DPhil in English at Oxford, college choice

I am planning to apply either this or next year. Is there any benefit to state college preference when it comes to DPhil? Fundamentally, it makes no difference to me, but I am hoping to get some funding. Are some colleges better than others in terms of funding? Should I just base my college preference on where potential thesis supervisor is?
Thank you.

Reply 1

xyz1234567

Funding will be organised centrally and if there is a college scholarship you are granted that is linked to a particular college, your application will just be moved to that college.

Graduate students also aren’t typically at their supervisor’s college so that doesn’t matter hugely either.

So just apply to a college you like the look of. Some offer more accommodation, some have bigger grad populations, some are grad only and others are mixed grad and undergrad, so think about what you would prefer.

Or if you really don’t care, do an open application.

Reply 2

anparsons

Thank you so much for your answer. It's great to know how funding is distributed and the structure of the graduate program. I come from a completely different system and don't completely understand faculty/college system yet.
I am considering an open application with a hope that I will, hopefully, land where I meant to be. Irregardless of the college, it will be an amazing journey.

(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 3

xyz1234567

For graduate admissions, decisions are made centrally- ie the Faculty decides whether to offer a place, and how to allocate the funding they have access to. Your first choice college then sees the application and decides which people to accept at that college - if they don’t have room for you, you are still guaranteed a place, but your application then gets passed on to another college. College decisions can take ages at graduate level because there are so many moving parts, so you find out if you have a place quite fast but funding and college decisions can take several months longer.

Some graduate students get really into college life and others much less so. Academically your focus will be the Faculty, so the college is more a social hub (though you may choose to socialise via the faculty or extra curricular groups instead. It’s quite different to undergraduates whose college will be their first academic point of contact.

Reply 4

anparsons

Thank you again. I am applying to part-time DPhil and, unfortunately, will not spend much time at the college. I wish things were different, but I have a family and a job, so full-time program is not an option. I am not even sure I would be considered for internal funding as a part-time mature graduate student. I will be applying to anything I can find externally, of course, as well. Just trying to do as much research before I apply so I am making an informed decision.

Reply 5

xyz1234567

In your position I’d think about Wolfson: graduate only college with a high number of older students with families. You may find that there are more people there who are in a similar situation to you. It is a bit further out, but has lovely grounds on the river and runs a mini bus into town (or it is a short cycle).