First look at Oxford!

On Tuesday the 16th January, I was fortunate enough to visit Oxford University (Brasenose College) with my school. After coming off the train,we made the journey to the university with a helpful map, Dr Joe Organ welcomed us and we proceeded to go into a lecture room. We were given a copy of a personal statement for a successful applicant studying History and Politics and in pairs we had to analyse both the strengths and weaknesses. We were able to take copies of personal statements from successful applicants for other subjects. Through doing this, we were able to understand what admissions tutors are looking for and what they aren't looking for. We then had to think of two things we would include in our own personal statements and how they would showcase our love and passion for the subject we wanted to study.

A group of six student ambassadors studying various subjects then came to do a tour. Our tour was of Brasenose College, we got to see their rooms (Oxford subsidises the rooms, making them cheaper than other universities), the chapel, the library and the common rooms. We were able to understand how a week would look like as a potential student. The student ambassadors answered questions we had about the university and through this, we got to learn that Christ Church College was used in several scenes in Harry Potter. After the tours, the student ambassadors had an informal Q and A session with us. They debunked popular myths about Oxford (mainly that most students come from independent schools) and answered questions about the social life at the college.

After the student ambassadors left, Joe showed us around Brasenose again and we went through the town itself. The tour ended at the perfect time, the next thing we did was have lunch. Eating at Oxford is extremely cheap contrary to popular belief and we were able to choose 3 courses and a drink. After lunch, we had a lecture from a Philosophy lecturer. Our lecturer posed several questions which didn't seem as if they were related to philosophy (the first question being is mum always right and the second being is mum's music better than yours). We then explored how you would determine the quality of music. Through this lecture, we were able to see that both options did have their advantages and disadvantages. My group were given the idea to use an oscilloscope to measure quality, the idea being the wave should look the same. The other group were given to idea to use a human ear to measure quality.

After quite a bit of debate, we determined that our option was objective and the other groups option was subjective. The lecturer explained to use that is how school of thoughts are on a basic level. After departing, we went to the station on a train home. The day at Oxford was extremely informative, useful and a great way to get an insight into what applying would entail and what life would be like as a student.