In which Senior Staff Writer and former Events Editor Ava Slocum tells us about her first semester of a year-long study abroad program in the UK!

Happy almost-end of the semester to everyone at Columbia! I’m a junior in CC and I’m spending this year studying abroad at Clare College, Cambridge, as part of Columbia’s Oxford/Cambridge Scholars Program (Academic Year). As opposed to some of the one-semester Oxford/Cambridge programs, where you’re in a cohort with other Columbia and/or American students, I’m a “visiting student” at Clare College. So far, that’s meant that I’m more or less enrolled as a regular Cambridge student for this year instead of being in a separate study abroad program.

Right now, I’m at home for winter break (the first term ended on December 1—so early!), but I’ll be back at Cambridge from January until June. There are a few other Columbia juniors on the program spread out at different Oxford and Cambridge colleges, but I’m the only one at Clare College. As far as I know, I’m actually one of only two American undergrads at Clare, and the only one studying abroad, since the other girl, also a third-year, is doing her whole degree there. (Funnily enough, we’re from the same part of Southern California, and we met through a mutual friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend from back home. Small world!)

I miss Columbia (and Bwog!), but I love it at Clare. I’ve been having such a lovely year so far, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to study abroad, and excited to go back for another two terms. There are a lot of differences between Columbia and Clare College, most of which I was pretty ignorant about before getting there. So, in case it’s helpful for anyone else thinking about studying abroad, here is a list of fun facts/observations/differences from Columbia/various random details from this first term at Cambridge:

1. The whole academic system is completely different (but different in a lot of good ways, I think).

I would say the biggest difference between Cambridge and universities in the US is the level of individual attention you get as an undergraduate student. A lot of this comes down to size: Cambridge has around 13,000 undergrads as opposed to Columbia’s ~5,000; however, at Cambridge, we’re divided up into 31 individual colleges. What this means is that there are only 21 students across all three years doing my subject (English) at Clare College. My two seminars this first term had eight and nine students respectively including me.

For me, the best thing about the small class sizes has been the “supervisions” I’ve had with instructors. Every week, I write a 2,000-word essay and then have a meeting about it with my supervisor, either one-on-one or with maybe one other student. Having a one-on-one meeting with a professor going into depth about your essay seems intimidating, but I’ve appreciated it so much, and I think the ability to discuss something I’ve written in so much detail is really helpful as a humanities student especially. (For STEM, I think their supervisions are usually with a small group of students, and they all go over a problem set together).

Supervisions (called “tutorials” at Oxford, I think) are definitely more of an Oxford/Cambridge thing than a UK-universities-in-general thing. And I don’t think they happen at most US colleges except very small liberal arts ones, but I’m very grateful to have had the chance to have supervisions this year.

Other differences: Lectures are university-wide and happen at a building separate from Clare College, and, at least for English, seem to be 100% optional. That isn’t true for STEM students who learn most of their course content in lectures, but for English, lectures are more like an optional supplement to whatever you’re learning in your college. There are so many good ones on quite a few different topics, though, and I’ve really enjoyed going to them.

Instead of two semesters, the year is divided up into three terms: Michaelmas Term (which I just finished), Lent Term, and Easter Term.

Also, at Cambridge (and in the UK overall), you generally study only your subject/major and nothing else, which is part of why the degree is three years instead of four years. Definitely a far cry from Columbia and the Core Curriculum, but I think both systems are valuable in different ways and I’m glad I’ve gotten to experience both of them.

2. My dorm room is FANCY.

As someone who’s been in a double for both of my first two years at Columbia, living in a single at all this year makes me feel like I’m living a life of luxury. Little did I know that I would have not only a bedroom to myself, but a three-room suite with a bedroom, en-suite bathroom with a shower, and a living room that I don’t share with anyone. And there’s a kitchen down the hall that I share with maybe six other people, who are all really nice.

Having this much space to myself in a university accommodation feels downright obscene. I’m trying to enjoy every single second of it before I move back into the Columbia dorms next fall. (To be fair, I somehow ended up with one of the biggest rooms on my floor when I thought I’d get the worst room as a study abroad kid, so my experience is perhaps not representative of every room at Cambridge and/or Oxford!).

Meanwhile, doubles don’t really seem to be a thing here. For the handful of times I’ve mentioned that I’ve lived with a roommate for the last two years, whoever I’ve been talking to has looked shocked and appalled and said something like, “I forgot they did that in the States!”

3. The River Cam is pretty! And people go “punting” in little boats!

Clare is one of the “river colleges” directly over the Cam. (The others are the fancy famous ones like Trinity College, King’s College, and St. John’s College). Every day, I feel like I’m in a big-budget period drama when I cross a very quaint, picturesque bridge over the river to get from my dorm to the dining hall (aka “the buttery”) and see “punters” in their boats rowing under the bridge. In every kind of weather and any time of the day or night. I tried steering a punt just once at the start of the term. It was predictably much harder than it looks, but fun!

4. Formals are a thing.

Perhaps the wackiest and most old-school, dark-academia tradition I’ve come across at Cambridge is the institution of college “formals,” where you can pay (not much more than for a regular buttery meal) to get dressed up in fancy clothes and your college matriculation gown and get served a multi-course dinner in your college’s Great Hall.

So far I’ve been to only three formals: one for Matriculation at the start of Michaelmas Term, a special vegan formal that the Clare Goes Green club put on, and a formal for Bridgemas (aka Cambridge Christmas). But they happen three times every week, and it seems fairly common to go at least a few times per term, and people will go to a formal with friends or to celebrate someone’s birthday.

I’m also really grateful that Clare’s gorgeous Great Hall, which has been under construction for the last couple of years, is now open again this year for the first time in a while. Construction and renovations are still happening around Clare because they’re getting ready for Clare’s 700th anniversary (!) celebration in 2026, but it was just sheer dumb luck that the Great Hall’s reopening coincided with the year I’m studying abroad there. 

These are just a couple of highlights from this first term, but I’ve truly been having such a wonderful year at Clare so far. Meanwhile, as someone who is only able to go to Columbia because of the financial aid that I’m getting, I’m grateful that my financial aid applies to studying abroad. As with (I think) all one-semester or academic year programs that are Columbia-led or Columbia-approved, my financial aid covers me abroad too, so I’m paying essentially what I would be paying to be at Columbia this year, except for what I had to pay for my student visa and NHS (UK National Health Service) coverage for the year.

I’m so happy to have the opportunity to study at Clare (and looking forward to writing another Bwog recap or two later in the year!). Thank you to Columbia UGE, Laura Schiff (the lovely program advisor at Columbia), and Clare College!

Please feel free to reach out if you’re thinking about studying abroad, or if you have questions about this specific program or more generally. I’m definitely not an expert on everything, but if you email tips@bwog.com or search up my Columbia email address, I’m happy to answer questions and I’ll do my best to be helpful.

All images via Ava Slocum