Cambridge/ Oxford how do they work?

[HEadvice]

First post - looking for some advice.
DC 17 in Y12
V v bright. Looking to study MFL. Hopefully with something else.
Considering Oxbridge. I have no experience of these Unis and am a bit daunted by it.
How do they work?
Do you have all lectures/ seminars with your college?
Do you live at the college for all the years ( I went to a campus based Uni and lived “on” in years 1&4, and “off” in years 2&3-is it like this?)
Can you combine subjects like MFL and something else for example?
Do you socialise much outside the colleges?
If you live in the college are the halls catered or self catered?
Are there any colleges that would be more supportive of a student with a sensory impairment that may worsen during their time at Uni?
I understand it’s more expensive and a lot more work than other Unis.
What else should I know?
Thanks for any suggestions!

It depends on the subject really. I studied a small subject at Cambridge with not many students so much more of my teaching was with people from other colleges. Generally you have a Director of Studies in your college and you have supervisions with them 1-1 or with a few other students with the same DoS and then supervisions with the tutors of the various papers you're taking. In my case these were nearly all outside my college.

Lectures were with everyone studying that course.

I don't know anything about MFL specifically.

My college had accommodation for most students all three years - definitely all first years and tried to accommodate all third years. Some chose and some had to live out in 2nd and 3rd years. My college owned some houses that a lot of us lived in in the second year rather than in the college building itself. We could eat in hall whenever we wanted. In my day this was encouraged. We had really tiny and ill equipped kitchens with a couple of hobs and no oven. I can't believe that's still like that.

I am autistic and went through three years at Cambridge without knowing. I didn't get my diagnosis until adulthood.

Generally they looked after us really well. They treat us a bit like people who are good at thinking and a bit rubbish at practical self care. We had bedders to come and tidy our rooms, college was fully catered and there are porters to help with practical stuff and keep an eye on us.

I chose a college slightly on the edge of town with a lot of open space, which suited me really well.

There are YouTubers from these Unis who show what it's like. How much is truly genuine, who knows? It appears to be very full on, 10 hours studying per day.

Jules- thanks so much. This is all really helpful and reassuring.
Good at thinking but not practical describes my DC exactly!

Thanks Data. I’ve seen some of these too- the 10 hours would suit my DC I think. They don’t like too much time to themselves. Prefer to be busy and mind kept active.

One more question- are there music facilities where students can practice ( 🎹) even if they aren’t studying music?

They are experts in pastoral care for very, very bright but not very worldly people. That's why many of that type of person never leaves and become academics! It's the only time in my life where I ever felt understood and with my tribe.

Don't forget that terms are really short in comparison to other universities. So yes, you have to work really hard but you get much longer holidays.

They are highly selective deliberately to try to pick people who can cope with the workload. I certainly never spent ten hours a day working! I had plenty of time to watch Neighbours, play football for the college and socialise.

I did maths in the 80s at Cambridge.

Lectures are done centrally, supervisions are done 2 students to 1 supervisor (may be different for MFL due to the speaking??) and are either in college or with suitable person out of college.

Most colleges you are in halls in your first year, after that is college dependent. Often 2nd year is out and 3rd year back in college again iirc.

I was at single sex college, so yes we socialised out of college a fair bit. It is up to you and what you get involved with.

Catering is again college dependent.

Some colleges are very rich and have good subsidies on things, so not necessarily more expensive than elsewhere.

Work was intense as terms shorter.

Best thing would be to go for a look around to get a feel of the place. Colleges vary a lot old and new, in town, further out, near where the lectures are or not etc etc. Don't go in exam season as college will be shut to visitors.

Thanks again Jules. You are reassuring me. It’s a big decision and I don’t want my DC not to apply through our lack of experience. I think it might suit them and we don’t know if we don’t try it.

At Oxford you have lectures within your faculty with students from each college attending (usually 3-4 students per year per college depending on subject and the size of the college).

Tutorials are with one or two other students from your college. Sometimes with your own college tutor and sometimes with a tutor from another college depending on the subject.

Most colleges have provision for you to “live in” for at least 3 years but sometimes this will be in college accommodation elsewhere in the city rather than in the college itself. All first years get accommodation in college.

Socialising is done in college a lot but there are lots of places to go out to and plenty of opportunity to socialise with students from other colleges and to join University level hobby groups, etc.

It’s typically cheaper than other universities as, when you live in, you only pay for accommodation in term time and terms are short (8.5 weeks).

College is generally catered for evening meals. Lunch & breakfast are provided but are often optional and are on a pay as you go. But this can vary by college.

There must be music practice facilities. Loads of orchestras etc. Friend played the double bass...

Do you have a list of Open days planned?

First start with the course, Oxbridge may not have MFL that your son wants. Then choose Uni's to see, lots of virtual open day material online now to help etermine if Oxford or Cambridge more suitable.

We had music practice rooms in college. And could use the chapel as well for piano practice

I wouldn’t say Oxbridge is more expensive than other universities, in fact the opposite as you tend to live in college all three years in subsidised rooms and depending on the college there may be a lot of bursaries and the like floating around.

My DD is a first year at Cambridge. Not doing mfl but hopefully I can answer some of your questions....

1. Her lectures are with anyone doing her subject or a mix of her subject and another one in the whole uni. Often a mix of years too I understand because she could choose modules that she could take in the first or second year. However lectures don't seem to be too important in her subject. Seminars - she does this with people doing the same module (except it's called a paper 🤷) as her so she will be with some students from her college (there are less than 10 doing her subject in her college) and others elsewhere. She then has tutorials weekly which are 1 on 1. She has meetings with her "director of studies" (DOS) which are sometimes with the other students from her college and sometimes 1 on 1.
2. she is guaranteed college accommodation for the whole time and I think that's true for all Cambridge colleges. For her that will be on site for the whole time but some colleges have houses or flats elsewhere within Cambridge for second/third years. Where she applied, she would have been living a mile from college in her second year, but she got pooled to a college with more on-site accommodation.
3. The options for mixing subjects are relatively narrow. If you Google "courses offered at..." C or O you can find them. I think Oxford maybe offers more in the way of mixing subjects but I'm not certain.
4. She socialises mostly within her college but also outside it.
5. I think each college is different but her college has 3 meals a day in the canteen which are heavily subsidised but she goes there maybe 3 times a week? And at a weekend for brunch. Otherwise she cooks for herself in their kitchen which is small but fine (no ovens but fridge, hob etc). She chooses to do that because it's cheaper and she has more flexibility. There are formal meals weekly and sometimes several times a week and she goes to those from time to time.
6. I'm afraid I can't answer the question about the sensory impairment. If it's visual then I imagine there are colleges with fewer stairs etc etc but that might need more clarification. I think they seem to be pretty decent at managing disabilities.
7. I think it's cheaper than most other universities. Dd is paying a lot less than my friends' children at other unis (in terms of accommodation and travel etc). She has friends who get a bursary which is means tested within the college (or uni? I'm not sure). We don't meet those criteria and pay her living costs etc but they are certainly less than had she gone to her insurance (SW uni).
8. it does seem to be a lot more work than other unis for the same subject. Dd's friends doing the same subject elsewhere (eg Durham or Bristol) have had 2 essays all term. She has to do one a week and was expected to work throughout the Easter holidays as well.
9. She does love it though. Her sibling will be applying this year and she has encouraged that. She has made good friends, is socialising a lot and it's not all about work. She is genuinely passionate about her subject though and I think that really helps as she is really keen to do the work as well. I hope that helps. Feel free to ask anything else - I'm no expert but I knew absolutely nothing about the process when DD applied and I have learned a few things along the way!

DS going to Cambridge this Autumn. He has mild dyspraxia (handwriting speed just under the threshold in Ed Psych tests). No statement if SpLD though. He mentioned his handwriting speed briefly in the Additional Info form Cambs send through as part of the application process. Now they’ve been in touch - I couldn’t believe the list of support available. “Do you have any sensory issues... Would you like a seat near windows / in the back / in the front / near the door of lecture theatres .... Would you like to request notes before lectures ... Do you need to bring food into lectures / tutorials ....” Honestly the list was endless. Then it was “Anything else not mentioned we can do....?” So, yes - the support would seem to be good if it lives up to this!

@JulesRimetStillGleaming are you describing my DH?

Cambridge is very aware that it selects a lot of autistic students, and a lot of undiagnosed autistic students.

DH didn't get into his choice of college so was pooled to one of the modern colleges further out. This doesn't really matter as pretty much everyone ends up thinking their college is the best anyway.

There are also seemingly endless musical opportunities for those interested. We go to a lot of student productions and are always amused at how few of them are actually studying music, despite being massively talented and in some cases very obviously wanting it to be their career.

DH's experience was that it was actively encouraged unless you weren't getting your work done, in which case a tutor would have a word with you to rein it in.

It took me so long to type that that I missed all the other answers!
Yes DD has music rooms she can use despite not studying music.

My DD graduated from Cambridge last year and is now back there doing a PhD. She studied NatSci which has a massive cohort.

Lectures, as others have said, are subject-based so students from all colleges attend. Tutorials, or supervisions at Cambridge, are 1:1 or in the 1st year 2:1 or even 3:1 either in your own college or another one depending on numbers and the availability of the tutor/supervisor. In NatSci, DD has 7 students that she supervises: 2 x 2 and 1 x 3. They are all 1st years.

DD almost entirely self-catered for her 4 years. The gyps (kitchens) are not great, but students are ingenious and creative. In her 4th year, DD and her floor managed to cook a 5 course Christmas meal using them (they may have cheated and bought a table-top oven). In her 1st year there was a minimum catering spend of £85 per term which DD bitterly resented but that disappeared. Having said that, on Sundays they do a nice brunch at 11:30 so she & her mates would have that.

In terms of support, DD's college has been brilliant. A lad from the year above her at school had a nasty accident a term away from graduation. They put in loads of support for him and when it became clear that he was going to need some time back home, arranged everything and allowed him back 2 years later to complete his studies on a P/T basis. However, this may vary between colleges.

Some activities are college-based, music ones can be in college or university-wide. DD played in an orchestra in her 1st year which had students from all over the place. She now sings in a college choir which is not her own college. She rows for her college but does a uni-wide dance club. Yes, there are practice rooms.

I'm not sure it is more expensive than other universities. Terms are shorter and you only pay for your accommodation for term time, approx 26 weeks. Fees are the same as everywhere else. What they do offer is bursaries so if family income is below a certain level, there are good bursaries available. They also have college funds to support activities, so when DD was representing Cambridge in a dance competition in Blackpool, her college gave her the coach fare.

My advice to you is to check the course content and requirements carefully. Then get yourselves along to an open day, or, if it is doable over Easter, go and visit either city. Check the stats online about accommodation and whether you can live in for all the years. Then if you have any questions, ask away. The current students at Oxbridge thread is really friendly.

Wow!
So many helpful answers. I’m so glad I asked here. Interesting that people think it’s cheaper. Cost is sadly always a consideration. The music info is really good to know and it seems we now need to take a careful look at colleges to see which ones might suit best. Exciting ( but also a tiny bit scary)
Thanks so much to everyone who has taken time to post.

Also great to know that there is dance at Cambridge. A huge point in favour!

@HEadvice dd4 is reading MFL at Oxford and as @JulesRimetStillGleaming stated, lectures are held with all students studying the subject. Dd has at least one or two tutorials every week in her own college which normally last about an hour. During this period the tutor gives her feedback on prepared work on a particular topic.

The workload is heavy; and by comparison her sister, who studies the exact same subjects at Bristol university has around 3/4 the workload her Oxford sister has. Having seen first hand how they are getting on I can see that Bristol dd is ahead on the language acquisition than Oxford dd and that might be because Oxford MFL courses have a high literature content and more assignments to complete each week.

You can combine MFL with another subject and there is lots of information on the university websites.

Oxford dd would have lived in catered halls for the first two years had covid not occurred,

There is lots of socialising and dd is able to keep up with her workload as well as participating in sport, drama and visiting friends.

I don’t know which colleges would be more supportive of your dc and hope someone comes along with an answer.

I have had two dds at Oxford and two at Bristol; and the Bristol girls have cost more as they live in private accommodation which is fairly expensive.

The above information is my dds experience and may not apply generally.

Also, at C, colleges guarantee accommodation for three full three years (mostly on site or very nearby). So none of that hectic panic in the first term of trying to find friends to house share with in the second year!

The other good news is, that MFL is slightly less competitive entry than most other subjects. But, even though it says the grade requirement is AAA, the reality is she will need at least two A predicted to stand a fighting chance (unless in a very underperforming school) and also have done / read quite lot beyond the curriculum. In the PS, she should not just list what she’s read / done, but analyse and evaluate it. Go beyond the curriculum and have an opinion about it. Oxbridge don’t care about sports / other extra curricular that are not relevant to the subject - the PS should be purely academic. But other unis are interested, so Oxbridge understand that there may be a line or two in there about ‘wider interests.’ For Cambridge, there is also the SAQ (like an extra mini PS) where you can really say why you want to do their course in particular.

Whatever college she chooses, it’s exactly the same degree and choice if modules. Look at the Cambridge Admissions stats (just Google) for colleges that have good ratios of applicants to offers (data is shown for 5 years). Oxford will have the similar.

Another thing is Cambridge interview about 75% of applicants but ‘cull’ after this. Oxford interview a lower proportion having done the cull beforehand. Also, I think there is a pre-interview for MFL before interviews are offered.

My only other bit of advice would be to encourage your DC to hold the whole Oxbridge application as lightly as possible. Easier (much easier) said than done but the reality is that the majority of applicants won't get an offer (for DD subject it is 1 in 5 I think who get an offer. I don't know for mfl). Dd was very lucky but we didn't really realise until after the interview how much she wanted this (and I guess also, how much we sort of assumed that it would happen because she's our amazing DD etc etc and we hadn't looked at the stats). Things worked out for her but there were many other equally amazing people who didn't get the offer - if I had my time again I would be talking up the alternatives and being very realistic about the stats. I will be doing that with dc2 next year.
Yes I'm delighted she's there and she's having a wonderful time but I know she would have been happy elsewhere too. I think it's good not to make it the be-all and end-all (not that you sound as though you are at all!)

And yes, I agree with Greatauntdymphna. Definitely visit other unis and talk them up. If she likes the historical town vibe, she may also like Durham (which also has colleges).