Choosing an Oxford College

Just to let you know, there aren't colleges that are more inclined to accept state school students. What DOES happen is that people hear the same rumours as you and thus apply to certain college, making there a much wider pool of state school applicants at that college, which means more are likely to be accepted. If that makes sense? It's a self-perpetuating thing

I'm not entirely sure that's quite the case. For instance, Mansfield has recently massively increased its uptake of state students. Notwithstanding that you may get pooled away before interview etc., whilst no college will look down on state applicants, I think some will be more inclined than others to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I don't mind walking but anything over a 40 minute walk from the Law Faculty would be a little too much hassle for me.

That's quite possibly as a result of the particular distribution of applicants rather than any conscious shift towards giving offers to more students from the state sector.

Take Mansfield College as an example though - they have actively stated that they want to increase the success of state applicants, and their Principal is a very big fan of taking applicants' background into account. This has coincided with a massive increase in the success rate of state pupils there. You could argue that this is in part due to better state-schooled kids trying their luck there because they perceive the college to be more suited to them, but I doubt that's the whole story.

I didn't take it into account in my application (tbh I was rather haphazard in picking a college) but if I were doing it again, I would think very carefully as a private school applicant before applying to one or two particular colleges - especially Mansfield.

I am a supporter, to an extent, of the notion that admissions tutors should take background into account. But given statistics and rhetoric, I think it's naive to think that some colleges don't do so rather more than others.

Oriel, Teddy Hall, Lincoln, Exeter and Somerville all showed greater success proportional rates for state applicants than Mansfield though, colleges that don't have a particularly high state proportion at all. Its one thing to encourage state applicants (which Mansfield has done well), its another to take steps to actually skew the admissions in favor of them. I don't think there is evidence of the latter.

Hi,

I am uncertain as to which Oxford College (2013) I should apply to. I would like to read Modern History.

I have 10 A*s and 1 A at GCSE, and am predicted 3 Higher Level 7s at IB (HL subjects: English, History and Spanish, with 43/45 points altogether).

I very much enjoy Choir, Public Speaking and Debating, Modern Foreign Languages, Young Enterprise and Politics.

I am from a private school (I know some colleges are more left-wing than others).
My interests are in Intellectual History, Eighteenth-Century England, and China.

Could anyone help?

Thank you!

I've been doing a lot of research and reading comments on the Student Room. I'm actually interested in University College (I'd like to study law), but it seems like not much is said about it.

Has anyone been there?

Thanks!

Im looking (hopefully! ) to read Geography at Oxford, but one of the main decisions involved in picking a College is if it is at all feasible to go totally self catered, and at which colleges this is possible
thanks

It's on the High Street, so as central as you can get! It's neighboured by All Souls and Teddy Hall on the High Street and then Merton round the back so it's in a cluster of colleges

Wasn't this there when you were at Univ



They had certainly built it by last Sunday

Does anyone know much about Kellogg college or have an opinion on it ?

Does anyone know much about Kellogg college or have an opinion on it ?

I am one of the many confused Oxford applicants, who has got no clue which college to apply for. After attending an open day, I have equally loved New College and Christ Church.
New College happens to be the college attended by my father, so it would be nice if I could continue the family tradition; I also like the fact that it's quite large, doesn't have a stereotype like other Oxford colleges do and seems to offer a good social life. However, I would need to live out in the third year and I would much rather prefer living in. Oh..and apparently the food is not great either.
Now about Christ Church - it looks amazing, no doubts about that and it offers accommodation for the entire length of the degree. However, my concern is the posh reputation it has and although I am currently attending a private school, I want a college with with people from all kinds of backgrounds. I wouldn't enjoy being surrounded by arrogant students who form the so-called 'elite' groups and don't socialize with others. Are the stereotypes true or is it an exaggeration? Any advice? Thanks a lot in advance

They are an exaggeration. Looking at the statistics New actually admits more students from private schools than ChCh and is quite a similar college tbh, I have heard both described as 'rah' colleges. Even so at both colleges at least 50% of the students are from state schools so I wouldn't worry about diversity or being surrounded by elitist students.

Also I think about 50% of 3rd years do end up living in at New. Just pick the college you prefer the most, which from your post sounds like New. Don't fret about the possibility of living out, many people actually say that it is a very enjoyable part of their university career.

Most part-time students in the University (about 575 of them) are members of Kellogg. Many of them will rarely, if ever, be seen there. There are only about 200 full-time students.

I wouldn't say I prefer New at the moment, I keep changing my mind every 2 minutes...I definitely like its atmosphere, but I also admire Christ Church for the amazing scenery.
One more question - I have heard of people choosing unpopular colleges, as they fear applying to oversubscribed ones, like Balliol or Magdalen. Does the popularity of the College influence one's chances of getting in?
Thanks a lot