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Magdalen or Balliol?

Amelie

Which would you recommend?

Reply 1

WhatFreshHell?

2

Magdalen. Looks cooler.

What subject?

Magdalen.

(Well, you might as well be decisive. And we might as well be consistent)

Reply 4

srmcit

5

both are outstanding. i'd vote balliol; it's more understated.

Reply 5

Hoofbeat

14

chose whichever you'd prefer!

Reply 6

WhatFreshHell?

2

Ah, that's true, and it does have a good location, but when I was in Ox at interview I went to their JCR and it stank. Total dump. Still, a nice college.

Reply 7

Golden Maverick

4

Magdalen is one of the best achieving academically I think, so might be tougher in that respect (don't know about Balliol). It is a very nice college though.

Reply 8

Feefifofum

16

Magdalen is nice I think, but Balliol is more central. I repeat what someone else said - what subject? makes a big difference i think.

Reply 9

RxB

1

Balliol doesn't have Sky.

Reply 10

Hoofbeat

14

but Balliol's more central...

Ultimately the comments we are making are irrelevant and petty...go and look around both and see which feels "right" for you!

Reply 11

zoraster

Is this the correct time to suggest Ouija?

Reply 12

Hoofbeat

14

zoraster

Is this the correct time to suggest Ouija?

ooooo tht might be interesting...i use to have a strange computer version on my laptop! lol

Reply 13

Bezza

2

If you don't know the answer to such a simple question, you'll have no chance of getting into oxford! :p:

Magdalen, obviously! :biggrin:

Reply 14

Amelie

OP

Thanks for the opinions so far :smile:

The subject I am interested in is English :cool:

Reply 15

Bezza

2

Well magdalen gets about 7/8 applications per place for english which is significantly higher than the uni average, but it does also have a very good reputation for pooling people to other colleges

Reply 16

esd1323

Hey.. just wandered over from the Bristol forum and saw this... although Balliol rejected me :frown:

I feel I should point out that it's a great college. It's a typically old, very beautiful building... almost as much as Magdalene, but Balliol also has a much better atmosphere. For a very old and established college it's really friendly and informal, and it has a good bar and relaxed JCR with loads of comfy sofas where you can sit and chat with people (which was where I spent most of my two day interview stay). I never saw Magdalene, but there were a few Magdalene applicants who wound up in the Balliol JCR because their own was (and I quote) "absolutely dead".

Balliol really has the best of all worlds... it's stunning, it's laid-back and friendly, and its acamdemically very good too, I think... Magdalene may be beautiful and prestigious, but Balliol was enough of both those things for me, and it's the sort of place where I would have loved to spend three years.

So I vote Balliol :smile:

Reply 17

Bezza

2

esd1323

I never saw Magdalene, but there were a few Magdalene applicants who wound up in the Balliol JCR because their own was (and I quote) "absolutely dead".

Did you apply last year? The year before when I was an applicant I spent practically the whole time in the jcr playing pool and chatting with people. I came back 1 day during interviews in december to have a swim and do some christmas shopping and when I met up with 1 of my friends who's in the choir there were loads of people in the jcr :confused:

Reply 18

esd1323

Bezza

Did you apply last year? The year before when I was an applicant I spent practically the whole time in the jcr playing pool and chatting with people. I came back 1 day during interviews in december to have a swim and do some christmas shopping and when I met up with 1 of my friends who's in the choir there were loads of people in the jcr :confused:

I did... but what I said about the Magdalene interviewees was true. I never saw their JCR myself, so perhaps they were just a bit miserable themselves...

I'll stick to what I know and reiterate how great Balliol is, I think. And visiting both would be a good idea, as that's the only way I made my mine up about which college to apply for.

Reply 19

Elles

17

Magdalen. no 'e' that's in Cambridge. :eek:

ahem, but anyway - really, please, don't judge a college solely by the prospective applicants you come across, if i had I would never have accepted my offer here & now i love the place! & remember, the majority of those prospectives (& as it happened for my subject - all the obnoxious, pretentious ****-ish ones) do not receive offers.

I do agree with the "visit" comments.

but some other semi - objectivities:

Balliol may be more "central" & hence tourist swamped :wink:

but Magd is closer to Schools, which is where i think your lectures will be..

both fairly similar in terms of UG student numbers

i'd wager Magd has larger grounds.. & sports grounds on site

Balliol doesn't seem to offer 2nd year accomodation - Magd does

Balliol 4.2 ratio for English.. Magd is a whopping 7.8 (only marginally less competitive than Medicine here.. :biggrin:

) - which i think probably reflects the general prestige/reputation/tutors/history (Oscar Wilde & CS Lewis, anyone? :tongue:

) for English at Magd.

Magd's bar is much less claustrophobic, though Balliol is probably cheaper

Balliol has a rabid leftie reputation, Magd is more apathetic/anything goes

(could we not just have one big "what college?" thread though, or this place will get swamped...)

Magdalen or Balliol?

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