University of Oxford Open Day

On the 29th -30th June, eight Year 12 students (myself included), along with Ms Karanja and Ms Dedman, were given the opportunity to attend the University of Oxford’s open day, hosted by Keble College.

The open event was an opportunity to spend two days exploring the university’s huge range of colleges, as well as the city of Oxford itself - to really get a feel of what it’s like to live and study in the city.

I’m happy to report that it’s awesome.

The city of Oxford itself is beautiful and diverse, and the university’s magnificent buildings are dotted across the town centre, which made strolling through the streets visiting the departments and colleges that interested us an absolute pleasure. Being in a bustling city around so many people was a breath of fresh air, and really showed us the breadth of opportunity available in Oxford.

The diversity of the city was also reflected in the university colleges – while the beauty of the ivy-covered buildings was consistent across them all, each college has its own history and culture which were explained to us in detail by their students. We were shown all of the facilities the colleges have to offer: accommodation, small but lovely; laundry, not glamourous but important; and arguably the most crucial element of any educational institution – the bar, with its heavily subsidised beverages (makes you wonder why Highcliffe doesn’t have one, really).

We also split up to attend subject-specific seminars and lectures, which were as interesting as they were informative. Advice was given to us on applying to the university, if that’s the route we choose to take. Lecturers stressed that, while tough, the Oxford admissions process isn’t there to catch us out – making the whole thing seem much more doable. I also think I’ve seen one of the climatology professors who spoke to me on the television before. That was very cool.

But I wasn’t the only one there! Beth, who also attended, had this to say about the visit: ‘It was really exciting to get to find out more about the subjects offered at Oxford, as well as to explore the colleges and the beautiful city.’

Visiting Oxford was a very valuable experience for me, because it helped me properly realise a lot of the things that I’d like to do after Sixth Form, and got me thinking about how I might do them. Yes, getting into Oxford is a long shot – but I’d say it’s worth a punt. And that’s good enough for me.

Eoin Burgin, Y12 student

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Owned by: VDN | Last Published: 22/07/2016 11:12:04 | Next Update: N/A