Current Oxford/Cambridge students support/chat continued (2)

[Panicmode1]

The other thread is nearly full so I took the liberty of starting a new one...

It's reassuring to know its cheaper to go to Oxford than other universities. We've been told this but weren't sure if it was just hype! DS will.be in Teddy Hall and they have to live out in their second year. Has anyone experienced this and does it work out.more expensive?

@Oxonc3 Sorry for the naive question but… when you write “ I know it is all relative to income”, do you mean all students have to declare their parents’ income when confirming their places at Oxford (even if 100% privately funded) and will pay different prices for accommodation/food for different brackets of income? Or just the fact different people will have different views on the overall cost, subject to their income?

Accommodation costs are college specific. DD's Oxford college has a single low rent fee regardless of room size and location and rooms are provided for every year of study. Rent varies quite a bit according to room type at DS's Cambridge college.

@bluetides sorry not to be clearer, the latter. If you are in receipt of full maintenance loan I think you could manage very well. There is no extra declaration needed for O or C. The fact that accommodation for some colleges is available throughout the course makes it cheaper (no extortionate private rentals). But the wider student finance problems (other siblings, mortgages etc) still apply meaning even tho it can be cheaper than other places it won’t be easy necessarily.

@bluetides I guess because my income has been lower (not really low!) and I'm a single parent, ds has had both the full possible maintenance loan and an extra means-tested bursary that is available to all C students (I believe O has something similar). Ds as a result hasn't had much in the way of money concerns, though it still helps that he's not a huge party animal or shopper.

My dp has moved in now so next year ds will be on minimum loan and I think won't have the bursary either.

It's worth looking into the detail - DD's C college has high room charges compared to other colleges (even the cheapest band rooms seem to be more expensive than a lot of other colleges) and you pay through the vacations unless the college chooses to "buy back" your room which isn't a given (and if you have the cheaper rooms, seems unlikely to happen). So we are paying quite a bit more than I assumed we would. On the other hand, food is cheap for her as it is heavily subsidised, and she gets three years of accommodation which means overall it's a lot cheaper than if she'd gone elsewhere. So my initial frustration at finding out that C was not the cheap option I hoped is somewhat tempered by that. But I would say it does seem to vary a lot from college to college, so it's worth reading the small print.

I don't think its cheaper at Cambridge at some colleges than other universities. My DD is on a 6 year course and could only live in for 3 years and was fairly expensive at the college but at least bills were included. She now in year 4 and the rents in Cambridge are sky high and her house is not great.

DS has applied for three PhD projects, his first (and hopefully not last?) interview was last week.

He has exams this week on his major topics (these make up a third of the marks for his MSci), starting with advanced quantum condensed matter tomorrow.

Sounds promising @Ironoaks . I think my DD applied for her PhD to her Masters group and was encouraged to do so. Are all your DS's applications to C or is he looking elsewhere? DD's chief criterion was that it had to be funded.

@Malbecfan he has applied to Cambridge, expressing a preference for the group where he is doing his 4th year project (that's who interviewed him last week).
Also UCL and Oxford.
There is also a relevant research group at Manchester but the funding seemed less straightforward for that one.

@Ironoaks DD found the same thing at Manchester - ironically I am in the city now. She would have moved here happily and moved in with my DF, but the lack of funding was the sticking point for her. Good luck to your DS.

@couchparsnip My recent Teddy Hall bills have been about £2,200 per term this year. I think it was a bit cheaper in the summer term in first year, about £1,800. That is for accommodation at most breakfasts and dinners in Hall. The food is pretty good there.

DD lived out last year, her rent was £595 a month (one of the cheaper rentals) with bills on top. However I think they are building more accommodation so second years may not need to live out going forward.

@couchparsnip I forgot to say, congratulations to your DS too!

My DS did Physics a couple of years ago (different college) and really enjoyed it. It's hard work, but my top tip would be not to be put off by the first year - they pack the problem sheets in. It is much more reasonable from second year onwards.

@couchparsnip my DS has just started doing physics at Oxford and is currently offered to live out in year 2 so that he has guaranteed accommodation for years 3 and 4. The college will give him £800 to do so and the properties he’s looking at would cost him £200 a week, but he is looking for somewhere within 10 mins walk of where his college is. There are plenty around that are cheaper - but physics does take up a lot of time with tutorials, lab work and lectures…..he wants to make it a bit easier with commuting. He is looking for 3 or 4 roomed houses/flats with good friends he has made there.

DS has received a conditional offer from Cambridge!

Further info (which college? what about funding?) will hopefully emerge in due course.

Brilliant news @Ironoaks .

Fantastic news @Ironoaks. Very well done to him!

@Ironoaks Good on him. Well done.

Congratulations to him @Ironoaks!

Very good news @Ironoaks

For any newbies to the thread this is for a PhD and not a week early for an undergraduate offer 😂

Yes, sorry, I probably should have specified that.

Weird to think that those who receive an offer next week might end up with DS as their supervisor. I think he'd be good at it, it's just that it doesn't seem that long ago that he was a first year.

Excellent news Ironoaks, many congratulations to your DS.

😂😂😂

I remember that feeling @Ironoaks but they can do it. DD chose her UG college and one close to her department. Her UG one made her an offer and she thought "better the devil you know" so stayed, but chose to live out with friends.

Well done to your DS @Ironoaks ! That's brilliant news!