What you wish you'd been told before coming to Oxford

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charlybrown

Any advice for grad students?

"Try asking your questions in a forum which isn't predominantly populated by undergraduates and wannabe-undergraduates"? :wink:

Reply 41

bysshe

Bobo1234

I have to say this thread kinda depresses me now :s-smilie:

I'm starting to think I might actually hate it :/

It's only because we're focusing on the negative! I could say, "I wish I'd been told that I was going to have an incredible year, make loads of new friends, spend lots of times punting and at picnics and parties, make a reasonably good impression on my tutors, try lots of new things" etc etc. But that wouldn't be much use for a prospective student, because it doesn't offer much in the way of practical advice.

Reply 42

Mook

- When people stop working no-one gives a toss about politics, philosophy or academic chat. I was worried that everyone would want to talk about intellectual shizz all the time - it's not true.
Although late night drunken chats can sometimes get randomly argumentative :grin:

- You will become intensely and irrationally loyal to your college by the end of freshers' week, whether you applied there or not.

- No-one ever really sticks to the college's rules about what you are or are not allowed in your room. Kettles, toasters, toastie makers, go for it. Getting a George Foreman in my 2nd year was one of the best purchases of the year.

- You will learn to love wine. And cider. Even if you hated it before you came up.

- Receiving post from friends and family can put a smile on your face all day. Make the effort.

- Studentbeans will save you so much money. Dinner out with friends makes a nice change from hall food, tortellini or takeaway.

- There will be times when student life is hard but the vast vast majority of people love their time at Oxford and wouldn't go anywhere else for the world.

Reply 43

Liebest0d

can I ask smth here? is it allowed for students of other colleges to enter/dine/socialize at different colleges?

Reply 44

bysshe

Liebest0d

can I ask smth here? is it allowed for students of other colleges to enter/dine/socialize at different colleges?

Of course!

Reply 45

Mook

Liebest0d

can I ask smth here? is it allowed for students of other colleges to enter/dine/socialize at different colleges?

You should be fine to go in and socialize (although some colleges might ask you to show your Bod card at the lodge) but dining is sometimes less straightforward. I know some colleges you can just walk in and pay but others have pre-booking systems and you'll generally need to know someone there who can book you in as a guest.
But you're definitely allowed - it just sometimes takes a bit of organisation.

Reply 46

Liebest0d

thank you! i was afraid I would get bored otherwise :P

Reply 47

Huw Davies

Athena

You generally need to be a guest for lunch/dinner, but some (many? most?) bars you can just go into.

Exeter can be a bit weird about serving non-members, but I don't think anywhere else is (apart from Hertford's "crew dates" ban). If you can get into the college, you can go to the bar.

Reply 48

Ilyusha

Mook

- When people stop working no-one gives a toss about politics, philosophy or academic chat.

Reply 49

Andy the Anarchist

Ilyusha

This isn't always true

Reply 50

bysshe

Yeah, I think it varies. If you want to talk about something intellectual, you'll always be able to find someone to talk to, and one of the things that I've really enjoyed about Oxford is having friends who know so much more than me, and who are interested in different things. It makes conversations less predictable.

On the other hand, it's not as though Oxford students spend all of their free time debating about philosophy. It depends on the people, and besides, most people want variety.

Reply 51

Teebs

Mook

- When people stop working no-one gives a toss about politics, philosophy or academic chat.

Not very true. Put three people who study the same subject in a larger room and subject chat is almost guaranteed. Medics and chemists seem to be the worst culprits for this, but I've seen it happen with a wide range.

Reply 52

Mook

Teebs

Sorry, that was quite poorly expressed. Obviously people talk about their subjects between themselves but I meant that - in my experience - when people are mixing in the bar or relaxing they're generally far more preoccupied with who got with who at the bop the night before than discussing the labour leadership contest or whether animal testing is justifiable and so on.

Reply 53

The_Lonely_Goatherd

Teebs

Musos can be quite bad for it as well (until people like me change the topic of convo, that is) :biggrin:

Reply 54

Teebs

Mook

Fair enough that's true, but beware random room based socialising. Never allow 3 people doing the same subject in.

Reply 55

Laurenx0044

What would you say the workload is like compared to A levels? (I want to do Biological Sciences)

Reply 56

Skippeh

If people here say 9hrs is killing yourself, workloads not as much as I regularly spend 9-12hrs on A levels per day but thats me, I'm odd and doing too many A levels

Reply 57

bysshe

Obviously it varies a lot, depending on your subject, but I think I probably spend fewer hours overall on work, but I put more effort into the work that I do, if that makes sense. As I said earlier, I'm not sure that I've ever worked for 8 hours a day, but when I am working, I'm really concentrating and working hard, whereas my GCSE and A-Level work was often half-hearted. It helps that I enjoy what I study!

Reply 58

Andy the Anarchist

Skippeh

If people here say 9hrs is killing yourself, workloads not as much as I regularly spend 9-12hrs on A levels per day but thats me, I'm odd and doing too many A levels

How are you doing that much?

Reply 59

HoVis

What I wish I'd been told before coming...

- To not be a wimp throughout the first two terms and put off taking up rowing until the third term, because it's absolutely awesome and I wish I'd rowed in Christchurch Regatta with the rest of my year. That said, I'll get to know the new freshers by the wonderful medium of sharing painfully early and cold outings with them this October. :biggrin:

- To avoid old, (apparently) charming DPhil'ers who seem too good to be true. They are, and tend to **** one over.

- That it is actually ok to leave Oxford for a weekend and go home to avoid 6th week blues!

- That the Alternative Tuck Shop should be visited on the first day of 0th week rather than halfway through Hilary! :biggrin:

- To bring warm clothes in winter and strappy tops in summer. Crazy micro-climate.