College life deemed a cakewalk, somewhat, on reflection (7)
I believe the answer is:
academe
'college life' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'deemed a cakewalk somewhat on reflection' is the wordplay.
'somewhat' says the answer is hidden in the clue.
'on reflection' says the letters should be written backwards.
'emedaca' is hidden in the letters of 'deemed a cakewalk'.
'emedaca' backwards is 'ACADEME'.
(Other definitions for academe that I've seen before include "The world of scholars" , "learned environment" , "Scholarly life" , "The educational sector" , "University environment" .)