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St Catharine's College
www.student.caths.cam.ac.uk/jcr
St. Catharine’s (or Catz, as it is affectionately nicknamed) is one of Cambridge’s more central colleges, tucked in right next to Kings. The town centre site is where all first and third years live, with second years living 5 minutes away at a separate site, St Chad’s. Its central location means that you are never more than 5 minutes away from shops, cafés and cash points, and with most departments a similar distance away, you can easily make that 9am lecture with at least a little bit of a lie-in!
Sara Dalton
2nd year, Natural Sciences
Bingley, West Yorkshire
All incoming freshers can choose between rooms in older, more traditional buildings where they will share a bathroom and a kitchen with around 5 other students, or they can opt for a more modern room, most of which have en suites. At St. Chad’s, students live in flats of four or five, all of which contain two bathrooms, a kitchen and spacious bedrooms (which are all octagonal in shape!). Both the main site and St. Chad’s have their own laundry and computing facilities, although both of our libraries (which are open 24/7!) are on main site.
Catz provides catered food, offering three meals a day in hall which cost around £2-£4 in price. The food has improved over the past few years, with Sunday brunch being particularly popular amongst students. For those who are a little more experienced in the kitchen, there is of course still the option of cooking for yourself if hall is not your thing. However, you must beware – there are no ovens on main site (and with the planned refurbishment of St Chad’s over the next few years, it’s uncertain whether we’ll have the luxury of ovens in second year too). Whilst for many this may seem like quite a travesty, it has prompted some quite ingenious alternative methods (who knew you could boil ham in Coca-Cola?!). For special occasions there is of course formal hall, which costs £8.85 a go - a great price especially since Catz are the only college with a cheese course! Students can bring their own wine and they are not charged to do so, which is again unlike many of the other colleges.
For a fairly small college we have an excellent range of sports facilities, ranging from our indoor Badminton and Squash courts to our Astroturf and Sports pitches. We have almost every sport on offer, and we are particularly well-known for our Hockey successes, both Men’s and Women’s teams dominating at every opportunity. We also have our own underground gym on-site which is popular, and our boat house (which we kindly share with Lucy Cavendish) down by the river if you’d like to give rowing a go. So if you’re a bit of a professional or even if you’ve never picked up a hockey stick before in your life, there is something for everyone!
Best thing? College pride and community feel – ‘For the Wheel’ isn’t our (unofficial) motto for nothing.
We are also a very active college in both music and theatre, with facilities such as an organ and piano in the Chapel and practice rooms for those keen to play. There are several concerts held in college every year, and even if you’ve never sung before, then our non-audition Choir ‘Scatz’ is great (especially for those of us who secretly dream of a role on Glee, apparently...anyway, moving on...) Our drama society (The Shirley Society) has put on some great shows over the past few years, and it is an excellent environment to get involved in, whatever your experience.
Catz is currently undergoing some major building work which has seen our beloved (yet way-past-its-sell-by-date) bar be demolished to make way for a new College Centre, which will hopefully be open for 2012-2013. This will include a brand new underground bar, JCR common room, auditorium, conference rooms and extra places for study if the library is not your thing. This is a very exciting project and if the designs are anything to go by, the result will only enhance what Catz already has to offer.
Worst thing? Our small size... it can be hard to keep a secret!
Catz is well-known for being one of the friendlier colleges, and we didn’t earn this reputation for nothing - it is very rare to be in and around college and not bump into someone familiar. Whilst the small size of the college may sometimes seem a little claustrophobic, it is a great environment to thrive in both socially and academically. You can be sure that by choosing St Catharine’s, you really will meet some of the most amazing people and make the greatest memories of your life here. So whatever your background, come and see what Catz has to offer - you won’t be disappointed.