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most politically active colleges at oxford/cambridge

please help!!!
Went to the oxford open day today, absolutely loved three colleges, but am wondering if any are considered very politically active.

Also would be interested in knowing for cambirgde

plssss

King's in Cambridge, according to Bridge-U. But should it really matter? Do you want it to be?

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 3

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

Original post by elizabethperroni

please help!!!
Went to the oxford open day today, absolutely loved three colleges, but am wondering if any are considered very politically active.

Also would be interested in knowing for cambirgde

Colleges are buildings and communities of academics. The students that are undergrads recycle themselves almost completely every 3 years. So politically active Colleges vary with the enthusiasm and interests of their students. If you are politically active, but rely on the other students around you to drive that, then you can only very specifically research the interests of the two years of students that will be above you. Otherwise, be confident that your interest alone will drive you to seek out the opportunities you want.

Reply 4

The_Lonely_Goatherd

Original post by elizabethperroni

plssss

No need to beg when your thread has been up less than 15 mins :tongue:

Wadham has a very strong left-wing reputation - how much it lives up to it, I'm not sure. Beyond that, I'm not sure I'd say any of the colleges are hugely 'politically active'.

Which colleges did you visit at Ox? :smile:

Reply 5

username3176878

Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd

No need to beg when your thread has been up less than 15 mins :tongue:

my two favourites were magdalen and christ church!

Reply 6

The_Lonely_Goatherd

Original post by elizabethperroni

my two favourites were magdalen and christ church!

I see! Neither are hugely political to my knowledge, so you're better off shortlisting a college on other factors. Plenty of ways to get involved with student politics both within and outside of one's college :yes:

Reply 7

Beth_H

The Student Union is generally more politically active than any of the individual colleges. Most of the political activity within colleges is either student politics (i.e. the running of the JCR and MCR committees) or one-off events, like hosting visiting speakers.

Reply 8

OxFossil

Original post by elizabethperroni

my two favourites were magdalen and christ church!

It's a fair question, and the collegiate system does make it a bit different from most other unis.

As others have said, at college level, a lot may depend on the year cohort you are in, as the rapid turnover of what is a comparatively small the student body makes the political landscape at any one college quite volatile. The upside of this is that if you are especially keen to get things done in your college, you will probably be able to do it (for example, by becoming a JCR rep or campaigning on a single issue). The downside is that it's possible to find oneself in a cohort where too few care about the issues you think important, and/or much of the 'political activity' amounts to self-promoting hackery. Overall, I wouldn't worry too much about college choice on this basis. It will be significant, but not in a way you can readily predict.

You're more likely to find a critical mass of people who share your ideas and organised campaigning at university-wide level. For example through OUSU or campaigns/groups like you'll find at Freshers' Fair.