What do you want to know about Oxford?

Reply 580

Brand New Eyes

2

Original post by dbmag9

The work? Seriously it would be so much fun living here as a student and not having work to do. :p:

Otherwise I can't really think of anything I really dislike, genuinely.

Don't you have collections this/next week? How often/long are they and do they count towards your degree?

Reply 581

michael321

14

Original post by anyone_can_fly

No, it's opposed to it being flagged up like the socio-economic factors are. Which is a little surprising, though their explanation makes sense.

Fair play. I was being a bit facetious. Still, I consider misinterpretation playing the Guardian at its own game.

Not the case. For 2010 entry, comprehensive schools made up 27.5% of applications and only 23.3% of acceptances, whereas independent schools made up 36.7% of applications and 44.2% of acceptances.

Yes, a few people have brought this up now. I stand corrected, but after accounting for the increased propensity of the state-schooled to go for more competitive courses, and the increased propensity of the independent-schooled to got for the less competitive courses (largely due to subjects offered) this disparity will shrink substantially. As it will when you consider that most applicants from the private sector are guaranteed to be of a certain minimum standard of intelligence (because of entrance exam), and when you consider that those at state schools are likely to have worse UMS scores and predicted grades than those at independent schools, and so on.

Reply 582

anyone_can_fly

11

Original post by dbmag9

I AGREE.

Yeah, but your way of bringing things back on topic is to say "so, alcohol". :tongue:

Original post by michael321

Fair play. I was being a bit facetious. Still, I consider misinterpretation playing the Guardian at its own game.

Yes, a few people have brought this up now. I stand corrected, but after accounting for the increased propensity of the state-schooled to go for more competitive courses, and the increased propensity of the independent-schooled to got for the less competitive courses (largely due to subjects offered) this disparity will shrink substantially. As it will when you consider that most applicants from the private sector are guaranteed to be of a certain minimum standard of intelligence (because of entrance exam), and when you consider that those at state schools are likely to have worse UMS scores and predicted grades than those at independent schools, and so on.

It doesn't shrink substantially. Here are three random subjects (you can see them all on the Oxford website, but as a sample it's pretty representative):
Maths - maintained sector chance of acceptance 16.0% - independent sector 24.7%
Classics - maintained sector chance of acceptance 35.4%- independent sector 47.4%
PPE - maintained sector chance of acceptance 21.7% - independent sector 23.3%

I'm pretty sure that any state school pupils bright enough to apply to Oxford are bright enough to pass a private school entrance exam. The last point is true, but as studies have shown that state school pupils do better at uni than their private school counterparts with the same grades (unsurprising really - the private school ones got better teaching to get them to those grades, and now the quality of education is the same the state school ones are overtaking) you would expect the university to account for it in admissions decisions.

I think the main point is that private school applicants are just much more prepared for the admissions process. We got given a mock interview with no maths in whatsoever, not at all like the real one, and that was all the help we had. A boy I know at a private school got almost three hours a week preparation for Oxbridge maths entrance (though I doubt this is typical).

Reply 583

Jessica_94

12

what are the students like as for nightlife? like do they go out often or just stay in?

Reply 584

physicsfuntimes

10

Original post by tooambitious

(least) favourite thing about Oxford? (sorry if ive asked before,im quite bored cba to revise for c1 :P)

Least favourite thing probably comes down to the pressure... I feel under a lot (family and friends expect me to do well because it's Oxford), I'm the only girl on my course this year at my college (out of seven) so don't want to let the side down, I really struggle with things first time round and don't really have time to catch up by the time a new problem sheet has arrived... and so on. It's been a tough first term but I'm certainly getting into the swing of things and hopefully it gets better from here :smile:

Favourite thing... some of the work is just wonderful :tongue:

My sports team also makes me very very happy as I know lots of people there and matches are fantastic. It's also a much higher level than I'm used to, so I feel I'm really improving - not quite as good as improving work-wise, but I'll take it for now :tongue:

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Reply 585

Whitechapel

11

Is everyone pretentious?

Reply 586

wisdomevra

Original post by TheSophistory

Hey, I don't know whether this is the right place to post this, but...

Does anyone know whether Oxford has waiting lists - like if people don't make their offers or drop out last minute? I found out today that I was very close and it's excruciating.

But yes, I know it's a long shot :colondollar:

Not sure but perhaps you could email them. what did they say to you?

Reply 587

frequent_flyer

8

Original post by Whitechapel

Is everyone pretentious?

definitely not at wadham :rolleyes:

Reply 588

dbmag9

15

Original post by Brand New Eyes

Don't you have collections this/next week? How often/long are they and do they count towards your degree?

Yeah, collections (at Merton at least) are tomorrow, and a few spill on to Saturday. They don't count for the degree, they're basically there to check progress/force us to revise.

Original post by anyone_can_fly

Yeah, but your way of bringing things back on topic is to say "so, alcohol". :tongue:

Nothing wrong with that. Alcohol is great. :awesome:

Original post by Jessica_94

what are the students like as for nightlife? like do they go out often or just stay in?

People vary like anywhere, but there are a lot who go out clubbing like at any university.

Original post by Whitechapel

Is everyone pretentious?

Nope.

Reply 589

nulli tertius

21

Original post by dbmag9

The work? Seriously it would be so much fun living here as a student and not having work to do. :p:

Otherwise I can't really think of anything I really dislike, genuinely.

As a very aged alumnus (albeit one who was knocking around Oxford last weekend) I will give a 30 year old answer that will (a) attract a lot of negative ratings and (b) show how Oxford has changed in those 30 years.

"If you want to be a student and don't want to do any work, you could always change to PPE."

Original post by Whitechapel

Is everyone pretentious?

Not when they arrive.

How many Oxford graduates does it take to change a lightbulb?

One.

He holds the lightbulb up to the socket and waits for the world to revolve around him.

Reply 590

michael321

14

How big is everyone on bikes? Not literally...

I mean, at Cambridge EVERYONE has a bike and when the weather's decent pedestrians have to be quick on their toes to avoid being run over, and students bike to all their tutorials and lectures and so on. The impression I got from Oxford was that this wasn't the case quite as much - am I right? And do people tend to bring their own bikes or buy them there? Are they more expensive in Oxford?

Reply 591

physicsfuntimes

10

Original post by michael321

How big is everyone on bikes? Not literally...

I mean, at Cambridge EVERYONE has a bike and when the weather's decent pedestrians have to be quick on their toes to avoid being run over, and students bike to all their tutorials and lectures and so on. The impression I got from Oxford was that this wasn't the case quite as much - am I right? And do people tend to bring their own bikes or buy them there? Are they more expensive in Oxford?

I know a good few people with bikes but more without. My college is quite central and nearly everyone can walk everywhere they need to in ten minutes. Some people bring their own but I wouldnt bring mine if it was a nice one, lots of bikes get stolen here... and most students pick up spares. At the end of last term, any bikes that hadn't been claimed were going to be chucked or dumped, so you could just go and pick one up from our college site. A lot of colleges I heard of doing this, so you could end up getting quite a nice bike for free. :smile:

Original post by Whitechapel

Is everyone pretentious?

Not everyone :tongue:

I know a few people I'd call pretentious but can count them on one hand. Pretty much the same at most unis, with maybe a few more who really do fit the pretentious Oxford stereotype. Out of the freshers at least, nearly everyone I've met is just fine :smile:

Reply 592

Prettygeek

9

What's their English course like?

Reply 593

dbmag9

15

Original post by nulli tertius

As a very aged alumnus (albeit one who was knocking around Oxford last weekend) I will give a 30 year old answer that will (a) attract a lot of negative ratings and (b) show how Oxford has changed in those 30 years.

"If you want to be a student and don't want to do any work, you could always change to PPE."

Certainly first-year PPEists seem to have a suspiciously large amount of time to hang out in the JCR drinking coffee and chatting...

Original post by michael321

How big is everyone on bikes? Not literally...

I mean, at Cambridge EVERYONE has a bike and when the weather's decent pedestrians have to be quick on their toes to avoid being run over, and students bike to all their tutorials and lectures and so on. The impression I got from Oxford was that this wasn't the case quite as much - am I right? And do people tend to bring their own bikes or buy them there? Are they more expensive in Oxford?

Depends a lot on where you live/where your lectures are. I don't have one because Merton's fairly central and the Museum is the furthest I have to go (maths lectures), but I think most Somervillians get bikes pretty quickly. No idea about costs, but don't bring anything flashy.

Reply 594

Festina lente

11

Original post by michael321

How big is everyone on bikes? Not literally...

I mean, at Cambridge EVERYONE has a bike and when the weather's decent pedestrians have to be quick on their toes to avoid being run over, and students bike to all their tutorials and lectures and so on. The impression I got from Oxford was that this wasn't the case quite as much - am I right? And do people tend to bring their own bikes or buy them there? Are they more expensive in Oxford?

I think this probably is right, though it's a while since I've been over to the other place. I wouldn't have said you would need one for going to tutes and lectures, at least in first year - the Law Bod is only 15 minutes at most from Trinity, and if you do happen to get a tutor from a college on the other side of town, well, it's only for one term. Bike theft is a problem as others have said. I'd advise not bringing one and seeing how you get on over the first term.

Reply 595

Cariie

10

Original post by Jessica_94

what are the students like as for nightlife? like do they go out often or just stay in?

I was out at least 3 nights a week last term (and still getting my work done obvs :wink:

), there's a student club night on every night, and you can always crash Brookes gathering. There's loads more clubs than you'd expect and the O2 academy put on decent gigs. You can always find a group of people who fancy a night out, at least at St Hugh's anyway :smile:

Reply 596

Mulligan

11