New College, Oxford...

1

Not that many people on TSR appear to go to New College, but still, it would be good to get anyone's opinion on it! Reputation, stuff you wouldn't know from the prospectus, anything really?

Thanks in advance :biggrin:

Reply 1

Jenski

9

Try to find their Alternative Prospectus. This is written by students and gives a feel of the place. Look on their JCR website or email them. Better still, go visit!

Reply 2

Isaiah Berlin

4

Alright, off the top of my head...
**** food. Quite posh. Lots of students involved in various university organisations. Undeserved rep for being pretty.

Reply 3

mellow-yellow

OP

1

I have visited.. stayed there for interview :smile:

Just thought it would be more interesting for me to get opinions from other people as well as building my own.

Reply 4

Jenski

9

Cool. When I visited (it was on my shortlist of 3 when I was choosing where to apply) it seemed really big! Sorry thats not much help. Apparently there are some stairs there and if you clap near them, you hear some odd clicking noise. Wierd huh..

Reply 5

mellow-yellow

OP

1

Jenski

Cool. When I visited (it was on my shortlist of 3 when I was choosing where to apply) it seemed really big! Sorry thats not much help. Apparently there are some stairs there and if you clap near them, you hear some odd clicking noise. Wierd huh..

Yes - the mound squeaks when you clap near it! Tis obvs the best thing about the college!

Reply 6

ProzacNation

Isaiah Berlin

Quite posh. Lots of students involved in various university organisations. Undeserved rep for being pretty.

That is exactly how I'd describe it too: lots of rahs, and a v outgoing student body. The college itself is so beautiful.

Reply 7

mellow-yellow

OP

1

Are we talking rahs in a negative sense? Or are we talking posh private school people.. some of whom are quite decent people?!

Reply 8

Traum

Rah rah college...

but again apparently so is St john, CHCH etc etc...

Reply 9

bigjcoool

Clearly it's the jealousy that's speaking here... Yep, the college is massive and ridiculously beautiful. Some people complain a bit about the location, though for me, it's really close to Exam Schools, where my lectures and classes are, opposite the ATS (the best sandwich/general delight or whatever-tickles-your-fancy-really shop ever) and Edamame (the japanese restaurant equivalent of the ATS), while a stone's throw away from the High Street and Broad Street, and thus loads of other colleges (Keble, John's, Exeter, Lincoln, Jesus, Hertford, Magdalen, Balliol, Teddy Hall, Mansfield, Univ, Brasenose, Queen's, All Souls, (Harris Manchester...) are all easily within 5 minutes away, as are Christ Church, Pemborke, Oriel, Merton and Corpus, I suppose, at a squeeze!) The food, I submit, isn't great, though there is formal every night at no extra cost, and I guess served food is always a bonus... A bummer is that there are no cooking facilities available for any undergraduate living directly inside college! Meugh...)

We have a wicked bar (old school massive bricks and beams) with amazing and inter-collegiately renowned bops, which we put on more than nearly all other colleges (I think it's ten a year) and we (apparently) have one of the three best balls (which happens triennially) in Oxford. Our sports grounds are really good and really close to college (unlike Jesus', for example, which are further south down Cowley than London is), and the college is really sporty.... Head of the River in the women's rowing, and our men's and women's novice A boats both came 2nd out of 70-odd teams in the ChCh regatta this term - miles better than any other team overall. We were runners up in football cuppers last year, as we were in Drama cuppers this term (OK... so we seem quite good at coming 2nd, I admit...), and musically we are a wicked college, with lunchtime recitals at least once a week, the famous New Chamber Opera, the foundations of OUJS (Oxford University Jazz Society) and the meeting place for IndieSoc, the rehearsal centre for In the Pink, the home of the New Oxford Orchestra (which is awesome for an entirely student-organised...thing...), and, of course, the world-famous New College Choir (am I blowing my own trumpet? :p:

) Which reminds me, our chapel is gorgeous, with a real El Greco... Indeed...

We offer absolutely loads of subjects, so there's a massive range of people and interests, though, while entirely untrue in my opinion, I can understand why it might be perceived as a rah college, given that it has the second highest percentage of public school students. (Personally, I don't understand this idea of rah colleges... the atmospheres at Magdalen, New and Oriel, all of which have a high proportion of ex-public school undergraduates, to me, feel exactly the same as those at Merton and Pembroke, who I think have proportionally the most from state schools, while Christ Church, who actually have a much more ex-state school demographic, is known for being perhaps the rah-est of the colleges.) The student body is one of the largest though, (600 in total, 480 undergrads) so it's very difficult to get socially claustrophobic, if that makes sense. Academically we tend to always be in the top 10 of the Norrington table, though we did slip to 15th this year, which seems really anomalous.

If you hadn't guessed, I absolutely love my college, as I know all of my friends do, and it's interesting that I don't know anyone who applied elsewhere or with an open application who is at New College, which shows how it must be really popular with applicants, especially in English, PPE, History, E&M, Maths and Medicine, as for all joint courses (apart from mine!!) where there seem to be an absolutely extreme number of applicants (there were over 80 for 10 places in PPE - over 40 had been desummoned before interview this year!! I was shepherding and herad all the gossip...)

Basically, it's just wicked. And, true fact, I was told by a good friend at John's that, apparently, "New College is always meant to be your favourite college after your own."

In apology, I didn't try to seem too biased when I was writing this, though I clearly was! :biggrin:

Reply 10

RxB

1

bigjcoool

the meeting place for IndieSoc

that's a big lie

Reply 11

bigjcoool

Well, it was for two meetings at least... I went to one, and others went to a follow up.. If they weren't the actual meetings though, or if it has subsequently changed (I didn't go after that, sadly, like everything else at Fresher's fair) then I'll scrub it from my post... Meh...

Reply 12

RxB

1

when?
(i'm genuinely curious, i of all people should know...)

Reply 13

mellow-yellow

OP

1

Bigjcoool: Wow extremely useful (if a little biased)! I already love New from spending almost a week there for interviews, so I don't need convincing!

The comment you made about not knowing anyone who applied anywhere else or made an open app. and ended up at New.. sorry to break the trend, but that's exactly what happened to me! I applied to another college (I won't say which in case I offend your delicate ears) and got pooled before interview to New.

Other than that, you've just made me love it even more so thanks and good job! I'm hope I'll join you in spreading the New College love next year. Btw, what are people at New called (e.g. Univ undergrads are Univites)? And for that matter are there any names for other colleges?? I'm finding it hard to think of them for Balliol, ChCh...

Reply 14

Patrick7777

6

Yeah I was so tempted to apply to New, it has Robin Lane Fox and is really pretty. My tutor told me St John's had better teaching, resources and funds though, so in the end my brain won over my heart.

Hopefully I'll make some friends there.

Reply 15

TamasL

Hey J,

Good to see you're spreading the New College Love...Anyways, it would be good to chat...Send me a PM. T

Reply 16

bigjcoool

To scan my uni history that far back could prove difficult, though I reckon they were at the ends of 3rd and 4th week. Methinks anyway...

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Oh and, Mr T, I'll call, not PM... PM-ing is for people whose real identities/phone numbers I don't actually know!! :smile:

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and, m-y, you've silenced me on the pooling front... Geez... You're the first I know of.... At least it's not common anyway. Saying that, a classicist who applied to new on my year was pooled to Christ Church, which also very uncommon, so, I guess, I'd just better learn never to say never!!

Reply 17

RxB

1

and you're a first year? we didn't have things in colleges in either 3rd or 4th - the only things we've had in colleges this term have been in oriel and exeter

it is a mystery. sorry for the derail.

edit to add: i know a first year engineer who was pooled to new.

Reply 18

TamasL

'Tis true. Just one question; do you ever use msn? ie via your hotmail account? T

Reply 19

bigjcoool

I know that there are Corpuscles, Magdalenites and Hildabeasts, and I think we're New Collegians, (you always have to include the "college," apparently). There must be more... Anyway, I'll stop. It thinks it's immoral to create a quadruple post.

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Though it was definitely IndieSoc... or maybe it it was a horrible extremist New College Indie faction acting under an IndieSoc pseudonym. I don't know. They were very believable anyhow...

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T, I cannot msn. CH intranet won't allow me or it. Meh...

New College, Oxford...

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