How "hard" is Oxford?

Hi all,

I've applied to Oxford for Medicine and, being the pessimist I am, probably won't get in.

But lately I've been thinking (uni is the main thing I think about actually!) whether Oxford will be good for me? I know I'm clever, so I've ALWAYS been lazy and done the bare minimum. I know this will have to change, but... how difficult is it actually? Do people have crises in their 2nd or 3rd years that they think they can't take it? Do you have to put in a lot of time outside of lectures?

(I'm NOT asking about how hard it is to "get in" to Oxford)

Thanks everyone

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Reply 1

osiris6607

Imagine a wall made of egg shells. That's how hard.

Reply 2

SouthernFreerider

im at cambridge, but I imagine its the same, so I can kind of comment:

if you've always done the bare mininium, you aren't likely to get in anyways. I know you didn't ask it, but I just wouldn't dwell on something unlikely.

crises happen much earlier I imagine.

and yes, you do have to put in a lot of time outside of lectures, lol. the amount obviously depends on the course, and how well you want to do. but oxbridge term times are really really really short, so the workload is pretty intense.

you get sick ass holidays though haha!

Reply 3

Mask Of Sanity

It certainly makes me hard. :coma:

Reply 4

osiris6607

SouthernFreerider

if you've always done the bare mininium, you aren't likely to get in anyways. I know you didn't ask it, but I just wouldn't dwell on something unlikely.

People who usually say they don't do much work, but get good grades, are the ones who do their homework, have close to 100% attendance and do sufficient amounts of revision even if they feel it is not that much. He probably does more than bare minimum.

Reply 5

Nathan-Jones

Nah, it's a massive piss-up. Specially for medicine.

Reply 6

theciz

osiris6607

Yeah, apparently this is me. Or I assume that's why my friends always get angry at me when I say "I didn't revise for this, I'm going to fail!!!" :yes:

I can't help it, honest! :biggrin:

Reply 7

MSB

If you're good enough to get in, you'll be good enough to do the work.

That doesn't mean that it's not really difficult, or that there isn't stupidly large amounts of it.

Reply 8

imgaysowhat

I suggest you go a bit quantitative on your answers. Here is a scale that might suit you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSAB_theory

Probably somewhere near fluoride.

Reply 9

cpchem

6.8 on the Moh's Scale... so somewhere between feldspar and quartz.

Reply 10

seeker1

SouthernFreerider

Does that mean you have very little free time during term, so have to do all your socialising and stuff in holidays?

What about your weekends, how are they?

(I realise that you're just 1 person so not everyone is the same, but I'd like to know please thanks!)

Reply 11

scott8anthony

Mask Of Sanity

It certainly makes me hard. :coma:

Please don't tell me that just happened. :no:

Reply 12

ghanglish

cpchem

6.8 on the Moh's Scale... so somewhere between feldspar and quartz.

By the way your sig about productivity is totally me!

Reply 13

Mask Of Sanity

scott8anthony

Please don't tell me that just happened. :no:

I don't think it'd be that hard to come about.

Reply 14

SouthernFreerider

osiris6607

not in my experience.

maybe it was because I went to a big school ...

Reply 15

SouthernFreerider

seeker1

errr, you have as much free time as you want.

i only have 2 hours of lectures a day for example.

but then again, that is saturday lectures too. and ive not doing at least 4 hours or so work on top of that, I wouldn't do as well as I want (i.e. a 1st or 2.1).

if you're really clever or just happy with a 2.2 or 3rd, you can do not that much work at all, and have loads of free time.

but even if you work super loads, you still have every evening free.

and yes, we all do socialise term-time :P

Reply 16

Nambi

SouthernFreerider

This is really useful thanks.

I'm hoping to do Biology at Oxford, work like a dog anyway and wondered if I could cope there (I might work hard but I can't stay up til 5am high on coffee reading about DNA every day of the week and developing stomach ulcers).

It's hard.

Nambi

As far as Biology gos, I would say the first year workload is a bit intense (because, unlike in later years where you maybe have two weeks with two days of labs, and then two or four weeks with no labs, you have labs four days a week for a large portion of the year) but it certainly is manageable. In my first year I had a fair few essay crises, but equally in my second year I once had to write three tutorial essays in one week (~9000 words) and I managed it, while rowing and singing and playing in the uni Phil - and having a bit of a social life :p:

I was always more of a pub-til-11 than club-til-3 person, but equally I did a LOT of extra curriculars, so I think that for an organised person it should be perfectly possible to work and have a bit of a party lifestyle if they didn't do lots of sport/music/socs. You just need to develop really good working habits. Although there are 9am lectures every day for 2 years... so maybe not toooo much partying :p:

I guess the message is, that the Oxford workload can seem epic, but remains provided you keep some perspective and develop good working habits. Being an Oxford student doesn't stop you from having a life, but it does stop you from spending days at a time in your pyjamas watching Maury

Reply 19

eve_22

I'll add to this from a perspective of a law fresher at Oxford. The workload certainly seemed immense when I arrived, especially since I got given the reading lists and asked to get on with essays on the second day of the Freshers week :smile:

I am still struggling, in that I don't get to do much outside of studying (workload for law is famous for being heavy), however, I also don't study for the whole of the day, everyday. I do approx. 6 hours a day, which averages at 40 hours or so a week, since I also work on weekends. However, it is getting better, in that I am learning to do my reading in one-two days, and write an essay in 5 hours as opposed to one or two days :smile:

I have not been attending lectures much, which is probably not a good thing, but I plan to start doing it again come Monday. Having a morning lie-in seemed like a somewhat better option :smile: