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Oxford 2011 Freshers Chat Thread

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Nooo, the RadCam is awful! Just full of the Classicists not at the Sackler who flirt with eachother over the tops of their books and laptops. The tension is much too distracting! I hate to say it, but I think the most productive I've ever been was in a study carrel at the SSL. I did have trouble adjusting back to natural light when I finally emerged though.

Can't say I've ever noticed that - not that I'm the type of person who's likely to... Anyway, I love how quiet the Rad Cam is (when there aren't building works next door), the way every history book ever seems to be on hand, and last but not least the beautiful architecture all around. I'm sad enough that that's what distracts me most :redface:

I've been in the SSL once or twice, it felt like being in an optical illusion the way the perfectly-straight shelves just went on, and on, and on... It made my head hurt, I got out of there as quickly as I could.

Reply 3521

deFossard

Original post by shoshin

Schools is just about the only place in Oxford that is within hiking distance of Magdalen though :tongue:

If deFoss plans to visit the Sackler during Michaelmas he should really be starting out about now :smile:

Schools? The exam school on the high street, or something else?

Original post by dbmag9

These are freshers week timetables, not timetables for tutorials or lectures or anything.

Ah, righto. I got mine in the post, then.

Original post by Incarnadine91

You'll get your lecture list in your pidge when you arrive, and you'll work out your tute times with your tutor when you meet them in Freshers. So don't worry about it yet :wink:

Most Michaelmas lectures are once a day Mon-Fri at 12 noon, which gives you plenty of time to work in the morning but is a pain in the arse for getting back for lunch. Don't suppose you'll have that problem at Magdalen but at Catz I had to sprint back every day so that the cake wasn't gone already... Suppose it did do wonders for my fitness level, what with the cake and all :rolleyes:

Thanks, that's a relief. Little to worry about now, just need to keep up with my French translation. Though I'm inevitably thinking that I won't get my first Maintenance Loan payment on the 2nd.

Reply 3522

dbmag9

Done the first two maths problems on the first problem sheet, feels like a victory. The fact that they were both GCSE level or lower, and I made a stupid mistake halfway through the second, in no way diminishes this victory. :ninja:

Reply 3523

Incarnadine91

Original post by deFossard

Schools? The exam school on the high street, or something else?.

Exam Schools, where you'll have all your lectures (and exams of course). It's a beautiful place, we're lucky - most other people only get to see it when panicking :colone:

Reply 3524

deFossard

Original post by Incarnadine91

Exam Schools, where you'll have all your lectures (and exams of course). It's a beautiful place, we're lucky - most other people only get to see it when panicking :colone:

I went to the history open day there, it's a phenomenal place. I spent most of my time looking up at those HUGE hanging lights in the main room.

Reply 3525

henryt

Original post by dbmag9

I'm just looking back at the sheets now. Nostalgic. I don't think we had 'Intro. to Pure Maths' or 'Intro. to Complex Numbers' in my day... Looking forward to Analysis and Linear Algebra? I really honestly cannot remember any of either subject, apart from: a) Analysis I and III (Seqs & Series, and Integration) are a lot harder than Analysis II (Cont. & Diff.), and b) that the Steinitz Exchange Lemma was important.

Reply 3526

Incarnadine91

Original post by deFossard

I went to the history open day there, it's a phenomenal place. I spent most of my time looking up at those HUGE hanging lights in the main room.

We got matriculated there too, it's got quite the ambience. For me it was a bit disorientating when I arrived, given that the main rooms are labelled in Latin (of which I know very little) but you quickly get used to it. I always liked the animals on the ceiling of North School, and a painting of a victorian man with his dog in the East School. It's a bit of a warren when you're late for lectures, though...

Reply 3527

Incarnadine91

Original post by Nag o ma Scylla

Some of the lecture lists are online, aren't they? I found what I think is the list for linguistics, and it looks like some of them might clash with choir practice ... don't know how that's going to sort itself out :frown:

Yeah, it depends on your subject really. I got sent a printout one term, e-mailed a link the next. Seems like you'll have to give either practice/lectures a miss then, I'd suggest practice unless it's urgent.

Reply 3528

BeritV

Yay! Got my Oxford e-mail stuff as well. Up to now I didn't understand what you guys were so excited about. Now with several e-mails having been sent from that address really just to show that I have it... Yea I understand now! :P :colondollar:

Reply 3529

CZephyr

Has anyone here not received their registration details? *Potential cause for alarm*.

Reply 3530

ChopinNocturne

Original post by CZephyr

Has anyone here not received their registration details? *Potential cause for alarm*.

The online registration and email stuff? I haven't either :s-smilie:

is it done by college?

Reply 3531

dbmag9

Original post by CZephyr

Has anyone here not received their registration details? *Potential cause for alarm*.

I know at Merton it only start happening once you've returned your contracts, but to be honest I wouldn't be worried for another week or so even if you have.

Reply 3532

dbmag9

Grr, my contracts didn't arrive (forwarded by parents) today. I should have just got them to 'sign' them for me.

On the plus side, I have college parents! My dad (same course) got a 1st in his first-year exams, so no pressure. :p:

Reply 3533

brendan.

Original post by CZephyr

Has anyone here not received their registration details? *Potential cause for alarm*.

I haven't either! I assume it'll happen sometime after you return your contract, yet saying that I sent mine last week, and nothing.. :biggrin:

Reply 3534

dbmag9

The disadvantage of ordering my gown/cap in advance and having it posted to home (where I'm not) is that I just got spammed a bunch of photos of my family wearing them (followed by a photo of my dad in his rather more impressive gown, presumably to avoid me getting ideas above my station :p:

Reply 3535

rahyahrah

WebLearn question:
My college doesn't have a page yet - and the site says to use "old WebLearn" for these colleges. However, the welcome page on WebLearn says the old version will have been phased out by Summer 2011. I'm guessing my college will just update to the new version over the month?

Reply 3536

deFossard

Original post by rahyahrah

Mine (Magd) doesn't either, actually. Really irritating.

Reply 3537

victoire

Original post by rahyahrah

i can't speak for all subjects, but i've not used weblearn once all year, and i think only my medic friends use it for academic stuff. don't fret, you're really not missing out on anything.

(tbh... i don't actually really understand why weblearn exists... edit: just had a closer look and apparently there are a whole load more functions than i ever knew about! wowzer. you learn a new thing every day.)