Oxbridge - and universities with collegeiate systems

p4radox

p4radox

p4radox

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Has anyone here ever applied to or studied at Oxbridge?

I'm considering putting Cambridge down no.1 on my UCAS form to study engineering but I don't have a clue about colleges. I've visited the department, downloaded the "alternative prospectus" which is pretty good and read a little bit, but none seem to stand out. It also doesn't help that every graduate recommends their own college. How the hell are you supposed to decide?

I'd be very interested to hear of anyone's experiences.

Also on the list is Durham which also has a college system and is supposedly excellent for engineering - no idea with this one either. :(
 
I applied to Cambridge but only cos my Tutor thought I could get in :rolleyes: I didn't know a damn thing about the colleges so I went in an open pool and they ended up giving me Trinity which is apparently has a reputation for being the hardest to get into. I didn't get in but I don't really care, I don't think I could survive there.

If your think your good enough go for Trinity ;)
 
If you are serious, you should probably go and visit the colleges. From what i've heard, you get interviewed by people from the particualr college you applied to.

I know of someone who goes to oxford and he has his accomodation fees paid for him by the college!

Engineering students told me Manchester is good for engineering. May be you could consider Manchester?
 
When I was doing my A-levels I went on a trip with some other student from my school and we went round both oxford and Cambridge on open days. Cambridge is a lovely city and I would have loved to have gone there, but thephysics course was even worse than Oxford's which I applied to in the end. I chose to go to Durham though.

You basically have 2 interviews, one for your course and one for your college, and you need to pass them both, but as I remember you can apply to 3 colleges, and they decide if they want to invite you to an interview.

Research the colleges as they can have quite different vibes.

Edit - They are spread out over the whole city too, so location could be a deciding factor.
 
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In the same way you choose a university based on performance, facilities, reputation, etc, it is the same thing for colleges within oxbridge. I thoroughly recommend you visit the colleges that do engineering, talk to tutors, find out what facilities they have, etc. Usually, you live your life within the college, live there and study there. So your college is where you spend 90% of your time. So something as simple as a college having a nice lake nearby could sway your decision. I doubt there is a "bad" college in Cambridge.
 
Seriously, go visit some colleges. Figure out what else you're going to do there (rowing? theatre?) and that should help make your decision. Also, decide whether you would rather be in a huge college (Trinity), a tiny one (ummm, Trinity Hall?) or one in the middle (most of the rest). There are pros and cons of each, and it's all down to what you think you might prefer.

I was at Pembroke, and whole-heartedly recommend it. I would though, as anyone who goes to any college in Cam thinks it's the best college in the world after about 2 weeks of being there. :)
 
The $6m Dan said:
I applied to Oxford, and ended up at Durham, both of which are collegiate universities as you say.

You basically have 2 interviews, one for your course and one for your college, and you need to pass them both, but as I remember you can apply to 3 colleges, and they decide if they want to invite you to an interview.

Research the colleges as they can have quite different vibes.
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You can apply for 3? Well that's something I hadn't heard before! Which college did you end up in?

Thanks for all the advice guys. I will probably go and visit some colleges at some point.

@Kappa: Warwick is on my list too. ;)
 
It was a while ago now so that's from memory. Possibly Oxford and Cambridge are different to Durham.

I can't remember the details about the application process but I'm sure I applied to St. Aidan's (where I ended up) and Trevelyan which was just down the road.
 
The reason any graduate will recommend their own is that it really doesn't matter which you choose - very few people end up regretting their choice, and no college is "bad". Visit one or two, and see if you like them - the decision really isn't that important. You're probably best off not making an open application, unless it really doesn't bother you that you might end up at Girton (in the middle of nowhere), or one of the woman's colleges if you're a woman. Plus, being able to answer "why did you choose x college" (even if you can't give much of an answer) might help you slightly.
 
Robinson used to be the best when I was there, now it's gone all academic and the sports teams have gone poo so I wouldn't recommend it :p

Seriously though, go there and have a look around and chat to the current students, though they will all tell you their college is the best :D
 
Zom said:
If you want lots of good advice go to: http://thestudentroom.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=15


Trinity is no harder to get into than any of the other colleges.
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Depends on the subject - remember when you apply, you're competeing against all the other applicants for a place in that college, for that particular course. Trinity has a reputation for being amazing at maths, so loads of people apply to the maths course, they can only take so many, so it's more difficult for the person of maths level 'x' to get in there.
 
I went to Durham, and from what I recall I didn't have to apply to a particular college, but you could if you had a particular favourite. I ended up at Hild Bede, which is quite a way from the science site (though not the furthest away). It was a very nice college, and they'd just done the bar up when I left. The good thing about a collegiate system is that there are so many bars you can go to! Vary your location and still get cheap beer. :D

Trevs, Aidans, Hild Bede, Grey, all seemed like good colleges to me. Didn't know too many people from the other colleges.

Durham's a great little city, as long as you're okay with small-town living. It's a very small place -- not too far from Newcastle though, but most people tended not to go there too often.

Now I'm living in Cambridge, and it's a bigger city (though still not big by any stretch of the imagination!). Again, it's a very nice place to live. Haven't heard anything much about the Uni so can't comment on it.
 
xyphic said:
I went to Durham, and from what I recall I didn't have to apply to a particular college, but you could if you had a particular favourite. I ended up at Hild Bede, which is quite a way from the science site (though not the furthest away).
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I'd've said it was. Where's further? (Ustinov doesn't count). Living out can be further - spent last year living up Gilesgate. Over 30mins walk to Engineering lectures was a real incentive to stay in bed of a morning...
The good thing about a collegiate system is that there are so many bars you can go to! Vary your location and still get cheap beer. :D
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Yep! ~£1.30/pint is truely great!
 
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growse said:
Seriously, go visit some colleges. Figure out what else you're going to do there (rowing? theatre?) and that should help make your decision. Also, decide whether you would rather be in a huge college (Trinity), a tiny one (ummm, Trinity Hall?) or one in the middle (most of the rest). There are pros and cons of each, and it's all down to what you think you might prefer.

I was at Pembroke, and whole-heartedly recommend it. I would though, as anyone who goes to any college in Cam thinks it's the best college in the world after about 2 weeks of being there. :)
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Ohh snap - I choose it due to the fact it was central (and quite small), all my lecture halls were near and had a good reputation for medicine (but also popular for it so harder to get into - some colleges excel in certain types of subjects or quality of supervisors, so make sure to check that). The JP isnt brill, but more excuse to visit others ;)

In addition to what everyone said, also check out the possible accomodation especially in the 2nd year because you invariably live off college. The amount of interviews you have depend on the course you are taking but wont be more than 3 1to1s really...

P.S. Just saw your pics on your site Growse, nice memories outside of exams :p

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
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