Life at Jesus

A Cambridge College is much more than just a hall of residence. Besides providing accommodation and food, and forming a community of which you are a member during your time at Cambridge, it provides a range of facilities and services to support you in your work and leisure activities, and financial support if needed. If you are an undergraduate, the College also takes responsibility for admitting you to the University of Cambridge and organises the small-group teaching (known as supervisions) that is such an important and distinctive part of Cambridge life.

The University has its own central administration, and each College has a governing body which decides its organisation and policy. At Jesus College, undergraduates and graduate students serve on this body (the College Council) and on many other policy-making committees. Each College is a self-governing community with its own way of life, and provides opportunities for students of all ages and in all subjects to intermingle. The Colleges range in size from just over 200 to around 1100 students, and this variation, together with their diverse atmospheres and facilities, makes each College slightly different. The student body at Jesus numbers just over 750 of whom about 65% are undergraduates and 35% graduates.

Jesus has a lot to offer you besides intellectual challenge. With a medieval Chapel, on-site sports pitches, laundries, and sick bay, the College is equipped to cope with most of your reasonable bodily and spiritual needs. The College Bar features oak floors, a contemporary chrome bar and seating on intimate booths, bar stools and comfortable chairs, a large-screen TV, and views across the cricket pitch. The Forum is a popular multi-purpose space that can be used for aerobics, parties, theatrical productions, meetings – pretty much any sort of gathering, in fact. There is a small but well equipped dark-room, a snooker room, and you can listen to recordings borrowed from the Jesus College Students’ Union’s (JCSU) vast collection while contemplating the Henry Moore on loan from its art store. There are undergraduate and graduate common rooms with TVs and newspapers (for those who don’t want to lose touch entirely with the outside world). Rules and regulations are kept to a minimum, and those which do exist are enforced by a warm and amiable bunch of Porters.

It’s tempting to be seduced by the social diversity and friendly security of the College, and many a student is hurled through each intense and hectic eight-week term with only a vague suspicion that there may be life beyond Cambridge. Whether there is (and let’s face it, who knows?), Jesus is a great place to spend the last years of your youth.