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Going to other colleges' bars, dinners etc?

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(edited 5 years ago)

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Reply 1
Avatar for Hoofbeat
Hoofbeat
14
edders
So what's the deal with going to other colleges? Can you go to eg. their bars in the evening - are you entitled to just show your card to the porter and march in? Or failing that, just walk in? Plead that you have an imaginary friend at the bar waiting for you?

What do other people do - the official/unofficial line has never been made clear to me. Of course, if you have a friend at that particular college then you can be their guest - but what if you don't? :p:

Most college bars will not allow members of other colleges to just walk in and use their facilities unless they are with a member of that college. This isn't so much a rule of the colleges, but rather because most college bars are classified as private members clubs (hence why they can charge so low prices for alcohol I believe) and part of their classification restricts who can use the facilities.

At Lincoln we have the 2guest rule, meaning each college member is only allowed 2 guests (either from other colleges or not even affiliated to the University). Depending on what night it is and what is going on around college, the porters not only lock the outside lodge door, but sometimes also the door going from the lodge to the front quad so that you need an access card to get through. Sometimes they also request bod cards (if you're not from Oxford but you're with a Lincoln student that's fine). At weekends, or when there's a bop, or Rugby drinks etc they're far more strict and likely to lock the doors than say a Monday night when the college is quiet (but you still need an access card to get into college to begin with). Our bar manager (along with the bar staff who are primarily grads/4th year students) knows almost all Lincoln students and if he doesnt recognise you he will ask for ID and to ask who you're with and he will remove you if you're not found to be with anyone. That said when the MCR have organisd joint bar crawls with other colleges, and have informed him in advance he's happy to have non-members in there. Similarly, people with long-term partners who aren't Lincoln-members get served fine even if their Lincoln g/bf isn't in the bar with them.

It really is down to each college, but most will place restrictions on whether you get served or not. Some are more leniant with the guest rule, but obviously it also depends on how rowdy you're being. In short, don't assume you can just walk in, because chances are a) you won't even be able to get into college at night and b)you will be found out.
Most colleges don't stop people at the door in the early evening (there are a few exceptions). If you have a plausible reason (including just meeting someone) and a Bod card you'll probably be let in even if you are stopped. Access to some bars can be tricky if there are intervening code\key locked doors.

Some bars don't serve non-members, some need you to sign in as someone's guest (though not necessarily strictly observed) and Catz charge extra if you pay cash rather than using the nifty Catz card.

You can't go to dinner as you have to book for formals, and you won't be able to pay for anything anyway.
Reply 3
Avatar for KEconomist
KEconomist
Really? So as far as formals are concerned you can never go to ones in other colleges?
Reply 4
Avatar for RichE
RichE
15
At Worcester you can take a guest into formal any night, though the price is more expensive - and there are special guest nights as well. But I thought this was the norm at many colleges.
RichE
At Worcester you can take a guest into formal any night, though the price is more expensive - and there are special guest nights as well. But I thought this was the norm at many colleges.

Yeah I think that is normal, but I think the point is you need to be a guest of someone at the college, rather than just walking in to eat there.
Reply 6
Avatar for thomasjtl
thomasjtl
9
each college seems to have different rules, but generally if you're not someone's guest, you probably won't have much luck. Balliol bar is open to everyone, so long as you sign the book, but you'll have to wait for someone to let you in generally.
KEconomist
Really? So as far as formals are concerned you can never go to ones in other colleges?


Someone will have to bring you, or at least book for you. Formal swapping is very popular. Sorry if I wasn't clear.
Reply 8
Avatar for Mayfly
Mayfly
thomasjtl
each college seems to have different rules, but generally if you're not someone's guest, you probably won't have much luck. Balliol bar is open to everyone, so long as you sign the book, but you'll have to wait for someone to let you in generally.


Do you? I think we just let people in...there's no locked doors/keycodes leading up to the bar. And the porters are pretty chill about that kind of thing.
Reply 9
Avatar for thomasjtl
thomasjtl
9
okay- on an evening though, the front door is normally shut- we didn't bother to try asking the porters to let us in! It wasn't a problem to wait two minutes while someone came through.
Reply 10
Avatar for cpchem
cpchem
14
Front door might be shut, but it's not locked until about midnight.
Reply 11
Avatar for thomasjtl
thomasjtl
9
really? didn't know that!
edders
Ah, well I go to Balliol for dinner sometimes anyway because my college (St Cross) has an agreement with them for that. So perhaps I'll check out their bar sometime. I just feel like I'm missing out on seeing 90% of Oxford as it stands.


I would be immensely grateful for any clarification that can be offered on this point. I know certain Cambridge Colleges have reciprocal dining rights with other Colleges, and the above post seems to indicate the same at Oxford.

Could anybody please tell me if Green College has such an arrangement with another College, and if so, which one?

Any assistance on this point greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.
Reply 13
Avatar for henryt
henryt
17
At Merton, at least, you can book people into Formal any night of the week, as long as they are going with a Mertonian (at no expense, either!). There are special guest nights which are followed by Coffee/Tea, and sometimes yummy choccys. As for the bar, Dave and Tony know all the Mertonians, so might ask who a non-Mertonian is with, but I've not seen that happen.
Reply 14
Avatar for Yttrium
Yttrium
1
at Magdalen, anyone can use the bar (no extra price for guests) and anyone can go to regular hall meals at breakfast, lunch or dinner (they charge you more if they realise you're a guest but quite often they don't. and it's still pretty cheap even with the surcharge). for formals, you have to be signed in online by a member of college, and the price is slightly more. mind you, the magdalen porters in general have a terrible reputation for stopping non-college-members at the door, demanding to know what their business at magdalen is... sigh... can anyone say 'inflated sense of self-importance'?
edders
So what's the deal with going to other colleges? Can you go to eg. their bars in the evening - are you entitled to just show your card to the porter and march in? Or failing that, just walk in? Plead that you have an imaginary friend at the bar waiting for you?

What do other people do - the official/unofficial line has never been made clear to me. Of course, if you have a friend at that particular college then you can be their guest - but what if you don't? :p:


It depends on the college and how strict their porters are. I've found that as long as you look like a student, the porters at Magdalen, New and Balliol don't seem to notice if you just walk past them. Worcester are quite suspicious of everyone, depending on which porter is on duty. St. Peter's is quite difficult to sneak into because you have to go inside the Lodge itself and face the scary porters! :eek: With Christ Church, you just flash your Bod card and you're in.

My best example of gatecrashing a college without permission from the porters is when a group of about 8-10 of us decided to take our post-Mods party to Balliol (despite the fact that none of us are at Balliol). We walked past the porters (in gowns, with giant balloons, etc.) unnoticed :biggrin:
The_Lonely_Goatherd
It depends on the college and how strict their porters are. I've found that as long as you look like a student, the porters at Magdalen, New and Balliol don't seem to notice if you just walk past them. Worcester are quite suspicious of everyone, depending on which porter is on duty. St. Peter's is quite difficult to sneak into because you have to go inside the Lodge itself and face the scary porters! :eek: With Christ Church, you just flash your Bod card and you're in.


Aww the porters at Peter's aren't scary at all - they're lovely! :biggrin: After having to put up with the porters at Anne's, who seem to be university renowned for being horrible to everyone, including tutors, when I first spoke to the porters at Peter's I actually thought I was dreaming.

Anyway, whilst you do have to walk past the porters at Peter's if you just confidently breeze past they never stop you anyway. I've never actually seen them stop anyone, as a matter of fact. That seems to go for most colleges, including Christ Church if you're not looking too much like a tourist.
ravenous_soup_dragon
Aww the porters at Peter's aren't scary at all - they're lovely! :biggrin: After having to put up with the porters at Anne's, who seem to be university renowned for being horrible to everyone, including tutors, when I first spoke to the porters at Peter's I actually thought I was dreaming.

Anyway, whilst you do have to walk past the porters at Peter's if you just confidently breeze past they never stop you anyway. I've never actually seen them stop anyone, as a matter of fact. That seems to go for most colleges, including Christ Church if you're not looking too much like a tourist.


They stopped me and were quite mean! :frown: Though to be fair, there was a big concert on that night and lots of random people were coming in, so maybe they were in a bad mood. They always give me the evil eye though :ninja: , so I wait outside now! :smile:
The_Lonely_Goatherd
They stopped me and were quite mean! :frown: Though to be fair, there was a big concert on last night and lots of random people were coming in, so maybe they were in a bad mood. They always give me the evil eye though :ninja: , so I wait outside now! :smile:

Aww I'm really sorry to hear that :frown: I think they've had a bit of trouble with non-students coming in and making trouble recently, so maybe that has something to do with it.
ravenous_soup_dragon
Aww I'm really sorry to hear that :frown: I think they've had a bit of trouble with non-students coming in and making trouble recently, so maybe that has something to do with it.


Yeah probably. I don't mind really. Some of my own college porters still give me the evil eye! :biggrin:

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