<p>Okay, so a classmate of mine just got into King's College. I am confused because I looked up King's College on wikipedia and it basically says that it is one of the "older" constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. What does that mean? Help this confused American out. Is it a prestigious acceptance? BTW she has dual US/UK citizenship. </p>
<p>If it is a prestigious acceptance, it somewhat upsets me because she was one of those students who cheated constantly in school and that she isn't that great of a student to begin with. She is in the International Baccalaureate program here in America too, but I see her not getting much better than a 35 on the diploma</p>
<p>I could also be mistaken and it is actually King’s College in London. AH! This system is hard to understand for an American…</p>
<p>The University of Cambridge is composed of 31 colleges, of which one is called King’s College. If she was accepted to this, then yes it is quite a prestigious acceptance indeed. On the other hand, there is another English uni called King’s College London, which can be thought of as part of the University of London. If she was accepted to this one instead, then it is not exactly a prestigious acceptance, but quite good nonetheless.</p>
<p>Let’s be clear, the University of Cambridge consists of: 31 colleges, various faculty buildings, dozens of libraries, museums, and university buildings. Everyone who attends (or teaches for that matter) at Cambridge will be a member of one of these colleges but a student’s educational experience extends far beyond a college. No college is any more “prestigious” than another - despite various attempts to say otherwise. Your friend’s acceptance at Cambridge is what is prestigious, not his or her specific college. Nobody outside of Cambridge will ask which college you are a member of, and most people end up choosing which college to apply to based upon non-academic factors such as proximity to one’s faculty building or just because they like the “feel” or “look” of it.</p>
<p>Americans (I’m one) have a difficult time understanding this system because we use the term “college” to mean either “university” or a specific academic institution within a university - such as “college of arts and sciences”. But that has NOTHING to do with Cambridge’s use of the term. With a few exceptions, each college will accept students studying any academic subject. And besides your in-college supervisions, your lectures will be conducted in the faculty buildings for the most part.</p>
<p>"Americans (I’m one) have a difficult time understanding this system because we use the term “college”</p>
<p>Let me put it this way: people around the globe have difficulties understanding the Oxbridge system, and citizens of the UK are no exception. The Oxbridge college system is unique, despite many American universities (such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc) adopted it. The difference is, that those colleges of American universities are residential, and undergrad only, whereas at Oxford and Cambridge EVERY student is a member of a college, and the colleges are independent charitable institutions on their own right, with own possessions and with a significant degree of autonomy. But research, the faculties, etc are organized by the University core. It’s a bit like US itself: the states have a certain degree of freedom, but in overall belong to something bigger that commands most of the money.</p>
<p>Be as it may, it could easily happen that your friend got into King’s College London, what is a part of the University of London. The UoL is a federal university, like the American state universities, most notably California. In this context, the word “college” stands for a full research university, not a residential-like college of a single university, which is the case with King’s College at Cambridge.</p>
<p><a href=“Study at Cambridge | University of Cambridge”>Study at Cambridge | University of Cambridge;
<p>(There’s a video on the right)</p>