Oxford as insurance?

So, for the course I want to do Durham is A*AA and Oxford is AAA. I did love Oxford, but feel like it might not suit me as well as Durham. I have been going there for years and I love the place. But I do feel like if I am lucky enough to get a place at Oxford I will feel pressured to accept it even if I prefer Durham? But Oxford is my second choice, and I know there is a slim chance that I will get accepted at Oxford and rejected from Durham. Should I apply to Oxford just in case, or should I just hope I get accepted at Durham? Or should I go to Oxford if I get a place? Please help a very confused y13!

Reply 1

OxFossil

It would be daft to go to Oxford when you prefer a course at another excellent university.

If you think Oxford might make a good insurance choice, on a 2017 thread, @BrasenoseAdm said,

"A small number of offer-holders opt to put Oxford as insurance which is one of the reasons the colleges make Open Offers and/or over offer.

Applicants are free agents: once we make an offer, the ball is in the candidate's court. A few decide on another UK University or an overseas University (mainly international applicants).....

....Brasenose would treat an UCAS insurance place in the same way as a firm (if we had any), ie in April we would ask the applicant to complete a financial declaration form and express accommodation preferences. Room allocation would be finalised in August when A-level outcomes are known. If there was a delay in releasing an insurance offer from the University a candidate had firmed with, this might be a factor - but every year there tends to be at least one case where results are delayed and we keep rooms back to cover this up to the end of August at least.

We can't say how other colleges would deal with insurance cases and again would stress that in our experience they are very rare."