[doloroushazy]

(Original post by dbmag9)
I know they're relaxed about things like formal hall (I invited a Wadhamite to Merton formal and he had to buy a tie and steal a gown ), and they have Queerfest, which this year had a rainbow flag flying (upside-down) over the college for the week, but I doubt they differ much to other colleges as far as tolerance and stuff goes; Oxford's a fairly liberal place. No idea about accomodation though.

(Original post by SamF1992)
Hey I can't speak in relation to other colleges as I don't really have any experience of them, but yeah Wadham is much as described. We don't have formal hall (we can still eat in hall, but don't wear gowns or anything like that), we have queerweek, which is a big LGBT awareness week in 6th week of michaelmas, which ends in queerfest on the saturday. The place is generally very liberal and relaxed, although I doubt that's paticular to Wadham.

Accomodation is good in my opinion, all rooms are charged at the same rate so there's no "segregation" between those who can afford the better rooms and those who can't, and if I remember rightly, it's the cheapest accomodation of the entire uni. Rooms are all of a decent size too, although it does vary a bit. Only downside to the accomodation I'd say is, if you're not in the new buildings, the kitchens are pretty poor, although our food and ameneties SU reps are working on that, and we have access to the JCR kitchen which is suitably equipped.

Hopefully that's helped, if you have any more questions, feel free to ask

(Original post by frequent_flyer)
Welcome to wadham!
Accommodation varies but it is all the rooms are pretty big and fairly modern. You'll get an accommodation form later where you have the option to specify where you want to live- the nicest rooms are the shared rooms on the front quad, they're huge and beautiful. If you don't want to share, the modern ones are brilliant (called the bowra)- you're right next to the library and the jcr- and definitely write that you DO NOT want to live in staircases 28-32 aka rejects corner.

As for the liberal reputation the short answer is YES. Although we supposedly don't have formal hall, this gives you an excuse to beg an invite from people at other colleges, and ever couple of weeks we do have black tie guest dinners. There is a huge mix of people in college and it really is an enormously friendly and accepting place. We also have great bops (and queerfest!) where everyone cross dresses, oh and I'm not giving anything away but look forward to learning the infamous WADHAM DANCE

maaaaaan i'm so excited! I BETTER GET AAA, i'd be so gutted! Hahah what's wrong with staircases 28-32?

Other questions: how does the college parent thing work? whenabouts in the year are you given them?
what's the bathroom situation like? i know in the bowra staircases they're like 2 between 4 (or at least the floor i was on was)- what about in the quad? And what's it like sharing rooms with other people (like the sitting/study room, not actual bedroom haha). Alsooo are yous going to live out 2nd year or in Merifield?

so many questions!

[dbmag9]

(Original post by doloroushazy)
Other questions: how does the college parent thing work? whenabouts in the year are you given them?

Generally speaking 1st-years pair up at some point during the year, with colleges ranging from full-blown courtship and over-the-top marriage proposal to just being assigned college spouses by ballot, and then they're assigned kids over the summer at some point - Merton does it so you have a parent doing your subject as much as possible, but it varies.

[tooambitious]

(Original post by dbmag9)
Generally speaking 1st-years pair up at some point during the year, with colleges ranging from full-blown courtship and over-the-top marriage proposal to just being assigned college spouses by ballot, and then they're assigned kids over the summer at some point - Merton does it so you have a parent doing your subject as much as possible, but it varies.

i have a friend at kebe, she chose her husband (well he proposed ) does it vary from college to college

[dbmag9]

(Original post by tooambitious)
i have a friend at kebe, she chose her husband (well he proposed ) does it vary from college to college

Yeah, I know there are some that do it entirely by ballot, and some that take the whole mock proposal thing way more seriously. I was the first in my year at Merton; I proposed (to my completely awesome wife ) at the first bop of term.

[frequent_flyer]

(Original post by doloroushazy)
maaaaaan i'm so excited! I BETTER GET AAA, i'd be so gutted! Hahah what's wrong with staircases 28-32?

Other questions: how does the college parent thing work? whenabouts in the year are you given them?
what's the bathroom situation like? i know in the bowra staircases they're like 2 between 4 (or at least the floor i was on was)- what about in the quad? And what's it like sharing rooms with other people (like the sitting/study room, not actual bedroom haha). Alsooo are yous going to live out 2nd year or in Merifield?

so many questions!

College parents send out letters in the summer holidays and take you to dinner in freshers week, but apart from that it varies as to how nice yours are... I currently have two husbands and a wife :P last year there was a 13-way college marriage, which probably tells you everything you need to know about Wadham.
Those staircases are just a bit far away/empty and some don't have kitchens. I'm living in a fantastic house next year currently rented by my friend's college parents, so we got the house from the letting agent before it was officially on the market- Merifield is great too, and cheaper than getting a house.

I don't share a room but apparently it's great, the shared rooms tend to be more of a social hub, they're also really beautiful. Not so good if you like working in your room though I guess. It's okay, we forgive you

[tooambitious]

(Original post by dbmag9)
Yeah, I know there are some that do it entirely by ballot, and some that take the whole mock proposal thing way more seriously. I was the first in my year at Merton; I proposed (to my completely awesome wife ) at the first bop of term.

n'aww

[michael321]

(Original post by qwertyuiop1993)
It varies quite significantly from college to college.

Trinity is one of the more expensive colleges at around £1200 per term, not including utilities or food (Luckily the rooms are really nice though)

I've heard as low as £900 per term for other colleges.

Other colleges might have price bands for different types of room (Exeter has this)

As for food, again it varies a lot (as does the quality) and it depends on how much you want to eat in hall/cook for yourself.

When I went to interview my room was sooooo amazing so is this the case in the first year too (talking specifically about Trinity)? Are any undergrads housed in the ugly building (WHO thought it was a good idea to plonk a black-brick monstrosity in the middle of such a nice college?!? )

[Nessie_dd]

Could you please give me an example of such areas?
Please... I'm new at this community!

[qwertyuiop1993]

(Original post by michael321)
When I went to interview my room was sooooo amazing so is this the case in the first year too (talking specifically about Trinity)? Are any undergrads housed in the ugly building (WHO thought it was a good idea to plonk a black-brick monstrosity in the middle of such a nice college?!? )

Staircase 4 is ugly, but if you live in it you don't see it Also, the view is amazing - the windows often face the wilderness and the back lawns. Also the rooms are large.

Were you in garden quad for interviews? Those rooms are the largest - shared living area and two bedrooms. They are reserved for second years unfortunately, as are the en-suite rooms in Staircase 6 (next to the JCR) but fresher accommodation isn't bad at all - in fact some freshers have huge rooms.

Around 30 Freshers live in staircase 18 (The newest accommodation with rooms which are more similar to normal uni accommodation - it's tucked away behind garden quad near the squash courts), the aforementioned staircase 4 houses freshers and then many live in other, older staircases located around college e.g. above the hall (St 11) staircase 5 (Shown in my sig) and staircase 1 (which is located in the series of cottages next to the lodge)

I have one of the smaller rooms in college, but even then it's nicer and bigger than a lot of my friends' rooms at other unis. Also, every room has a fridge, which I can't imagine living without

[digestives]

(Original post by Cariie)
Eeeerm well I've never come across someone retrying for the honours they were rejected for, but I guess there's no harm in trying once you get here, maybe it will show dedication and persistance All else fails you can do a spanish course with the language centre and come out with a very decent level of Spanish

How good are the language courses at Oxford?

I already have a somewhat decent level of conversational Spanish, I just would like to progress to true fluency by the end of 3 years. Would that be possible? Also, do you think Oxford can help me organise a year abroad for after my degree as I failed to get accepted for Spanish?

[Cariie]

(Original post by digestives)
How good are the language courses at Oxford?

I already have a somewhat decent level of conversational Spanish, I just would like to progress to true fluency by the end of 3 years. Would that be possible? Also, do you think Oxford can help me organise a year abroad for after my degree as I failed to get accepted for Spanish?

I don't do one myself, so I'll post you the link to the website which will probably give you more information than I can http://www.lang.ox.ac.uk/ as far as I know you can get to fluency depending on the intensity of the course you sign up for.

You will come across plenty of organisations while you're here that you can work with to do a year/summers abroad for what ever purpose you need, so you'll certainly be able to set something up. I'm sure just by joining the Spanish society once you're here will put you in contact with the right people

[anyone_can_fly]

(Original post by candide)
Are there many Scots around in Oxford? I've posted on the 2012 applicants fb group but got no reply? I didn't meet any others at interview. It'd be nice to have someone to share the 2014 world cup campaign with...

(Not particularly interested in football, but do fall in to the 'Anyone But England' camp.)

[Cassius]

Can anyone tell me what Jesus college is like? I have an offer there for next year, however didn't actually apply there so have no idea what it's like...

[digestives]

(Original post by Cariie)
I don't do one myself, so I'll post you the link to the website which will probably give you more information than I can http://www.lang.ox.ac.uk/ as far as I know you can get to fluency depending on the intensity of the course you sign up for.

You will come across plenty of organisations while you're here that you can work with to do a year/summers abroad for what ever purpose you need, so you'll certainly be able to set something up. I'm sure just by joining the Spanish society once you're here will put you in contact with the right people

Oh wow, thanks! This helps a lot

[Razzmatazzi]

(Original post by Reminisce)
Hey, How are you finding the work load currently in maths (you're in the first year right?).

Woop, sorry for the delay. Yep I'm a first year, the workload is certainly managable if you have a good sense of time management and don't overcommit yourself too much. Unfortunately I am neither but along with procrastinating for days and playing a filthy amount of sport I have managed to get by only missing a few PS deadlines by a few hours (although sometimes my tutors don't pick up until the day before the tute so never catastrophic).

Currently revising for collections however which I am definitely NOT looking forward to..

[doloroushazy]

(Original post by frequent_flyer)
College parents send out letters in the summer holidays and take you to dinner in freshers week, but apart from that it varies as to how nice yours are... I currently have two husbands and a wife :P last year there was a 13-way college marriage, which probably tells you everything you need to know about Wadham.
Those staircases are just a bit far away/empty and some don't have kitchens. I'm living in a fantastic house next year currently rented by my friend's college parents, so we got the house from the letting agent before it was officially on the market- Merifield is great too, and cheaper than getting a house.

I don't share a room but apparently it's great, the shared rooms tend to be more of a social hub, they're also really beautiful. Not so good if you like working in your room though I guess. It's okay, we forgive you

gracias! haha college polygamy, sounds wadhamy alright! So would you recommend sharing a room (also anyone else who shares)?

[candide]

(Original post by anyone_can_fly)


(Not particularly interested in football, but do fall in to the 'Anyone But England' camp.)

you got in! well done. =D

neither am I, but I follow the internationals in vain hope that one day we'll qualify for something.

[anyone_can_fly]

(Original post by candide)
you got in! well done. =D

neither am I, but I follow the internationals in vain hope that one day we'll qualify for something.

Congratulations to you too! I keep meaning to say it. Give up, we'll never qualify for anything (she says, hoping that jinxed it into Scotland winning the world cup).

[Razzmatazzi]

(Original post by tooambitious)
1) Which college other than your own would you choose if you were to reapply (and a reason )
2) which college wuold you completely avoid (and a reason )

3) what do you think of Christ Church? im think of applying there and people keep on trying to dissuade me

4) i dont know if this is the right place, but if you get high UMS scores and enter this on your UCAS, will Oxford take notice of this like Cambridge do?

1. Can't think of any other college I would rather be at, its a symptom of Oxford that people inevitably seem to fall recklessly in love with theirs. However I would say the other colleges in my "final four" selection (Univ, Brasenose and Oriel, all fairly high standard, old and central) as well as a few others (New, Balliol and Magdelan maybe?). All colleges are unique and spectacular in their own ways.

2. Wouldn't go for any PPH's personally (friend applied to one, didn't like & single sex=no) and maybe not some of the colleges languishing consistently near the bottom of the Norrington.

3. Go for it if it fits you, only reason I didn't consider it was because of the stereotype and met some twits (read wiith an "a") when I went round, but of a shame really.

4. I would say not to mention explicit values for specific modules however perhaps model a sentence that alludes to that fact, i.e "... reflected my hard work and determination as I achieved full UMS in many of my modules." Can't hurt if you can spare the space

[crazychef]

(Original post by Cassius)
Can anyone tell me what Jesus college is like? I have an offer there for next year, however didn't actually apply there so have no idea what it's like...

That happened to someone I know for English, I think that everyone comes to love the college they are assigned to