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Original post by Noble.
Relocation is done randomly


Wasn't the idea that both weak and stong candidates are reallocated so that all the colleges get roughly the same quality of applicants?
Hey applicants! If anyone is interested in applying to study languages at Oxford, I've just written a post on what the course is really like!

https://carambalache.wordpress.com/2015/03/28/should-i-study-modern-languages-at-oxford/

There's also a link in there to a post about Modern Languages interviews :smile:
Original post by personage
Yes...i thought that too. But it's quite hard to find out. I'm not sure if it's done centrally, or college by college....:confused:


It depends on the subject and the numbers involved. For a subject like PPE (mentioned earlier in this thread), candidates are ranked into bands pre-interview depending on TSA score and the UCAS application. A college receiving a lot of applications can reserve a limited number of first-choice applicants - the rest are released and the college receives in return a list of interviewees that may include some released candidates and also students who have been reallocated. The aim is to ensure that the interview pools are balanced and that candidates are not advantaged/disadvantaged by choice of college. Candidates at the top of the initial rankings have a greater likelihood of getting a place but the differences are not that great among most of the students invited for interview so there is everything to play for.
Original post by personage
So you could be reallocated from your First Choice College because you weren't strong enough to be reserved by the subject tutors at that college..?


Theoretically yes. But in practice it's difficult to comment on because it varies on a subject, course and case by case basis. It's not worth worrying or trying to work out really.
Original post by nexttime
I actually did, and have now finished, medicine at Merton. I was also very torn between medicine and chemistry right up until applying, and actually did the same a-levels too uncannily. I think your main issue at this stage is not regarding Oxford:

Chemistry and medicine are two completely different courses. Chemistry is a degree similar to any other really. Medicine is a career which lasts the rest of your life for most. Have you researched what being a doctor is like? Have you experienced hospital life, or volunteered for an extended period? Its a huge decision.

Putting Oxford aside, remember how competitive medicine is - 60-65% of applicants get no offers at all. Voluntary work/work experience is expected, as is a strong personal statement focusing on your clinical and caring experience. Wording things wrongly here can literally change your life. I did not get it right and my only offer was Oxford.

The question you asked was for opinions on college choice (about the least important thing ever). The dilemma you've actually proposed is literally what the rest of your life is going to be like. You need to do a lot of research and think about where you see your life going!
.

I have done 2 and a half years of relevant volunteering with physically and mentally disabled children, and also half a years (almost 100 hours so far) worth of volunteering in oncology, haematology and A&E. I have 2 weeks of work experience in pharmacy and surgery, with another week of general shadowing scheduled for next week, actually (which I'm nerdily excited for, aha). I've been allowed to witness endoscopies, take notes and question the Doctors involved, which was way too cool.
My EPQ project is based on the NHS which I felt was a good way for me to show my dedication in finding a medical career? Or is that not helpful? idk.
I've done a St.Johns ambulance emergency course, NCS summer course, Bronze DoE and have attended 2 Medical conferences. I don't know if this is enough or if it's relevant??
My main worry is my GCSE's. I'm not from a top school and they made us do 2 GCSE's in the span of just less than a year, which brings down my *% by a slight amount. However, I did do the best in my year by a long shot which I thought might compensate, if slightly. I've done as much as I can possibly do to try and correct this with experience? I was only considering chemistry because many people at school have been putting me down and making me feel like I couldn't get in to medicine (not teachers, just students). I know this seems like a lot of info, I'm just nervous. Do you think I should do any more? If you don't mind me asking, what were your GCSE grades? Is there anything else you would suggest? Any suggestions for my personal statement (I've drafted slightly)? I really want to be a medical student, aha. I really want to be a Doctor.
(sorry for the block of text, sorry sorry)
Umm
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Gerald DGrilla
Hi, here are mine:

- GCSE grades: 10 A* - very lucky with sciences :smile:.

- A-Levels: Latin, Greek, English, History

- Course: Classics I

- College: Not sure....


...thinking of the following, in this order:

- Magdalen

- Brasenose

- St John's

- New

- Merton

I like old and beautiful, interesting tutors, diverse people, college wealth, library, quiet, central... Prefer smaller, friendlier, but Magdalen and New blew me away when I visited!

Also thinking about 'what if...'

Maybe, in this order:

1. (Oxford)
2. UCL
3. Durham
4. Warwick
5. St Andrews

Or...

6. Exeter

7. Kings

(yes, too many)


Too many choices.

Bit worried about PS and no extra-curricular.

It took ages to get here, now it feels like it's all crept up on me a bit...


Bit of repping but you might want to consider University College (Univ) based on what you've mentioned.

It's the 'oldest' college, central, slightly smaller than New and Magdalen with more communal feel (imo). Not as grand as Magdalen but has a gorgeous library and hall with excellent food and the porters and tutors are lovely :smile:

Any questions about any of the colleges you've mentioned, Univ, Classics, applications or Durham, Exeter and St. Andrews as I applied to those!
Original post by Gerald DGrilla
Hi, here are mine:

- GCSE grades: 10 A* - very lucky with sciences :smile:.

- A-Levels: Latin, Greek, English, History

- Course: Classics I

- College: Not sure....


...thinking of the following, in this order:

- Magdalen

- Brasenose

- St John's

- New

- Merton

I like old and beautiful, interesting tutors, diverse people, college wealth, library, quiet, central... Prefer smaller, friendlier, but Magdalen and New blew me away when I visited!

Also thinking about 'what if...'

Maybe, in this order:

1. (Oxford)
2. UCL
3. Durham
4. Warwick
5. St Andrews

Or...

6. Exeter

7. Kings

(yes, too many)


Too many choices.

Bit worried about PS and no extra-curricular.

It took ages to get here, now it feels like it's all crept up on me a bit...



To join in with the repping, if you like Classics you should definitely take a look at Corpus - it's famous for Classics and is small & friendly, not to mention its "wonder of the world" library (according to... Erasmus, of all people).
Original post by Gerald DGrilla
Hi, here are mine:

- GCSE grades: 10 A* - very lucky with sciences :smile:.

- A-Levels: Latin, Greek, English, History

- Course: Classics I

- College: Not sure....


...thinking of the following, in this order:

- Magdalen

- Brasenose

- St John's

- New

- Merton

I like old and beautiful, interesting tutors, diverse people, college wealth, library, quiet, central... Prefer smaller, friendlier, but Magdalen and New blew me away when I visited!

Also thinking about 'what if...'

Maybe, in this order:

1. (Oxford)
2. UCL
3. Durham
4. Warwick
5. St Andrews

Or...

6. Exeter

7. Kings

(yes, too many)


Too many choices.

Bit worried about PS and no extra-curricular.

It took ages to get here, now it feels like it's all crept up on me a bit...


To be honest all of those Colleges I would happily have gone to, so I would just go on the open day and see which you prefer. Worth booking in on the subject specific talks if possible so you can meet the tutors at least one or two of them too- I find this sometimes helps people. Aside from that, I think after having seen them all you should hopefully be able to make a decision.

The nice thing about Brasenose is it does basically have everything you describe above. It's quite large, but I view that as a positive because there's bound to be a fair few people you'll get on with/have similar interests to. The Brasenose accommodation which is not on site is also in a good location (basically as central as you can get, as is the College itself) and quite a high standard, so I do strongly recommend it from personal experience. (Not to say the others aren't great as well)

Oxford do not really care about extra curricular. Providing you have something -and I do literally just mean something- I wouldn't worry. It is exaggerated how important they are in my opinion.
Anyone thinking of economics and management?
GCSE grades: 8A*s 3As
AS Grades: AAAA (A2 predictions: A*A*A*A)
A-Levels: German, Japanese, Economics, Politics
Course: Orienta Studies (Japanese)
College: St. John's.
Original post by jenkinsear
To be honest all of those Colleges I would happily have gone to, so I would just go on the open day and see which you prefer. Worth booking in on the subject specific talks if possible so you can meet the tutors at least one or two of them too- I find this sometimes helps people. Aside from that, I think after having seen them all you should hopefully be able to make a decision.

The nice thing about Brasenose is it does basically have everything you describe above. It's quite large, but I view that as a positive because there's bound to be a fair few people you'll get on with/have similar interests to. The Brasenose accommodation which is not on site is also in a good location (basically as central as you can get, as is the College itself) and quite a high standard, so I do strongly recommend it from personal experience. (Not to say the others aren't great as well)

Oxford do not really care about extra curricular. Providing you have something -and I do literally just mean something- I wouldn't worry. It is exaggerated how important they are in my opinion.


Thanks guys, all good advice.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Lucilou101
Any questions about any of the colleges you've mentioned, Univ, Classics, applications or Durham, Exeter and St. Andrews as I applied to those!




UCL I am sure is superb.
(edited 8 years ago)
I emailed the Admissions Office for Oxford in regards with the PPE entry requrements. My specific question was how much do GCSE's play a role, when it comes to being called for an interview, and hopefully being offered a place to study at Oxford. The respons was that "Normally we concentrate on A-Levels, not GCSE's".

Does this mean if my GCSE grades aren't swarming with A*'s that I would still have a chance of being accepted? I am aware that the more successful candidates will tend to have more A*'s; however, if one was to preform amazingly on the TSA and have high A-Level predicitons, would this person/s still be with in a chance?

Regards
Lorraine123456
Original post by Lorraine123456
I emailed the Admissions Office for Oxford in regards with the PPE entry requrements. My specific question was how much do GCSE's play a role, when it comes to being called for an interview, and hopefully being offered a place to study at Oxford. The respons was that "Normally we concentrate on A-Levels, not GCSE's".

Does this mean if my GCSE grades aren't swarming with A*'s that I would still have a chance of being accepted? I am aware that the more successful candidates will tend to have more A*'s; however, if one was to preform amazingly on the TSA and have high A-Level predicitons, would this person/s still be with in a chance?

Regards
Lorraine123456


Yes you will be in with a chance. The important thing is actually doing well in the TSA so you are invited for interview. If you can pass that hurdle, much of it then reverts to interview performance.

Out of interest what are your grades?
Original post by Gerald DGrilla
Can I ask about the reputation, style, content, options etc., for Classics outside of Oxford (or the other place), which I have tried to research mainly on the web and a couple of visits?

I have heard UCL is very good. Someone told me that Exeter is good too, but to be honest it not easy to tell... I have looked at prospectuses and websites a bit, but I am not getting a feeling like I am with Oxford.

I am in North London and so Durham, Exeter, Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh are all huge distances and to visit 4 or 5 universities would just take too much time - I am seriously time-poor as it is - it's just not possible.

I am sure that I want to go to Oxford and I think I can take the pace, if indeed I am lucky enough to be offered a place. But even if I am good enough, no one is guaranteed a place and so I have to have a good Plan B - somewhere I really want to go and where I know I'll be excited by the course - but thus far I am not feeling it - not enough to make a firm decision. Maybe I just need to keep surfing, mooch around TSR and read more prospectuses.

UCL I am sure is superb, but I am really not sure I want to be in London.


I can only really comment on the ones I've had experience on.

I have heard very good things about the department at UCL - I also know a couple of people who go there and rate it highly.

Similarly for Exeter, Durham and Edinburgh - I've heard good things and my experience of the departments from reviews, schemes and days has been very good!
Original post by Gerald DGrilla
Thanks guys, all good advice.

I am going to the 2nd July Open Day, which hopefully will lead to a final choice but I agree, they are all good.

I did try to research the teaching staff on the internet but it got a bit confusing, one source said 4 tutors, others said 6 - and then the names were different... I looked at the Oxford website, the colleges' own websites and the prospectuses... quite a lot of variance... very odd. Do the tutors/fellows move around a lot?


There's a fair degree of movement of more junior academics (usually those holding posts that aren't fellowships like lecturer or non-stipendiary lecturer) as their appointments tend to be shorter term for various reasons. Fellows and those holding senior faculty positions move around less, but you do sometimes see generational shifts where a College may have all of its existing fellows in a particular subject move on within a smallish period of time.
Original post by jenkinsear
There's a fair degree of movement of more junior academics (usually those holding posts that aren't fellowships like lecturer or non-stipendiary lecturer) as their appointments tend to be shorter term for various reasons. Fellows and those holding senior faculty positions move around less, but you do sometimes see generational shifts where a College may have all of its existing fellows in a particular subject move on within a smallish period of time.


Great.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Gerald DGrilla
Yes, that makes sense. But, how is one supposed to get a feel for the number, experience and specialist areas of the tutors who will play such an important part in one's life?

If one had a particular interest in, say Latin Comedy or Greek Tragedy, one might apply at to a certain college which appeared to have a renowned expert in the field. But what if she has moved on and the tutors there now were specialists in quite different fields, say Augustan Poetry or the Oxyrhynchus Papyri Project? How unfortunate.


Basically all you can do is go on who is currently there. It is likely that when you turn up on day one they will still be there. If they are not you will still have access to someone who is an expert in the area you're interested in, they may just be based at a different college. For you as a student the only real difference is that you have to go to a different college for a tutorial; they are still "your" tutor and I always found they were just as keen to support and advise you even if you were from a different College.

Original post by Gerald DGrilla
This is not supposed to be a criticism, but it would be helpful to know the best way to research these pivotal characters in one's career.

Perhaps the great attraction to our subject is its diversity and range, but is this also our biggest risk, to be matched to the wrong expert?

Or, does it not matter at all, as it all falls out in the wash at Faculty level.


(As a general comment- I don't do Classics) When it comes to optional topics, you're into faculty level. Where the expert is doesn't really matter; you go to them. With core subjects, who you has it determined by which Colleges you are at for the most part but you're all taught the same thing as the course is identical.

Original post by Gerald DGrilla
And, if it is a problem at Oxford, what of turning up at Durham to find that the star teacher who was your reason for applying, is there no more. Have the lesser universities (apologies, I do not mean to be condescending, I might be there myself) got the depth to make up for it.

Maybe I should get back to the books, and just apply to the college I feel comfortable in; stop over analysing and just get on and enjoy the whole experience!?!


I think you should take your own advice really- it's good you're thinking everything through and taking it seriously, but ultimately wherever you end up you'll be fine. It's not easy to judge how good someone is as a tutor until you actually have them as a tutor. I was surprised sometimes to find those who had the least experience/reputation were often much better tutors. Best thing I can advise is to book on the open day at a College you like, go to the Classics subject talk and have a chat with the tutors. That's as much of an idea about them as you can get besides looking them up online I think.
Original post by Gerald DGrilla
Yes, that makes sense. But, how is one supposed to get a feel for the number, experience and specialist areas of the tutors who will play such an important part in one's life?

If one had a particular interest in, say Latin Comedy or Greek Tragedy, one might apply at to a certain college which appeared to have a renowned expert in the field. But what if she has moved on and the tutors there now were specialists in quite different fields, say Augustan Poetry or the Oxyrhynchus Papyri Project? How unfortunate.

This is not supposed to be a criticism, but it would be helpful to know the best way to research these pivotal characters in one's career.

Perhaps the great attraction to our subject is its diversity and range, but is this also our biggest risk, to be matched to the wrong expert?

Or, does it not matter at all, as it all falls out in the wash at Faculty level.

And, if it is a problem at Oxford, what of turning up at Durham to find that the star teacher who was your reason for applying, is there no more. Have the lesser universities (apologies, I do not mean to be condescending, I might be there myself) got the depth to make up for it.

Maybe I should get back to the books, and just apply to the college I feel comfortable in; stop over analysing and just get on and enjoy the whole experience!?!


All very good advice from Jenkinsear!

The way it works with Classics, is that in the first year you take the same topics as every other Classics student and this will be taught by the tutors in your college as they are general papers. Then as you get further through your degree you start choosing papers yourself. If these can be taught in your college they will be, but if not then your tutor will organise for you to go to a different college where there is another tutor who is a specialist in it. For example, next term I'm studying a philosophy paper - none of the Classics tutors at Univ teach philosophy, so I'm going to Christ Church for it.

Classics tutors don't move around that much from what I know. By all means look at the college websites and Classics faculty list - but it's much better in my opinion to base your decision on the feel of the college and other practical matters. Unless you took a particular dislike to a certain tutor on an open day (unlikely!).

Any other queries just let me know :smile: