How do I choose a college?
Our advice is not to worry too much about choosing a college. The colleges have more in common than they have differences, and we find that students develop a fierce loyalty to whichever college they are in, and all believe their college is the best! All the colleges are alike in offering good computing, library, sports and music facilities, as well as in providing students with quality food and accommodation, plus a common room and a bar.
No. You can make an ‘open application’ and leave the decision to the Admissions Office computer – as 20% of applicants do. You will be no worse off: the best candidates are just as likely to be offered a place whether they choose a college or not. However, with an open application, you cannot change the college which you are allocated. So, if there are any colleges you do not want to go to, you should name a first choice.
No. All colleges are very strong academically, and most colleges offer most courses. Your course – lectures, practicals, exams and degree – will be the same regardless of your college. Check which colleges offer your course.
Once you’ve checked which colleges offer your course, choosing your college is about choosing the community in which you are going to live. So you might consider:
- how many undergraduates a college has, from 200 to 450 (see Undergraduate numbers by college for details)
- how old or new a college is (an 800-year-old college looks very different from one built in the 1960s)
- where the college is (some are in the city centre, others further out, though none is more than 15 minutes’ walk or 5 minutes’ cycle ride)
- what rooms it can offer (some provide accommodation – on site or in college-owned properties – for the whole of your course; others expect you to share a house with friends for one or two years)
| Will I be interviewed only at my chosen college? |
Tutors from different colleges exchange information and meet to consider everyone applying to study their subject, to ensure that the best candidates get places, whichever college they chose. As well as your college of preference (or allocated college, if you make an open application), another college may also interview you and perhaps offer you a place. One in five students is at a college other than their college of preference; they are very happy there and would not want to be anywhere else.
- Attend a college open day
- Look at the college’s own prospectus and website
- Read the Alternative Prospectus, offering the students’ view
- Telephone the college or the Undergraduate Admissions Office if you have a specific query.
