Oxford Applicants 2016 Entry & Interview chat

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.



(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.



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.

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

Interesting Correlation between number of fIRST CLASS degrees and college wealth --is that because good food and accomodation makes for more productive students. Or is it that he wealthier colleges are more popular with applicants, so they can cherry pick candidates?
Any thoughts anyone?

Colleges (and universities in general) gain status and reputation by being world leading in research and producing cohorts with high academic ability. They get money through alumni and government funding. This reputation builds up and applicants want to go to such places. Colleges then have a wider range of applications to choose from. Therefore, they can produce better graduates and build a larger reputation and wealth. This leads to more prospective applicants. I would go with your second statement: 'Or is it that he wealthier colleges are more popular with applicants, so they can cherry pick candidates?'

Any prospective geographers - you might be interested in the open day on the 15th of June! I found it really good: you get a couple of mini-lectures at the department, and also get a bit of a look round Oxford and one of the colleges (PS if you book and can't decide on a college to have lunch at I hear Hertford is pretty amazing)
http://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/undergraduate/opendays.html

Anyone going to the 1st/2nd of July Open Day?

Meeeee! The 1st

Ok, so I keep on meaning to post:

GCSEs: 9A*s, 2As (Music, RS), 1B (Latin twilight)

A Levels: English, History, Philosophy and Economics (predicted A, A, A, A/B respectively). Planning to drop Econ at the end of the year and do an EPQ next year :O

Course: History!

College: Narrowed it down to Balliol, Wadham or Univ........

Anyone else wanting to do History out there?! Good luck all!!


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Going too, but the 2nd Booked my flights yesterday! Interested in PPE though... How did you narrow it down with the colleges? I find it really hard

I went for the one at Open Day with a free breakfast!

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Going too, but the 2nd Booked my flights yesterday! Interested in PPE though... How did you narrow it down with the colleges? I find it really hard

Wow, flights, you must be international! Cool! Where are you from? Haha I live in London so feel horrendously well-connected, I am humbled that you have to fly while I can just get the Oxford Tube (takes 90 mins!!).

Yeah PPE interesting, just knew History was always the one for me As for colleges, just went through them forever and ever just narrowing it down... Try and and think of what you want from a college: near the centre? Old? High % state school? Do you want accommodation for all 3 years? Do you want quite a traditional college with lots of formals and gown-wearing? Or not? And there are other features that might interest you - eg Balliol is the only college with a student run bar (i think!), Wadham has its own music festival and its JCR is actually a union, Magdalen has a deer park and has a famous choir etc. Each college has distinctive features To get a starting point I would recommend this site:

http://www.chooseoxfordcollege.co.uk

You can rank the colleges according to what's important to you, it's really useful! Also, you can use the Alternative Prospectus, written by students so you get a good insight into the differences between the colleges a lot of colleges have their own alternative prospectuses too. Here's the uni-wide one:

http://issuu.com/ousu/docs/ap2014-16?e=0/7242535

Hope this eases your pain slightly... good luck!


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I'm from Sweden, so it's not that far Also, I am going to the Open Day at LSE the 1st, and then Oxford the 2nd, so at least I don't have to travel twice

Do you know how difficult/easy it is to travel from central London to Oxford? I have heard someone recommended the X90 (100 mins, Victoria Station-> Oxford) But maybe there are other alternatives? Hard for me to know as I'm not from the area

It's so hard with colleges! I'm not very picky, and would probably be ecstatic with whichever, as long as I got in So unfortunately the site where you can rank them wasn't for me - Isn't really bothered by any of the options! However, the alternative prospectus is great. It make sit easier to get an overlook on all colleges. Also found it great that it mentioned kitchen facilities, because that's probably one of the few things that I REALLY would like to have access to

Thank you for the advice!

Glad it helped! You can always submit an open application, where you are just assigned a college and don't have to pick one - it doesn't disadvantage your application or anything

Ah that is good you're going to LSE too - a busy few days then! Sweden is awesome your English is incredible too btw!
It's very easy to get to Oxford - the cheapest (and still quite quick) way is to get the Oxford Tube. It's a coach service that runs regularly between London and Oxford and a young person's return ticket is only £13 - cheaper than the train by far! You can catch it from London Victoria, Notting Hill Gate and a few other places in London, and it gets you to Oxford in 1hr40 mins Here's the site:

http://www.oxfordtube.com

I have caught it a couple of times when I've been to Oxford for subject open days and it's really efficient and easy to use. The X90 is a similar service although as I understand it the Oxford Tube is more popular



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Oxford Tube also has free wifi and stops much closer to the centre of Oxford (where most of the departments and colleges are located) than the rail station. Added to that, the reliability of the train service is not always great and at the moment there are engineering works during some of the weekends which can cause delays. The bus link from London wins hands down.

Glad it helped! You can always submit an open application, where you are just assigned a college and don't have to pick one - it doesn't disadvantage your application or anything

Ah that is good you're going to LSE too - a busy few days then! Sweden is awesome your English is incredible too btw!
It's very easy to get to Oxford - the cheapest (and still quite quick) way is to get the Oxford Tube. It's a coach service that runs regularly between London and Oxford and a young person's return ticket is only £13 - cheaper than the train by far! You can catch it from London Victoria, Notting Hill Gate and a few other places in London, and it gets you to Oxford in 1hr40 mins Here's the site:

http://www.oxfordtube.com

I have caught it a couple of times when I've been to Oxford for subject open days and it's really efficient and easy to use. The X90 is a similar service although as I understand it the Oxford Tube is more popular

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Oxford Tube also has free wifi and stops much closer to the centre of Oxford (where most of the departments and colleges are located) than the rail station. Added to that, the reliability of the train service is not always great and at the moment there are engineering works during some of the weekends which can cause delays. The bus link from London wins hands down.

Seconded

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I'll try to narrow it down because I'm planning to visit a few colleges during the Open Day, but if I can't choose then I am definitely submitting an open application. Rather that than choosing one at random! Knowing myself well enough, I will choose one in the end but it will take me a long time to choose

Thank you! And yes, it will be 2 very busy days! Hopefully it's going to be as awesome as I think it will be, considering I've never been to the UK The Oxford Tube seems similar to the X90, but departs more often. Thank you for the tip, much appreciated!



Sounds like the train service works as bad as in Sweden The bus it is then!