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Choosing an Oxford College

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Willa
apply to christs, you're clearly set on it, you'll only be asking yourself "what if" in a years time if you dont.

Or of course you might not get in and be asking yourself "what if" I had applied to Pembroke in a years time :rolleyes: . Your college really doesnt matter that much, if people ask you where you went to uni its Oxford or Cambridge, they might ask you which college you went to, but very few people who didnt go to Oxbridge will regard this as significant. The truth is all the colleges are nice in their own way, and within a year of being there almost everyone becomes convinced that their college is really the best place to be. :smile: Most people become very loyal and attatched to their college whether or not it was their first choice. What matters in the broader scheme of things is getting into Oxbridge.

Getting in is such a lottery even if your bright. And if you think as I do that it affects your chances of getting in, and there is no way to prove it either way, then you will be kicking yourself for applying to one of the most oversubscribed colleges and not to one of the smaller less famous but still lovely colleges. If you apply to LMH (my gf's college) or Mansfield (my college), both are wonderful places to be by the way, and get in, all you may be kicking yourself for is not going to a better college, and what a terrible fate that would be :rolleyes: , you'll end up loving whatever college accepts you anyway :p: .

But if you get in and still think colleges are important, which is really a luxury that comes after the uncertainty of whether you will get in has faded, then all you have to do is work bloody hard and apply for a masters to another college (admissions is centralised for postgrad). :wink:

A lot of Oxbridge people are going to tell you that it doesnt make a difference to your chances of getting in where you apply, but they are speaking with the security of already having gotten in :biggrin: , and if you have any notion that it might be easier to get into some colleges than others, then thats the instinct you should go with, not your instictive favourite college.
Reply 161
Avatar for paddy
paddy
14
Thanks for the help!
Does anyone know anything about Queen's college @ Cambridge? Is it one of the 'more academic' colleges?
Also are there any colleges that prefer state school applicants? I'm from a private school, so obviously I won't apply to King's, but are there any that are suspected of discriminating against private school applicants?
First off, I don't think there is a single college whose stats show that they discriminate towards state school applicants, not even King's. (the general stats show that public school applicants are significantly more likely to be succesful than state) They get a hell of a lot more state school applicants, but that says nothing about whether those who apply are more likely to get offers.

Now, regarding Queens'. It is supposedly quite an academic college, in that it does quite well in Tompkin's. Why this is the case is anybody's guess, though I've heard rumours that the college goes into hibernation during exam term. Have yet to experience it yet. It definitely doesn't -seem- like people are too super academic from the first two terms, but this could be just the people that I'm friends with.

If you want to know specific stuff then ask... it's difficult to give a description of a college if I don't know what kind of information you're after.

Alex
Having pored over stats, the only undergraduate colleges where state school applicants were on average more succesful than independent school applicants in 2004 were Robinson, Jesus and Downing. Even at King's, state school applicants made up 79% of the applicants but only 72% of the offers. Of course, this puts a lot of stock in figures where we don't know about the average -quality- of applicants, but all things considered equal King's discriminates against state school applicants.

In 2005 the only colleges where the percentage of state school offers is higher than the percentage of state school applicants are Peterhouse, Magdalene and Trinity Hall. How interesting.

Basically, all this tells us is that it is really stupid to decide a college based on some perceived idea that it discriminates one way or the other. A college famous for discriminating "for" state schools actually goes the other way, as do two famous for discriminating "against" state schools.
Reply 164
Avatar for katie14
katie14
I honestly couldn't be bothered to read every entry, so I'm just gonna ask:

Which colleges have a good choir and a reputation for a solid English course? Don't say Merton or Corpus Christi, or I will kill someone; I applied there and got resoundingly rejected. I'm reapplying, however nutty that sounds. I like a small, cosy college with decent meals in Hall, don't care about sports (except dancing), but I love music, theatre and generally artsy things. St John's sounds good, but I want to be careful now; I'd rather go to a less prestigious college and get in rather than get another rejection.
katie14
I honestly couldn't be bothered to read every entry, so I'm just gonna ask:

Which colleges have a good choir and a reputation for a solid English course? Don't say Merton or Corpus Christi, or I will kill someone; I applied there and got resoundingly rejected. I'm reapplying, however nutty that sounds. I like a small, cosy college with decent meals in Hall, don't care about sports (except dancing), but I love music, theatre and generally artsy things. St John's sounds good, but I want to be careful now; I'd rather go to a less prestigious college and get in rather than get another rejection.

Dont know about the choir, but theres plenty of university wide groups for singing, and what about Mansfield (my college) which is small, friendly and quite pretty. It has a lot of American visting students too. There is also Pembroke. A larger college I would recomend having a look at is LMH, my gfs college which is a bit out of the way but is lovely and its so life-affirming walking through the university parks in the morning to get into town.
Reply 166
Avatar for sjuthani
sjuthani
6
I've just found push.co.uk which has profiles of every uni and every Oxbridge college. It looks quite good with a fair bit of detail. You can't go into most of the sections without signing up or something first, which I haven't bothered with, but I just thought it mught be of interest to some people here.
Reply 167
Avatar for paddy
paddy
14
sjuthani
I've just found push.co.uk which has profiles of every uni and every Oxbridge college. It looks quite good with a fair bit of detail. You can't go into most of the sections without signing up or something first, which I haven't bothered with, but I just thought it mught be of interest to some people here.

Nah I've just had a look and it's £15 to join
Reply 168
Avatar for katie14
katie14
Thanks everybody (especially pendragon). I'm not sure I'm gonna spend £15 to join a sight, but I'll check up on Mansfield and Pembroke. Funny, though, I took an unofficial test for which Oxford college you belong to; all in good fun, but it did put Merton and Corpus first, which were my initial choices. On that it put Pembroke last! Oh well, I'll just dig around some more...
katie14
I took an unofficial test for which Oxford college you belong to; all in good fun, but it did put Merton and Corpus first, which were my initial choices.

That sounds like fun. :p: Where is this test? I want to take it and see if I went to the right place, retrospectively. :biggrin:
Reply 170
Avatar for Chewwy
Chewwy
17
maybe this - http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=16515089826852201595
chewwy

Thats a tab test. She said which oxford college!
Reply 172
Avatar for Chewwy
Chewwy
17
fine - http://selectsmart.com/plus/select.php?url=OXCOLLS I must now apply to Christ Church. the test told me to.
chewwy
fine - http://selectsmart.com/plus/select.php?url=OXCOLLS I must now apply to Christ Church. the test told me to.

Thanks!

Apparently I was supposed to go to Wadham... and Mansfield is nowhere on the list!

Percent Rank Item
(100%) 1: Wadham College (1610)
(96%) 2: Christ Church (1546)
(93%) 3: Balliol College (1263)
(93%) 4: Lincoln College (1427)
(90%) 5: Corpus Christi College (1517)
(88%) 6: Magdalen College (1458)
(88%) 7: University College (1249)
(87%) 8: New College (1379)
(86%) 9: Merton College (1264)
(85%) 10: St. John's College (1555)
(84%) 11: St. Peter's College (1929)
(83%) 12: Brasenose College (1509)
(83%) 13: Trinity College (1555)
(80%) 14: Hertford College (1282)
(80%) 15: The Queen's College (1341)
(77%) 16: Jesus College (1571)
(76%) 17: St. Hugh's College (1886)
(75%) 18: Worcester College (1714)
(71%) 19: Lady Margaret Hall (1878)
(69%) 20: Exeter College (1314)
(68%) 21: Pembroke College (1624)
(67%) 22: St. Catherine's College (1963)
(67%) 23: St. Edmund Hall (1278/1957)
(66%) 24: Oriel College (1326)
(62%) 25: Keble College (1870)
Reply 174
Avatar for kitsune
kitsune
12
lol!!! I have 100% at ChCh and that's where I wanted to go... but the Organist duties seem much more than at another colleges... but Hertford also looks nice and has an organ with three manuals! :biggrin:

(100%) 1: Christ Church (1546)
(96%) 2: Magdalen College (1458)
(95%) 3: Trinity College (1555)
(93%) 4: Oriel College (1326)
(88%) 5: Lincoln College (1427)
(86%) 6: Hertford College (1282)
(84%) 7: Corpus Christi College (1517)
(84%) 8: Merton College (1264)
(84%) 9: New College (1379)
(84%) 10: The Queen's College (1341)
(82%) 11: Jesus College (1571)
(81%) 12: University College (1249)
(81%) 13: Wadham College (1610)
(80%) 14: Keble College (1870)
(78%) 15: Brasenose College (1509)
(76%) 16: Pembroke College (1624)
(75%) 17: Balliol College (1263)
(73%) 18: St. Edmund Hall (1278/1957)
(71%) 19: St. John's College (1555)
(67%) 20: Lady Margaret Hall (1878)
(66%) 21: St. Peter's College (1929)
(66%) 22: Worcester College (1714)
(64%) 23: Exeter College (1314)
(64%) 24: St. Catherine's College (1963)
(61%) 25: St. Hugh's College (1886)
I smell a rat. they have left Mansfield out of the test I think! :mad:
kitsune
lol!!! I have 100% at ChCh and that's where I wanted to go... but the Organist duties seem much more than at another colleges... but Hertford also looks nice and has an organ with three manuals! :biggrin:

I know the first year organ scholar at Hertford, he's lovely :biggrin:
Reply 177
Avatar for kitsune
kitsune
12
Is he??? so cool!!! :biggrin: Do you know whether he's doing a music degree? Do you know if the competition is fierce? I'm expecting 3-5people per place... but there might be 40 :eek: then I dont stand a chance :p:
kitsune
Is he??? so cool!!! :biggrin: Do you know whether he's doing a music degree? Do you know if the competition is fierce? I'm expecting 3-5people per place... but there might be 40 :eek: then I dont stand a chance :p:

Yeah, he's doing a music degree but I don't know what the competition's like I'm afraid! I know there's only one other 1st year musician there though!
What have you been doing on your gap year rachel?

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