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Internationals' Page

Application

It is common for students from India to apply to Cambridge University through one of the following channels:

1) Undergraduate
Like students from the UK, international students should apply to Cambridge through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. Although you can apply independently, it is recommended that you apply through your institution if you are a member of one (e.g. your school).

2) Second BA
Students who complete a Bsc/BA degree in India usually apply for what is called a 'Second BA' degree in Cambridge. This essentially lets you study for the last two years of the undergraduate degree in any subject, equipping you with the equivalent of a Masters degree (note: though in some cases you will still be conferred with a BA degree, this should not deter you from going for this path, as a second BA degree from Cambridge in principle is looked upon as equivalent to a Masters degree for Indian students almost universally - be it by companies or universities.)

3) MPhil
(coming soon)

4) PhD Your first port of call for PhD applications is the concerned department. Admissions sections of every department should have all the information you need. Some departments ask you to liaise with potential supervisors before applying, some departments (humanities mostly) may ask for a research porposal, while for others you will decide your research project only after starting the degree at Cambridge.

Choosing a College

Cambridge University works on the collegiate system, with 31 colleges. A college is where students live, eat, and socialise.

If you are an MPhil/PhD student, the college has little (or almost no) influence on your academics. So your choice of college will only affect the kind of people you meet, what kind of accomodation you get, and how much you spend on food and other facilities.
If you are an undergraduate student, college does have an influence on your academics through the 'supervision' system. Supervisions are small group teaching sessions which are the cornerstne of the Oxbridge teaching system. The supervisors tend to be your college Fellows OR are alternatively chosen/organised by your college - so the better the Fellows in your subject at your college, the better your supervisions. Having said that, there is no 'direct' way of determining which college has a reputation for better supervisors - try and get in touch with people who have studied/are studying your subject at Cambridge.
As a second BA student, your supervisions are likely to be organised by your departments (responsibility for supervisions for the last year of a degree, and last 2 years in some cases, are transferred to the department from the college), so once again, college has little input into your academics.

So if academics don't matter, you can use the following pointers to choose your college:

Financial Assistance: If you have not already secured some sort of scholarship from India, and you don't think you could self-fund your education here, choose a college that seems to have more options of funding for international students. Look at the financial assitance page of every college for information.
Accomodation: Is the college likely to provide you with accomodation for all your years here? (Some colleges don't guarantee accomodation for PhD/MPhil students in their final years)
Does the college subsidise facilities such as internet, printing, food, etc.?
Does the college have particular facilities that you might be interested in? (e.g. squash courts, cricket ground, music room, dance room, etc.) It may be worthwhile to contact a potential college to enquire regarding any speciifc interests / needs.
Does the college look pretty? :) And is the college central (not very far from city centre) and / or close to your department (where you will perhaps spend most of your time as a MPhil/PhD student), if such issues matter to you.

Note for Second BA students:

Some colleges are for graduate or mature students only, e.g. Wolfson College or St. Edmunds.

Pros: Such colleges accept only second BAs and graduates, so your chance of being accepted at such colleges is that much higher.

Cons: These colleges happen to be farther away from city-centre and a bit isolated, since they make self-sufficient centres.

Pro/Con (depends how you look at it): You will find MANY more Indians of your background and age here.

Accomodation

Colleges provide accomodation in most cases (see above). It is the best and easiest choice (perhaps cheapest as well), at least for your first year here. After that, you can switch to a private rented apartment, or move into a house with friends, as you prefer - since you would be more familiar with Cambridge then.
Other possibilities of accomodation: http://www.accommodation.cam.ac.uk/

Visa Procedure

Apply well in advance! (as soon as you have your confirmation of admission from Cambridge, and once you have been able to organise finances, etc., and are sure that you will take up your position at Cambridge).

Follow the visa guidelines carefully. If they say - "produce originals," they MEAN produce originals . If they want x number of photocopies, ensure you have them. MOST IMPORTANT - watch out for the financial requirements you need to fulfill. If you are on a scholarship - ensure you have a letter from your sponsors clearly stating that they will fund your entire education and maintenance (as the case may be) for the entire duration of your stay here. If you are taking a loan - ensure you provide the papers which again state clearly that the sum borrowed will support your ENTIRE course duration. If you are self-funded, you may have to provide a HUGE bank balance (this information may be a bit outdated, but just follow the requirements the consulate states carefully.)

Scholarship / Financial Assistance

UK in general is not great on financial assistance for international students. In addition, university fees for international students are much bigger than for home / EU students (as you may have already noticed). So look for scholarships at home and from any source outside university as your first port of call. Some of your options are:

Inlaks Scholarship
http://www.inlaksfoundation.org/

Tata Foundation
http://www.tata.com/company/releases/inside.aspx?artid=9kJLhJ0ioWg=

At Cambridge:
Gates Cambridge Scholarship
http://www.gatesscholar.org/

Cambridge Commonwealth Trusts
http://www.cambridgetrusts.org/about-us/cambridge-commonwealth-trust.html

These are your two biggest options; make sure you make good applications to these.

There may be some department-specific international scholarships (e.g.: Isaac Newton Studentship for all physical science departments). Check department websites closely and / or contact the departments for details.

Choose your college wisely, so if all else fails, you may have some money source from the college you are admitted into.

Bank Loans: Start scouting around in India well in advance, so that you can apply as soon as you have your admission confirmed.
Some foundations (such as Tata Foundation) also provides interest-free loans for education abroad. Look out for these.

Note: Full-time degree students here will have NO TIME to do part-time jobs. So earning money to fund your education is NOT an option. PhD students may have the chance to supervise undergraduates during their 2nd / 3rd years. This pays well, but there is only a reasonable amount of workload you can take on (there is also a restriction laid on this by your department) and whether or not you get to supervise depends the on student to supervisor ratio in any given year - so it is variable.

Life in the UK

What to bring:

Rice cooker, if you must (that's the only thing you can't buy here)
Books (buying text books is expensive here)
Basic winter clothes (you�ll arrive in October, when it�s probably already starting to get cold, so don't wait to come here and buy your warm clothes)
Laptop (that's obvious these days)

What not to bring:
There are Indian stores here that sell Indian spices, daals, etc. So if you cook, you can buy stuff here; don't pack these in!

For further information, click here.