Pembroke, Cam/Worcester, Oxford

So I have to choose between Pembroke College, Cambridge, or Worcester College, Oxford, as a PhD/DPhil student. Any thoughts on either place?

Reply 1

d750

hjs

So I have to choose between Pembroke College, Cambridge, or Worcester College, Oxford, as a PhD/DPhil student. Any thoughts on either place?

What subject would that be?

Reply 2

S@sha

I'd say a win-win situation more or less. Congrats. I guess it would depend on the subject to some degree.

Reply 3

davey_boy

hjs

So I have to choose between Pembroke College, Cambridge, or Worcester College, Oxford, as a PhD/DPhil student. Any thoughts on either place?

I'm a first year DPhil student at Worcester. However, I know nothing about Pembroke, Cambridge. How can I help?

Reply 4

hjs

Thanks for the responses, and sorry to be slow to reply.

You're right, it's best to make the decision on an academic basis, but this is difficult to gauge as both departments are excellent in the field. The Oxford supervisor is an authority on the subject, but he's been out of the country all year, so I haven't been able to discuss the proposal with him. The tutor at Cambridge is also an authority and I've had more success corresponding with him; he sent me an email shortly before the AHRB deadline encouraging me to direct it to Cambridge. Difficult to ignore advice like that! However, Worcester is very tempting still - especially since I live in Oxford already.

Questions about Worcester: the secretary tells me they are over-subscribed for accommodation so I am not guaranteed a room, but I hear almost all first years get a room in the end - is this the case? And whereabouts are they located - any rooms in the older college buildings? Are they nice? I'd be very interested to hear about the MCR - the number of people, general social life - and also the quality of food, the bar etc.

Thank you very much!

Reply 5

davey_boy

hjs

Thanks for the responses, and sorry to be slow to reply.

I have a place at the English Faculties in Cam & Ox. You're right, it's best to make the decision on an academic basis, but this is difficult to gauge as both departments are excellent in the field. The Oxford supervisor is an authority on the subject, but he's been in Italy all year, so I haven't been able to discuss the proposal with him. The tutor at Cambridge is also an authority and I've had more success corresponding with him; he sent me an email shortly before the AHRB deadline encouraging me to direct it to Cambridge. Difficult to ignore advice like that! However, Worcester is very tempting still - especially since I live in Oxford already.

Questions about Worcester: the secretary tells me they are over-subscribed for accommodation so I am not guaranteed a room, but I hear almost all first years get a room in the end - is this the case? And whereabouts are they located - any rooms in the older college buildings? Are they nice? I'd be very interested to hear about the MCR - the number of people, general social life - and also the quality of food, the bar etc.

Thank you very much!

Ok don't know anything about English so your best bet is to make an academic decision on what you already know.

As for Worcester. Yes, there is a slight shortage of rooms but all 1st years I know who wanted rooms got rooms. I'd be very surprised if you didn't get a room as a first year next year.

The graduates are all accomodated in buildings around the edge of the college, there are no graduate rooms in the main quad which I guess is the older bit of college you're thinking of. Graduates live in one of several places:

1: Franks Building - (corner of Worcester Place - just by back entrance to college) graduate accomodation built c. 5 years ago. Decent sized en-suite rooms with big kitchens shared between (I think) 10 people. Very plush accomodation but can feel a bit like a motel.

2: 17, 20 & 21 Worcester Place: 3 houses owned by college split into 6 rooms. Room size varies from very large to small, each house has 2 toilets, 1 bathroom, 1 shower-room, 1 kitchen/dining room. 17 is next door to the Franks Building and 20 & 21 just a couple of doors up the St. - 18 & 19 are also student houses but owned and let privately. Recently refurbished (c. 5 years ago) but houses haven't been particularly well looked after by the students that live in them, hence the kitchens are generally a bit scanky, although obviously if you're in a house where everyone does their bit that can be changed very quickly.

3: 5 & 6 Beaumont St.: Neighbouring houses next to the Randolph, one (not sure which) has 6 rooms, other has 12 (I think). Similar to the Worcester Place houses but have bigger communal areas.

(4: Mitchel Building: Think this is being used as undergard accomodation next year in which case there may be some current undergraduate accomodation that becomes graduate. Similar style to the houses already described, situated on Walton St. near the front entrance to college.)

MCR. Well. The college is obviously geared up to having undergraduates so everything is a little bit quiet when they're not around. We have got our own MCR building which has a downstairs with a free pool table & table-football table, a bar which is open at various times depending on demand, and the obigatory widescreen TV with all the channels you can think of (and quiet a few that you can't). Upstairs is a well equiped computer room (although its hardly ever used as most people have their own computers now) and a sitting/reading room. During term there's usually something social going on a couple of times a week - I have to admit usually not my cup of tea, things like exchange dinners, MCR bops 3 times a term, garden parties, film night 1x a week, arts week etc. MCR members are also members of the JCR and free to go along to any JCR events (these are more my cup of tea). All in all there's about 100 MCR members of which I've only met something like 30-40 - the rest seem to hide in the dark huddled over their research. The ones I know, however are a pretty nice bunch.

Bar: (I'm talking about the college bar, not the one in the MCR here) - new bar manager took over this term so only time will tell if he has a drastic effect on things. The bar's located close to the main entrance under the Hall which means it's dark most of the time. The arched roof smacks of history and if you look closely you can still see the original pick marks from when the stone was cut however many hundred years ago. Very atmospheric in Winter. Is usually fairly busy but has been reasonably quiet this term due mostly to exams. Costs £1.20/pint for Carlsberg, Tetly, £1.40 for Carlsberg Export / Cider, £1.80 Guinness. Shot and a mixer is £1.60 I think. 1/4 bottles of wine £1.80. The bar's used for quite a few JCR events (e.g. Kareoke last Sunday, bop last Friday) so it can vary quite a lot as to how many people are in there. When there's an event on its rammed, especially in Winter, in summer people can sit out in the pump quad outside, which is nice. Also tends to get busy after people leave formal hall (see below). All in all one of the better college bars I've experienced.

Food: food is only served in college during term-time which isn't a problem as all graduate rooms are self-catering. The food in Worcester is onthe whole very good. Every day there's breakfast, lunch and dinner served in Hall. All are on a pay per meal system. Breakfast, I'm informed (never been in the 5 years I've been at Worcester), is very good, Lunch is good but there's no choice so can be hit & miss. There's 2 choices for dinner, 1st Hall served from 6 is very similar to lunch. Formal Hall, served every day except Saturday at 7:30 is very, very special. Basically there's an endowment which means that each meal at formal Hall is subsidised to the tune of £5. You pay something like £2.30 for the meal and what you get is a 3 course silver service meal which costs something like £7 to make. Take a bottle of wine from threshers across the road in and you've got the starting point of a good night out - fed and on the way to being drunk for a fiver :biggrin:

Obviously I'm biased as I chose to return to Worcester as a graduate rather than going somewhere else, but I don't think there's any college in Oxford I'd rather be at. I'm not naive enough to say there's nothing wrong with the place but on the whole the all-round package is exceptional.

Hope this has helped.

Reply 6

hjs

It helps a hell of a lot - thanks! That's a really thorough account. I already had an idea that it was a good place - so thanks for confirming that impression. Well, maybe I'll bump into you there in October.

I'm now in the odd position of having mixed feelings about my AHRB application - of course it would be great to get a scholarship, but I wish the system didn't limit you to one application at one institution.

Thanks again!

Pembroke, Cam/Worcester, Oxford

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