Freshers' Parties
During the month of September, many of our volunteer-led Alumni Groups hold parties for new students who have been given a place at Cambridge University.
Parties are held by both UK and international groups. The primary aim of the parties is to introduce new students to other new students. In addition to new students, the attendance of current First Year students is a great opportunity for experiences and knowledge of Cambridge University life today to be passed on. This experience may be a very different experience to what it was like for many of our Alumni Group members.
There is no standard format for the parties and it is entirely up to the Alumni Group to run and organise each event. The Cambridge Alumni Relations Office (CARO) will assist in passing on information to the colleges so that their new and current students can be invited to attend. Invitations are usually sent out alongside a students acceptance letter or with their student welcome packs.
Freshers' Party Feedback
Over the years we have received some great emails from students saying how helpful they have found these parties and how much they appreciated the opportunity to meet others who were coming up to Cambridge. We also find that the Alumni Groups who take part in running the Freshers' Parties also enjoy doing so.
"The Cambridge Society of London held another wonderful Freshers' Party. At our venue in Marylebone the freshers engaged joyfully with each other for three hours. The hubbub was interrupted for a short time by a would-be teenager - our sexagenarian Chairman - who congratulated them on their success in going to the greatest university in the world and then briefed them on the support they can get throughout their lives from the various Cambridge Societies around the world and also from Cambridge Alumni Relations Office (CARO). Although the Group organised the event, the best experts were in fact the half a dozen or so volunteers who had enjoyed themselves so much this time last year that they had come back after their first year in college. They were to be the wise old men/women with the real lowdown on What Life Is Like In Cambridge Today. It all started at about 6pm, and we ushered them out at around 9pm, everyone seemed really pleased and excited. Over for another year but tremendously fulfilling. We are proud of our young students and we in the Cambridge Society of London are delighted to host, as we always do, the largest Cambridge Freshers' Event in the world."
"Once again our Group, the Leicestershire and Rutland Branch of the Cambridge Society, held a very enjoyable Freshers' Party. We have held these parties for some years now and each year we are delighted to see how much the young people enjoy the event and they never seem to want to leave! They go away with some new friends and contacts making the first days of the new term a more pleasurable experience. We as a Group also enjoy meeting the new students and finding out what they are planning to study and also hearing what Cambridge is like today from the First Years who come along to help out on the day. We look forward to holding another successful party next year and would recommend other Groups include a Freshers' Party in their event calendar if at all possible."
2011 Freshers Party Organiser
"Thank you very much for organising such a lovely party. Thoroughly enjoyed it and met some very nice people who I will look out for when I arrive in Cambridge. The food and drink was delicious. Thank you again."
"I'd just like to say thank you for the Freshers' party last night. It was really nice to be able to meet other people and chat. Thanks."
2011 Freshers' Party in Sussex
"I would really love to help and share my first year experiences with the new students, I feel my first year was definitely challenging and if I was to start all over again I'd do things differently. Krupa Dodia (Queens' 2010)"
"I went last year, and found some lovely people who I'm still friends with this year!! I think it was extremely useful. Nelli Orlova (Emmanuel College 2010)."
2011 First Year Student Helpers
"We had a lovely time - as always! Lovely young people, very appreciative, polite etc. Very happy to keep doing this - it's one of the best things we do. Felicity Rutland, Cambridge Society of Oxfordshire"
2010 Freshers' Party Organiser
"I was very pleased when I received the letter; I am sure many new students, like myself, feel a little anxious to start at Cambridge, and the opportunity to chat with students already studying I'm sure will settle some nerves and give some tangible notions as to what it will be like at Cambridge. Many thanks"
2010 Attended Freshers' Party
"I would like to thank you very much for organising and hosting the going up party last week. I was naturally a little apprehensive arriving without knowing anyone and not knowing what to expect but I am so glad that I attended. It was such a wonderful opportunity to meet other Cambridge freshers before going and will no doubt be valuable when I turn up at Pembroke already knowing and recognizing a few people. The atmosphere was lovely and I felt at my ease almost immediately, despite not being such an outgoing person. I would definitely recommended the going up parties to anyone I knew going next year. Thank you very much for such a great opportunity, as well as the time and effort you put into organising and hosting the event."
2009 Attended Freshers' Party
