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2006 Freshers: What do you want to know about Oxford?

Partly out of public service, partly out of curiosity, I'm going to have a go at answering any questions Freshers have about Oxford.

What are you worried about? Freshers' Week schedule? What to pack? When your college will arrive?

Ask away, and I'll give my best shot answering...

Reply 1

edmundwillis

5

Isaiah Berlin

Freshers' Week schedule?

... at Corpus Christi? :wink:

Reply 2

Johnny 5

12

Best flavour at G&Ds?

Reply 3

Peter_The_Great

4

Best route for an Oxford pub crawl?

Reply 4

Johnny 5

12

Greatest college pet?

Reply 5

Bezza

2

2 5 +

Greatest college pet?

I saw the New College cat/kitten quite a few times in my first year - he was really cute. Didn't see him at all last year though so don't know what happened to him :frown:

Reply 6

samlangfield

3

A technical, perhaps even geeky, question: what's the internet connection like in college rooms? ie, how fast? And can you plug a wireless router into it, or would that just complicate matters?

In libraries, is there a way of connecting to the internet via a laptop?

I'm sure more questions will arise. Thanks, Isaiah (great name, by the way).

Reply 7

ArVi

13

Can international students leave stuff there over the holidays? (if it depends on the college, do you know if its possible at Balliol?)

Reply 8

Cirsium

19

Ok well since IB isn't here I can answer a couple of these but sadly not all - my knowledge is not great enough

Best route for an Oxford pub crawl?

Well you will (almost) doubtless be taken on one back from Cowley during freshers' week and Cowley --> centre tends to be a fairly good route - not least because a lot of students tend to live Cowley / centre / somewhere in between so the pubs are a bit more studenty.

Best flavour at G&Ds?

Sadly I haven't had the time to taste all 50+ favourites but at the moment my favourite is Tiramisu - it's worth trying some of the weird and wonderful ones though and a lot of people seem very taken with Oxford Blue

what's the internet connection like in college rooms? ie, how fast? And can you plug a wireless router into it, or would that just complicate matters?

In libraries, is there a way of connecting to the internet via a laptop?

It varies a lot by college but generally speaking it's usable-speed broadband (you know, meant to be 10mb but really not that much, but still ok just not whizzy) I think you could probably use a wireless router - you can certainly plug a hub in but when your computer is right next to the ethernet socket i reckon it would just complicate! And as to the libraries it varies by library. My college library you can, my department you can't but don't need to as there are available computers, I don't think you can in any of the Bod libraries

Can international students leave stuff there over the holidays? (if it depends on the college, do you know if its possible at Balliol?)

I can't be sure for Balliol but as a general rule every college has some storage space for internationals.

Reply 9

Agrippina

15

Bekaboo

Well you will (almost) doubtless be taken on one back from Cowley during freshers' week and Cowley --> centre tends to be a fairly good route - not least because a lot of students tend to live Cowley / centre / somewhere in between so the pubs are a bit more studenty.

I hate Cowley Road! :frown:

It freaks me out enough going along it in broad daylight, so I definitely wouldn't want to go down there at night.

Btw everybody, there's a FANTASTIC new milkshake place called Moo-Moo's just opened in the Covered Market which does smoothies and every flavour of milkshake you could imagine! :biggrin:

Reply 10

Inspiron

9

Best flavour at G&Ds?

Oooh they're all soooo good... Just branch out and have warmed brownies or cookies with it too...

Greatest college pet?

Rosa Luxembourg, our College tortoise, vanished (or was vindictively stolen lol) a few years a go. Balliol has yet to recover.

A technical, perhaps even geeky, question: what's the internet connection like in college rooms? ie, how fast? And can you plug a wireless router into it, or would that just complicate matters?

In libraries, is there a way of connecting to the internet via a laptop?

The connection always seems as fast as my 2MB Broadband at home, and of course it super-fast on the network between computers. A wireless router? I'd doubt it, Balliol encourages us to disable our wireless cards full stop, but then I can't vouch for other colleges. Libraries usually either have ports or a wireless internet connection.

Can international students leave stuff there over the holidays? (if it depends on the college, do you know if its possible at Balliol?)

This one I can definitely answer, i'm best friends with the Overseas Officer. Yes, at Balliol you'd have to tell her that you want to leave your stuff but there's never any problems and overseas folks always get priority. We have several storage rooms and I don't think they've ever been totally full.

Good thread idea by the way!

Reply 11

alispam

12

so you can't use wireless internet in all rooms?

Reply 12

Ventricles

Might as well put in my answers too.... :smile:

Best flavour at G&Ds?

Personally i really like the after eight one, but also i found that dime bar crunch with hot chocolate sauce also goes down very nicely! :smile:

Greatest college pet?

Alas i have not yet met many colleg pets although wadham id seem to gain a duck this year, often to be seen wandering the back quad, which was very cute...

Best route for an Oxford pub crawl?

To be honest you can walk pretty much anywhere in oxford and make it a pub crawl hehe :smile:

The best one? i dont know if i could pick there are so many nice pubs

A technical, perhaps even geeky, question: what's the internet connection like in college rooms? ie, how fast? And can you plug a wireless router into it, or would that just complicate matters?

In libraries, is there a way of connecting to the internet via a laptop?

okies, in wadham there is no wireless, its all done by ethernet conections so all you do is buy the cable and plug yourself in (think its similar elsewhere) but its really fast i find

And in our library at least there are certain tables where you can plug your laptops and ethernet cable in and use them :smile:

And lastly....

Can international students leave stuff there over the holidays? (if it depends on the college, do you know if its possible at Balliol?)

Also i think all colleges let you leave stuff. Overseas students at wadham get 6 boxes to fill that can be left (all other people get 1 you can leave)

Reply 13

RichE

15

Rachel

I hate Cowley Road! :frown:

It freaks me out enough going along it in broad daylight, so I definitely wouldn't want to go down there at night.

What's wrong with Cowley Road? :eek:

It's the best place in Oxford to spend a night out!

Reply 14

Athena

6

Ventricles

Might as well put in my answers too.... :smile:

Personally i really like the after eight one, but also i found that dime bar crunch with hot chocolate sauce also goes down very nicely! :smile:

Alas i have not yet met many colleg pets although wadham id seem to gain a duck this year, often to be seen wandering the back quad, which was very cute...

A duck? Cool :biggrin:

Lucy... do you know the names of my college parents, so I can stalk them through the Wadham gazette?

Reply 15

meef cheese

10

Where do you get your hair cut?

Reply 16

chocolatecheese

10

Rachel

I hate Cowley Road! :frown:

It freaks me out enough going along it in broad daylight, so I definitely wouldn't want to go down there at night.

Btw everybody, there's a FANTASTIC new milkshake place called Moo-Moo's just opened in the Covered Market which does smoothies and every flavour of milkshake you could imagine! :biggrin:

Yay!!! I love Jesus college!!!! its right next to the Covered Market...so its right next to Moo-Moo's!!! yippeeeeeeee!!!! :biggrin:

im gona be in heaven!!!

Reply 17

chocolatecheese

10

Isaiah Berlin

Partly out of public service, partly out of curiosity, I'm going to have a go at answering any questions Freshers have about Oxford.

What are you worried about? Freshers' Week schedule? What to pack? When your college will arrive?
Ask away, and I'll give my best shot answering...