Oxford Housing? Should I swap?

ThePeanutMaster
Thu, 06 Aug 2015 19:23:01 +0000

I’ve never lived in Oxford, but did live in the big brick apartment complex literally right across the street from Oxford last year (CMB Geddes Hill Apartments). My thoughts:

1. Personally I think it's a pretty solid assignment on the whole. I have friends who have lived in Oxford (almost all of whom are very social people), and they all unanimously loved their experience. I can't speak to the specific dorm dynamics, but the sense I got was that their relative isolation from everyone else created a tight, close-knit environment where everyone knew each other and in a sense bonded over that isolation. Furthermore, you're right in a greek life zone, so if that's your thing you're in a good spot (if you're not into greek life, pretty easy to ignore too).

2. The Northwood Express/Diag-to-Diag/Oxford shuttle (its name and route changes based on the time of day... don't ask): It is your friend. Use it, and love it. My only experience with any of the buses was through the Oxford shuttle (was fortunate to be on the hill my first two years), but they actually arrive very frequently, enough so that I looked to catch it whenever I could. Yes, you're still way out there and isolated and it does suck, but it beats north campus every day (you don't have to take the shuttle if you're just going to central).

3. Having North Campus classes does complicate matters a bit, but FWIW my roommate had most of his classes on North and didn't seem to mind all the transportation he needed to take. He also had a car that he was able to make use of at times, but to me it seems like it would be worth the extra inconvenience of having to take the shuttle up to North to be closer to central. The day-time shuttle routes actually take you nonstop from Oxford to North, which is pretty convenient.

So those are my thoughts from someone who has never lived in Oxford but knows a lot about it. Think it’s worth it for you to stay, but if you really want to be on North I’m sure you won’t have much issue finding a swap partner (would be shocked if you find a swap partner on the Hill, but you never know).