Choosing an Oxford College

Original post by Insanity514

Thanks for replying, I'll check the alternative prospectus out. Also thanks for the two suggestions I will look into those two colleges as well :smile:

Main things I'm looking for are:-
Slightly older colleges with historical buildings
Not overly academic like I've heard about Merton
Nice quads (lol)
Slightly on the larger side
Not too too far from the medical sciences division

Things I liked about Teddy Hall:-
Nice atmosphere
Good food
(Comfortable bed)
Decent quads

So, i'd suggest just going through the prospectus and checking out the factors like location, age and size like you said. The virtual tour of Oxford is a good resource for looking at the appearance of colleges and the city, although unfortunately not all colleges participated.

Trinity is another possibility, and maybe Keble. Although its not 'old' at all, the quads are quite grand and many people find them 'nice' (although not all!), and it is big and in a good location.

I'm not sure what 'overly academic' means, really. Merton seems far more socially active than some other colleges i've seen. I think the only actual difference is the rugby-lad sort of person doesn't really exist here, which i'm not that bothered about tbh :cool:

Merton must lose so many applicants due to this silly stereotype!

And last thing - if location is important to you, don't forget that if a college doesn't offer 3 years accommodation, you have to live far away in private accommodation in second (or third) year (much further than even the furthest colleges), and even if they do give 3 years accommodation, you should check where what accommodation is. Some colleges put you in 'college accommodaton' that is actually down miles down the Cowley road in second year.

Reply 1962

Bezzler

1

Original post by nexttime

I'm not sure what 'overly academic' means, really. Merton seems far more socially active than some other colleges i've seen. I think the only actual difference is the rugby-lad sort of person doesn't really exist here, which i'm not that bothered about tbh :cool:

Merton must lose so many applicants due to this silly stereotype!

And last thing - if location is important to you, don't forget that if a college doesn't offer 3 years accommodation, you have to live far away in private accommodation in second (or third) year (much further than even the furthest colleges), and even if they do give 3 years accommodation, you should check where what accommodation is. Some colleges put you in 'college accommodaton' that is actually down miles down the Cowley road in second year.

Or way up in Summertown (like Univ) which is even worse!

And yeah, Merton's not overly academic at all. We do way less work than loads of other colleges (I've had tutes with people from other colleges, so I know how hard they work!). And pour plenty of free alcohol down people's throats too. The only difference is that our tutors do tend to expect you to get a first; however, they don't blame you if you don't, instead they're like "What are we doing wrong? How can we help?" which to be honest isn't all that bad!

Reply 1963

Insanity514

15

Original post by nexttime

So, i'd suggest just going through the prospectus and checking out the factors like location, age and size like you said. The virtual tour of Oxford is a good resource for looking at the appearance of colleges and the city, although unfortunately not all colleges participated.

Trinity is another possibility, and maybe Keble. Although its not 'old' at all, the quads are quite grand and many people find them 'nice' (although not all!), and it is big and in a good location.

I'm not sure what 'overly academic' means, really. Merton seems far more socially active than some other colleges i've seen. I think the only actual difference is the rugby-lad sort of person doesn't really exist here, which i'm not that bothered about tbh :cool:

Merton must lose so many applicants due to this silly stereotype!

And last thing - if location is important to you, don't forget that if a college doesn't offer 3 years accommodation, you have to live far away in private accommodation in second (or third) year (much further than even the furthest colleges), and even if they do give 3 years accommodation, you should check where what accommodation is. Some colleges put you in 'college accommodaton' that is actually down miles down the Cowley road in second year.

Thanks again for the reply. I looked at trinity and Keble on the virtual tour and they both seem quite ideal for me! I'll look into accommodation as well and then make a final decision. Thanks a lot for your help and suggestions :smile:

Reply 1964

Hi, I'm looking to maybe apply to Oxford in the future, and I'm curious about the colleges. I've stumbled across Somerville, and It seems the best one for me so far. Can anyone give any suggestions as to similar colleges to Somerville? Thanks a bunch :wink:

Reply 1965

BJack

19

What is it about Somerville that you like? Is it that it's slightly out of town, or that it's got a building named after Margaret Thatcher?

Reply 1966

Original post by BJack

What is it about Somerville that you like? Is it that it's slightly out of town, or that it's got a building named after Margaret Thatcher?

Hah, no, the fact that it is slightly more informal than say, Christ Church or other colleges. And the fact it's the most non denominational sways me as well, seeing as I'm the least religious person I know, even though I go to a Catholic girls school...the irony eh?

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 1967

BJack

19

Unless you're vehemently anti-religious to the extent that the sight of a bishop's portrait would put you off your dinner, I don't think religiousness of any college will be a problem.

Reply 1968

astro67

10

Original post by leckett

Hi, I'm looking to maybe apply to Oxford in the future, and I'm curious about the colleges. I've stumbled across Somerville, and It seems the best one for me so far. Can anyone give any suggestions as to similar colleges to Somerville? Thanks a bunch :wink:

Good choice! I don't know so much about the other colleges and you don't need to find another option unless you're planning to study Theology, Geography, Management or something else which we don't do. You could look at Catz, which is also fairly forward-looking and doesn't have a chapel at all.

Reply 1969

Original post by astro67

Good choice! I don't know so much about the other colleges and you don't need to find another option unless you're planning to study Theology, Geography, Management or something else which we don't do. You could look at Catz, which is also fairly forward-looking and doesn't have a chapel at all.

Okay, thanks. I'll have a look :smile:

Are you in Somerville? I'm looking to study PPE or Experimental Psychology...Somerville does that, right? :smile:

Thankss

Reply 1970

Original post by BJack

Unless you're vehemently anti-religious to the extent that the sight of a bishop's portrait would put you off your dinner, I don't think religiousness of any college will be a problem.

Yeah, okay, was just curious, that is all :smile:

personal preference, just so long as they're not constantly getting me to kneel and pray, its all good! :wink:

Reply 1971

anyone_can_fly

11

Original post by leckett

Yeah, okay, was just curious, that is all :smile:

personal preference, just so long as they're not constantly getting me to kneel and pray, its all good! :wink:

I'm pretty sure none of the colleges make you do that! (Do they?)

Reply 1972

Original post by leckett

Yeah, okay, was just curious, that is all :smile:

personal preference, just so long as they're not constantly getting me to kneel and pray, its all good! :wink:

Original post by anyone_can_fly

I'm pretty sure none of the colleges make you do that! (Do they?)

lol no!

'Religiousness' is really not a factor you have to worry about!

Reply 1973

Bezzler

1

Original post by nexttime

'Religiousness' is really not a factor you have to worry about!

I guess you could think of grace before formal being a religious thing. At Merton it's quite long - I went to St Peter's formal and their grace was two words. On the other hand, they said it after the meal as well as before! Maybe some colleges don't have any grace at their formal at all? That could be a crucial factor in college choice...

Reply 1974

Original post by Bezzler

I guess you could think of grace before formal being a religious thing. At Merton it's quite long - I went to St Peter's formal and their grace was two words. On the other hand, they said it after the meal as well as before! Maybe some colleges don't have any grace at their formal at all? That could be a crucial factor in college choice...

Teddy Hall make you stand until all of high table have sat down, which was a good ten minutes when i was there. How annoying :angry:

Absolutely crucial, yes.

Reply 1975

henryt

17

From my experience, if you're a fairly good actor, and you make the commitment to get involved, you can do so at a university level relatively easily - as you say, OUDS centralises everything, and they send out weekly newsletters letting you know of different productions that need actors, as well as venue and funding opportunities (if you're into the producing side). The first opportunity to get involved will be drama Cuppers, which is where colleges each perform a play in the BT Studio (a black box theatre), and you get ranked by some judging panel, and the best plays and actors are given awards. Anyway, point is you don't need to go to a college with a theatre to get involved with drama, and I'd say it's probably better to get involved across the university just from the perspective that you're not always acting with the same crowd.

As for the specifics of your college requirements, I was at Merton, and it does have well located and nice, cheap accommodation for all three years, and you'll likely have en-suite in your third year (I had an ensuite for 2 out of the 3 years I chose to live in college, as I had a nice committee room in my second year). Also, it's worth noting that the ballot is entirely 'fair' in the sense that it doesn't give preference to scholars, and given that acting (I think and have experienced, at least!) is probably the most destructive extra-curricular timewise, it might actually be an important consideration! Also, I don't even know if it's open for theatrical use, but Merton has recently finished building a lecture theatre, so there's (possibly!) the possibility there if you did want a college with that sort of space. The Chapel and Gardens have mostly been used for productions that I've been involved in, and they've sufficed!

Reply 1976

Original post by music3210

Which college has the best accomodation? Thank you

Depends what you value, really. Some colleges only offer 2 years accommodation, whilst others offer 3. Of those that offer 3, some of them send you out of the city centre in second year greatly increasing commute time (Balliol, Univ...) , so that is worth checking out.

In terms of the rooms, some are cheap and some are more expensive (and some have a range of costs to choose from). Some colleges actually give you a better room if you do well in exams (wth). College websites are the way forward to check this out, especially re: costs.

As a general rule, the colleges right in the centre tend to struggle for space so are less likely to have lots of spacious rooms.

Its hard to make a judgement based on only seeing a handful of rooms at other colleges though. I can say Merton has some nice ones, i think Christchurch too (?), and Worcester boast about their high proportion of en-suites a lot (hence why they are very popular, i feel).

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 1977

Noble.

17

I think New has one of the highest proportion of en-suites, it's one of the reasons I applied (albeit a little one) but I'm living out now anyway so irrelevant.

Reply 1978

Original post by Bezzler

I guess you could think of grace before formal being a religious thing. At Merton it's quite long - I went to St Peter's formal and their grace was two words. On the other hand, they said it after the meal as well as before! Maybe some colleges don't have any grace at their formal at all? That could be a crucial factor in college choice...

Yeah, I don't mind it, but if it's just like 'Big up the lord' constantly, they'll be wasting their time with me :wink:

Reply 1979