Study Abroad-Oxford/Cambridge

KSolow · 02-16-2008, 02:24 PM

Has anyone on these boards studied abroad at Oxford or Cambridge? I've been accepted to Oxford College-St Catz and am still waiting to hear back from Cambridge-Pembroke.

Any comments about the overall experience, academic or social? Has anyone else applied for the '08-'09 year? Any information/comments would be greatly appreciated.

Twirlonwater · 02-16-2008, 04:07 PM

There is actually tons of information about this throughout this section and throughout the entire forums (search and selection, especially). If you should have any further questions after searching through them (there are tons), I know that Cupcake has attended both unis.

cupcake · 02-17-2008, 10:18 AM

Indeed, but I'm not s study abroad student. I am full-time enrolled in the UK (for a PhD course in Biology)

Have you discovered
www the student room .co.uk

Remove the gaps and this will link to a site similar to this for UK schools.

PierreMarie · 02-21-2008, 03:58 PM

I also applied to St. Anne's, St. Hugh's and St. John's, but I haven't heard back from them. When did you apply?

Twirlonwater · 02-21-2008, 05:52 PM

Regardless of when you applied, they do not have to let you know for a little bit. Just be patient, it will come soon enough. Good luck!!

college-woot! · 02-24-2008, 04:16 PM

i've applied to three oxford colleges and haven't heard anything yet. the suspense is killing me! really wish they'd let us know soooooon

KSolow · 02-24-2008, 05:57 PM

i applied to st. catz via ifsa butler and they got back to me in literally 4 days (feb 1-feb 5). i still haven't heard anything from cambridge (pembroke), though. my application has been in for over a month now.

gimp · 03-06-2008, 06:43 PM

i attended a study abroad program last summer at King's College, Cambridge (lasted 2 months), and it was one of the best experiences of my life. i'm assuming you're a regular US student, so be prepared for a major change of pace both academically and socially. one important thing to know is that the brits take the phrase "work hard, play hard" very seriously.

classes i took had about 10-15 people max, taught exclusively by professors, no TAs (no such thing as 200-300 student lecture halls). there is virtually no hw; your grade is solely determined by a paper (even for some science classes) and a final, although this might vary slightly from class to class. terms there are very short (a la UC quarter system), so expect a lot of cramming. all the professors i had were brilliant and very approachable and fair.

in terms of social life: each college has maybe 100-200 people, so you will get to know everyone very well. everyone i met there was extremely outgoing and nice. each term starts off with a party week during which you basically drink your arse off. the oxbridge schools have loads of tradition, like formals every few weeks, and punting and tea gatherings. speaking of culture, it seems like every few miles you go you will find the hometown of a renowned author or scholar (ie Shakespeare). england being such a small country allows you to get around to a huge variety of places with relative ease, via the train system.

in short, if you can strike a good balance between partying and studying, you will have an amazingly fulfilling time there.

karabear1 · 03-07-2008, 06:32 PM

Gimp,
I just got accepted into that exact program! Do you have any other tips or advice?

gimp · 03-07-2008, 07:23 PM

kara:

the british pound is killer. be prepared to spend a lot of money besides tuition and board. example: a starbucks iced coffee is priced at roughly the same numeric value there, 5...except in pounds, which means you would be paying 10 US dollars for a coffee.

in terms of portions of food, england is not the US. no country in the world is like the US. this means the portions will be modest, not gargantuan like here. Fortunately the King's program gives you meal points that you can use every day in the dining hall, and it's a fair amount. you will still be eating out a lot.

don't bring too much with you in terms of luggage (laptop + 1 suitcase of clothes is pretty much all you need). you will most likely be buying a lot of souvenirs, so carrying it back to your home country will be tough if you've already brought a lot of things.

also, at Cambridge the bandwidth is limited (no joke). this means if you download past a certain limit (i think 200 MB) in a day, your internet will be shut off in your dorm room.

bottom line is, as long as you are open-minded and willing and wanting to try new things (especially being outgoing), you will have a great time.

PierreMarie · 03-22-2008, 09:30 AM

anyone heard back from Oxford?

duogmeg · 03-30-2008, 11:51 PM

I attended a similar program to gimp (I don't think it was the exact same one, though - mine lasted 3 weeks and wasn't an exchange set up by Cambridge itself, it was privately owned/organized) and I had sooooooo much fun. Would go back to Cambridge in a heartbeat.

PierreMarie · 05-01-2008, 04:30 PM

I got in to St. Anne's (Oxford)! I'm so happy, except that the fees are worth double my tuition now... Still, I'll go if I don't get in to any of the schools I applied to as a transfer

have you guys heard back yet?

KSolow · 05-02-2008, 07:29 AM

I'm in at St. Catz. Ridiculously excited for next year!

PierreMarie · 05-02-2008, 05:46 PM

KSolow, me too--it's going to be such an amazing experience!

although I'm not yet sure whether I'll really be going. Have you confirmed?
Which course will you be studying? I'm doing Experimental Psychology.