I’m about to submit my application for Oxford PPE, but I’m starting to get cold feet about selecting a college. I wanted a school with a good amount of students in PPE, guaranteed housing, and a 24/7 library. I would like a nice campus area with places to study and relax, but couldn’t find too much high quality or objective info on that.
I had it down to Oriel, Balliol, Magdalen, and Jesus, and ultimately picked Oriel because I saw that it met my factors and then had the highest acceptance rate for PPE. I know this isn’t a great way to choose, so if anyone has any insight on those colleges either positive or negative that would be incredible!
Lots of people end up somewhere other than they originally applied anyway.
Good luck with your application. Don’t forget the deadline is 6 pm UK time (it’s British Summer Time at the moment, which is an hour earlier than GMT).
What a delicious set of choices you have made for yourself. Congratulations! Your major, PPE, is remarkable for its flexible applications to a number of careers and broad possiblities for study. Good luck to you!
Your question addresses the very subjective issue of which campus is “nicer.” I’m not surprised you can’t find an objective answer to that online. If you can’t visit (which would be best,) there are online tours of Oxford college campuses.
–The Magdalen gardens, for instance, are reputed to be beautiful (and historic.)
Some people choose an Oxford college by which is more “liberal.” (Or conservative, I guess, if you like.) There are discussions and reviews online for that, including a thread on CC.
FWIW My favorite teacher graduated from the most liberal college at Oxford with a degree in Psychological Sciences. Having gone on to earn her PhD from Harvard, she just retired from teaching for decades at Johns Hopkins.
In my experience as her student, I found the Oxford method of tutorial instruction (one-on-one) creates a deep and fruitful bond. When it succeeds, the enormous investment a mentor makes in that student creates terrific synergy with the student’s drive and talent. When it works (and it doesn’t always,) it is the best possible pedagogical experience.
For that reason, I’d choose an Oxford college based on researching who I thought I’d enjoy studying with, and let the campus greenery fall where it may.
As many as 30% of students end up at a different college than they apply to, and it pretty much always works out. Of your decision factors I suggest college appeal > acceptance %, which is heavily skewed by random variations in how many apply in a given year. All colleges (& subjects) interview approx 3x the number of applicants as they accept. I can tell you that playing the odds just doesn’t work, but if you want to use yourself look at the % invited to interview over a long period of time (5+ years).
In case the OP selected Oriel and has any doubts, my son loves Oriel, the students, the food, the location and the rowing! Good luck and where every you end up it will be a fabulous experience!
It really doesn’t matter which college you pick, other than some which are a bit far from things. Also, many collleges will “pull” you into their college so you may end up with a different college anyway. It’s still Oxford after all.