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Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
From The Student RoomTSR Wiki > University > Choosing a University > University Guides > Cambridge > Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
It is populated by around 500 undergrads, 300 graduates, 100 fellows and 200 staff. The college has long historical associations with medical teaching especially due to its alumni physicians John Caius and William Harvey. Today it accepts an unusually large number of medical students each year. It also claims consistently high undergraduate academic achievement and has come second in the Tomkins table in the last two years (2005/2006). Former well-known Caians include William Harvey, John Venn, Harold Abrahams, Ronald Fisher and Edward Wilson.
Location The Caius Old Courts are located between the senate house and Trinity College right in the centre of town. The college also owns property on Rose Crescent, Green Street, West Road, Mortimer Road, Glisson Road and in St Mike's/St Mary's Courts (opposite the Old Courts). AccommodationFirst years live in Harvey Court, K block or Stephen Hawking Building. Harvey court is a large building from the 1960s. The rooms range from 2 room apartments to rather small bedsits. There is a bathroom and a kitchen (gyp room) to share along a corridor (about 6 to 10 people). Some of the rooms have balconies and many overlook the extensive gardens (especially those in A block). K block was previously the home of the international students. It is a Victorian building, and is home to our new common room, which includes a pool table, LCD tv and an international telephone. The rooms range from really quite huge (some with 1 or more sofas) to quite small, but still with room to move about. Again, the bathroom and kitchen facilities are shared. Some music students live here too because some of the rooms have pianos. K block now is home to a variety of students, no longer just international Finally, the new swanky hotel like building called The Stephen Hawking Building. This is a new multi-million pound accommodation building and conference suite. It is home to roughly 70 students. All rooms are en suite and a kitchen is shared between 6. It has automatic lighting when you walk into the kitchen or corridors and you open your door with an electronic card. All of these buildings are in a group together, and they are next door to the home of the law, English, history, languages (and other) faculties (the Sidgewick Site), and about 10 minutes from the old courts. 2nd years generally live on Rose Crescent or Green Street, St Mary's Court, St Mike's Court or one of the hostels on Mortimer Road. Rose Crescent and Green street rooms can be suites or single rooms, and are above shops or restaurants. Rose Crescent can be very noisy at night with many drunkards stopping off at the kebab shop "Gardies". The rooms are a decent size and in good condition. The rooms in St Mary's and St Mikes vary in size and condition. Some people share bathrooms with only 2 or 3 people, others with up to 10 people (L Staircase St Mary's for example). Both St Mikes and St Mary's are in a closed off courtyard opposite the main college so it's very secure. The hostels on Mortimer Road are large Victorian houses which are run by landlords or landladies, some of whom live within the house also. The rooms are large, and most of the houses also have access to a garden. Some second years also live in A block, Harvey Court. 3rd years live in the old courts or St Mikes. The rooms range from large sets or tiny cupboards, and are spread out through the three courts- Tree Court, Gonville Court and Caius Court. The most popular tends to be tree court because of the pretty views. The best rooms however are in Caius Court, overlooking the master's garden. Third years also get the pick of St Mikes or anywhere in non-first year accommodation, but they generally choose the old courts or St Mikes because these rooms are prettier and have more tradition. Social SpacesGardensAll of the gardens in the old court and in St Mary's are for fellows only- mere students cannot step on the grass. Harvey Court gardens are vast and pretty, and are open to all members of the college. Behind the gardens is Springfield, an accomodation building belonging to Caius, and crossing the road from there is the fellow's garden. It is lovely and floral, with a croquet set and bowling green available. It is open for events such as garden parties. Dining/HallThe dining hall at Caius is very pretty, with wooden panelling all around, a wooden beamed ceiling and the pictures of some important men at Caius all along the sides- one side for arts and humanities, the other for science. This includes a painting of Stephen Hawking who sometimes visits hall for dinner. the students dine at long tables, seated on benches generally, but sometimes chairs. Dinner is 3 courses, waiter-served and if you run out of vegetables or water you just hold up the jug or dish and a waiter appears to fill it up. BarThe college bar is situated in the Old Courts in the center of town. It is open to college members and their guests 7 days a week though closes early (9:30) on Saturday. There are a range of lagers on tap as well as bottled ale and a selection of wine. The bar also sells confectionery and extra dinner tickets. JCRThere are two JCRs in Caius- one in the old courts and one in Harvey court. The Harvey court JCR is where we hold the bops and other college events. It is a big hall with a lighting system, a bar and vending machines. The Old Courts JCR is filled with comfy chairs, newspapers and is a good place to meet and have a chat, it is also incredibly soporific since the heating is always on very high. There is also a common room in K Block with an lcd tv and lots of seating. Student affairs are handled by the GCSU- the Gonville and Caius student union. There are various officers such as the first year rep, welfare officers, LGBT officer and so forth. They hold regular committee meetings, and also open meetings which anyone can attend and get involved in. Library and ComputingLibraryThe Cockrell Building is a beautiful white building behind Senate House. It is home to the Caius archives, library and one of the computer rooms. Students can take books out if they wish, or they can study at the tables in the library. All major textbooks are there for all subjects, along with many supplementary texts. Computer SuiteThere are 3 computer rooms at Caius. The main one is underneath the library. There are about 30 PCs and 5 Macs all of which are fast. There are also 4 printers. The internet speed is fast and the room is nice and quiet and comfortable. The next best computer room is in Harvey Court. Again the computers are fast and there are printing facilities. The room can get a bit stuffy though. Finally, there is the computer room in K staircase of St Mary's. It is dark and gloomy, and is in the attic. The computers are slower than old women after an hour-long shopping trip, and there are only about 10 of them. There is no natural light in the room, and it feels a bit spooky. Only work here if you really have no other option. All computer rooms are available 24 hours a day. Room ConnectionThere is high speed internet connection in all rooms, except for some of Mortimer Road, Green Street and most of the Graduate accommodation although these are being worked on. There are no wireless networks and students are not allowed to set up their own. There currently limit on internet usage is 5Gb in any seven day period, although if you go over, you just get an automated email, so your internet isn't cut off and you don't get a fine like in other colleges. Popular programmes like windows live messenger and skype are not blocked. WelfareAll freshers have college parents who are available to offer help and support whenever it is needed. The GCSU also has a welfare team who deal with thing such as sexual health, stress management and so forth. There is also a welfare phone which you can text if you have any problems. Welfare team members will put condoms or pregnancy tests in your pigeon hole when and if they are needed. Or if you prefer anonymity, they can put them in their own pigeon holes. Every student also has a tutor, who is there if you have any pastoral problems, such as if you are stressed, depressed, unwell and so forth. They also have a director of studies who is available for issues to do with academic affairs such as the heavy workload, problems with supervisions and so forth. AtmosphereCaius is often referred to as the elitist college because we have a lot of old school boys and most of CUCA (Tories). However, Caius is also known for its friendly and welcoming atmosphere. People are proud to be at Caius, and there is real support for all our sports teams. Caius has the nice traditional feel to it, with its nice old buildings and crumbly fellows, but it isn't backwards as other colleges may be. Caius also has one of the best and most sought after may balls in Cambridge. FacilitiesCaius recently opened a gym in the ground floor of Harvey court, it is free to use except for a one off £10 membership fee. We do have a wonderful boat club, plus sports fields, tennis and squash courts. Student-eye viewCaius is a lovely friendly college. Everyone is proud to be there and so support Caius in all things. Often people say that Caius is the medical college, because we have some of the best supervisors in that area and accept many med students every year. It may well be true, but Caius is strong in all areas. I personally study law, and I am lucky to be supervised by some really intelligent people who are very prominent in their field (although that probably can be said for most colleges). Caius is a good college because we are right in the centre of town, so close too most facilities. The buildings of the old courts are magnificent, built in the style of a French Chateau. All of the accommodation belonging to Caius is comfortable, but some rooms are better than others (Stevie H building is the best!). Our boat club is very successful and is sponsored by linklaters, one of London's leading law firms. Our rugby team is also very successful. Caius is a very good college academically, coming second in the league table for 5 years running. Having said that, it is not all work. There is plenty of time to relax and have fun, anad people seem to remember Caians for those very two things. I really like Caius, as you can probably tell. My one complaint would be the food- it isn't very nice- but that can be overlooked :). I'm really glad I chose this college, as are most people it seems. It is a really friendly, atmospheric college with a good history and stunning reputation. | 
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