Most oversubscribed colleges?

Wouldn't mind this being bumped

Wow, you just bumped into an 8 month old thread. How did you find it btw?

Does anybody know which colleges are the most oversubscribed? Bumping this.

I've been trying to find the link because when I applied a few years ago, there was a handy guide as to how popular each college was for ensuite/shared, catered/self, etc. Sadly, I don't think that exists anymore so it'll just have to go off what I remember/know.

Vanbrugh and Derwent are usually very popular as they are cheaper and central on campus west. Constantine and Langwith are usually less popular as they are premium so more expensive. In terms of catered, I think James is fairly common but equally Derwent and Vanbrugh again. If you want east, Goodricke is usually the most common as it's the cheapest of the 3 east colleges. Halifax is less common again because it's slightly off campus (ignore anyone who says it's miles away... it's about a 5 minutue walk from James college and has its own Nisa). Alcuin is the nicer college on west but I'm not honestly sure how popular it is because it's behind the library so it's not as central as the other west colleges.

I'm not sure how specific I can be tbh as that's all I know/remember from when I applied but I'm happy to answer any questions you have about the colleges to help you make a decision! I'm in Goodricke btw.

Much appreciated!

I've applied to all three of the east colleges (as my top three options) so if I don't see you at Goodricke, I definitely will see you around at some point.

How do things work with students remaining residents at their college for year two? Is this commonplace, or do the vast majority go into private accommodation?

Cheers.

You’ll very likely get an East college if not Goodricke as west is usually preferred since most departments are over there. I’m actually moving back to campus for my 3rd year so it’s fairly common. Yes most people move into private rented houses but a surprising amount do stay. There’s a separate accommodation block within colleges (well Goodricke anyway) for “continuing students” which is what they call students who aren’t freshers that live on campus. They do this so that you’re a bit more separated from the partying freshers and you can get more efficient studying done in your flat with less chance of being disturbed as there’ll be people in their final year who obviously have things like dissertations to do.

In terms of applying, there’s a form on the website where you fill it out similar to first year applications but you’re basically guaranteed to get your first choice because the process is more first come first served. I applied in October and was assigned my room number about a week later.

Obviously campus isn’t everyone’s choice as there are more restrictions on things like noise levels and how you can decorate your room etc. but there are some of us who prefer campus life.

Again much appreciated .

I assumed when applying for East colleges that they would be more popular because they're newer and therefore nicer, just goes to show how little I know. I suppose I guessed that because they were the perfect arrangement for me because my department is over there, they're newer and I ideally want an ensuite, they'd be the perfect arrangement for everyone which is clearly not the case.

This makes me a lot more hopeful that I'll get one of my top choices. How competitive would you say Goodricke, Constantine and Langwith ensuites are, and do you think I'll get a room offer for one considering I applied around 5 days after applications opened?

I couldn’t honestly say how likely you are based on your choices and timing but many students tend to prefer cheaper accommodation so I believe (I may be wrong) that en-suite is less competitive than shared. Also, as I said earlier, Langwith and Constantine are sometimes undersubbed for that reason: people don’t want to/can’t afford to pay the prices. I was in Goodricke en-suite last year and will be again next year. It was my top choice however I get priority due to disability so I can’t really say. Although, a lot of my flat mates didn’t have Goodricke en-suite as their top few choices and they got assigned it so it’s possible that it’s a less popular choice. I don’t want to get your hopes up though in case you don’t get that room, but I do believe that you’ll very likely end up on east somewhere, if not assigned, then you can swap your room and lots of premium rooms get advertised because the rent is higher