate at the cambridge union, it was voted that cambridge university was institutionally sexist, and this is why the women’s colleges still exist – to give women an equal opportunity in a male-domi-nated environment. supervisors at Murray ed-wards will never tell you to ‘write in a more masculine style’, nor will you be in the tiny mi-nority if doing a subject like mathematics or engi-neering. We celebrate bright women, and we are a community that believes very much that well-be-haved women don’t make history, but intelligent ones do!
Welfare
one of the special things about Murray edwards is the way in which students are supported by the college, and by each other. students form a tight-knit commu-nity where people look after each other, and, contrary to the stereotype, all-female colleges are not bitchy, and the atmosphere is different to that of girls’ schools. But
it’s not just students; everyone from the porters to the cleaners, the cooks to the academics, is always very friendly. this
creates a relaxed environment where students are not left to feel stressed, lonely or down.
if there are rough patches during your time here then you will find that the support structure is amazing. Friends provide immediate comfort, but when that isn’t quite enough, every student has their own personal tutor and Director of studies. every first year is also assigned a college ‘mum’. this is a student from your subject in the year ahead, who will explain the many mysteries of cambridge colleges, hand down lecture notes, and bring you cake when you inevitably catch freshers’ flu.
the Mecsu (Murray edwards college students’ union) is our student committee. As well as running student events and representing the stu-dents’ point of view on college council (the college’s executive body), it
also exists to provide a sup-port network. in addition to a Welfare officer, there is a welfare sub-committee with representatives for academic affairs, lBGt (lesBiGay-trans) and disabilities. the Welfare officer organises regular events, such as a weekly drop-in where we meet up, have tea and bis-cuits while the Mecsu Women’s and Welfare offi-cers are around to chat to, usually whilst chilling out with an art workshop.
At Murray edwards, people matter more than exam grades. Although there is a lot of work, you will be supported and encouraged, rather than pushed to your breaking point.
My school had never pushed people to apply to Oxbridge and I was convinced that I wouldn't get a place but as my family were always telling me, "If you're not in it, you can't win it" (cheesy, yes, but possibly the best advice I've ever been given!). I had originally applied to Downing and when I found that I had been pooled to an all-girls College, I was scepti-cal, as I was always used to a mixed envi-ronment. However, as I learnt from my first few weeks at Murray Edwards, there have been lots of opportunities to socialise with people from other Colleges. The really spe-cial thing about Murray Edwards is the offer holders' day when you have the chance to meet people who will be in your year and spend a night at the College. The experi-ence helped with the nerves when I was moving over in October and
was definitely worthwhile!
Kirsty McCarroll, Law
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Murray Edwards is one of the coolest places in the world, and I am proud to call it my home-away-from-home!
It's full of vibrant personalities which makes it all too easy to make friends from all year groups that you know you will keep in touch with long after you leave! The porters here are great and always give you a smile when you've come back from a hard day, the tutors are amazingly efficient and always there when you knock on their doors! And the maintenance people are like su-permen... they fix
everything!
Aalaa Jawad, Medicine
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We hope that, having read this prospectus; you’re already a Murray edwards convert. However, if you’re still not sure then please come and visit! check out the college website for information on open days. these are a really good way to get a feel for the atmosphere in college, look around and ask lots of questions. if you can’t make one of these, then come and visit whenever you can - visi-tors are always welcome. You can
al-ways get in touch with the college even if you are unable to visit; the college admissions office is really friendly if you need any practical ad-vice, or if you’d like any information from a student perspective then email the Mecsu access officer. We know that the applications
process can be pretty scary – after all we have been through it ourselves and so as students, we do our best to make those applying feel at ease by organis-ing thorganis-ings like film nights for interviewees stayorganis-ing in college and our offer -holders’ overnight stay in March.
For a lot of people, the idea of an interview is
the most daunting part of the application process, but they are actually not that bad! the people in-terviewing you will not expect you to know all the answers; they just want to see potential and a de-sire to learn. A lot of people are put off applying simply because they don’t think they are smart enough. cambridge really is not full of child prodi-gies and most people are just
bright, enthusiastic and dedicated. Murray edwards prides itself on its diverse and inclusive community– people from all backgrounds are wel-come here.
so if you are concerned that you don’t fit a certain ‘cambridge stereo-type’ then Murray edwards might be the perfect place for you. Wealth, eth-nicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation and so on are all irrelevant unless you want them to be relevant. At Murray edwards there are no moulds to fit into, no hoops to jump through - this is a place where we are free to be ourselves re-gardless of who that might be.
I knew nothing about Cambridge when I applied. I was given a couple of links to some of the websites of the old Colleges, but for some reason didn’t feel at home with what I read and saw. Instead, I applied to what was then “New Hall”, and in ret-rospect, I know that was the best decision I could have made. All Colleges have their respective advantages and disadvantages, so in choosing which one to go to, you just have to make up your mind about what matters most to you. What I found appealing about this one was the idea of belonging to an academic community of interesting, diverse and outgoing women.
Åsa Odin Ekman, Politics
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Get in touch...
visit our website – www.newhall.cam.ac.uk/students/jcr
our new website will be www.murrayedwards.cam.ac.uk. You will be transferred automatically when the site is live.
Alternitavely email the Mecsu Access officer (student representative working with admissions) at [email protected]
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A l t e r n A t i v e p r o s p e c t u s
the students’ Guide to Murray edwards college
y M ur ra y e dw ar ds c oll eg e is th e o pe ra tin g n am e o f n ew H all
