Student life at Oxford

[Baby doctor]

Hello everyone,

I think it is really important to ensure that the lifestyle I will have at university suits me, so I thought I would just ask a few questions to current Oxford medical students or alumni about their time at Oxford. Obviously everybody's experience is different but I would really like to hear about experiences which people have had; the good and the bad.

1. How many essays or assignments did you receive a week?
2. How many hours did you work on average a week?
3. Was there a particular time of year or term when the pressure suddenly increased or the work got a lot harder?
4. Was it difficult settling in to your college?
5. Was there a big leap in the amount of work or the difficulty of the work set from sixth form to uni.?
6. Were you able to have a reasonable amount of social life?
7. Were there lots of activities or societies to suit your needs?
8. I understand that the focus at Oxford is independent learning. However, are there people to turn to for help if you are confused or stuck on a certain topic?
9. What was the best thing about going to Oxford?
10. What was the worst thing about going to Oxford?
11. How many lectures/ seminars/ tutorials do you have week?

There are a lot of questions but I want to have a good idea of what my life would be like at the university before I apply so I know if it does suit me. Feel free to answer as many or as few as you like. Any idea that you can give me on Oxford life as a student will be very helpful.

Thank you.

[89laura89]

1. How many essays or assignments did you receive a week?
This varies hugely between colleges and time of year etc. In first and second year between 1 and 3 essays a week for me but more in other colleges. In 3rd year one essay every other week but they take a lot more time plus your ongoing project and coursework essay work.

2. How many hours did you work on average a week?
As much as you can motivate yourself to do.

3. Was there a particular time of year or term when the pressure suddenly increased or the work got a lot harder?
Exams are in summer term in first year, before easter in second year, summer term in 3rd year. I found I had a lot of work in the second term of second year in particular.

4. Was it difficult settling in to your college?
It really depends what type of person you are - do you settle in most places? If so, I'm sure you'll settle into any college fine.

5. Was there a big leap in the amount of work or the difficulty of the work set from sixth form to uni.?
Yes there was but you have much more time to do the work.

6. Were you able to have a reasonable amount of social life?
Yes. But not like the arts (especially english) students!

7. Were there lots of activities or societies to suit your needs?
I found it difficult personally to find a music group I liked because I came from a very high standard of windband at home though unfortunately I was personally at the bottom end of the band. Here it tends to be the big bands which ask for very high standard and commitment which I don't think I'd have passed the auditions for, or the college groups which because they don't push the commitment have fewer attendees and rehearsals can be very short.

8. I understand that the focus at Oxford is independent learning. However, are there people to turn to for help if you are confused or stuck on a certain topic?
In the first 2 years you should see your tutors every week. The independent learning will go as far as revising what you're told in lectures and practicals and preparing for tutorials and practicals. So you find out at the practical/tutorial if you're 'right' and you can always ask your tutor/demonstrator for help.

9. What was the best thing about going to Oxford?
I didn't go anywhere else so can't really compare or say I got something here I wouldn't have got elsewhere.

10. What was the worst thing about going to Oxford?
Exams were tougher than elsewhere in general. Failing policy can be tough in some colleges. I felt a lot of the time like I was right at the bottom of the year and if I'd just gone somewhere else I could have been higher in rankings.
Also, reapplying for clinical school is an extra stress you only get at oxbridge and I want to go to london now. I may not have got to go where I wanted (thankfully I am) so if I'd gone in the first place it would have all been much easier....or that's how I feel being here - may not be the case.

11. How many lectures/ seminars/ tutorials do you have week?
First two years about 10 lectures, 1 seminar, 2 tutorials a week.
Third year about 3 lectures and 1 seminar a week and a tutorial every other week.

[Baby doctor]

Thanks 89laura89. It's great to hear about peoples' experiences at the universities to find how what it is really like there.

[Huw Davies]

1. How many essays or assignments did you receive a week?

2-3 essays, usually 800-1500 words. Or short note type questions. In the final year, you only have 8 tutorial slots available, so that means 4 each term in practice. But these are much more substantial pieces of work.

2. How many hours did you work on average a week?

Official contact time probably added up to 5 hours per day or so. I did about 10 hours on top of this at a guess. So 35 hours total.

3. Was there a particular time of year or term when the pressure suddenly increased or the work got a lot harder?

Exam-time! Term 3 of year 1, term 2 of year 2, term 3 of year 3. Plus the Big Scary Dissertation Deadline at the end of term 2 of year 3.

4. Was it difficult settling in to your college?

No, I found the college and the people in it very welcoming indeed, and adjusted very quickly.

[/quote]5. Was there a big leap in the amount of work or the difficulty of the work set from sixth form to uni.?[/quote]

Probably a bit more work and certainly at a higher level, but it was an increase I'd been expecting and was ready, even hopeful for.

6. Were you able to have a reasonable amount of social life?

Definitely - I made plenty of friends and wasn't short of time to see them.

7. Were there lots of activities or societies to suit your needs?

Loads, including a lot that I'd never considered before.

8. I understand that the focus at Oxford is independent learning. However, are there people to turn to for help if you are confused or stuck on a certain topic?

College tutors are mostly very approachable - you can also learn a lot from your peers, and from students in the years above.

9. What was the best thing about going to Oxford?

You're immersed in a community of people of diverse interests who are intelligent and do interesting things - and there's always something to do.

10. What was the worst thing about going to Oxford?

I struggled with the final year, as there's a big leap from the contact-intensive style of years 1 and 2 to playing at being a proper science student, largely on your own.

11. How many lectures/ seminars/ tutorials do you have week?

About 25 hours total, including 1-2 practicals\anatomy teaching slots per week, perhaps 2-3 tutorials usually.

[sara7000]

what is the difference between seminars and tutorials? thnx

[89laura89]

Tutorials usually have 2-3 people. Seminars usually have 2-3 colleges so around 15 people. For a tutorial you're expected to prepare an essay or have read around the topic quite a lot. For a seminar you're expected to read around the area a bit less and there are often a set of questions provided to guide your reading which are then talked about in the seminar.