Choosing an Oxford College

I'm sure Exeter DOES have an amazing social life and is really buzzing all the time. What I trying to do was to paint the picture of my worst possible hypothetical college.

I wasn't trying to say that small colleges are sleepy I just meant that the fact that they are small would mean that there is possibly more of a chance they might be not so buzzing. Obviously this link does not exist from your evidence and I shall consider small colleges although I still think I would prefer large colleges for some reason. However, I will visit all sizes of college when I come to take a look round the University before making any kind of decision.

I am surprised by the figure of 340 undergradutes. This hardly makes Exeter a small college! Instead, it's almost as big as some colleges considered to be the largest!!

Hi.

I don't want to make an open application to Oxford when I apply next year, but I'm not entirely sure which college to apply to.

Has anyone got any colleges they would recommend, or advice for considering colleges? (Preferably for PPE)

Thank you in advance.

be aware - some colleges are a lot harder to get into than others. For example, you will have a 1/20 chance of getting into PPE at Balliol, versus a 1/3 chance at St. John's. Be aware.

There’s a decent article on here somewhere that summarises the good and bad points of each.

BUT at the end of the day, the college you choose might not be the one where you are interviewed, or ultimately offered a place at (hopefully you will get to this stage!) so try not to pin all your hopes on College X or Y, or Oxford for that matter. Good luck!

It doesn't really work like that.



http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Oxford_College_Pros_and_Cons

yes it does, are you calling me a liar?

yes it does, are you calling me a liar?

Well, your post wasn't technically incorrect (although the numbers for St John look a bit iffy to me - where did you get those from, if I may ask?), but it was oversimplistic, because you were making it sound as though 19 out of 20 Balliol PPE applicants are rejected, but that isn't what actually happens. As Balliol is so oversubscribed for PPE, most of those applicants simply get reallocated to other colleges, where they may well succeed in getting offers, although of course they can no longer get offers from Balliol. So while it might be true that only one in 20 people who apply to Balliol for PPE gets into Balliol, Balliol applicants' overall chances of getting offers aren't significantly worse than those of people who applied to St John's, which was what your post seemed to be implying.

If there are 20 applicants per place at Balliol, the standard of applicant is likely to be pretty high, so those people are more likely to get accepted elsewhere than the 3 applicants per place at St. John's. In general, the system is geared towards minimising the effect of college choice on getting in, by means of second interviews, open offers, etc.

Technically yes, your chance of getting into your first choice college is smaller if that college is oversubscribed. But the wider context of your chance of getting into Oxford is more important to the vast majority.

please cease with your slanderous incorrect allegations. You are clearly both idiots and not at Oxford. I assume you are both studying film studies at De Montford or similar.

please cease with your slanderous incorrect allegations. You are clearly both idiots and not at Oxford. I assume you are both studying film studies at De Montford or similar.