Looking round Oxford in August

[TheBikiniExpert]

Ds wants to apply but we can't go to the open days as we live too far away. We'll be in the UK at the end of the month though - can we wonder around? Is it possible to talk to anyone?

I suppose you could take a tour of a college or two with the tourists, but it’s not really the same as an open day. Could you not arrange a whistle stop week of uni visits later in the year?

August is very difficult as you will not be able to get into the departments where much of the science teaching happens. Some of the colleges will be open for tourists but you will have to pay, same with the libraries.

An open day would be much better if at all possible.

Although, thinking about it, it wouldn’t be completely unreasonable to apply without visiting if you can’t manage it. Are you aware of the residential interview format for Oxford? That’s quite an experience in itself, so if you’re really stuck and likely to get the grades, he would get to see the college and university if he was interviewed anyway (if you could get him here for that).

Thanks. I'd have to take him out of school to come later and it would be a bit expensive with flights.

I think he's unlikely to get that far tbh but he wants to apply!

This was Cambridge, but when we visited out of term time, we just went to the various Porters' Lodges and said that DC was a prospective student. They were very happy for us to walk round and have a look, and some gave us a prospectus. DC didn't want to talk to anyone though which is good as no one offered that.

You can usually wander round colleges if you speak to the porter and explain you are a prospective student. However, most colleges are used for conferences and things during the holidays so you won't find any academic staff or students lying around. You also won't be able to see inside libraries/accommodation etc so it might not be that useful apart from getting a feel for the place/city.

Ds went to the open day in June. They said they will be trialling online interviews this year so don't rely on that to see the place.

Oxford has virtual tours of the colleges on the website which will give your ds some idea of what they are like

www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/colleges/college-virtual-tours

Thanks everyone!

Yes I agree my understanding is that interviews are still online this year.

If there is a particular college you want to see, you could try contacting their admissions/outreach office on the off chance they have someone around who could talk to you - especially if you explain you are not in the UK. Academic staff may be away but the admissions/outreach staff do a lot of the talking to prospective students and may be around. There are also usually a handful of students around who have permission to remain to study or work for the college who, depending on the college, sometimes also do outreach work. There is no harm asking.

You should be able to wander around for free if you explain at the college lodge that you are thinking of applying - again, call the lodge in advance if you want to check procedure at a particular college. Or, if you don't mind paying, a few colleges do tourist tours led by students - they are aimed at tourists but as the guides are students they can answer questions about student life. I used to give tours at Merton and we did sometimes get prospective students or just tourists who wanted to know where students live etc rather than just the history. These are tours run by the college though NOT the ones advertised on the street that go round Oxford (they would get you into several colleges but are unlikely to be led by a current student so are only really good for history)

It’s always worth visiting Oxford to see if you like it! Go round a few colleges that offer his subject. It at least gives you a feel for it. Cost of entry is not expensive. Do as pp suggests about a tour from a student. Don’t try and go to all colleges. Do a few.

I would start by getting a list of colleges from the Oxford Uni website. Work out which colleges offer the subject he wants to do (usually cuts out a few) and then get him to think about what would be important to him in terms of college atmosphere:

• big/small


• old/modern


• central (often more tourists around)/quieter


• near the department/longer walk to lectures would be nice


• accommodation for all years provided?


• choir/sports clubs etc

Then ask at the porters lodge saying he is a prospective student and they will usually let you in to have a look at the main quads at least.

Great advice here, thanks!

As others have mentioned, you can get into most colleges by mentioning at the Lodge that you are a prospective student. If you want to get more of a vibe of what individual colleges are like during term time, most of them produce an alternative prospectus which is written by students, as well as the official one.

e.g.www.univ.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Alt-Prospectus-2021-Accessible-03.pdf
www.new.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/sites/all/files/New%20College%20-%20Student%20Prospectus%20-%20Over%20The%20Wall.pdf
staging.exeter.ox.ac.uk/inc/uploads/alternative-prospectus.pdf
www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/study-us/undergraduates/alternative-prospectus

I also recommend your DS getting in touch with the colleges they are interested in visiting and giving possible dates. DS did this (for Cambridge) and three colleges from a shortlist of six arranged for someone to show him around and answer his questions. For the others, he told the porters he was a prospective applicant and the porters waiived any visitor fee. At one college, the porter showed him a typical student room which was being redecorated, unlocked the library etc. He found everyone really helpful. He booked to stay overnight at one of the colleges which enabled him to spend a full day in Cambridge.

Yes you can, we emailed the college my son was interested in and asked about looking at the grounds (was last year so still under some restrictions) and they said just knock on this big door (felt like we were in Harry Potter) and we looked all around the outside. It was nice as we still got a good feel for the place. We did plan on doing them last summer but in the end did it around early October I think, on the way back from Warwick open day. Warwick was the only one we got to actually go in, we flew to Scotland October half term and did St Andrews and Edinburgh. We loved St Andrews town. We only got to see the buildings and the halls of residence from outside, but in Edinburgh we had two walking tours by students which was really helpful. We felt we had a really good feel for each place on his list, so it was well worth visiting when when not a formal visit