Best value Oxford College accommodation-wise?

[OxbridgeProject]

I’ve been researching this online but thought I’d ask for advice on here. I know you don’t have to specify a College when you applyto Oxford but I would certainly like to have a shortlist ahead of Open Days/Visits.

My DS is applying from Scotland and has 8 Nat 5s at Grade A and 5 Advanced Highers at Grade A. I appreciate this might mean nothing to non-Scottish readers

My DS wants to study PPE. It would appear that approximately 33 Colleges offer the course so doesn’t exactly narrow our choices down. Our family income means we will get the minimum maintenance grant of £4750 and will not be eligible for means-tested bursaries. Unfortunately we are only just keeping our heads above the water financially, with many years left on our mortgage and £40k worth of debt. I’ve been out of work for various reasons but am hoping to secure full-time work soon.

All this is by way of saying that we’d like our DS to go to a College that offers the most value for money. I’ve been looking at this list
www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/colleges/do-I-pay-to-live-in-my-college

I’m confused though. For instance the cost for accommodation and food for Jesus College is £6012 for an average of 175 days and it’s £5840 for St John’s but the numbers of days rent that the accommodation element is based on is 279 days for Jesus and Only 175 days for St John’s. I’m probably just not understanding something so I need wiser heads to help me fathom it out!

Now I know there are differences in terms of whether you are turfed out after each 8 week term or can stay on an extra week here and there but I don’t understand the 279 days for Jesus??

If (big if, I know) my DS wins a place it would be great if he could store all his belongings like some colleges offer to International students as it would be better than driving back and forth to Scotland.

Do any of those with experience of Oxford understand the pricing of accommodation? Do some Colleges offer a better deal? Some of the prices I’ve seen for meals are really cheap (40p for egg on toast in the College cafe or £3 for a 3-course dinner)

Are there any Colleges which are known for being less value for money? What happens if you’re pooled - is there a chance DS might be put in an expensive College?

My DS will be happy with a bed, desk and shared bathroom. He could even self-cater for some of his meals if that’s cheaper. He might prefer a college with a greater State school intake but isn’t phased by being surrounded by those of a non-state school/selective background either.

Sorry for all the questions and I know there are a gazillion threads on MN about Oxbridge but I haven’t found one specifically on this issue that’s been posted in the past 5 years or so. I’m trawling through the online resources of Oxford Uni and the Alternative Prospectuses and DS will be attending the Online Open Days on 30 June and 1st July. We’re also hoping to visit Oxford for a few days over the Summer.

But as ever, there’s nothing like the collective might of MN when it comes to getting the inside edge! (I’m a serial name-changer BTW and have been on MN for over 12 years)

I wouldn't get too hung up on choosing between colleges, tbh. If called for interview or offered a place, this may very well be at a different college anyway. Generally speaking, Oxford is not that expensive for students for a number of reasons - short terms, having to clear your room at the ends of terms (so the rooms can be used to generate income from conferences etc), generous bursaries,
bursaries and scholarships for 2021-entry | University of Oxford" www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/fees-and-funding/oxford-support travel allowance £500 pa, book grants from depts etc. D1 has just finished her first year at Oxford, we live in the NE, so have to do an overnight stay if we take her down. There is limited storage available at her college, and international, then Scottish students have priority. There are also loads of options for paid storage or companies who will collect, store or ship your stuff. Accommodation/food charges ('battels') do vary a bit - some colleges charge different rates for nicer rooms, some are fully catered, some PAYG via your Bod card which you have to top up.
There is a list here
I pay to live in my college? | University of Oxford" www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/colleges/do-I-pay-to-live-in-my-college
(Hope the links work from my phone!)
D1 has not come close to using all her loan/bursary money this year - and even factoring in the term spent at home, she would still have managed comfortably. (She doesn't drink though, and there have been limited opportunities for spending on going out etc. She uses Deliveroo a fair bit...)

Apologies, don't think those links worked. Easily googled though - 'Oxford University bursaries' and 'Oxford do I pay to live in college'

Just as a benchmark, a catered ensuite room for 39 weeks at York was going to cost £7902.

@Hoghgyni my friend was at Cambridge and they do the same thing. It sounded hilarious when there were divorces and remarriages etc.

My daughter is at Cambridge so I'm not sure about how it works at Oxford, however, in her room there is a large cupboard that can be locked where she can store bulky items over vacations. Her pots & pans, cutlery/crockery, dried foods/tins, duvet & pillows go in there at the end of each term. She locks it, then takes the key back to the plodge. At the start of the following term, she collects the special key, unlocks the cupboard and returns the key. She normally stores her packing boxes & suitcases in there during term time. In theory, she could come home via public transport but because it is woeful in Devon and she has a large collection of plants, I collect her. End of year collections are more challenging because obviously she cannot use the cupboard as she moves each year.

She wanted a college which guaranteed accommodation for all 4 years. Self-catering for her was important. Although the kitchens don't have ovens or freezers, DD caters for 90% of her meals. She gets one formal dinner free per week as a member of a chapel choir and chooses to have Sunday brunch, but other than the odd birthday formal or meal out, she caters for herself. She rarely spends more than £20 per week on food (including alcohol). Even with college subsidies, using their catering is more expensive. It also allows her more flexibility as she doesn't have to stick to their meal times if she is busy in the lab.

Perhaps one idea for parents with y12 students is to teach them some basic cooking skills over the summer holiday. Being creative with an onion, pack of chickpeas and a tin of tomatoes is not something I every thought DD would do, but she has proved me wrong and done a great job.

Storage arrangements will be college based - it's not a matter of being at Oxford or Cambridge.

Decades ago my college had a storage room where things could be left over holidays. Then they decided they had other uses for the room, so everything had to be taken home.

As regards domestic (as opposed to academic) facilities, the newest colleges, or new accommodation blocks at older colleges, will obviously be the most efficient and comfortable. Way back in a previous century I had a warm, quiet, en-suite room (with a decent shared kitchen one floor up) and used to watch in amazement, when I went for tuition at a different, grand and ancient college, as people raced across quads, in their dressing gowns, in the rain to get to a bathroom. I'd like to think things are more civilised now - but I know from recent experience that some Oxford college accommodation is still less than appealing.

How much of a faff is it completely clearing out your room each term when you go for a 24 week agreement? That would be at least 5 round trips in a car from Scotland to Oxford. Do they ever offer storage to non-International students I wonder?

I came from too far to take everything back and forth every term. My parents took me beginning and end of the year only. Although officially the storage place was priority for oversees students there was always space to leave it there. It was just a bit of a faff getting it there, but people helped!
I did have a lockable trunk which I made a furry cover so it looked like a seat which I used to leave in my room in the holidays with non-valuables like books. My scout (cleaner) was aware (and lovely) and would have reacted immediately if they'd seen any sign of it being opened, but I suspect no one ever looked under the cover.

On the whole, the richer colleges are cheaper to be at. Some even provided and washed bed linen (St John's) and offer things like book grants.

Heavens! I never owned bed linen until I started my first job. It came as part of my college room, removed laundered, replaced by domestic staff every week. Who also cleaned the rooms / kitchens (and probably spied for the porters). I only ever had to take my personal laundry and towels to the college laundry room.

Even Newnham washed the bed linen, so it’s not just the older richer colleges.

In fact, the first time I took back the college’s own sheets to the laundry, I was sniffed at for having left it till week 3, and had to explain that I’d brought some of my own sheets and only just had to resort to theirs.

I’m not sure they believed me.

Quote OP: 'My DS is applying from Scotland and has 8 Nat 5s at Grade A and 5 Advanced Highers at Grade A.'

Did you mean 5 x Highers rather than Advanced Highers? If so, I think an Oxbridge offer to a Scottish student is likely to be conditional on Advanced Higher results.

To reiterate what @Sunbelievable says. I teach in an academic independent school and some of our brightest and best haven’t been offered places for PPE. Is his heart set on it as there are lots of other great courses.

I believe the current offer rate is 1/11, but someone gets the offers & you don't have to be the brightest or the best. You did need a high score in the TSA to get an interview and then show you can think logically in an interview. If he wants to apply for PPE he would be a fool to apply for something else, because you really do need to want to study your course to survive the sheer volume of work & deadlines given.

Oops yes I did mean 5 As at Highers AZisgreat He’ll need to get 2 As in his Advanced Highers and an A in an additional Higher to meet their standard entry requirements - he’s taking 2 additional Highers. And he’ll need to do a lot of self-motivated study and practise TSAs to up his chances.

My son is at Trinity College. He is a Scottish state-schooler. Trinity has allowed vacation storage free of charge (although he did have to ask). All rooms are priced the same and accommodation is offered for the duration of the course. The college has been very generous during Covid not charging for accommodation and offering an extra week or two free of charge simply for socialising at the end of term. They have bent over backwards to support students.

Hall (food) costs vary but seem very reasonable to me. Tesco is also just round the corner. Self-catering facilities are adequate but not the best.

He is ecstatically happy there and has made many life-long friends. Most of his friends are state-schoolers, although many are from grammar schools.

I agree with the OP that a college with accommodation for 3 years is better value than one without. Oxford is more expensive than many parts of London. The costs to live out of college for a year are horrendous as we have found with our DD.

However OP be warned that my DD chose a college deliberately because it offered accommodation for her full course and then was pooled to one where she needed to live out for at least one year. This isn’t great when most of your friends are in colleges which offer accommodation for all years so you are forced to share with people who aren’t your close social group.

Also, bear in mind that at large number of applicants will be reallocated across Colleges, so best not to get too hung up about a particular College. There are much more similarities between them than differences. The reason for the reallocation is to balance up the chances of being admitted. I honestly believe that it makes no difference to your chances these days which College you apply to (this didn't used to be true). You are less likely to get into your choice of College if you apply to a very popular one, but you are just as likely to get into some Oxford College.

Agree with what @irregularegular says about colleges. However with hindsight when my DD was reallocated she should have thought more carefully about whether she accepted an offer at a different college to the one she had chosen. She has not been happy with her college allocation and with hindsight wishes she had gone to her reserve choice uni. She is starting to see her friends on 3 year programmes who were not at Oxbridge getting into the same top tier companies and training programmes as those who were at Oxbridge and is wondering if all the hard work and intensive 8 week terms have really been worth it. I think if she had wanted a career in research then definitely Oxbridge is an advantage but otherwise don’t get too focused on Oxbridge.

Dancingdreamer is absolutely right. An Oxbridge degree is obviously not some unique key to a happy and successful life! There is far to much weight on it within some parts of British culture and society.

She is starting to see her friends on 3 year programmes who were not at Oxbridge getting into the same top tier companies and training programmes as those who were at Oxbridge and is wondering if all the hard work and intensive 8 week terms have really been worth it.

Even after a night's pause for thought I'm still finding this sentence extraordinary. Not least because it echoes some independent school parents I've heard of who are outraged that state school pupils are getting into the same top tier universities as their own precious offspring.

It's a huge mistake to imagine that possession of an Oxbridge degree means you'll never encounter non-Oxbridge people who are just as successful - so I think your DD was labouring under a misapprehension, Dancingdreamer.

However, the Oxford or Cambridge experience is rather particular; it's hard to know what effect it will have on your life until you've lived several more decades ...

(I should have said 'encounter or have to compete against' ...)

@MayIDestroyYou I am sorry if my post came across as entitled. My DD never expected to live an elite Oxbridge bubble after she graduated. However undoubtedly DC struggle to get to Oxbridge because they do feel it has some extra prestige and may help them be more employable when they graduate. What I was trying to say is that Oxford with the eight week terms is hard and stressful. The pace and demands of the courses compared to other unis with longer terms is intense. My DD just feels that being forced to spend 3 years in a college she has never really liked and the stress of Oxbridge has not been worth it when she will probably secure a similar job to friends who have been at other unis (including her second choice) and have enjoyed their experience more.

And by the way I am first in family to university and comprehensive state school educated so I am one of those people that the precious privately educated offspring have to rub up against.

DC struggle to get to Oxbridge because they do feel it has some extra prestige and may help them be more employable when they graduate
It may or may not. open specific graduate doors, IMO less and less now. However an Oxbridge education is primarily for the degree subject and it delivers the most tutorial based teaching of any university and therefore the most one to one help to improve academic skills and rigour. Other universities , for example Imperial with some of its courses, expect just as much if not more difficult material to be learnt for their degrees but without the same tutorial help.

Oxbridge with its colleges and university societies also usually does a rather good job facilitating student social life but COVID restrictions have drilled too many holes into that particular boat.

Not entitled, Dancing - just, as I said, misapprehensive!

I'm sorry your DD didn't have the experience she would have liked. But truly, if she's only recently left she doesn't know how possession of an Oxbridge degree may shape or enhance her life in years to come. She's likely to find it influences things beyond getting a place on a graduate scheme.

(I too was ambivalent about the college I ended up at - though the accommodation was exceptionally comfy.)

@sendsummer She is studying a STEM subject so contact time hasn’t actually been that different from other universities.

Dancingdreamer the format, teaching style and feedback delivered from the tutorials will be very different.