[LoveEng]

Hi!

Wonderful college!

For what subject is it famous for? PPE?

LoveEng

[LoveEng]

Thanks!

I've seen this college last year and I love it.

I often heard that it's known for its PPE course.

[Budgie]

(Original post by LoveEng)
Thanks!

I've seen this college last year and I love it.

I often heard that it's known for its PPE course.

Yeah I love the look of Magdalen too, unfortunately the open days are fully booked but I want to go up and look round at some point. Am 90% certain I will apply there for PPE

[JW]

Hopefuly going to apply there for English if the AS grades go to plan. I'm annoyed about the open days being booked up, should have got there earlier!

[ananas]

Hi! I'm new to Student Room and i'm a Canadian student living in the Czech Republic. I'm really really really interested in studying history at Oxford!! I've heard great things about Magdalen College and if AJP Taylor went there, it's certainly good enough for me So is Magdalen known as the best college for history? If it isn't then what other colleges are known for their history programs?

[JW]

Anyone going to either of the opens days? I managed to get a place on the 28th :-)

[Yttrium]

Hey all: I thought I'd repost something I wrote last year about Magdalen, and - in particular - the accomodation. It's long and probably some of it's irrelevant but hopefully you new guys can glean something useful from it.

--

Firstly I'll just tell you a bit about what life at Magdalen is like which should apply equally to prospective applicant types and to people holding an offer for this October. Regarding Law, Magdalen has a great reputation and there are various archaic prizes available as well as almost certainly some 'old-boy' style links with law companies. I spit on this. There's also the Atkins Society, which organises lots of dos where lawyers get wined and dined (mostly wined) by law companies that pick up the bill in exchange for a bit of (metaphorical) arse-kissing. Meh, lawyers don't have souls anyway!

Righty-ho: Magdalen is in some ways the typical Oxford college stereotype - large, academic, set in beautiful grounds including deer, a building deemed as 'New' dating from the early 18th century. It is not, however, filled with the type of irretrievably public-school rahs that such a image might suggest. There are, of course, a few of the almost-caricatured Etonian or Harrovian types (although most people from the top public schools are only identifiable by their being well-dressed, well-coiffeured and generally very self-confident. They're also often very fit.)

It would, however, be untrue to say that Magdalen is a utopia of equal opportunities, with people from each ethnic or other type of minority. I personally find the incredibly small number of black people at the college shocking (although this is getting better) and, while the numbers of asian and european groups is larger, the average Magdalener is still white and middle-class. However, the male/female ratio is almost exactly 50% and thus one of the best (truism presumed) in the university.

Right - that's the very general type stuff out of the way; I'll talk a bit about what life at Magdalen is like:

As a first-year, there are four places where you might have your room - all are outside of college walls (but all are within 5 minutes walking distance of college and some are a little closer to the city-centre than college is, which can be helpful if you've got early-morning lectures!)

About 75% of the first year is housed in the splendiferously 60s Wayneflete building, which is just over Magdalen bridge but still close to college. Rooms here are either 'riverside' or 'plainside' - those that are riverside enjoy views of, well, the river but don't have sinks whereas the rooms on the 'plainside' get sinks but worse views. Oh, it's worth saying that you don't get to choose which room you get - it's all allocated automatically (and, as I understand, randomly - although in past years they have grouped people by subject, they haven't done this recently).

The other 25% get put in the 'high-street houses' - which are 62 High Street, 71 High Street and Longwall Annexe.

62 High Street is wonderful and very sociably laid-out with actual corridor space for parties and such although the building's various staircases (and trapdoor!) are somewhat reminiscent of Escher. The rooms vary a little in size but are all quite reasonable and some are very large indeed. 62 also has a garden which is quite the most amazing and wonderful place in Summer - last year's inhabitants bought a paddling pool for the place and had a good number of wonderful barbecues in it, as well as spending hours 'revising' in the sun. The place has one kitchen and I think two showers, which can occasionally get a bit crowded. I lived in 71 High Street, which tends to be less sociable as the rooms are laid out identically on three floors, lacking the idiosyncratic charm of 62.

71 is a house of unjust room size as on each floor, there are 2 rooms which are massive and wonderful (high ceilings, wonderful views, great big windows, period fireplaces - albeit now boarded-up) but also 2 rooms which are amongst the smallest in the college accomodation. Needless to say, I was in one of the small ones... The large rooms tend to go to musicians as they are equipped with electronic pianos (result!) 71 has 2 reasonably-sized kitchens and a bathroom w/ shower on each floor (i.e. shared between 4 people). This is good.

Longwall Annexe tends to be the quietest of the houses, partially as some second years (often music students or choral scholars) live there, giving the place something of a reverentially sepulchral ambience... in that not a great deal of socialising goes on there. However, the rooms are wonderful and many are 'sets' - i.e. two rooms: one bedroom and one study/living room, which allows people to separate work and sleep/play (!)

Accomodation costs a flat rate of something like £15/16 per night (i.e. no matter what size your room is) - or at least it did last year; I think it may rise this year. But I'm not sure. College provides accomodation for all years of your course (even 4 for science subjects and other 4-year types) and it gets progressively better and some of the rooms are breathtakingly wonderful.

Hmm... that's about all on accomodation. What else can I say? Magdalen's very friendly, quite a lot of socialising goes on between the years, the food is reasonable and very good value in Hall although there are plentiful kitchens, some of which are very good (in the 2nd year and 3rd year accom.) Freshers' Week is, of course, awesome - lots of fun things laid on along with plenty of time to get to know people in your year and in others - you may be set a little piece of introductory work but probably won't start anything until 1st Week. You'll have 2 college parents who'll basically look out for you a bit and buy you drinks and take you out for a meal at some point - one of these will be doing your subject so you should be able to ask them questions/steal their past essays. You'll be hearing from them after A-levels come out.

Right - if any of you have any questions, then feel free to ask - might take a little time to respond but hey, I'll do my best. There's probably lots I've forgotten so just ask if anything's unclear or just plain stupid.

Ciao!

[Metamorphosis_S]

Wow thank you! That was really helpful. I would rep you if I wasn't a n00b and knew how to

[History_is...]

(Original post by ananas)
if AJP Taylor went there, it's certainly good enough for me So is Magdalen known as the best college for history? If it isn't then what other colleges are known for their history programs?

Haha quality, I chose magdalen because of AJP Taylor too! I study history and politics, but on the history front, the senior history tutor at magd is amazing. It is definitely a good choice because we have one of the (if not the) largest number of history undergraduates, so there are plenty of people to work with/have tutes with, and plenty of oldies to ask for advice. The course is pretty standard whichever college you're at, and where Magd can't teach a paper they arrange for you to be taught out of college anyway. The library is fairly comprehensive, and we are close to the history faculty library, so no long journeys to collect books. It is also very pretty, too.

[History_is...]

Also, to update the accomodation description, Longwall annexe was this year 'party central', with now legendary "Longwall parties" taking place almost every other week, and one of the rooms of one guy's set being permanently open for socialising and drinking. Just goes to shows, it's the people that make Magdalen what it is.

[Yttrium]

(Original post by History_is...)
Also, to update the accomodation description, Longwall annexe was this year 'party central', with now legendary "Longwall parties" taking place almost every other week, and one of the rooms of one guy's set being permanently open for socialising and drinking. Just goes to shows, it's the people that make Magdalen what it is.

ooh, classy. that'll teach me for being out of college last year - so much can change in so short a time!

[History_is...]

Classy is not the word. 57 High Street for parties next year yes. Were you in Russia? That is a cool year abroad!

[Yttrium]

(Original post by History_is...)
Classy is not the word. 57 High Street for parties next year yes. Were you in Russia? That is a cool year abroad!

heh - yeah I was in The Motherland last year; had a great time with lots of running away from bears, political conversations with Lenin etc. etc.

I jest, but it was genuinely a great year of almost no work and all play. Next year will be a bit of a shock to the system... and I'll have TWO years of freshers to get to know aah, the damage being a linguist does to your social life... so i'd better get my arse over to 57 High Street as soon as term begins, I guess!

[History_is...]

Well my year is infamously boring (I in no way endorse this view, in case anyone else reads this), so you've surely not missed much. Your year abroad was your third year, am I right? So most people from your year will have just done finals and left? Of course you are most welcome at our start of term party, as soon as we figure out when that is!

[Teebs]

(Original post by History_is...)
57 High Street for parties next year yes.

Apparently the scouts were heard complaining about what the house'll be like shortly after people had chosen their rooms.

[Yttrium]

(Original post by History_is...)
Well my year is infamously boring (I in no way endorse this view, in case anyone else reads this), so you've surely not missed much. Your year abroad was your third year, am I right? So most people from your year will have just done finals and left? Of course you are most welcome at our start of term party, as soon as we figure out when that is!

Infamously boring, eh? Well, I guess I'll have to see for myself... I actually went abroad in my second year since I do Russian from scratch so I have the advantage of having all my friends in my year still being around when I come back (to watch them all be stressed finalists while I remain free and easy), but I knew a lot of last year's finalists too (and the year before's) but there'll be lots of new people to get to know when I get back. Anyway, how've you enjoyed your first year?

[big A]

Is it true about Magdalen being pretty unfriendly? How well do people know each other there?

Also, is there really no accomodation in the college grounds? When I went on Open day I was walking down a side of the quad and there were a couple of doors set on ivy? covered walls that looked like that part of the quad was accomodation.

[Elles]

(Original post by big A)
Also, is there really no accomodation in the college grounds?

Lots of accomodation is in the college grounds, staircases/attics on: St John's quad, Chaplains' quad, Cloisters, Kitchen Stairs, St Swithun's Quad, Longwall Quad, Grove Buildings, New Buildings & Holywell Ford (grads).
The parts that aren't: Waynflete building (opposite across the Bridge & river - majority of freshers), Daubeny buildings (opposite across the High St - grads) Rose Lane Houses (next to Daubeny, undergrads & grads), High St houses (on the High St up a bit from college mostly 1st years), Longwall street houses/conversion (opposite across Longwall street - mix of students) & Cowley Place (grads).

If you want to live inside walls for your 2nd/3rd/4th years it's most likely you'll be able to. Where do you get your info from?

Is it true about Magdalen being pretty unfriendly? How well do people know each other there?

The walls that make up 'Magdalen' haven't answered me back yet, unfriendly things. Seriously, it's a place full of students - if you want to be sociable and friendly and know lots of people well then you will. In comparison to lots of the other places full of students in Oxford - it's geographically bigger than most and about medium-big in JCR student numbers, large in MCR (precise numbers will be floating somewhere).
So if you think small in size and numbers = "friendly" then probably not the place for you. I thought small in size and numbers = claustrophobic and more socially limited + limited accomodation provision...

[History_is...]

(Original post by Yttrium)
Infamously boring, eh? Well, I guess I'll have to see for myself... I actually went abroad in my second year since I do Russian from scratch so I have the advantage of having all my friends in my year still being around when I come back (to watch them all be stressed finalists while I remain free and easy), but I knew a lot of last year's finalists too (and the year before's) but there'll be lots of new people to get to know when I get back. Anyway, how've you enjoyed your first year?

I enjoyed my first year too much at times! Took me a while to settle in though, I made bad choices, so it was pretty stressful. You've probably heard actually, even living in Russia for most of it! I think Oxford is a bizarre place, but once you figure it out it is bizarre in a good way. Ready for a new year though definitely, am actually really looking forward to it. That's much better still having people around - I'm friends with Meash and as he's going in third year I just assumed. I don't think we're all boring, but I get the point.

[ananas]

Thanks anone_hamster! I'm now pretty much sold on Magdalen! So who usually does the interviews? Is it a senior tutor?