Oxford vs Cambridge Mature Student

Heya, I am an international looking to apply to Oxbridge Law for 2025 entry. I would be considered as 'Mature' in my application, so I want to ask if there's any data/consensus on choosing Oxford vs Cambridge in my position? Plus the choice of colleges; would you advise me to apply to the mature colleges, or just give my shot at the normal colleges?

For now, ignore the stats.

The Oxford and Cambridge law courses apparently differ rather drastically and you should pick the university based on which course is structured in a way that would most suit you. You should be able to find all the information you need on the respective university websites.

As for picking a college, you should be able to find college suggesters for each university that pick a college based on your preferences (e.g ensuite bathrooms, accommodation for the whole degree etc). I would say the mature colleges are only worth picking if what they have to offer matches your needs.

That’s a solid answer, thank you! I’ll decide on Oxford vs Cambridge after researching a little more.

But on the question of colleges, I am rather torn. It’s just that most of my peers that made it to Oxbridge have done so via the mature college route (coming from a somewhat high performing international school where we are ~2 years older than the usual UK timeline when it comes to Uni starting time, due to military service, gap yeas, jumping in from other countries, etc). I would love to try for and hopefully attend those bigger, more ‘known’ colleges, but I can’t seem to find too many international kids in those, let alone ‘mature’ internationals.

Singaporean?

Just try for whichever college you like - if you fancy a bigger, more "known" college like Christ Church or Magdalen, apply there. The vast majority of my Singaporean male friends attended non-mature colleges, although I will say that a not insignificant number were at Harris Manchester. If you want the hard numbers, try reaching out to the relevant student organization for your country (OUMSSA and CUMSA if you're Singaporean).

As to Oxford or Cambridge for Law, take a look at how the courses are structured and pick whichever you prefer. Personally, although I did the Oxford BA and BCL, if I had to choose again, I would probably pick Cambridge because (1) more options and (2) Final Honour School was incredibly tough physically and mentally (I did 9 papers total - 6 back-to-back papers Monday to Saturday, Sunday off, 1 paper on Monday, 1 paper on Thursday and then 1 paper on Friday. I think the schedule is more spread out now though). Having to memorise 2+ years of content also sucked. I'd much rather do exams every year, as is the case under the Tripos system.

Omg?! 6 papers back to back and exams on Saturday too?! ☹️

With only Sunday off. WOW 😧

Are you a barrister or solicitor now?