Why I chose to go to Cambridge?

Name: Yaasen Dalal

Undergraduate College: Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge

Undergraduate Major: Economics

Postgraduate Degree: MBA

Current Job: Director Restructuring, Alvarez & Marsal

Why I chose to go to Cambridge?

I wanted to read economics and the 3 best places in the UK are Cambridge, Oxford and LSE. Oxford only offer a combined degree (PPE Politics, Philosophy and Economics) and in the end Cambridge is a more prestigious place than LSE, although the quality of the teaching and learning experience is probably on par. I am from London and so the different atmosphere and tradition of Cambridge was the deciding factor. At the end of the day, they offered me a place and so I took it.

What Cambridge can offer students, that you won’t read about on its website ?

In contrast to Oxford, the University dominates the city so it feels like an extended campus. It is also close enough to London that you can escape easily if you need to for the weekend. The three terms are so short (8 weeks each) that it seems you spend most of the time on holiday. Compared to my MBA and working, the workload was very light, basically one essay per week, although compared to friends of mine at other universities this was twice as much. There is plenty of time to do other things as lectures are only in the mornings and Fridays are totally free, but the trick is to find something you want to do and not just mess around, the time goes very fast. When it comes to job hunting, the great thing is that the main employers come to you which makes it very convenient.