Hello all!
I have offers to study a Masters in History of Art from Oxford, Cambridge and the Courtauld. I'm absolutely delighted and still quite stunned, but now find myself in the tricky position of having to turn two of these places down.
I'm over the moon about the Courtauld offer, but I've lived in London for the past year working to save up for further study, and am getting quite tired of the noise and pollution of city life, so for that reason am leaning more towards Oxbridge.
I was offered a place at Homerton College at Cambridge, which as I understand is less prestigious and quite far away from the town centre. However, I've heard that people who study at Homerton generally really enjoy it. The Cambridge course is a research-based MPhil, which really excites me.
On the other hand, I was offered a place at Corpus Christi College at Oxford, which is smack bang in the centre, very old, academically prestigious, and steeped in history. It seems to be a very traditional college, and I get the idea that if I went here I'd get the quintessential 'Oxbridge experience'. The History of Art course here is a taught Masters, so I'd have less opportunity to deeply research my field of interest than I would at Cambridge. I also read that the Oxford History of Art department is relatively young - does this make it worse somehow?
Officially, it seems that Cambridge and the Courtauld are ranked higher for History of Art... but Oxford has just been ranked as the #1 university in the world.
I visited Cambridge recently and thought it was nice but agree with it's reputation as a town that pretty much relies on the presence of the University to be worth a visit. This was before I'd received my Homerton offer so didn't visit that college - I mean to check it out ASAP. I've heard that Oxford feels much more like a town in its own right, and I really loved it there the two times I visited in the past.
Oxford, Cambridge or Courtauld? Homerton or Corpus Christi? What to do? My mind is running in circles...
If you have any experience or advice I'd really appreciate your input!