[Marat]

Hey, when sending the application form for university graduate housing for un-married couples, they ask for "a brief letter addressed to the Accommodation Officer, confirming the relationship to the applicant (student)". Is there anything more to write than just 'I am writing in order to confirm my relationship..' ? What else should I be 'briefly' writing about?

[misha j.]

(Original post by *Corinna*)
So far, out of all the people I know who got pooled to another college, most tend to end up in graduate only colleges (Wolfson, Linacre, St Cross etc). Some go to less popular colleges like St Annes (which is a really nice college but a bit far out etc). I only know of one person who didn't get into her first choice and she ended up in Christ Church but she applied very very early (November) and she has a very prestigious scholarship and I suspect the only reason she didn't get into her first choice is because that particular college gets too many application for the same course and they capped the number of people they accepted from it.

That's good to know, thanks! Have you been to any of the graduate colleges? What is the 'mood' like compared to the mixed ones? I've only been to one in Cambridge and that was for a May ball, so it's a bit hard to tell from that...

[*Corinna*]

(Original post by misha j.)
That's good to know, thanks! Have you been to any of the graduate colleges? What is the 'mood' like compared to the mixed ones? I've only been to one in Cambridge and that was for a May ball, so it's a bit hard to tell from that...

I've been to Linacre for a dinner and it was fine, I liked it. It seemed like you could relate to more people. But I guess that's the same for every MCR.

[janjanmmm]

(Original post by HLS)
Perhaps, but what you said in your previous post was "you cannot apply", which is not correct.

The reason I said that was because I was trying to access their private accommodation listings on the Student Pad (http://www.oxfordstudentpad.co.uk/Home), where you need to register, too, and was told that I need a college acceptance first, university acceptance is not enough. They won't even let you look at it until you have college acceptance! Turns out, they can let you register for housing, I guess it takes so long that they do not see any harm in that... odd.

[RadiantJewel]

Got an email offer for Oriel College, my first choice. Very excited!

[Knisper]

(Original post by Gaia91)
hello everyone ! long time lurker , first time posting , tsr was giving me a bit of trouble , not authorizing me to post etc .. i had a couple of questions for people whove been at oxford awhile (since im coming there for my masters in september and don't know too much about living there) ..

So , because i didnt put in a college preference i got St.Hilda's and thats fine , but my dept is on banbury road and the maps tell me thats quite far. is that a big issue? how much time do grad students spend in the dept vs in college anyway ? and is it cheaper/more convenient to live on college property ? I was pretty sure i would chose living in college accommodation until i read my accommodation form carefully and it said from this year on , you must pay full time fees , during terms and vacations. boo. i'm an international student so i will be coming home in the holidays..what do you guys think about staying privately vs college ? oh also , is it possible to hold a part time job whilst studying ? I'm a yoga enthusiast and soon to be certified instructor , i was wondering if that would be of any use getting me a job in oxford. Ok , thats alot of questions ! will be glad if anyone has anything to say !

Hi! I'm also going to St Hilda's, very much looking forward to it! About the distance: I don't think going to your department would be quite far, only relative compared with some of the central colleges. By bicycle, it is about ten minutes? Where I live now, that is considered a short distance. That would be the same for you, if you live in a big city now? And there will probably be buses too. One of the nice things of St Hilda's is that the graduate accommodation is very close to the college, so you can easily drop by, and from what I've read on the internet, this isn't the case for a lot of other colleges.

I was also wondering about going home for the holidays. Are we expected to stay in Oxford between terms? Obviously we will have to study, but is it possible to go home for a (few) week(s) and work from there?

[Gaia91]

(Original post by Knisper)
Hi! I'm also going to St Hilda's, very much looking forward to it! About the distance: I don't think going to your department would be quite far, only relative compared with some of the central colleges. By bicycle, it is about ten minutes? Where I live now, that is considered a short distance. That would be the same for you, if you live in a big city now? And there will probably be buses too. One of the nice things of St Hilda's is that the graduate accommodation is very close to the college, so you can easily drop by, and from what I've read on the internet, this isn't the case for a lot of other colleges.

I was also wondering about going home for the holidays. Are we expected to stay in Oxford between terms? Obviously we will have to study, but is it possible to go home for a (few) week(s) and work from there?

ha. i just spent 5 minutes trying to figure out how to quote your reply in mine.hahah. What course are you doing ? I'm coming from a place where its 104 degrees fahrenheit right now and i'm so afraid about living in such a cold place !!

[QHF]

(Original post by Knisper)
I was also wondering about going home for the holidays. Are we expected to stay in Oxford between terms? Obviously we will have to study, but is it possible to go home for a (few) week(s) and work from there?

IIRC the college likes you to be in residence some of the time if you're in college accommodation, but assuming you don't have any classes or meetings to attend, I don't think anyone actually cares where you are, in term-time or outside it. Certainly I've never had anyone bother to check. Practically speaking plenty of postgrads do need to go on research trips anyway. I've spent time away from Oxford for various reasons and it hasn't been a problem.

[Knisper]

(Original post by Gaia91)
ha. i just spent 5 minutes trying to figure out how to quote your reply in mine.hahah. What course are you doing ? I'm coming from a place where its 104 degrees fahrenheit right now and i'm so afraid about living in such a cold place !!

The climate is no problem for me, Wikipedia tells me there is actually less precipitation in Oxford than there is in Amsterdam (where I live now). And the average temperature is about the same. Besides, St Hilda's isn't a very old college, so the heating should be alright (I heard some stories about the older colleges being very cold in the winter)

I will study for an MPhil in Linguistics, what about you?

[Gaia91]

(Original post by Knisper)
The climate is no problem for me, Wikipedia tells me there is actually less precipitation in Oxford than there is in Amsterdam (where I live now). And the average temperature is about the same. Besides, St Hilda's isn't a very old college, so the heating should be alright (I heard some stories about the older colleges being very cold in the winter)

I will study for an MPhil in Linguistics, what about you?

I originally applied to read for the MPhil Social Anthropology but when i got my offer , i was asked to show around 65,000 pounds as financial guarantee so i switched to the MSc which asks me to show 31,000 , which is a much saner amount for me to handle. Have you been to oxford often ? How do you like it ? I'm a little afraid about fitting in there , im a sweater and pajamas kind of person and I have no idea how that is looked at in oxford!

[kzmatr]

Anyone get accepted to the education department's dphil program?

[Knisper]

(Original post by Gaia91)
I originally applied to read for the MPhil Social Anthropology but when i got my offer , i was asked to show around 65,000 pounds as financial guarantee so i switched to the MSc which asks me to show 31,000 , which is a much saner amount for me to handle. Have you been to oxford often ? How do you like it ? I'm a little afraid about fitting in there , im a sweater and pajamas kind of person and I have no idea how that is looked at in oxford!

Sweater and pajamas should be no problem, right? Why would you not fit in? St Hilda's isn't a very formal college anyway, as far as I can judge on the website

I've only been to Oxford once, this autumn for the Humanities open day, and I liked it very much! The centre is relatively small, and it's beautiful. Where are you from?

[Gaia91]

(Original post by Knisper)
Sweater and pajamas should be no problem, right? Why would you not fit in? St Hilda's isn't a very formal college anyway, as far as I can judge on the website

I've only been to Oxford once, this autumn for the Humanities open day, and I liked it very much! The centre is relatively small, and it's beautiful. Where are you from?

I'm from bombay ! I'm realllllly excited to go to oxford ! Did you have a chance to look at any of the accommodation that hilda's owns?

[Knisper]

(Original post by Gaia91)
I'm from bombay ! I'm realllllly excited to go to oxford ! Did you have a chance to look at any of the accommodation that hilda's owns?

No, I didn't, but I guess it will be alright. Mainly I'm hoping that their accommodation isn't too expensive (I wouldn't mind having a small room), but I can find no information on that on the website.

[k.i.ivanov]

(Original post by Gaia91)
I originally applied to read for the MPhil Social Anthropology but when i got my offer , i was asked to show around 65,000 pounds as financial guarantee so i switched to the MSc which asks me to show 31,000 , which is a much saner amount for me to handle. Have you been to oxford often ? How do you like it ? I'm a little afraid about fitting in there , im a sweater and pajamas kind of person and I have no idea how that is looked at in oxford!

Hey Gaia91,

I have been accepted on the same course too (the MSc in Social Anthropology, that is)! I also find Oxford to be a lovely place, though I don't recall visiting St Hilda's. That said, I am sure it is a great college - in fact, they all are

[Gaia91]

(Original post by k.i.ivanov)
Hey Gaia91,

I have been accepted on the same course too (the MSc in Social Anthropology, that is)! I also find Oxford to be a lovely place, though I don't recall visiting St Hilda's. That said, I am sure it is a great college - in fact, they all are

awesome ! we should get to know each other ! what college are you at ?did you chose it?

[k.i.ivanov]

(Original post by Gaia91)
awesome ! we should get to know each other ! what college are you at ?did you chose it?

We should most definitely! I put my first choice on St Cross, yet I got a place at Wolfson (much to the horror of many people around here ). Maybe not ideal but, I believe, still a superb place to spend your time while at Oxford! At any rate, I very much look forward to meeting you - for the time being we should maybe exchange contacts? I will PM you (only if I first figure out how haha)

[joshwhitesays]

(Original post by RadiantJewel)
Got an email offer for Oriel College, my first choice. Very excited!

Me too!

[joshwhitesays]

Hey, thanks for replying! I'm looking to research the intellectual roots of US punk, tracing the ideas of the youth movement back to Emerson and Thoreau, through Nietzsche, the Beats and more.

I got an offer from Oriel which is pretty cool. Trying to find funding at the moment though which seems a bit tricky so not sure I'll be able to go. Are you applying too?

[OneManWreckingMachine]

any one put on re-evaluation and waiting-to-be-judged-by-the-March-deadline out there?