Undergrad v Postgrad At Oxbridge?

How does postgrad life compare with undergrad life at Oxbridge? Do postgrads still get the full college experience etc?

I'd say it's a fair bit different tbh. I don't want to sound offputting, but I personally don't think a postgrad would get the full "college experience" that an undergrad would.

It would still be enjoyable I imagine, but perhaps a bit different from the typical undergrad Oxbridge experience.

EDIT: nexttime's post is very accurate.

I did medicine and so have been part of both the undergrad and postgrad communities. To be honest, not in the same way no.

Undergrad a lot of your teaching is with college tutors in college buildings. Everyone is young and commitment free so the community tends to be very large and outgoing.

Postgrad your base is very much your department with college not necessarily having any impact on your life at all if you don't want it to. The graduate common rooms still provide a social base and activities to do, but participation is way down on what you can expect from a JCR. A lot of people come to uni with other commitments and a lot more independence so tend not to throw themselves into the college like undergrads do. Accommodation also tends to be a lot less available so people live off site, further fragmenting the group.

Don't let that come across as too negative though - college can still provide an excellent social opportunity for those that do want to make it work. Grads at my college were very active within the rowing club and dramatic society as well as university societies as a whole. The social events that are put on tend to be a bit classier, and you get to do things with the tutors a lot more which can be nice. You might even get involved with teaching at your college - a great opportunity. Its just a bit different.

I'd say it's a fair bit different tbh. I don't want to sound offputting, but I personally don't think a postgrad would get the full "college experience" that an undergrad would.

It would still be enjoyable I imagine, but perhaps a bit different from the typical undergrad Oxbridge experience.

EDIT: nexttime's post is very accurate.

Hi I've done both, at the same college (the colleges differ a lot), so feel free to ask me anything.

It's what you want to get out of it, really. Undergraduates are more eccentric and 'fun', but postgraduates tend to be more secure in their friendships and what they want to do. Undergraduates (particularly first and second years) are still chasing after the 'Oxford experience', but postgraduates are far more blasé about the whole thing (maybe that's because a lot of us were undergraduates here). There's less university snobbery as a postgraduate.

The only thing I miss about being an undergraduate is living in the college and having tutorials. You can still go in for the libraries etc, though, and take advantage of the hall and formal dinners. You can basically live between the college, MCR and faculty if you want to, but the MCR is the main source of 'home life'. You will also matriculate, and you can wear your gown to various events, if you go looking for gown wearing events (Oxford more than Cambridge). Punting, the Union, etc are all still there, and as a postgraduate you have more access to world leading research academics, whose aura you can bask in (and unlike with undergraduates they might even have a conversation with you).

Don't worry about the Oxbridge experience. I know plenty of undergraduates who have never had it.

It is far more prestigious to attend Oxbridge as an undergraduate than a postgraduate

This is a baseless comment. If you are genuinely trying to argue that an undergraduate degree is more prestigious than studying say a PhD at Oxbridge (or indeed anywhere), I have nothing to say. You clearly have not started university, and my word does it show.

As for admissions, if anything, there's much more of a pot-luck element for undergraduate admissions (hence, you get people admitted who clearly aren't suited to Oxbridge) which is eliminated at the postgraduate level when you have studied 3/4 years at university level together with the accumulation of life experiences, etc.

Nah, I wouldn't say so. I've done undergrad and postgrad stuff at Oxbridge. I'd say it's considered more prestigious to get in for undergrad. When people think of "studying at Oxbridge", they're thinking of the undergraduate degree, college life etc.