Oxford University

The small town of Oxford on the Thames, or Isis, as locals call it, has a resonant name worldwide. The reason is neither over a thousand years of history, nor the impressive architecture of the city center, but the presence of probably the oldest university in the English-speaking world.

Oxford University accepts annually about 3,000 undergraduates and 4,500 graduates, whose courses are affiliated with membership in one of 38 colleges or six permanent private halls. Their reasons for coming to Oxford are different: the desire for high-quality education, prestige, experience, unique history of the education system, student life, rewarding friendships or a solid start to the future career.

City center, whose streets can be counted on a few fingers, is tightly interwoven with historical buildings and gardens. College, essential part of the whole system, could be described as a community of scholars and students of different disciplines. College provides halls of residence, dining halls, libraries, common areas and chapels.

All students have their college affiliation, and for undergraduate students it is the college which makes decision on acceptance or rejection of the candidate. Such an organisation of the system has far reaching implications for student life, including the opportunity to integrate into smaller communities and the academic benefit for the personal care.

The college is an essential part of student's life. The choice of your college depends on a lot of practical things and this process should not be underestimated, though official university website says something else. The applicant would have to consider whether he wants to stay and eat in the old historic college, or rather choose a less prestigious and less ancient version with considerably less competition. Other factors that can make a difference are the size of the college, the presence of scholars, accommodation guarantee, sports facilities or financial support. It is very useful to consult a choice of a college with someone who has studied there as he can always give you much better judgement.

Another essential part of the system are tutorials. These are meetings of a small group of students (one to three) with a professor mastering given area. Students are given the task, problem set or essay question which they need to prepare before the meeting. Tutorial is then a consultation of correct answers, unclear concepts and points reaching far behind the syllabus. Lectures and seminars are organised centrally for the whole university - the faculties and departments are located in new buildings, usually less than 15 minutes walk from the centre. Central area is also covered by rich library infrastructure that complements college libraries.

In terms of extracurricular activities - imagination plays no boundaries. It is not the slightest reason to restrict extracurricular activities. There are more than 400 different clubs and societies - from national, through training, finance, debates, political, (anti) religious, charities, film, sports.. simply everything. Some of the more bizarre ones include Assassins' Guild or underwater hockey. Each society often organises drinks and events and the atmosphere is generally very open.

Every experience is worth more than a thousand words. No article can describe the feeling of a latin prayer during the formal hall at any of the traditional colleges. Oxford is a city that never sleeps. The amount of interesting student backgrounds in conjunction with an extraordinary environment in which old traditions persist and new are created, makes the University of Oxford place behind the boundary of knowledge and education.

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