Balliol or Trinity?

I am going to apply for medicine at oxford for 2010, and trying to decide on a college.

It seems that the two I've narrowed it down to (whilst both looking charming) appear to be arch-rivals!

Can members of the colleges/Oxonians give me some help as to which to apply, and why?

Thanks.

Reply 1

pf1

4

In before cpchem ... Trinity. :ninja:

Reply 2

Andy the Anarchist

10

This thread seems designed to provoke civil war :ninja:

Reply 3

TheMeister

15

I thought Balliol was more for the arts? Maybe I'm wrong.

Trinity might be a good choice, but because it's so popular it'd be hard to try and find stable accomodation on-campus.

Reply 4

pf1

4

Perhaps you could give us some idea of what your interests are or what kind of college you're looking for?

Balliol.

OP

Ok interests: not awfully sporty, but enjoy taking part.
Beautiful grounds/buildings are a must, as is a nice bar
Good location, both are...
I wouldn't like to be chained to my desk, prefer some free time etc
Somewhere with tradition and history...

Reply 7

ptheodorou

OP

But I do enjoy walking/mountaineering and a degree of epicurism

And in case it matters, I'm from a public school

Reply 8

Derek_the_Sheep

8

ptheodorou

I am going to apply for medicine ... Can members of the colleges/Oxonians give me some help as to which to apply, and why?

I wouldn't get too het up about it; medicine's admissions system is highly centralised, so there 's a very good chance that, if you got a place, it wouldn't be at the college you applied to anyway (especially if it's a popular college, as both these two are).

I wouldn't have put a 1-thou feeler gauge between them really in terms of atmosphere, academics, etc., anyway <dodges flaming missiles hurled from both sides>. They're both good, and meet your list of things wanted.

Toss a coin, Eoin; roll a die, Guy; drink really heavily and see if you fall back or front, Hunt; phone a friend, Ben; ask Mystic Meg, Steg; phone a fiend, Ian; pull the plug out of the bath and see which way the whirlpool spins, Tim; take strong drugs and contemplate Schrödinger's cat, Matt... there must be 50 ways to choose your college.

DtS

Reply 9

cpchem

14

Derek_the_Sheep

I wouldn't get too het up about it; medicine's admissions system is highly centralised, so there 's a very good chance that, if you got a place, it wouldn't be at the college you applied to anyway (especially if it's a popular college, as both these two are).

I wouldn't have put a 1-thou feeler gauge between them really in terms of atmosphere, academics, etc., anyway <dodges flaming missiles hurled from both sides>. They're both good, and meet your list of things wanted.

Toss a coin, Eoin; roll a die, Guy; drink really heavily and see if you fall back or front, Hunt; phone a friend, Ben; ask Mystic Meg, Steg; phone a fiend, Ian; pull the plug out of the bath and see which way the whirlpool spins, Tim; take strong drugs and contemplate Schrödinger's cat, Matt... there must be 50 ways to choose your college.

DtS

Yeah, this. Balliol and Trinity are very different colleges.

Reply 10

Turdburger

16

Yes, Balliols great and Trinitys rubbish :p:

Reply 11

pf1

4

ptheodorou

Ok interests: not awfully sporty, but enjoy taking part.
Beautiful grounds/buildings are a must, as is a nice bar
Good location, both are...
I wouldn't like to be chained to my desk, prefer some free time etc
Somewhere with tradition and history...

Both colleges fulfil all these criteria, really. I certainly found the sporting opportunities at Trinity quite laid-back, i.e. you get involved as seriously as you want to. The grounds and lawns in particular are famously spacious for a college of its size. Bar is decent.

As for walking/hiking, that sort of extra-curricular activity (being less popular than, say, rowing, rugby etc.) will be organised across all the colleges - no college is really going to give you better opportunities than any other ... except perhaps St Hugh's since it's a bit more of a mission to get into town from there.

Reply 12

cpchem

14

Turdburger

Yes, Balliols great and Trinitys rubbish :p:

Reply 13

HoVis

9

As someone's already said, you've probably chosen the two colleges most likely to produce the most heated responses. :p:

Balliol is, as cpchem has trained me to say, is absolutely wonderful. It has a lot of history - arguably the oldest college in Oxford! - and has a really friendly atmosphere.

I love it. :love:

Reply 14

TheMeister

15

MSB

Eh?

Not the best choice of words, perhaps. I meant accomodation where you can stay for only 2 years or maybe even 1 year due to the fact that the college is so popular.

Reply 15

pf1

4

Firstly, how 'popular' a college is (by which I assume you mean how many applicants it attracts) has no bearing at all on accommodation for its accepted students. The colleges accept largely the same numbers of students each year. Secondly, Trinity offers accommodation (be it on the main site or in the annexes in north Oxford or down the Iffley Road) for all years of the course.

Reply 16

crazyferret

2

Trinity, simply because of the food :coma:

They have a michelin starred chef for crying out loud :drool:

Reply 17

crazyferret

2

MSB

No, they don't. The reason still stands, however.

Oh...what happened?

I was last there in September

Reply 18

MalcomNewMoney84

12

To show off or not to show off, hmmm that is the question...

Reply 19

MalcomNewMoney84

12

MSB

Are we talking about your profile here?

You can do if you want. Although the only reason I included the stuff about my career plans was to give myself a bit of personality on here. However If you are specifically talking about the first bit, then I can happily tell you that it is just a mere quotation from "American Psycho" the novel.

Balliol or Trinity?

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