Choosing an Oxford College

Sorry for posting again, but what would be a good college for a potential law student?

I don't like chaotic places but I don't like the idea of very small colleges (I visited Exeter (Can't remember if it was this one) and one of the students who was giving us a tour had mentioned that due to the smallness of the college, there is more of a 'community' feel to it and that you would know everyone.) either.

Access to an onsite law library and a location that is somewhat close to where the law lectures would be held would be preferable as well.

Thanks in advance.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 2721

nexttime

22

Original post by brstc

Sorry for posting again, but what would be a good college for a potential law student?

I don't like chaotic places but I don't like the idea of very small colleges (I visited Exeter (Can't remember if it was this one) and one of the students who was giving us a tour had mentioned that due to the smallness of the college, there is more of a 'community' feel to it and that you would know everyone.) either.

Access to an onsite law library and a location that is somewhat close to where the law lectures would be held would be preferable as well.

Thanks in advance.

Well, closest to the law faculty is St Catz, followed by New, Magdalen, Queens and Merton (whose 2nd and/or third year accommodation is probably even closer than Catz).

I don't think the word 'chaotic' could be used to describe a an entire college! Do you mean noisy? Or places with lots of people? I think smaller colleges would perhaps fit those criteria better, but you said you didn't want a small college so... not sure what to recommend. The size variants, in terms of total undergraduates, are from 200 to 460 or so, so you can compare that to your current school/community.

Reply 2722

Lm137

Original post by brstc

Sorry for posting again, but what would be a good college for a potential law student?

I don't like chaotic places but I don't like the idea of very small colleges (I visited Exeter (Can't remember if it was this one) and one of the students who was giving us a tour had mentioned that due to the smallness of the college, there is more of a 'community' feel to it and that you would know everyone.) either.

Access to an onsite law library and a location that is somewhat close to where the law lectures would be held would be preferable as well.

Thanks in advance.

Worcester has a very relaxed atmosphere but do very well in Law (and have a fairly large on-site law library). We're not small but everyone is very friendly and you get to know most people. We aren't particularly close to the law lectures (in fact I'm not completely sure where they're held but we may even be the opposite side of town) but everywhere in Oxford is within a 20 minute walk at most :smile:

Reply 2723

Incarnadine91

6

Original post by brstc

Sorry for posting again, but what would be a good college for a potential law student?

I don't like chaotic places but I don't like the idea of very small colleges (I visited Exeter (Can't remember if it was this one) and one of the students who was giving us a tour had mentioned that due to the smallness of the college, there is more of a 'community' feel to it and that you would know everyone.) either.

Access to an onsite law library and a location that is somewhat close to where the law lectures would be held would be preferable as well.

Thanks in advance.

Catz has an onsite law library and is the closest to the faculty - it's literally just down the road! It's also the biggest college in terms of people (500 undergrads) but I wouldn't really call it 'chaotic', it depends what you mean by that really. Yes, there's always someone about somewhere, but equally there are also a lot of quiet spaces away from it all, and it's not exactly busy all the time. Other than that, I reckon Catz has most of the things you specify.

Reply 2724

kraken23

Hi guys. Does anyone has pictures of rooms of Trinity College? Either the main site or the one in Rawlinson Road. I'm thinking of applying there. I just want to know how big is the room at Trinity. Also, I heard that the food at Trinity is the best among Oxford colleges? Thanks.

Reply 2725

la-dauphine

13

Every college says that they have the best food :tongue:

Reply 2726

rahyahrah

Original post by la-dauphine

Every college says that they have the best food :tongue:

Really? My college has terrible, terrible food!

Reply 2727

Incarnadine91

6

Original post by la-dauphine

Every college says that they have the best food :tongue:

Catz definitely doesn't have the best food. It has memorable food - the kangaroo lasagne saw to that.

Reply 2728

BJack

19

Original post by la-dauphine

Every college says that they have the best food :tongue:

Further to the previous two comments, Magdalen food is also pretty dodgy.

Reply 2729

liketoread

7

Hi, I was thinking of applying to Oxford for Medicine, and I was wondering which colleges have a strong medicine depertmant/ good medical library. Thank you :smile:

Reply 2730

la-dauphine

13

Yeah, Exeter's isn't great either...

Reply 2731

nexttime

22

Original post by liketoread

Hi, I was thinking of applying to Oxford for Medicine, and I was wondering which colleges have a strong medicine depertmant/ good medical library. Thank you :smile:

I love the idea of college 'departments'. Makes everyone sound so important :biggrin:

The short answer to this is that unlike Cambridge there aren't colleges renown for medicine, and most teaching is done centrally anyway, so it won't make too much difference. Having said that, there are some differences:

Some colleges offer anatomy tutorials whilst some don't. Some offer lots (up to 5 per week. Christchurch, say) of tutorials with PhD students, whilst others offer fewer (as low as 2 per week. St Peters, say) but more reliably with professors. You can also take a look at the specialist interest of individual professors and which college they are attached to, if you are keen.

Some applicants feel that a college who has lots of medical fellows listed means better teaching provision. This is not a reliable indicator. At all. Lots of tutors aren't fellows, and lots of fellows have very limited teaching roles. And then colleges share tutors regularly, swapping for areas of interest, so its all mixed up anyway. Don't use this criteria.

I can tell you lots about Merton but not much about colleges that aren't my own. Questions like this are what open days are very useful for - speak directly to students who have all the answers!

Equally, i don't know much about libraries. However, this is not so important as the university science library is very well stocked in medical textbooks. You should rarely need to use anything else.

One factor you may wish to consider is the number of people doing medicine at your college i.e. the people you will share tutorials and likely be close friends with. This varies from 4 (Corpus Christi, say) to 8 (St Annes, say), with Pembroke/Brasenose sometimes sharing tutors making 12 combined.

Feel free to ask for more details or clarification.

Reply 2732

PossibleMPP

Does anyone know which, if any of the more traditional colleges house postgraduates in college in traditional rooms?

Reply 2733

rosiesaurus

15

I was looking at the oxford colleges pros/cons page, is the bar/social hub at St Johns really as bad as it makes it out to be?
And does anyone know what sort of price a standard first year room at St Hildas is like? I can't find the info on their website anywhere!
(Please quote if answering)

Reply 2734

Bax-man

2

Original post by la-dauphine

Yeah, Exeter's isn't great either...

Wednesday formal halls aren't too bad at all, mind.

Reply 2735

Mystic123

Original post by la-dauphine

Yeah, Exeter's isn't great either...

Neither's Wadham's, though it's better than it used to be...

Reply 2736

liketoread

7

Thabk you so much! Your reply was really useful- I was quite worried because I had heard some colleges were more arty and stuff :smile:

I was also thinking of applying to Merton- would you say that it has goof teaching hours and is generally good for Medicine?
Thanks :smile:

Reply 2737

nexttime

22

So, first thing to recognise is that medicine has a lot of central teaching - about 12 hours of lectures, and about 6 hours of practicals per week.

On top of that you have tutorials. Merton generally has 3 tutorials per week, one in each of the 3 main exam topics. David Paterson takes physiology - very senior academic who is also a very good teacher actually - goes into detail without straying too far from exam material. Robert Maclaren is an eye surgeon of bionic eye fame - see him here - who does anatomy. Extremely knowledgeable and teaches with a very clinical focus, which can be frustrating when its not what's in your exam but makes a lot of sense long term. Andrew King works on sound localization and cochlear implants and teaches you neurology (2nd year). Another good teacher i feel. There are also biochemistry and pathology (2nd year) tutors, although these may change next year.

Overall i have been very satisfied with the teaching yes (even if i didn't make the most of it back in first year! :cheers:

). Paterson will tell you Merton is the best college for medicine and Merton has the best teaching etc - not sure if he has any evidence or if its just loyalty but still :tongue:

It does tend to get good results , but i can say from first hand experience that if you aren't doing so well they will tell you you need to pull your socks up whilst not harassing you like they can at some places/in some subjects.

Overall, positive reviews. Did you have any specific questions?