Can anyone advise re Oxford colleges for Maths?

[GeorgeTheThird]

DS1 will be applying this October and has a reasonably realistic prospect of getting on an excellent maths degree course. (All A /A^ at GCSE and A in his mocks this year). He loves maths, does extra maths, reads about maths, does the Olympiads, is happy to do MAT and STEP papers in his own time... etc

Can anyone give any help as to which college to apply to? He is at a mixed school in the North that is only moderately selective, enjoys music and debating but is not at all sporty. He is sensitive, articulate and not at all arrogant or "macho" (for want of better descriptions), he is not massively competitive and is open to applying to a historical college but not especially set on doing so.

He has been wondering about St Anne's and Keble? Any ideas, anyone?

[hayita]

whether there is merit in looking at where the most interesting tutors are, in terms of the next three years

But the academic world has changed a lot: academics move much more than they used to, so there is no guarantee that the tutor you like will still be there for all your time.

Moreover, for STEM subjects, you may well find yourself interested in a different branch of the subject that the research direction of your college fellows, in which case you probably won't actually be taught by your own college fellows in your second and third year.

For example, maths at Oxford ranges over statistics, maths, applied maths, mathematical biology and theoretical physics etc. If you're in a college with mostly (pure) maths fellows but find yourself doing theoretical physics you won't have much in common with them. But conversely picking a college on the basis of what you think you're interested in would be silly because A level does not show you what each of these topics are really like.

[bojorojo]

Points taken Molio. I just think all of the discussion really shows how difficult it is for people 'out if the loop ' to make a decision about where to apply. No wonder some people feel disadvantaged even if there is help available . I don't think north, south, east or west makes much difference but meeting other students at an open day may point you in the right direction. Just don't over think it! The advice from the university is as good as any!

[HocusWireless]

I am not sure how "in the loop" anyone is if they don't have friends, family etc studying or working there currently. DS's choice pretty much originated from a suggestion from a friend of a friend to go and look, and turning up on an Open day and looking round and thinking everyone seemed quite nice. Now he is there, there are some relatively trivial things he thinks are good (e.g. - 2 dinner sittings - helps when lectures / tutorials might be late ones ) but would never have thought to ask about that. The main thing is that most people end up liking where they are - they all have pros and cons.

OP, I cannot comment on Maths week but at an Open Day DS (although not there) thought the Univ students were particularly friendly and helpful. And they have a tortoise. On such things do DS's decisions turn .

Also - yes, DS very strongly got the message do not choose a college based on a particular tutor. One of his he got on with very well with in 1st term has now gone on sabbatical. The tutors for interview seemed to be luck of the draw.

[GeorgeTheThird]

Yes I read about the tortoise at Univ today. That and Malfoy being turned into a ferret in the cloisters. 😄

[GetAHaircutCarl]

Cripes.

I think you have to be very much in the thick of it to be 'in the know'. I work at Oxford and know precious little about the mathmos .

But as others have said, I wouldn't choose a college based upon tutors. We're a fluid bunch. Even if you go for a college with a long standing academic, they still might up and off the minute you get here!

As for widening participation, I really want to stick up for us here. I'm pretty involved in this side of things and think we've done some great work and had a good deal of success.

However, it is very difficult for us to bridge the gap where there is entrenched societal and educational disadvantage. We offer an extremely robust education. Not only do we not apologise for that, we guard it closely. Students who come here need to be ready for that or they will not thrive. Making offers to applicants who are not ready helps no one, least of all the young people in question.

[GetAHaircutCarl]

One thing that seems a decider at DC's school is food .

[Molio]

You can't choose on the mere fact of a tortoise, a number of colleges have at least one tortoise. They're mostly in training for the annual race at Corpus. I suppose you could choose on the appearance or good nature of the tortoise though, or any other of a particular tortoise's attributes.

[GeorgeTheThird]

[mateysmum]

"Spreadshit" i like it OP!

I would look at what accommodation a college gives, most offer all 3 yrs with one off site, plus do students have access to kitchens ( by no means universal ). Yes food is important. Some colleges are more time restricted than others and how much you pay for varies. I suggest DS looks at all the alternative prospectuses on line as they can give you a feel for the atmosphere. Some colleges have suites where 2 students share a sitting room but have separate bedrooms. Others like St Anne's don't have any suites. En suite facilities are less common than at some other unis. Also, rates of application per college vary hugely. The stats are all available on the Oxford website. Get thee to an open day, but also, as a prospective student you can often gain access to the colleges even if they are closed to tourists and the porters in the lodges can be very helpful.

[HocusWireless]

- I just think Ds liked that one tortoise . - It was the only one he saw - perhaps an analogy for choosing a college. Oh and he and his mate on the Open Day did take a preternatural interest in the food.

What would say is that anything I post is simply a vicarious view from 1 DS and his mates. No insider, inside the loop info here.

[AtiaoftheJulii]

Moreover, for STEM subjects, you may well find yourself interested in a different branch of the subject that the research direction of your college fellows, in which case you probably won't actually be taught by your own college fellows in your second and third year.

For arts subjects too. Dd1 is in her first year of Classics, and is going elsewhere for her tutorials this term, for her first optional paper.

[GeorgeTheThird]

Well, we're going on Saturday. Let's hope the college porters are nice to us, I still feel as though I'm going round in circles and on such things are first impressions created. Well, that and tortoises obviously 😄

[AtiaoftheJulii]

www.ox.ac.uk/visitors/visiting-oxford/visiting-the-colleges?wssl=1

If you don't want to rely on charming porters

[GeorgeTheThird]

Oh thank you very much. Brilliant.
Charming porters? Or charming the porters?

(I know he has one, he uses it with his girlfriend's mum 😄 )

[AtiaoftheJulii]

Whichever works! Although in my experience, they need to be charmed before you see their charming side

[LoucheLady]

Was going to say Queen's has strong ties to the north of England. At Cambridge it's Queens', plural

[mateysmum]

Just popped back to say if you are driving to Oxford, do use the park and ride as parking in the city centre can be a nightmare. All the info is on the web and we found the service very quick and convenient. Essentially there is a park n ride on each major approach to the city.
There are loads of places to have lunch, but if you want to avoid tourists, the covered market is usually a bit quieter or try Noodle Nation in Gloucester Green - a real student haunt. Another iconic restaurant is Brown's just down St Giles from Somerville, but that is more expensive. Have a lovely day.

[GeorgeTheThird]

Oh thank you so much. We're getting the train. It looks like a reasonably short walk from the station to the maths institute? Noodle nation sounds prefect.

[AtiaoftheJulii]

Yes, ten-fifteen minutes if you're not hurrying? I would come up Walton Street and walk through the Observatory Quarter - it's pretty impressive, imo. The old maths institute was nondescript; I love the new Andrew Wiles Building. And the Penrose tiling outside.

[GeorgeTheThird]

Thank you so much everyone, we are in the way home and DS found the day really fascinating. He will definitely apply.

Can anyone tell us anything about Keble? Anything at all!!

[GeorgeTheThird]

I know it doesn't feature on the tortoise column of the spreadsheet, it offers accommodation for most years, there is quite a lot of formal hall. And there does seem to be refurbishment of rooms going on, so that's important to check out. DS thinks it's very pretty!

[AtiaoftheJulii]

Pretty in the same way as Marmite is yummy

I don't know anything about it these days. I had a friend there, and always rather liked its architecture (it felt more open and spacious than my city centre college) and the crazy flying saucer-style bar. After uni, we used it for a conference, think our delegates were amongst the first people to use the then brand new building (oh, just looked it up, the ARCO building) and the sinks had those plugs that just rotate in the plughole - first time I'd ever seen them and I remember being very impressed!

Well positioned for maths and sciences without being miles from town. Well positioned for a lot of subjects actually, I guess.

Glad you had a good day!

[mateysmum]

Don't know it well myself, but my nephew spent 3 happy years there, leaving about 5 yrs ago. Location is good if you don't want to be in the tourist trap and handy for the maths/science area. I think it is a pretty down to earth college with a good mix of student backgrounds. If your DS likes it, go for it!

[GeorgeTheThird]

I think he will. He's up and dressed for the day now. And he's doing some more maths...

[roguedad]

Keble is very handy and has a reasonable mix of teaching fellows working in pure, applied, probability, finance, but mathematical physics seems to be a gap - you might need tutorials elsewhere for that. (Cambridge was always better for that at undergraduate level TBH - Oxford never taught tensors properly whereas at Cambridge you get stuck in to that in Part 1A).