To what extent does 'academic pressure' vary between colleges? Oriel?

I was wondering to what extent academic pressure varied between different colleges at Oxford.

I've read for certain colleges, particularly Oriel and Merton, that it can be a much more 'pressurised' environment. What exactly does this mean, and does it hold any merit in people's opinions?

Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not adverse to a large academic workload or challenging work or anything like that, but I do tend to get extremely nervous, anxious, and just generally stressed out during exam time. Does this mean somewhere like Oriel may not be for me?

It's a shame as I quite liked other aspects of Oriel, but reading that they are top of the Norrington table has slightly put me off, as I feel the stories about it being very high-pressure are likely true, and also that most people applying there will be much better candidates.

There are surely some differences but it's hard to guess what and where having only studied at one and having a very vague idea of what a few other colleges are like. It will, in part, come down to your tutors, too. I think some of my friends at Magdalen were surprised by how seriously my tutors treated collections (progress checks at the start of each term), for instance. The colleges with the most stringent academic requirements won't necessarily be the ones at the top of the Norrington Table, mind you. Possibly quite the opposite, in fact. I remember a student news article about St Peter's (I think) a few years ago that said all students had to get permission before joining any societies!



I don't know about the specifics at these colleges, but some Mertonians I know like to stress that Merton's reputation for being particularly demanding wasn't necessarily well-founded. Magdalen's been very high up the Norrington Table in recent years without any St Peter's-esque nonsense, too. As for what 'pressurised' might mean – probably lots of work and high expectations from your tutors (again, not a college-wide thing), and/or expectations that you do well (2.1 or 1st) in collections and exams, or serious academic concerns if you're not on course for a 2.1 overall (more likely to be college-wide).

Like I said before, these pressures will vary from college to college and tutor to tutor. Up to a point, this pressure can be good because you don't want to end up with a lower degree classification than you could have done, if the only obstacle was not working hard enough. It's not something I would worry about when choosing my college.



I think if a college has high academic expectations throughout the year, you might feel less stressed out during exam time because there's a good chance you'll be better prepared. Or perhaps you'll feel just as stressed but do a bit better. It's hard to say. Lots of people suffer stress at exam time, though, some very seriously, and colleges and the university have provisions to help with this.



Don't mistake high college success after 3 or 4 years of studies with how good the applicants generally are. The general standard of applicant will be pretty similar across most of the colleges and the difficulty of getting in to the college you apply to (rather than being pooled to a different one) will (on average) come down to the number of applicants for your course at your college and not so much the academic reputation of the college.

It sounds to me like you should apply to Oriel.

And perhaps in some aspects being pushed more throughout the year could actually be beneficial for me, if I feel more confident in the fact that I've been consistently studying and pushed throughout the year, instead of bundling up stress until exam time if that makes sense.

I was wondering to what extent academic pressure varied between different colleges at Oxford. I've read for certain colleges, particularly Oriel and Merton, that it can be a much more 'pressurised' environment. What exactly does this mean, and does it hold any merit in people's opinions? Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not adverse to a large academic workload or challenging work or anything like that, but I do tend to get extremely nervous, anxious, and just generally stressed out during exam time. Does this mean somewhere like Oriel may not be for me? It's a shame as I quite liked other aspects of Oriel, but reading that they are top of the Norrington table has slightly put me off, as I feel the stories about it being very high-pressure are likely true, and also that most people applying there will be much better candidates.

Thanks for any input

would it not follow then that colleges who come top of the Norrington table tend to see a fair spike in applications?

As a recent Oxbridge graduate I do think that 'academic pressure' varies between colleges, but this does not necessarily reflect the ultimate standard of learning and indeed the final results of the students. This comes from someone who studied at one of the most prestigious and demanding colleges.