Oxford open day next week :how are we supposed to fit it all in? How do we know which colleges to look at

[Opendaymaddnes]

Hello I'm trying to get my head around the open day and distances. The subject talk is quite early but it looks like we could spend all day at the subject talk area meeting tutors but we need to look at accommodation options also and colleges.

I've googled the best colleges for her subject and I hope to visit three? Does this sound like a plan? Is this what uther people do?

That’s what our plan is too but how to decide which colleges to see (and which to apply to too) is baffling! The Oxford university website suggests prioritising visiting the dept where you want to study, as they’re only open to visitors on open days whereas you can have a wander around most colleges as a prospective student on other days too.

We can rule out the colleges that don’t offer the subject that ds is interested in, but beyond that I’m lost! Do you go to the ones that have the most places for the subject? Or the ones that take the smallest % of females, or accept the biggest % of state school pupils? The prettiest? The closest to the dept of the subject?……

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can advise!

DD visited three and subject talk. It depends on what's important to you what you prioritise. Check which colleges offer the subject and numbers they take. She looked at accomodation availability and prices and also wanted an old college with pretty grounds. They do even application numbers out so chances shouldn't be affected by what college you apply for.

There are plenty of YouTube videos by students so you can take a look in advance and decide what you (or your dc!) likes the look of.

Choose wisely: unless the candidate is really outstanding don’t set your heart on a really competitive college (stats are all online).

Always better to aim for a college with a relatively large number of subject places.

Don’t be sniffy about the “ugly” colleges out in the sticks - they can have a very friendly atmosphere. And the central colleges are often under siege from hordes of tourists.

It’s important to check out some rooms and the dining options. Not everywhere does gowned dinners etc etc.

Is it just you and DC? Can I ask which subject and which colleges?

Another way of managing might be visiting the colleges she most and least wants to be allocated. So she has a sense of the range. Most colleges offer different kinds of accommodation at different price points, especially after first year.

I think the department visit is the most important thing. The lifestyle stuff is an imaginative exercise - can I/my parent imagine what my life will be like? The truth is that they get there step by step and it becomes imaginable in the living of it.

Prioritise department visit and plan everything else around that. Check if some colleges open early and some
finish late. It's a few years back, we did this with dc. I think, at the time, we started early at Anne's, cut that a bit short to get to department talk, then did more central colleges, and finished at Hugh's who served a late afternoon tea. We unexpectedly managed to visit eight, but honestly plan for three or four, then see how you go.

Don't rule out St Hilda's. It is often overlooked and less oversubscribed than others. My DC was allocated there and has loved it. One of the few colleges where you can sit on the grass, next to the river, (or on the river in their own college punts), with a drink from the bar. Close to Cowley road for socialising too.

What is considered a large no of places because at the moment 6 is most one college will take if her subject?
Is that large?

@blanketsnuggler it's St hildas pyscology I've been looking at today!

Is it far out to get too if we are pushed for time?

@Septua 8 and an afternoon tea to boot 😍😱 wow

We did same as MsPenguins, using same criteria! Would have liked to have visited more colleges but it was baking and we were exhausted with a long drive. Stay overnight if you can so as not to rush, if you're travelling a distance. They do blur into one after a few! (Visits, not drinks, I mean!) DD ended up at none of the ones we visited but is happy, so keep an open mind. Since starting, has visited most of the colleges now (bar crawls...) and would agree that the less famous, less central colleges like LMH, St Hugh's, St Anne's, St Hilda's and Catz have a lot going for them, large sites and friendly atmosphere; LMH especially she thought was really pretty. Central colleges and town centre will be heaving.

Went to general subject talk and met tutors in college but didn't visit department - DD wasn't sure what there would be to see for her course, but might matter more for STEM or Art/Music. NB parents may be evicted from subject talks to make room for prospective students.

i never understand these threads. Why the heck isn’t your dc sorting this out? For goodness sake, if they are going to be an Oxford undergraduate, they should be able to watch some YouTube videos, Google the admission stats, check the profile of their shortlisted colleges (any particular specialty that one college might support better than another; preference for 2 or 3 years college accom; do they want to row/be political/live near the subject faculty or main libraries or something else very specific; do they want big and traditional; does their college library/chapel/dining service suit their needs and so on.)

I applied to Oxford from an underrepresented state school in the 90s. So no internet and not much help from anyone. I had a copy of the official prospectus, the alternative prospectus and a complete list of all the option papers for my subject so I could try and figure out if i actually wanted to go, and if I wanted to apply for joint or single honours).

It should be your dc driving this - you can ask leading questions, be the chauffeur or accompany on the train, help with sorting out a plan/logistics for open day.

But please, please don’t baby your dc. Let them sort it out!

What @Caramelty said. Frankly I’m not sure you need to be there at all, unless needed for transport. I never took my parents on open days - just got the train up with a friend. Your daughter should be driving this, not you.

Absolutely! When I went to open days in late 90s my parents weren’t involved at all. They kindly drive me and spent the days exploring the cities.

Generally speaking the less beautiful the college, the less competition for the place. Places are offered by colleges so this is more pertinent than it might sound.

Oxford does reallocate colleges sometimes to make it so you have the same chance of an offer whichever college you put first. But if you put a very popular college first there is more chance you will be allocated a different one.

My DD did go with friends rather than us but lots there with parents. She didn't target the ones with highest numbers in her subject as preferred a smaller number of people but its all evened out anyway so chance would be the same whichever you chose.

Thanks. Any University that needs a glossary of language used on their website is like a whole new (confusing) world! Even finding out which colleges are less pretty is quite time consuming, then seeing how many places they have for your course, can they offer accommodation for all 4 years and what does it cost etc?

In reality I know that the chances of DS getting an offer are very slim, but we want to do everything that we can to give him the best chance.

Saying that, as none of us have ever been to Oxford we might get there and he might not like it……

DS made a shortlist of colleges by trawling various things he wanted using the Oxford University Alternative prospectus and looking at numbers for his subject. So things like availability of accommodation over 4 years, sports, self catering etc. Absolutely don't rule out the more modern colleges - DS was at Catz, it was a very friendly mixed college, slightly away from the centre, no tourists plodding round and a very active JCR. But ultimately most students end up incredibly loyal to their college whether it was chosen or not.

This. I went with friends. Not my parents. Oxford undergrads should not need a hand hold. It’s a self starter place.

Applying for the College with the cheapest accommodation and food and most generous freebies is not a bad bet (St John's, I think, on the whole).

Also, there is a lot of realloation between Colleges. Applying for more oversubscribed Colleges shouldn't lower your chance of getting a place at Oxford. It will just lower your chance of getting a place at your first choice College and make it more likely that you get a place at a College you didn't choose.

I tend to agree, but it has to be said that a lot do go with parents these days.

It’s less than a 3 minute walk past Magdalen.

Well its a very good test of those that will flourish imo. If you can navigate around Oxford, read some prospectuses, calculate the odds, attend the subjects you want to know about, then it’s a good place to try. If your mum and dad are holding your hand, absolutely not.

Anywhere else, you’d visit the department and some random examples of accommodation. You’re choosing the department first and foremost. The rest around that is second order details.

So, focus on the subject. Then pick a random selection of colleges that work logistically.

There’s no hand holding - DS has found all of the information so far. His school don’t have a lot of experience at all with Oxbridge applications so I’m trying to make sure that he makes the most of the limited time and budget that we have. If fellow MNers can help with that then we’d be mad to not at least have a read.

Son did his own research - there's data/stats out there which shows (historical) number of applications Vs number of offers Vs number of people that actually ended up there per college. (But I'm sorry I wouldnt know where to find it) And then picked which college to apply to with the "best" historical stats for his subject (chemistry). Came up with st.peters. it's lovely, central but not famous/big/touristy. Turns out it's actually one of the pricier ones (smaller college seems to mean less wealthy, so rooms slightly less subsidised) and he has to live out next year. But it's really nice and he has had a blast. It was definitely a roll of the dice though and he kept coming up with a six every time somehow. Certainly wasn't fixated on it. We only went after he had been given an offer - offer holder day directly in college.