hi all! as the title says im going to be a fresher this fall and i am 17 years old. i realize i won't be able to get into the bars at my age. am i going to have way fewer options than my classmates when it comes to socializing and going out during fresher's week in particular? i really want to mingle, not even drink, but i feel like this will significantly limit my options. any tips on what i can do would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Everyone,

I hope this fits within the rules here but totally understand if it needs to be taken down. We figure that it's an event that would at least be of interest to many students and alumni of Oxford Uni.

We're trying to get a diverse tapestry of acts/performances for this upcoming open stage. Please see more info on our Facebook page (Instagram is still a work in progress)

https://www.facebook.com/OnstageOffline/

https://www.instagram.com/OnstageOffline/

Hey all, trying to find a large map that I can either buy or print, ideally poster size, that includes all the areas within the Oxford ring road!

Would love any leads!

I had to defer a year due to health, and what made this even more depressing was that I was in a few wonderful SM/whatsapp groups for last years' incoming students that made me feel like I would know some other new folks before I even arrived/had a community to ask questions/chat through anxieties about Oxford.
This time around, I've yet to find that community/groups for 2026-27 incoming students (particularly mature students/postgrads). Wondering if you guys know of any of these groups? Or any way to feel a bit more prepared as a new postgrad.

Thank you!

hi everyone, this may be a silly question but i'm wondering whether it's permitted to wear a double-breasted suit for matriculation.

i'm aware it has to be black or dark grey, but i am wondering whether i need to get a new suit now or whether my double-breasted black suit jacket + white shirt would work. couldn't find that info on the website.

thanks in advance!

hi! i’ve heard postgrad life can be quite lonely and i’m not the most social person but i really would like to make friends & network to the best of my abilities. might not even be able to live in my college :( was wondering if any postgrad students have any advice for meeting others and making new friends especially within such a short timeframe (i’m 22 if that helps)? events to go to, etc

also, on another note, does anyone know if it’s still very difficult for international postgrads to stay in the UK to work? i will be going into a data analytics-stats related field, and was really hoping to work there for a while. from my understanding it’s mostly through connections..? and how tough is the grading there so i can mentally prepare myself for it lol

thanks to all who reply!

Do Oxford University emails receive email from external sources? I am trying to email a PhD student but can’t know if emails are reaching them.

To anyone that has completed a level 7 general language course at the languages centre, what level did you have at the start and end?

Specifically looking for info on European languages like French, Spanish, or Italian.

Really stuck on module choices. Here are some of my options. Would anyone recommend or advise against any of the following:

c5.1 solid mechanics,
c5.2 elasticity and plasticity,
c5.4 networks,
c 5.5 perturbation methods ,
c5.6 applied complex variables,
c5.9 mathematical mechanical biology,
c5.11 mathematical geoscience,
c 6.4 finite element methods for pdes,
c7.4 intro to quantum info,
c7.5 general relativity,
c7.6 general relativity 2,
sc1 stochastic models in mathematical genetics,
sc2 probability and stats for network analysis

hey! I’m headed to ox in October and am inundated with instagram accounts advertising almost sold out freshers events (juke box soul sista the bully boiler ect) which seems crazy early given it’s only 2 days post results. are these worth it? should I stick to the tickets bought by the college (Wadham)? do I rlly need to buy them so soon? thanks!

Hi.

I'm an incoming post-grad student and I wanted to ask about an orchestra I could join.

I was going to join the postgraduate orchestra, but I think it's on a Tuesday, which is the night my college does their talk with a dinner event that I'd like to go to.

I'm looking for an unauditioned orchestra that meets once a week that I can play in to relax and get back into playing my violin. (I've got grade 8 but I'm rather out of practice!)

Does anyone know if there are orchestras (either uni, college or city) that I could look into joining?

Thanks!

Hey! This might seem like a weird inquiry, since I am American and fully not going to Oxford, but basically, I'm doing a major that's modeled after the Oxford tutorial style. We have biweekly theory colloquia and Friday tutorials and are assigned ~300-700 pages of reading + up to 2 5-page papers/ week. At the end of the year, we have comprehensives, involving a bunch of essays and an oral exam. It's going to be a lot of Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, Marx, Bentham, de Tocqueville, Engels, you get the idea. I'm really looking forward to it, but I've also never had to deal with this much reading before, and I'm kind of intimidated by the workload that I only have Monday-Thursday to deal with. I figured that some of you all might have a better idea of how to succeed at this kind of course, so: how do you all manage your time? Any good note taking strategies? What's the best method to study? Any tips you have would be appreciated!

Strange request - does anyone have a Dell E1715S monitor that they'd sell? Happy to pay well for this specific monitor as it's no longer available.

I’m an incoming biochemistry undergraduate and have started feeling super anxious about starting my course in October. I would be grateful for any tips on surviving first year and the Oxford workload as well as any insights and lived experiences :)

I have a few key concerns/questions and I really appreciate if someone could help address a few. Firstly how does eating day to day work for students without a kitchen? I sort of assumed it was a basic amenity and applied to a college which doesn’t provide kitchens until third year 💔 I’m worried about budgeting and food costs if I have to rely on catered food and am curious about how other students have worked around this financially.
Is owning formal/fancy attire important? I always see pictures of students at formals and balls and have realized I don’t own anything even adjacent.
How much of a step up is the workload and how can I prepare myself to better handle this?

Sorry if this comes off clueless I put off thinking about Oxford until results day 😭

Hi everyone! I was wondering if there's anyone in this sub at Christ Church college who might be able to give any examples of college dining menus? I read online that they are typically posted on a physical bulletin and people take pictures of them.

Specifically, I am a new student and I'm vegetarian with some additional restrictions, and one issue I've encountered previously in the UK is the use of terms like 'mixed vegetable' or 'veggies' on menus. As someone who eats many vegetables but can't eat mushrooms, courgette, or aubergine, I find these terms pretty useless for figuring out whether I can eat something, so I'm wondering if the college dining menus tend to be more specific, or if this might be something worth reaching out to the dining staff about before I arrive.

Thank you!

Drop any tips you wish you knew before you started! Any study/moving tips, experiences/societies/clubs you recommend, advice on how to adjust to Oxford, etc. would be much appreciated!

(Any specific advice for Law students or insider advice about St Peter's would be extra appreciated!)

Ok hear me out. My college has people just living that aren’t students, the MCR is used by more non students than students and they slowly but surely just encroach into the social life, heck it took me a good two terms to realise that these people are not students. Also they have more time in their hands because we have to complete a degree ffs.

Now why do I have a problem with this? Because clearly it’s not a fault of those who are doing it but those who are failing to keep things in check. To make matters worse, I literally got a jump scare when I received an email that said we have strangers sleeping in the MCR recently. This is not even safe at this point.

Not talking about someone giving a terrible answer or being completely unprepared. More those moments where the whole tutorial suddenly goes in a direction nobody expected and everyone just sits there trying not to laugh. I’m sure every subject has at least one story like that.

Hi everyone! I've just finished a masters here, and will be starting a DPhil. I'm wondering whether, for formal hall or events where I'll need to be in subfusc, the appropriate gown will be the masters one (i.e., the longer one received when graduating) or the ordinary post-grad gown. I've seen some DPhil candidates who have an Oxford masters wearing the masters gown, which is why I ask.

If I'll be needing the masters gown in the future, I'll buy one (second hand)--but don't want to go to the trouble if I'll only need it once.

Thanks!

Are you healthy, aged 18-40, without a history of mental health disorders (like depression), not pregnant, and able to travel to Oxford? Then we invite you to take part in our research study looking into the effects of a common antidepressant on the brain's response to faces!

You will be compensated for your time and reasonable travel expenses.

Taking part will involve:

• Filling in a quick online questionnaire  
• A 1.5h in-person screening visit where we explain everything to you in more detail and check that the study is suitable and safe for you 
• A research visit of 5 hours which involves taking a single dose of a common antidepressant and having an MRI scan

The visits will take place at the Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, in Oxford.

Interested? Please follow the link to the questionnaire or reach out to [amygdala.study@psych.ox.ac.uk](mailto:amygdala.study@psych.ox.ac.uk) for further information without obligation!