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Choosing an Oxford College

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Hi, I am applying for the joint honours degree, English and French (QR31), in Oxford for school year 2015.

However, I do not have at all an idea which college/campus to apply to. So if you are doing the French and English course in Oxford or know someone who does.. can you please help me which college to choose? And which might have the bigger chance of intake (if such thing exists).

Here is the complete list of colleges which teach French and English according to my UCAS application: (there are 27 in total)

Balliol (O)
Brasenose (V)
Christ Church (2)
Exeter (4)
Harris Manchester (Mat) (6)
Hertford (7)
Jesus (Q)
Keble (A)
Lady Margaret Hall (B)
Magdalen (D)
Merton (F)
New College (G)
Open Application (9)
Oriel (H)
Pembroke (I)
Queen's (J)
Somerville (U)
St Anne's (K)
St Catherine's (L)
St Edmund Hall (M)
St Hilda's (N)
St Hugh's (R)
St John's (S)
St Peter's (T)
Trinity (W)
Wadham (Y)
Worcester (Z)

I am going to the Oxford summer school sponsored by Pembroke College on the 30th June to the 2nd of July so I will definitely be roaming around the university and have a feel of it.
I would want to know where to start first though. And would like to have tips on picking the best college considering your experience/friend's experience, ambience, facilities. I also would prefer a modern campus.

Thank you very much! :smile: I would really appreciate all responses. xx
First off, there are no campuses in Oxford. The university encompasses the city and you would be given an offer by one of the colleges based within it. You live, eat and learn at the college during your degree :smile:

The only modern-ish college is St.Catherines, which is right next to the English faculty.

The best thing to do is think about what type of college you would like, eg:

Would you prefer a larger or smaller college?
Would you like a close knit environment or large open spaces?
How bothered are you about the distance between faculties, shops and the college?
Would you want accommodation for all 3 years of the degree?
Are you bothered by price of accommodation and food etc?

Any other questions you can think of, they're all relevant!
Check out the university website for a list of all the colleges and just go through the websites having a quick look at whether you like the look of them.
Narrow it down to around 5 and then visit those on open days etc (more if you have time)

Pick one you'd like to go to, or if you can't decide then make an open application.
There's always a chance you'll be reallocated anyway, and can be offered interviews at other colleges and receive offers from them instead!

Hope this helps :smile:
You don't get colleges that are best for certain subjects at Oxford, and college choice does no impact the chance of getting in.

Original post by Lucilou101

The only modern-ish college is St.Catherines, which is right next to the English faculty.


St Anne's is modern. You have the other newer colleges too - Hilda's, LMH, Hugh's - but calling them modern is a push i agree!
Hello there,

I'm very pleased and a little surprised to be offered a place on the post grad education course for Physics at Oxford. Now I need to choose 2 colleges to apply to. I've heard of a few of them (Michael Palin went to Jesus, that sort of thing) but don't know a lot so I thought I'd come here for some opinions.

Firstly, here is the list of colleges that I can apply to:
Blackfriars
Brasenose
Campion Hall
Christ Church
Exeter
Green Templeton
Harris Manchester
Jesus
Keble
Kellogg
Lady Margaret Hall
Linacre
Lincoln
Magdalen
Merton
New
Pembroke
Queen's
St Anne's
St Catherine's
St Cross
St Edmund Hall
St Hilda's
St Hugh's
St Peter's
St Stephen's House
University
Wadham
Worcester

Secondly, here are my main criteria for making the choice:
I'll be teaching Physics so the college should preferably have a strong background in the sciences.
After my PGCE I'll do a masters in education so the college should have a background in education and training new teachers.
I love food and I love to cook, so although the college meals look attractive I want to have access to facilities to cook for myself now and then.
I'm an amateur astronomer so large, dark grounds or being close to the park is important.
I'm interested in philosophy and religion (though I'm agnostic) so a college where open debates can take place without it getting too 'preachy' or people getting offended would be nice.
Lastly, having Oxford on my CV will look fantastic, but which of he colleges would look best to those 'in the know'?

Thanks for any detail you can give. I want to know which college may be best for me, but feel free to discuss which is best generally.

~EP
Reply 3904
Avatar for haras
haras
3
Does anyone know if this is true, that when you sit the MAT test applying for a maths degree at a certain college, the lowest scoring 20% (or similar) of applicants in that college are automatically eliminated? I'm not wording this well but basically I need to know if I'm better off applying for a less desirable college in order to have a greater chance of not being thrown away after the MAT (I'd choose a college further from the maths department so there were hopefully fewer really competitive candidates?) Help!:smile:
Original post by haras
Does anyone know if this is true, that when you sit the MAT test applying for a maths degree at a certain college, the lowest scoring 20% (or similar) of applicants in that college are automatically eliminated? I'm not wording this well but basically I need to know if I'm better off applying for a less desirable college in order to have a greater chance of not being thrown away after the MAT (I'd choose a college further from the maths department so there were hopefully fewer really competitive candidates?) Help!:smile:


No, it's not true - the default cut-off test score is the same across the colleges - so all applicants to college X might get interviewed if they all did well enough on the test.
Original post by Elbow Patches
x


Hey, first off congrats :smile:

I would say no college really has a reputation for sciences in Oxford, but some of the more northern colleges (St. John's, Mansfield) do get more science applicants as they're close to the science buildings. I don't know about colleges with a background in education either, sorry.

I don't think the cooking bit will be very relevant to you. Most colleges don't have much accommodation for graduates so in all likelihood you'll end up living in rented accommodation and thus will be able to cook for yourself. That said, have a look at this, it might give you some more information on what facilities each college has: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Oxford_College_Pros_and_Cons

Since you would like large grounds, I would suggest a college close to either the University Parks (Lady Margaret Hall, Linacre, St. Anne's etc) or to the Christ Church Meadows (Christ Church, Pembroke, Merton etc). However I suspect these might have early closing times so perhaps a college with large gardens such as New College might be a better option. Also, Magdalen has a large deer park but again, not sure how much of it you can access and if it has closing hours.

As far as I am aware, Wadham has a left-wing, liberal reputation and Balliol has a reputation for being very politically active. Again, you'll be able to ascertain for yourself which colleges are open/active from the pros and cons article I linked earlier.

The college you go to doesn't make any difference to the outside world frankly. They're all considered just as good and you're hired for the bit that says "Oxford", not "____ College" :smile:

If you want my personal recommendations, I'd say one among the following: New College, Magdalen College or Christ Church College.
Hiya,

thanks for all the info. I'm not sure why, but I'd been leaning towards New as my first choice with Christ Church or Magdalen (pronounced maudlin?) as my second, possibly because they're some of the largest and have the nicest buildings. It's nice that your suggestion was along the same lines.

~EP
Original post by Elbow Patches
Hiya,

thanks for all the info. I'm not sure why, but I'd been leaning towards New as my first choice with Christ Church or Magdalen (pronounced maudlin?) as my second, possibly because they're some of the largest and have the nicest buildings. It's nice that your suggestion was along the same lines.

~EP


Not at all. Go with New, can't go wrong there. Unlike Magdalen, where you can go wrong right from the name itself (it is pronounced "Maudlin", yes) xD
I'm a prospective medic and after visiting several colleges on the open day, have decided to apply to Univ. Looking on the website, however, I was shocked to see from the statistics that only 5% of Medicine applicants to Univ are accepted (this has been consistent over several years), compared to much higher figures at other colleges. Does anyone know why this is? Is Univ especially selective or do applicants tend to be weaker, for example?
Original post by Neverme
I'm a prospective medic and after visiting several colleges on the open day, have decided to apply to Univ. Looking on the website, however, I was shocked to see from the statistics that only 5% of Medicine applicants to Univ are accepted (this has been consistent over several years), compared to much higher figures at other colleges. Does anyone know why this is? Is Univ especially selective or do applicants tend to be weaker, for example?


Univ get a vast number of completely uncompetitive applications from overseas students who don't understand the collegiate system, and therefore think that if applying to the University of Oxford they have to apply to 'University College'. So it's not surprising that they're massively over-subscribed for courses that are popular with overseas applicants (Medicine, PPE, Economics & Management etc.).

The statistic is a bit misleading - Univ will probably have the same number of *competitive* applicants as any other college in Oxford, so applying there is not going to hurt your chances of getting in. It's just that Univ will have a much longer 'tail' of weak overseas applicants than most other colleges.
Hi everyone

I know questions like these have been asked many times, but quite frankly I'm too lazy to read through every single thread and opinions are so mixed.

Anyway I'm applying for PPE this year, but I just can't decide on a college. I know all of them are amazing and every person thinks their college is the best. However I don't want to make an open application since there are some colleges I don't want to go to.

My personal preferences are that the college is quite big, central, pretty and relaxed. I've heard Wadham is quite left-wing which is appealing, however I'm sure these stereotypes are outdated. Also which college has the best nightlife?

Thanks so much in advance!
Original post by Glushko
Univ get a vast number of completely uncompetitive applications from overseas students who don't understand the collegiate system, and therefore think that if applying to the University of Oxford they have to apply to 'University College'. So it's not surprising that they're massively over-subscribed for courses that are popular with overseas applicants (Medicine, PPE, Economics & Management etc.).

The statistic is a bit misleading - Univ will probably have the same number of *competitive* applicants as any other college in Oxford, so applying there is not going to hurt your chances of getting in. It's just that Univ will have a much longer 'tail' of weak overseas applicants than most other colleges.


Ah, that does make sense! Thanks a lot for clearing that up :smile:
Original post by Neverme
Does anyone know why this is? Is Univ especially selective or do applicants tend to be weaker, for example?


Glushko's explanation is very believable. For what it's worth, the medicine admissions process is completely centralized (there's an admissions podcast somewhere on the Oxford website discussing this) so your choice of college has absolutely no impact on your chance of being accepted.
Original post by Isabellle
I've heard Wadham is quite left-wing which is appealing, however I'm sure these stereotypes are outdated. Also which college has the best nightlife?


No, not outdated. Obviously it's not the case that everyone at Wadham is a member of the Socialist Workers Party but (to some extent at least) these stereotypes have a habit of perpetuating themselves. Merton's bops are meant to be good but bops are occasional events (once a week at most) and most nightlife is focused on the various clubs scattered around the city.
Original post by Isabellle
x


I'd suggest the following: New, Brasenose, Balliol, Wadham (not too central), Univ, Exeter, Trinity. You could also consider Christ Church (but has a posh reputation), Magdalen (not too central), Lincoln (not big), Worcester (not too central) and St. John's.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by amol_chalis447
I'd suggest the following: New, Brasenose, Balliol, Wadham (not too central), Univ, Exeter, Trinity. You could also suggest Christ Church (but has a posh reputation), Magdalen (not too central), Lincoln (not big), Worcester (not too central) and St. John's.


:confused: Unless I'm mistaken I have struggled with some of your 'not central' designations on another thread. Do we attend the same University? :tongue: I agree that Worcester and Magdalen aren't too central, but where is your 'centre' if Wadham isn't close to it yet New is?
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Isabellle
...I just can't decide on a college...I don't want to make an open application since there are some colleges I don't want to go to.

My personal preferences are that the college is quite big, central, pretty and relaxed. I've heard Wadham is quite left-wing which is appealing, however I'm sure these stereotypes are outdated. Also which college has the best nightlife?


As BJack says, the Wadham stereotype isn't completely unfounded. It seems to fit your preferences quite well. It's not my college so I'm not biased towards it :smile:

btw, for a number of reasons, you aren't necessarily going to avoid some colleges by steering clear of an Open Application. Firstly, if your preferred college is oversubscribed you may be reallocated to another one prior to interview, Second, one in four/five successful applicants get their offer from a different college. Third, you might get an Open Offer, which means your college is allocated once A level results are known. Of course, you're right that an Open Application increases the ' risk'.

Good luck :smile:
Nightlife is what you make of it, and probably doesn't change that much college to college.

Are there any other factors you could consider to narrow it down a bit more?
Size of grounds?
Sports teams etc
Amount of tutors for subject
Amount of students for subject
Financial endowment?

I'd say get it down to around 3-5 and then visit as many as possible before you apply :smile:
Original post by shoshin
:confused: Unless I'm mistaken I have struggled with some of your 'not central' designations on another thread. Do we attend the same University? :tongue: I agree that Worcester and Magdalen aren't too central, but where is your 'centre' if Wadham isn't close to it yet New is?


Just checked Google Maps and it appears I'd got the entrance to Wadham confused. I thought it was on Mansfield Road and not Parks Road, sorry!

To be honest New (and now Wadham) are just on the border of what I consider central but seeing as I'm going to be at New for the next 3 years I have a very obvious bias :P

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