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Most Prestigious Oxford College?

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Reply 40

probably not

so? it's still by some distance the most prestigious institution

Reply 41

KwungSun

probably not

so? it's still by some distance the most prestigious institution

The OP wanted Trinity's counterpart at Oxford, which All Souls is not.

Reply 42

Turdburger

cpchem

I think our front quad is very pretty - especially on a sunny summer's day, when the stone just glows...

Garden quad has got a monstrosity or two, but for sheer leafy expansiveness, it's awesome.

Yeh Balliol is far from ugly, (I said merely not stunningly good looking). But you have to admit it isnt super-pretty. Balliol's looks arent what make it what it is. More the atmosphere and self-confidence if you know what I mean.

Reply 43

rrumora

I love this topic. If I get in, I'm definitely switching colleges even though that's surely not possible. :biggrin:

Reply 44

pendragon

01zaporozhets

Isn't it Merton followed by Johns in the latest Norrington table?

Reputation doesnt fluctuate with every years Norrington table, it would take years of that consistently being the case for it to change general academic reputation.

It wouldn't matter if Oxford or Cambridge came 3rd in an overall league table for a year or two and the Norrington table is a far less serious business than national league tables. It only takes one year group of bad lawyers for example to catapult a college way down.

Reply 45

Mayfly

Turdburger

Balliol is odd in that its not very old or exceptionally pretty (well the buildings arent) or very rich but still very popular and "prestigious".

I would say Merton, Magdalen and Balliol. Then Johns Ch Ch Univ, Brasenose, Trinity.

Whoa whoa whoa...back it up. I cannot believe no-one has picked up on this.

We were founded in 1263.

We claim to be the oldest college in Oxford (we're not, but we're top three).

WHAT THE **** MORE DO YOU WANT FOR 'OLD'?

01zaporozhets

Isn't it Merton followed by Johns in the latest Norrington table?

Well yeah, but people think they are weirdos who never leave their rooms (YES, THIS IS A MASSIVE STEREOTYPE, BUT IT EXISTS) whereas we've manage to avoid that, hence slightly different reputations for essentially the same thing - good academic results.

Maybe cause we keep yelling about how effortlessly superior we are.

EDIT: haha, I got negged anonymously for this. Seriously, if you can't get the self-deprecation in that last bit, maybe I'll make it more obvious - LOL, WE'RE ARROGANT, AND KEEP GOING ON ABOUT HOW WE DON'T STUDY EVEN THOUGH WE CLEARLY DO, LOL. Also, if you go to Merton or St John's....get ovverrrr itttt, you knew what you signed on for when you applied, I get 'all gay, no girls at balliol, leftielefties' comments all the time.

Reply 46

Swayum

My vote goes to Merton College.

Reply 47

7589200

I'd say chch , clearly

Reply 48

fraternité

Christ Church always seemed to be Trinity's sister college to me.

Turdburger

I was under the impression that Kings was "the one" at Cambridge.

King's is our version of Wadham but with more SWP!

Reply 49

twistme

I think he meant the buildings aren't very old. There aren't many of the really old buildings left, I think most of the broad street facade is 1800s? I never did order Jones' book on the college history...

Reply 50

S.C.M.

Are you guys basing this on history, alumni, looks?

Reply 51

hobnob

S.C.M.

Are you guys basing this on history, alumni, looks?

Percentage of applicants salivating at the mention of the name. :wink:

Reply 52

pf1

S.C.M.

Are you guys basing this on history, alumni, looks?

I would like to hope that the OP left 'prestigious' deliberately undefined in order to play devil's advocate ... 'Prestige' to me in this context would mean the college which has contributed the most to the history of the University, I suppose. Arguing about which college is the best known will always be a bit of a circular argument. You'd be surprised at how many international students apply to Christ Church because the Harry Potter film used their staircase.

Incidentally, the Norrington table has a certain value, but is of limited importance in this topic if you're talking about academic prestige. Bear in mind that a college's place in the table can be somewhat affected by the range of subjects it offers. I can think of several examples of colleges whose position is either (a) elevated by their not offering or not taking many students for certain subjects which proportionally produce fewer firsts or (b) disadvantaged by their offering a wider range of subjects but with fewer students per individual course.

Reply 53

username138106

We're equating "prestigious" with "full of dicks", right?

Reply 54

Schott

If one was to put down Harris Manchester as one of their choices when applying for a Masters, is the likely that they would be taken on by the College because it's for mature students only (and thus may not be as appealing to some maybe) ?

Reply 55

hobnob

tony_ron

Possibly. But one also needs to take into account that Harris Manchester is a small college and therefore unlikely to accept more than about 20 graduates per year across all subjects. So there is no guarantee that one may not end up at another college anyway.

Reply 56

Schott

Oh my goodness that would be a real culture shock lol. My college currently takes 600 graduates (so I would guess 200 per year), and that's only half the population lol!

Reply 57

sugar_cane

Swayum

My vote goes to Merton College.

Clearly

Reply 58

Teebs

With the proviso that all the Oxford colleges are much of a muchness in real terms and prestige is an incredibly vague and woolly thing...

I'd say no one college stands out in Oxford, but Magdalen, Balliol, Christchurch, St Johns, Merton and possibly New stand out a little in terms of being well known, big, old and having good academic reputations. If you absolutely had to choose a top prestige one roll a dice. 1-2 = Christchurch 3-4 = Balliol 5-6 = Magdalen