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Choosing an Oxford college
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You're going for world domination then...
How many will you need to sell to break even? I guess unit costs are quite low; but a lot was needed for R+D, in terms of time anyway.
Best of luck, it seems an outstanding product. (and I never know there was a university version of YE)
How many will you need to sell to break even? I guess unit costs are quite low; but a lot was needed for R+D, in terms of time anyway.
Best of luck, it seems an outstanding product. (and I never know there was a university version of YE)
Don't know about domination, but the world part's certainly true 
Since we covered graduate colleges too, we'll be targeting US universities in the hope that those with significant numbers of grads coming to Oxford for postgrad courses might be interested. Chinese and Hong Kong schools, of course, are a given.
Much as I hate to talk money on the thread itself, we practically broke even on advertising revenue alone in terms of pure financial cost - but without paying ourselves salaries, so it would be nice to have some return on the ridiculous amount of time that's gone into this. I tell you what, it was a fantastic feeling to actually get this finished!
The university version of YE is actually quite recent - only about three or four years, I think, excluding the pilot, and this is the first year in Oxford. It's being run by Oxford Entrepreneurs (http://www.bouncewithit.com) and the scheme is confusingly called the Graduate Programme (http://www.graduate-programme.org.uk), despite being aimed at undergrads.
Since we covered graduate colleges too, we'll be targeting US universities in the hope that those with significant numbers of grads coming to Oxford for postgrad courses might be interested. Chinese and Hong Kong schools, of course, are a given.Much as I hate to talk money on the thread itself, we practically broke even on advertising revenue alone in terms of pure financial cost - but without paying ourselves salaries, so it would be nice to have some return on the ridiculous amount of time that's gone into this. I tell you what, it was a fantastic feeling to actually get this finished!
The university version of YE is actually quite recent - only about three or four years, I think, excluding the pilot, and this is the first year in Oxford. It's being run by Oxford Entrepreneurs (http://www.bouncewithit.com) and the scheme is confusingly called the Graduate Programme (http://www.graduate-programme.org.uk), despite being aimed at undergrads.
In Asia they will buy anything with the Oxford brand on it, and with so many rip-off merchants out there trying to leach off Oxbridge application, it's nice to see a product which will actually be useful.
Is YE still only for 1 year?
Is YE still only for 1 year?
I appreciate the amount of time and effort that you have put into such a product and I intend to ask the school librarian to invest in a site license.
Tell me though, what will your site offer which the discerning individual cannot glean from the standard prospectus and visiting a few colleges?
Tell me though, what will your site offer which the discerning individual cannot glean from the standard prospectus and visiting a few colleges?
Baz - it is only for one year, yes. It is meant to be "any 12-month period" rather than "one academic year", but despite registering in late November we still only have insurance coverage till the end of July - sorting that out with Young Enterprise at the moment.
Mobbdeeprob - thanks for the comments! To answer the question: it will obviously be of most benefit to those that can't come round and see the colleges. Indeed we say in the introduction that this should only be the first resort rather than the one and only - ideally, it should guide people as to what colleges they like the look of such that they know which ones they should look round when they come for a visit! But there's a lot of information in here that applicants will be hard pushed to find by other means. If the food's not up to scratch, we'll say so. (Christ Church!) If the college website only has photos of their plush third-year in-college accommodation, we'll tell you about the manky halls down the road. (Magdalen!) If the college only lets visitors in as far as its beautiful front quad, we'll tell you about the concrete blocks hidden behind the "College Members Only" signs. (Teddy Hall!)
Mobbdeeprob - thanks for the comments! To answer the question: it will obviously be of most benefit to those that can't come round and see the colleges. Indeed we say in the introduction that this should only be the first resort rather than the one and only - ideally, it should guide people as to what colleges they like the look of such that they know which ones they should look round when they come for a visit! But there's a lot of information in here that applicants will be hard pushed to find by other means. If the food's not up to scratch, we'll say so. (Christ Church!) If the college website only has photos of their plush third-year in-college accommodation, we'll tell you about the manky halls down the road. (Magdalen!) If the college only lets visitors in as far as its beautiful front quad, we'll tell you about the concrete blocks hidden behind the "College Members Only" signs. (Teddy Hall!)
ThePants999
Baz - it is only for one year, yes. It is meant to be "any 12-month period" rather than "one academic year", but despite registering in late November we still only have insurance coverage till the end of July - sorting that out with Young Enterprise at the moment.
Mobbdeeprob - thanks for the comments! To answer the question: it will obviously be of most benefit to those that can't come round and see the colleges. Indeed we say in the introduction that this should only be the first resort rather than the one and only - ideally, it should guide people as to what colleges they like the look of such that they know which ones they should look round when they come for a visit! But there's a lot of information in here that applicants will be hard pushed to find by other means. If the food's not up to scratch, we'll say so. (Christ Church!) If the college website only has photos of their plush third-year in-college accommodation, we'll tell you about the manky halls down the road. (Magdalen!) If the college only lets visitors in as far as its beautiful front quad, we'll tell you about the concrete blocks hidden behind the "College Members Only" signs. (Teddy Hall!)
Mobbdeeprob - thanks for the comments! To answer the question: it will obviously be of most benefit to those that can't come round and see the colleges. Indeed we say in the introduction that this should only be the first resort rather than the one and only - ideally, it should guide people as to what colleges they like the look of such that they know which ones they should look round when they come for a visit! But there's a lot of information in here that applicants will be hard pushed to find by other means. If the food's not up to scratch, we'll say so. (Christ Church!) If the college website only has photos of their plush third-year in-college accommodation, we'll tell you about the manky halls down the road. (Magdalen!) If the college only lets visitors in as far as its beautiful front quad, we'll tell you about the concrete blocks hidden behind the "College Members Only" signs. (Teddy Hall!)
Cheers for that - a warts and all expose is it?!
Can you tell me anything about Christ Church, Exeter and Oriel? As they are the three colleges which I was looking at in particular, for law.
I said at the start I wasn't going to talk about specific colleges for obvious reasons, but since you've promised to mention us to your librarian, I'll say a few things
Christ Church has its own separate law library, which is an important factor. I bet you already knew that though. Especially important given it's a long way from the Law department. It's also a top choice if you expect financial troubles - as one of the richer colleges, it has an impressive array of grants and bursaries, including the jaw-dropping computer grant for first years... Bar's not bad - the best atmosphere predictably coincides with the regular pound-a-pint nights. On other nights... maybe the fact that it used to be a mortuary is a factor
Oriel doesn't quite have a library to match Christ Church's, although at over 100,000 books it's not a bad one, and it is at least 24hrs, unlike ChCh's 9am-11pm library. After your first year expect to have to live out in Cowley, although being a new block they are at least en-suite rooms out there. And since you have to pay over £100 per term for food regardless of whether you eat it or not, expect to traipse all the back back quite frequently. Its reputation for producing hotshot lawyers is well-known, of course - almost as much as its reputation for producing dedicated boaties.
Exeter too has a 24hr library, but nowhere near the same collection as the other two. It can't make up its mind whether it's a good college academically or not - coming 10th in last year's Norrington table was a dramatic improvement on 26th the year before! Second years pretty much have to live out, which can be a real problem. I've known some pretty stressed Exeter students around the time they need to find themselves accommodation! Exeter doesn't really stand out for anything, except its central location on the lovely Turl Street. Tourists galore, of course, but when you're that close to the cash machines and Heroes sandwich shop, one could almost forget them.
Just a brief snapshot of the kind of stuff we've got in the Guide - obviously each report says far more than what I've mentioned here! Good luck with your librarian...
Christ Church has its own separate law library, which is an important factor. I bet you already knew that though. Especially important given it's a long way from the Law department. It's also a top choice if you expect financial troubles - as one of the richer colleges, it has an impressive array of grants and bursaries, including the jaw-dropping computer grant for first years... Bar's not bad - the best atmosphere predictably coincides with the regular pound-a-pint nights. On other nights... maybe the fact that it used to be a mortuary is a factor
Oriel doesn't quite have a library to match Christ Church's, although at over 100,000 books it's not a bad one, and it is at least 24hrs, unlike ChCh's 9am-11pm library. After your first year expect to have to live out in Cowley, although being a new block they are at least en-suite rooms out there. And since you have to pay over £100 per term for food regardless of whether you eat it or not, expect to traipse all the back back quite frequently. Its reputation for producing hotshot lawyers is well-known, of course - almost as much as its reputation for producing dedicated boaties.
Exeter too has a 24hr library, but nowhere near the same collection as the other two. It can't make up its mind whether it's a good college academically or not - coming 10th in last year's Norrington table was a dramatic improvement on 26th the year before! Second years pretty much have to live out, which can be a real problem. I've known some pretty stressed Exeter students around the time they need to find themselves accommodation! Exeter doesn't really stand out for anything, except its central location on the lovely Turl Street. Tourists galore, of course, but when you're that close to the cash machines and Heroes sandwich shop, one could almost forget them.
Just a brief snapshot of the kind of stuff we've got in the Guide - obviously each report says far more than what I've mentioned here! Good luck with your librarian...
Sure... it depends in part on what exactly you mean by "living out" - because there's living in college-owned houses, or there's finding something on the private accommodation market. I'm living in a college house next year (my final year) out of choice and I agree, it's an important part of a rounded student experience One problem, though, is the 36-week lease meaning total rent for the year increases dramatically.
When it comes to going private, you have that problem again - often even worse, as some landlords insist on even longer contracts. Then you have the problem that private housing in Oxford is hardly cheap in the first place, and there's a lot of competition for it. Then there's the problem of it not being central - sure, Cowley, Jericho, Summertown etc have communities of their own, but being some way from your department has its disadvantages too. And finally there's the reasonably rare but not negligible problem of "bad" landlords and agents who don't return deposits. This isn't to say it's something to be avoided at all costs, but it certainly has its inconveniences.
One problem, though, is the 36-week lease meaning total rent for the year increases dramatically.When it comes to going private, you have that problem again - often even worse, as some landlords insist on even longer contracts. Then you have the problem that private housing in Oxford is hardly cheap in the first place, and there's a lot of competition for it. Then there's the problem of it not being central - sure, Cowley, Jericho, Summertown etc have communities of their own, but being some way from your department has its disadvantages too. And finally there's the reasonably rare but not negligible problem of "bad" landlords and agents who don't return deposits. This isn't to say it's something to be avoided at all costs, but it certainly has its inconveniences.
Right, well there's a modification for version 2... "excellent grants but they forget to tell the students." 
Because whilst some people want to live out, others don't. When you have guaranteed accommodation, you have a choice in the matter. If the college doesn't have accommodation for you, however, you're going private whether you want to or not. And surely you must realise that while your experience of living out has (so far) been positive, that's not true for everyone.
JUSTaGIRL
When I say 'living out' I mean renting privately.
Of course there are bad landlords out there, but this is why the University Land Agent provides lists of decent ones. I had absolutely no problem finding accomodation and it isn't going to work out any more expensive than living in college. Also Oxford is quite small and where I'm living is very close to college and within reasonable distance of departments, exam schools, etc. Oxford is small, remember! I have just never been able to figure out why such a fuss is made about colleges providing full 3 year accomodation being such a good thing.
Of course there are bad landlords out there, but this is why the University Land Agent provides lists of decent ones. I had absolutely no problem finding accomodation and it isn't going to work out any more expensive than living in college. Also Oxford is quite small and where I'm living is very close to college and within reasonable distance of departments, exam schools, etc. Oxford is small, remember! I have just never been able to figure out why such a fuss is made about colleges providing full 3 year accomodation being such a good thing.
I wish I had had such a good experience! I have had a nightmare trying to find accommodation for the next academic year. I got a list of properties advertised at the accommodation service and visited about 20. Some were worse than squats! Since when does 'fully furnished' mean no beds, just matresses on the floor?! What's more, these awful properties weren't any cheaper! I can't afford to use an agency. they charge up to £120 per person if you rent a property from them. Plus the rent tends to be higher. I have found a house now and it's really nice but I have to try and get a £500 deposit from somewhere. The rent is £30 per month than college, but college rent included bills and this doesn't. I am a graduate student but if I was an under-grad 'living out' would be massively more expensive because I have to rent over the summer holidays.
Word of mouth recommendation is the way to go. The house I am going to rent is currently occupied by students at my college. Some colleges (not mine
) keep lists of properties rented by their students so the same houses are passed on year after year.deianra
Very nice!
I think I might buy one for the pretty pictures, though I'm about 87% sure I've got my college choice sorted out.
*Merton Merton Merton*
I think I might buy one for the pretty pictures, though I'm about 87% sure I've got my college choice sorted out.
*Merton Merton Merton*
Thanks Meg
Are you sure you're not just 86.71% sure about it?
In Soviet Russia, College chooses you!
dan2004
how far is cowley from the centre of oxford?is it really like living in another town?
im hoping to apply for maths, so cowley looks like it might be a bit of a walk every day!
im hoping to apply for maths, so cowley looks like it might be a bit of a walk every day!
Depends on whether it's the suburb of Cowley proper, or the area around the Cowley Road which students sometimes incorrectly refer to as Cowley. The former, then you would be looking at a bus or bicycle journey (it's two miles or so), the latter it's a reasonable walk or short bike ride
Alexander
Depends on whether it's the suburb of Cowley proper, or the area around the Cowley Road which students sometimes incorrectly refer to as Cowley. The former, then you would be looking at a bus or bicycle journey (it's two miles or so), the latter it's a reasonable walk or short bike ride
If you can afford to live in Cowley village as a student, I'm sure they are many peeps on here looking for a rich beau!
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