5 Things That Might Shock You About Studying At Oxford University

When I arrived at Oxford University, ready to start my first year, I knew almost nothing about the place. I knew the university was prestigious and that the city was beautiful but my knowledge of the institution was close to zero.

This is not normal for most people turning up to study at Oxford. Most of them have been preparing to study there for years and many have friends or relatives who studied there. Most people have done their research and have also had inside knowledge before even arriving. I didn’t have the benefit of this and had to discover a lot of things on my own.

I think that had I known a little bit more about the institution (the stuff that most people don’t know) I would have been better prepared for the challenges Oxford was going to throw at me. It’s kind of like going and living in another country. If you’ve met people from that country, have researched it, and have learned some of the language, the degree to which you develop culture shock will be much less than that of someone who just boards a plane and lands in the country without a clue.

So here we go. Dishing the dirt on the city of dreaming spires.

5 Things That Might Shock You About Studying At Oxford University

1. The Drop-Out Rate Is Huge

Oxford boasts having one of the lowest drop-out rates of any university. In my experience, however, they are able to claim this because of how the system is set up and their deceptive definition of ‘drop-out’.

Oxford students don’t ‘drop-out’. They ‘rusticate’.

What this means is that, instead of leaving the university forever, students take a year off and then return to the university. This is like a mini-expulsion. There are many reasons for why this happens. The biggest reason is due to mental health issues.

Depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts (and the tragic act itself) are pretty common in Oxford. The work-load is intense. The pressure is on all the time. Oxford has shorter terms than other universities (8 weeks) and this is because people are burnt out by the third week. The work that other university students get in a year is crammed into one of these terms in Oxford and Cambridge. We had 3+ tutorials a week (some of them stretching on for hours) and each tutorial resulted in an assignment. Each assignment had a big reading list and we were often expected to turn in at least 2 essays a week. On top of this we had lectures.

We were told in Oxford that people in other universities can have a social circle, a hobby (like a sport or drama), and their studies. But we had to choose two. We couldn’t have all three. We also were forbidden from getting a job during term time and actively discouraged from getting one during the vacation (which sucks for the underdogs from working class backgrounds).

We had all this work but we were also put under a lot of pressure by our tutors, our peers, our parents, and ourselves.

There is nowhere else in the world I felt more stupid than in Oxford.

Honestly. If you get into Oxford, you are extremely intelligent in your chosen field of study (and generally). But when you arrive in Oxford, suddenly you don’t feel so smart. Malcolm Gladwell talks about this in his book, David and Goliath, and came to the conclusion that students in Harvard would be happier in lower ranked universities. He says that this is due to once being a big fish in a small pond and then entering the big ocean where you are a small fish for the first time in your life.

I questioned my intellect every waking moment in Oxford. I would have debates with people or listen to my peers contribute to a discussion in a tutorial and I would hate myself. I couldn’t think of anything smart to say. I didn’t want to debate. I couldn’t believe it but I actually missed my hometown where I thought people were more down-to-earth.

I thought I was the only person who felt this way (until I met one of my best friends who also felt the same) but this is incorrect. Pretty much everyone feels like this at some point. Every single one of my close friends rusticated. They were forced into taking a year off because their minds were not right. I was close to doing the same. My tutors wanted me to take a year off and prepare fully for my final year. We had endless meetings where they said I had to leave. I told them that if I left for a year, I would not come back. Obviously if I didn’t return that would count as a ‘drop-out’ and Oxford do not want that negatively impacting their statistics. So they let me stay. They assigned me a mentor. And I worked myself to death for the next year. By the end of the year I was burned out and didn’t even want to look at a book for a very long time.

2. Tourists Will Take Pictures Of You

This is a funny one.

My friend had a room (part of the college accommodation) on the bottom floor with a window looking out on a busy street. One night he got drunk and feel asleep at his desk with his feet up in front of the window. When he woke up at 7 am he was shocked to see a large group (50+) of Chinese tourists. They were pressing their faces up against his window and taking pictures of him. He used to get this a lot. At first he had to close his curtains whilst he was working but he learned to deal with it after a while. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I entered his room and saw him with his head down, studying, oblivious to crowds of camera-wielding tourists.

If you dress up in the university’s formal clothes (gown, mortar board), people will take pictures of you whilst you are standing around or walking down the street.

3. Oxford Is Safe But Your Bicycle Isn’t

You can walk around the streets of Oxford at 2 am whilst drunk and you will probably be fine. But if you leave your bicycle in a designated bicycle rack, in front of your college, for just 20 minutes, with a sturdy and expensive bike lock, it might get stolen. It happened to me. I had my bike for about 2 weeks before someone cut through the bike lock and rode off with it.

Oxford is the number one place for bicycle theft in England.

It’s definitely a bike town but that doesn’t mean your bike is safe.

4. The Best Part Of The City Is Outside Of The Center

I spent my first two years in the center of Oxford. My college, Oriel, is right on High Street, next to the Bodleian Library, next to Christ Church Meadows, and within stumbling distances of all the good pubs and restaurants.

In my final year, I was shipped off to Cowley. This is a street about 20 minutes walk away from the center. This street has a completely different vibe to the center. The center is posh and academic. Cowley is gritty and cool.

I loved living in Cowley. There were some fantastic bars (my favourite being a Persian bar which had beanbags inside, the best mojitos, and would play movies once a week), some great little independent cinemas, lovely restaurants (try Atomic Burger), desert parlours (try Indulge), record stores, and more. If you go to Oxford and only stay in the center, you are missing out.

5. You Are Constantly Monitored And Tested

I never went to a boarding school. But the people who had come from boarding schools fared a lot better in Oxford than me. When most people think about university life, they think of independence. In Oxford, however, I often felt trapped in a claustrophobic bubble.

This is particularly difficult in smaller colleges. Oriel is one of the smallest. And everybody knows everybody else’s business. People can overhear your conversations and people will gossip.

Unless you are used to being in a boarding school, it can be difficult living just ten steps away from where you work and socialise. It can get a bit intense. Hey, some people like that. I’m quite introverted so I need time by myself to recharge. I think there are a lot of introverts in Oxford and many of my friends would look exhausted halfway through term and would need to take a break and go home (I did this too).

It also shocked me by how often we were tested. Every term there would be a handful of in-college tests to assess your progress. And you had better get a good grade on them or else there would be trouble. There would be endless meetings where tutors grill you and try to find out why you didn’t do as well as you should.

Last Thoughts

This list probably comes across as quite negative. It’s not my intention to complain or discredit Oxford. It is a wonderful place and a unique experience that I would not trade for anything. What I wanted to do with this list is simply pass on some of the things that shocked me when I arrived. These things didn’t shock the people who already knew people who went to Oxford. As such, I feel that they were better prepared. If you go into Oxford knowing some of these things, you will be less overwhelmed when confronted with them.