I visited Oxford recently. I toured Christ Church and didn't much like it. But I did expect it to be one of the most popular colleges for applications (what with its grandeur and Harry Potter association) and am surprised to see that I'm wrong.
According to Oxford admission stats, these are the most popular colleges for applications over the last three years (Christ Church is the ninth most popular, with an average of 1400 applications per year):
Brasenose (2500)
Worcester (2100)
Keble (2000)
St John's (1800)
The next highest is 17% lower.
John's doesn't really surprise me. But I wouldn't have expected Brasenose (elitist reputation; not that pretty) and Worcester (peripheral; pretty quad but one I'd have thought would be underrated) to be so high, and I didn't expect Keble (edge of town; redbrick) to be anywhere near the top. (Interestingly, despite what I understand to be its reputation, Brasenose was top among both state and independent applicants.)
Any thoughts?