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University of Oxford

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Merton College (Oxford) Students and Applicants

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Reply 580

Tibbilfrepus

Original post by wild_eyes

Anyone at Merton fancy going on little trip to ask Julie Gerhardi when interview invitations will be sent out? Haha. (If someone actually does this, I will literally send them a box of cookies. LITERALLY.)

I will send TWO boxes of cookies! Someone ask, pleaseeeeeeeee (for physics) ;p

University of Oxford

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Reply 581

wild_eyes

Original post by Superflibbit

I will send TWO boxes of cookies! Someone ask, pleaseeeeeeeee (for physics) ;p

I got mine at about 5.30 today, so you should probably expect something in the next couple of days!

Reply 582

nexttime

Original post by wild_eyes

Oh, don't need to! GOT AN INTERVIEW! See you all on the 10th :woohoo:

Damn. Wanted cookies.

Original post by Superflibbit

I will send TWO boxes of cookies! Someone ask, pleaseeeeeeeee (for physics) ;p

Consider it merton's first lesson: learning how to not worry when you can't make a difference to things :tongue:

Reply 583

Jatt.B

Anyone applying economics and management at merton?

Reply 584

the_chemist

Any chemists in Merton right now?

^Yeah, me

Just finished my PPE interview at Merton and have arrived back home. Had a great time! Everyone was SO nice and the helpers were fantastic. Thanks to everyone who stopped it from being stressful and actually made it fantastic :biggrin:

Reply 587

dn995

Anyone applying for computer science?

Reply 588

kelzo

Hi, can anyone give me a comparison of Merton and St John's as colleges? I really liked them both on the open day and can't decide which one to apply for! Thanks :smile:

Reply 589

nexttime

Original post by kelzo

Hi, can anyone give me a comparison of Merton and St John's as colleges? I really liked them both on the open day and can't decide which one to apply for! Thanks :smile:

St Johns is bigger (400 undergrads vs 300).
Merton is on a quiet cobbled street by Christchurch meadow, St johns is on a busy road in the centre of town (but very well located). Can't comment on proximity to department as don't know your subject
St Johns offers more grants etc.
Aesthetically a bit different. I'll leave that up to you to decide which you prefer!
Bother offer nice accommodation for all 4 years. You can look up relative pricing.

What factors are important to you?

Reply 590

anyone_can_fly

Original post by kelzo

Hi, can anyone give me a comparison of Merton and St John's as colleges? I really liked them both on the open day and can't decide which one to apply for! Thanks :smile:

Original post by nexttime

What nexttime said.

Also, hall food is slightly nicer at Merton.

Reply 591

kelzo

Original post by nexttime

Ok thanks! I'm applying for Law, which I know is quite far out from most things! I'm most interested in living experience, atmosphere and tutors etc :-)

Reply 592

kelzo

Original post by anyone_can_fly

What nexttime said.

Also, hall food is slightly nicer at Merton.

Thank you! Food is very important :-P

Reply 593

fluteflute

Original post by anyone_can_fly

What nexttime said.

Also, hall food is slightly nicer at Merton.

Original post by kelzo

Thank you! Food is very important :-P

I slightly dispute the food thing.... but I haven't eaten much at Merton.

Reply 594

anyone_can_fly

Original post by fluteflute

I slightly dispute the food thing.... but I haven't eaten much at Merton.

Lunch is the best Merton meal, so you haven't seen our best. And they don't give you five puddings at John's. :tongue:

Reply 595

philerus

I am currently awaiting the result of my interview. However, I must say that I had an interview at a college other than Merton. Merton was one of my original two college choices, and I rather foolishly picked a college that, in retrospect, proved to be both more competitive and not as attractive to me as Merton. In any case, I was reallocated to a third college, and, despite the fact that the college I was interviewed at was great, I must admit that I have huge regrets for not applying to Merton. It just looks fantastic in every respect.

In the case that I do get in, does anyone know whether transfering between colleges is possible? Also, are University members allowed to dine at another college ocassionaly or use its library facilities (not for taking books out though).

Many thanks.

Reply 596

nexttime

Original post by philerus

In the case that I do get in, does anyone know whether transfering between colleges is possible?

Only in exceptional circumstances e.g. changing subject.

Also, are University members allowed to dine at another college ocassionaly or use its library facilities (not for taking books out though).

You can just wonder around other colleges grounds [mostly] without a problem. For things like Hall and the library you would need to be the guest of someone at the college or as part of another event.

Reply 597

Someone in TSR

I'm currently in the midst of the application process. Maybe I'll choose Merton altough I'm not sure. Keble seems to be interesting as well.

How are the rooms and especially the bathrooms? With how many do you share?
Is the college bar nice?

.

Reply 598

nexttime

Original post by Someone in TSR

I'm currently in the midst of the application process. Maybe I'll choose Merton altough I'm not sure. Keble seems to be interesting as well.

They're fairly different colleges. Old vs new, small vs big, rich vs not so much. What is attracting you to both of them?

How are the rooms and especially the bathrooms? With how many do you share?

I left 2 years ago and haven't been an undergrad for 5 years so I might be out of date re bathroom ratios etc. The rooms themselvs though are generally much nicer than the rooms you get in most other colleges. There some particularly incredible sets of rooms you can get to yourself in third year, but even the most basic rooms are much bigger than those I saw at say Catz, Brasenose, Univ.

Is the college bar nice?

Yeah - well located, adjoining the TV room, games room, and JCR. It was much better attended than other college bars, at least a few years ago!

Reply 599

Someone in TSR

Original post by nexttime

They're fairly different colleges. Old vs new, small vs big, rich vs not so much. What is attracting you to both of them?

I left 2 years ago and haven't been an undergrad for 5 years so I might be out of date re bathroom ratios etc. The rooms themselvs though are generally much nicer than the rooms you get in most other colleges. There some particularly incredible sets of rooms you can get to yourself in third year, but even the most basic rooms are much bigger than those I saw at say Catz, Brasenose, Univ.

Yeah - well located, adjoining the TV room, games room, and JCR. It was much better attended than other college bars, at least a few years ago!

Thanks for your answer!

I really like the fact that Keble has a high Proportion of en-suite rooms. The library and the hall seem to be great as well.
I saw a tour of the outside of Merton College and I instantly fell in love with it. It's so beautiful. In general it just seems to be a nice and friendly (and well located) college.
Both offer accomodation for all years of my degree and I can live on or near the college site. That is another big advantage, as I don't want to live far outside.

Accommodation is pretty important to me and both are said to have good rooms. I originally thought about applying to Magdalen but the accommodation seems to be quite bad(furniture in a bad state, bathrooms appalling...). Trinity was another option,but in third year you need to go to North Oxford.

Is Merton more difficult to get into than some other colleges? I know there is the pooling system but I don’t know how well it works. I’m afraid that if too many excellent people apply there they will raise the bars to even consider you for pooling.

How was the ratio when you studied? Do you remember?
Unfortunately, I couldn't attend any open days to look at the colleges more closely.