This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

Worcester and its reputation

Hey,

i am thinking of applying and the admissions statistics fit well with my subject at worcester (english), however i've herd that worcester is very public school and quite full of 'rahs' too. also that it's incredibly sporty and if you're not doing loads of sports then you won't fit in. i'm sure some of this may not be true, but can any of you give me any info on what worcester is really like from someone who's there at the moment? :confused:

also, is queens really full of northerners?!!

cheers :smile:

Reply 1

Golden Maverick

4

rich_

also, is queens really full of northerners?!!

cheers :smile:

Not really, there are quite a few but not like in the 18th century.

Queen's is far better than Worcester btw.

Reply 2

slk999

OP

15

Queen's is far better than Worcester btw.

oh right, that's cool, cos i have really been agonising over queens and worcester, so which aspects of queens are better? just the general atmosphere?

Reply 3

zxczxc

11

rich_

Queen's is far better than Worcester btw.

oh right, that's cool, cos i have really been agonising over queens and worcester, so which aspects of queens are better? just the general atmosphere?

You aren't applying for undergrad this year, are you???

Reply 4

Neapolitan

2

You've got a year to decide so why not go to an open day and let that sway your decision.

The Spanish tutor at Queen's (John Rutherford) is very sweet.

Queen's isn't full of northerners but then equally Worcester isn't full of rahs.

Worcester's the more beautiful college, but Queen's does have a specialist Spanish fellow.

Reply 5

kalen

8

I'd pick Worcester over Queen's. The location and the grounds bear no comparison (Queen's is right on High Street and boy I wouldn't want to deal with the traffic on High Street every day, although Queen's lane is indeed quiet). I can't really tell much about your subject, though, and I tend to be a bit sporty, so I think it would fit me...

Reply 6

slk999

OP

15

You aren't applying for undergrad this year, are you???

nooo way, no, my teacher at school has been badgering me to look at prospectuses though, so what worries i had have been inflicted on me unnecessarily probably. i'll probably apply next autumn for deferred entry cos i skipped year 6 for some reason so i'm an age and academic year ahead- - dont want to start uni when i am 17.

Reply 7

Drogue

19

Worcester is about the prettiest Oxford college, with great grounds. Yes, a bit of a reputation for being rah, but even being the state schoolboy I am I've never found that an issue - it's not like it's Oriel. Never heard much of the sporty thing, there's others that are more sporty, but it's not like it's crammed down anyone's throats anywhere. In my experience, sporty people tend to fall into cliches, rather than those non-sporty being left out.

Reply 8

Ipsen

Drogue

it's not like it's Oriel

What exactly is the problem with Oriel then? :confused:

And also, what is the reputation of Balliol? :redface:

Reply 9

kalen

8

I actually thought ChCh was considered the 'rahest' college, not Oriel...Although I learnt that stereotypes are quite often wrong :rolleyes:

Reply 10

Drogue

19

Well, Oriel has more OUCA (Oxford University Conservative Association) members than any other college, which as any Oxford student knows, is more about being a rah than being a conservative. They don't call it Port and Policy for nothing :wink:

ChCh is rah, but I always think of ChCh as being stereotypically arrogant and posh, whereas Oriel is just posh and conservative.

There's no problem with Oriel at all, it's just rah, IMHO.

Balliol is both slightly left leaning and very hard work. Always near the top of the table, particularly good rep for PPE and lovely grounds. Also the 2nd/3rd oldest college.

Reply 11

davey_boy

9

rich_

Hey,

i am thinking of applying and the admissions statistics fit well with my subject at worcester (spanish and linguistics), however i've herd that worcester is very public school and quite full of 'rahs' too. also that it's incredibly sporty and if you're not doing loads of sports then you won't fit in. i'm sure some of this may not be true, but can any of you give me any info on what worcester is really like from someone who's there at the moment? :confused:

also, is queens really full of northerners?!!

cheers :smile:

Hi Rich. I've been at Worcester for donkey's years so should be able to answer your questions - feel free to PM me if you want to know anything more specific. Also Rich_E has spent time in both Worcester and Queens so might be able to help you out as well. As has already been mentioned, probably your best bet is to go to an open day and see what floats your boat, it is such a subjective choice, its very difficult for someone else to help you out.

Worcester has a reputation for being a bit public school, I don't think it is any worse or any better than any other Oxford college. It certainly has more Southerners than northerners, but its not as though if you're a northerner you'll be the only one there.

Worcester is pretty sporty, but it really isn't a case of sport being thrust down your neck, its just that with being the only college with sports grounds on site, a lot of people who wouldn't bother to trek a mile and a half to a sports ground actually play a bit. I might be a bit biased though seeing as I'm MCR sports rep. In terms of how good the sports teams are, the Football team's very good, the Rugby team is average, the boat club is average, the cricket team's very good, tennis is good, hockey is very good.

In its favour Worcester has:
Beautiful grounds
No tourists
All accommodation on site
Good food
(Sports grounds on site)
A lake. With ducks.
Laid back atmosphere when it comes to work (A very senior member of the college once said to me 'we don't want to come any higher than about 10th in the Norrington tables - otherwise we'll get a reputation for working too hard').
The college bar with highest turnover in Oxford.

Hope this helps.

Reply 12

slk999

OP

15

Thanks guys, there's a lot of useful info there, when i visited the colleges a couple of days after open day this year i certainly liked Worcester a lot more and could see myself there, however there were no students there so it was quite hard to judge. Also my school has sent quite a few people to Worcester, mainly to do music (2 there at the moment) and a couple to do Modern Languages. a more admin thing, i want to defer entry, does this decrease my chances of getting an offer? i mean, i guess i could cram a trip to spain in the vac before michaelmas, but if i do badly in the test at interview, then i can say i'll plug the wholes in my grammar by means of a gap year. would that work? cheers :smile:

Reply 13

gezzar

davey_boy

Hi Rich. I've been at Worcester for donkey's years so should be able to answer your questions - feel free to PM me if you want to know anything more specific. Also Rich_E has spent time in both Worcester and Queens so might be able to help you out as well. As has already been mentioned, probably your best bet is to go to an open day and see what floats your boat, it is such a subjective choice, its very difficult for someone else to help you out.

Worcester has a reputation for being a bit public school, I don't think it is any worse or any better than any other Oxford college. It certainly has more Southerners than northerners, but its not as though if you're a northerner you'll be the only one there.

Worcester is pretty sporty, but it really isn't a case of sport being thrust down your neck, its just that with being the only college with sports grounds on site, a lot of people who wouldn't bother to trek a mile and a half to a sports ground actually play a bit. I might be a bit biased though seeing as I'm MCR sports rep. In terms of how good the sports teams are, the Football team's very good, the Rugby team is average, the boat club is average, the cricket team's very good, tennis is good, hockey is very good.

In its favour Worcester has:
Beautiful grounds
No tourists
All accommodation on site
Good food
(Sports grounds on site)
A lake. With ducks.
Laid back atmosphere when it comes to work (A very senior member of the college once said to me 'we don't want to come any higher than about 10th in the Norrington tables - otherwise we'll get a reputation for working too hard').
The college bar with highest turnover in Oxford.

Hope this helps.

thanks dave, makes me feel i've made the right college choice :cool:

Reply 14

Neapolitan

2

rich_

...The only thing that draws me back from Worcester is the fact that my ex will be there at the time i would be there...

If she's there already (first year?) or has a deferred offer to next year then, after a year out for you, she'd either have left or be in her third or fourth year. Also by then she'd be an ex from three years previously, so surely this still wouldn't be an issue.

Taking a gap year out doesn't affect your chances applying, it may even be encouraged in modern languages if you're heading abroad, and it also gives you the chance to apply again if you're unsuccessful the first time and inclined to give it another go.

Reply 15

slk999

OP

15

Neapolitan

If she's there already (first year?) or has a deferred offer to next year then, after a year out for you, she'd either have left or be in her third or fourth year. Also by then she'd be an ex from three years previously, so surely this still wouldn't be an issue.

Taking a gap year out doesn't affect your chances applying, it may even be encouraged in modern languages if you're heading abroad, and it also gives you the chance to apply again if you're unsuccessful the first time and inclined to give it another go.

Yeah, i guess you're right about the gap year thing, and yeah, probably it wouldn't be an issue, only we split in july when she went off for her gap year, so i expect if i have a gap year then it'll be 2008 when i start and she'll be on her year abroad then anyway, so i reckon it'll be fine. thanks. :smile:

Reply 16

Ipsen

Drogue

Well, Oriel has more OUCA (Oxford University Conservative Association) members than any other college, which as any Oxford student knows, is more about being a rah than being a conservative. They don't call it Port and Policy for nothing :wink:

ChCh is rah, but I always think of ChCh as being stereotypically arrogant and posh, whereas Oriel is just posh and conservative.

There's no problem with Oriel at all, it's just rah, IMHO.

Balliol is both slightly left leaning and very hard work. Always near the top of the table, particularly good rep for PPE and lovely grounds. Also the 2nd/3rd oldest college.

Thanks, got the Oriel bit of it :p:

But it seems to me that on TSR, Balliol is not a popular college, isn't it? I hardly see anyone mentioning it, if not about choosing colleges for PPE :confused:

@Will: is it what you think that Univ is the oldest? :rolleyes:

Reply 17

Tomorrow2Day

Drogue

Well, Oriel has more OUCA (Oxford University Conservative Association) members than any other college, which as any Oxford student knows, is more about being a rah than being a conservative. They don't call it Port and Policy for nothing :wink:

ChCh is rah, but I always think of ChCh as being stereotypically arrogant and posh, whereas Oriel is just posh and conservative.

There's no problem with Oriel at all, it's just rah, IMHO.

Bollox to that. There is a small rah population here as anywhere else. I would say there isn't a single rah on the JCR committee and probably only one or two Conservatives. 80-90% of people here are just fine and normal (for Oxons). Among the 20-odd PPEists the majority are Liberal Democrat voters and as many of the rest are Labour or apathetic. Among the Historians there is certainly more Conservatism but it is only an alignment and not an OUCA membership (in most cases). There is a very small and reasonably vocal minority of extremely right-wing people here, like ex-Union president Marcus Walker and Cameron Penny. But that hardly makes Oriel a bastion of Conservatism. The politics tutors, though their political affiliations are unknown, don't seem like Conservatives at all. While some history tutors in particular might like a bit of Conservatism every so often :wink:

, this hardly dictates the character of the college. In short, the Oriel stereotype of "rah" is resoundingly wrong. The rower stereotype is closer to true but in truth there are only about twelve really committed muscle-bound rowers - hardly a dominant force in a college of 300 students.

Reply 18

anycon

11

Rahs are better than ordinary people anyway. I love the brastads.

Worcester's good because it had the two best firsts in English and the best first in maths last year.

Reply 19

Drogue

19

Ipsen

@Will: is it what you think that Univ is the oldest? :rolleyes:

No, it simply has the earliest founding date, which is surprisingly also the date Oxford University was founded - 1249.
--------------

Tomorrow2Day

Bollox to that. There is a small rah population here as anywhere else. I would say there isn't a single rah on the JCR committee and probably only one or two Conservatives. 80-90% of people here are just fine and normal (for Oxons). Among the 20-odd PPEists the majority are Liberal Democrat voters and as many of the rest are Labour or apathetic. Among the Historians there is certainly more Conservatism but it is only an alignment and not an OUCA membership (in most cases). There is a very small and reasonably vocal minority of extremely right-wing people here, like ex-Union president Marcus Walker and Cameron Penny. But that hardly makes Oriel a bastion of Conservatism. The politics tutors, though their political affiliations are unknown, don't seem like Conservatives at all. While some history tutors in particular might like a bit of Conservatism every so often :wink:

, this hardly dictates the character of the college. In short, the Oriel stereotype of "rah" is resoundingly wrong. The rower stereotype is closer to true but in truth there are only about twelve really committed muscle-bound rowers - hardly a dominant force in a college of 300 students.

Maybe not rah then, but it does have the highest number of OUCA members of any college. Maybe they're not all as vocal as the likes of those you mention, but they do exist.

Worcester and its reputation

Related discussions

Articles for you