Merton College (Oxford) Students and Applicants

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 then some other colleges?

I know there is thepooling 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.

The outside lol - you better wait to see the inside then!

True. Have you compared room rates? (I honestly don't know how they compare).

Christchurch is the only college I've seen which I would say had better rooms than Merton. Maybe worth checking out?

College competition ratios are published. Merton is not especially competitive no.

Ok... its competitive yes but that does not mean pooling doesn't work. About 35% of people were re-allocated college last year as part of this process - I can't say they get it right every time but that's unquestionably evidence of an extensive process.

I had 6 bathrooms between 13 in first year. The lowest ratio for me was 1 between 5, but even then in 1 year I had to wait for the shower once. With some people showering in the evening, the scientists waking early and the artists waking late it just seems to work.

You can just drop in. If you say you're an applicant they will let you explore (though send an e-mail to them to confirm if you wish).

Sounds great. Makes me even more hyped!

So now I'm torn between even more colleges. It's really a lot about small and "cozy" college vs large and impressive one.

Ok that sounds fine. Better than one between 12 like in some Colleges. So as long as they are clean and don't have mould etc that sounds good.

PS: Is there an easy way to only quote parts of your reply?

The virtual tour is useful for seeing colleges.

Sure. You can also consider the number of medics there will be in the year, though the range is small at 4-8.

I break the quote down by manually typing etc. Maybe there's an easier way, not sure.

Oh... I'm not a medic. Applying for PPE. Are you one?

How is accommodation allocated to the first years?

Are there any shared rooms?

Do we get to choose between en-suite and not? Thanks...

Just noticed that on the website the official star of term is October 9th 2016, but was just wondering if merton expects/if it is normal practice for students to arrive prior to this date, and if so what date? Thank you.

2 years old lol, heard from a friend this college is known as the most academic/boring college. Is that true? I honestly quite like that serious atmosphere though.

I'm sure there was a more recent thread, but can't find it either. Weird.

People like to create stereotypes to characterise the colleges. The sporty one, the rowing one, the posh one, the party one, etc. They are based on very little truth in my experience. In fact sometimes they make up, and then some people actually seem to believe (!?) random things to back it up, like curfews or sports being banned and the like (all things people have 'informed' me about Merton). None true of course. In fact because of its consistently good (although not necessarily top these days) performance in the Norrington table the college can afford to be a little more relaxed around academia, unlike some under-performing colleges who 'crack down' every now and then (giving students extra exams etc).

Perhaps a small proportion of the private schooled kids (i.e. the ones who have heard of the reputations before they arrive) applied to that college because of the reputation, but that's only a small number. I found Merton to be very social and I had a great time. Perhaps a little more nerdy than elsewhere, but that might just be Oxford its hard to tell.

Wow that sounds lovely! I feel a fair few of students (especially state school students) are drawn to Oxford because of their nerdiness. Were there any notable things about your experience at Merton, anything distinct or memorable things? Would you go back in time to change your college if you had the chance?

Hi, My daughter and I went to the open day and she really liked Merton and thinking of putting this college as her option. Trouble is there is nothing on the website, or anywhere else on line, except all that it says is that Merton does excellent food. But just wondering what type of food really. Do they do the basic fare that's like chicken and chips, jacket potato, pizza; that kind of thing? Or is it a lot of food that's for the more adventurous pallet?

Hi, My daughter and I went to the open day and she really liked Merton and thinking of putting this college as her option. Trouble is there is nothing on the website, or anywhere else on line, except all that it says is that Merton does excellent food. But just wondering what type of food really. Do they do the basic fare that's like chicken and chips, jacket potato, pizza; that kind of thing? Or is it a lot of food that's for the more adventurous pallet?
I do understand that of course even if you do get an offer, you do not always get the college you requested on the ucas; but as food is quite an important factor as you eat in halls quite a fair bit, she would prefer to have a choice of new fancy food to try, but have the option of basic fare if she doesn't like anything fancy on the menu.

nexttime's post has made me realise I honestly can't remember where I ate most of my evening meals! I did go to early supper (non formal dinner) and formal hall a couple of times a week but certainly not every night, I didn't eat out that much and I cooked about once or twice in three years... I had a mini fridge in my room so I think I used to mainly make cheese sandwiches for dinner having stocked up on a huge lunch in hall (lunches were very good value for money). I went to breakfast about twice in three years - far to early for me! (about 8am...).

I have to say I don't think the food is quite as 'excellent' as they like to make out - I had some random meals on normal days.... The special event meals, however, were usually excellent (subject dinners, end of course meals, sports dinner etc). And if you wangle an invite to SCR (tutors) lunch - not very common as an undergrad! I was invited once following an annual meeting for one of the sports clubs - they are delicious and have a very good cheese board.