Being a Scottish student at Oxford
Hello! My name’s Elena and I’m a second-year studying History at Merton. I come from Edinburgh and I'm going to tell you a wee bit about what it's like being a Scottish student at Oxford.
When first beginning to consider university, Oxford's early/complex application process and sheer distance from Scotland, not to mention the tuition fees, can all seem like barriers to applying. Please, please don’t let these factors put you off, and consider Oxford as an option that you can take! I promise you, Oxford is not the stereotype that it appears to be: the student body is an exciting, diverse, and regionally mixed one.
The decision to pay for a university education that is free in Scotland is a personal choice, and one that I did not take lightly. I have not regretted it. If you think the course at Oxford is the dream one for you, don’t rule it out based on tuition fees alone. Applying is worth consideration, especially as there are forms of financial help, whether this be a governmental loan to pay back or university bursary. When I did some research, I learnt that due to college subsidisation of accommodation and food costs, living costs in Oxford were far cheaper than the Scottish universities I applied to.
The distance from home can also be off-putting, however, the terms are short (3 x 8 weeks), it will feel like no time at all until you’re back home again (you’ll soon find any excuse you can to get back to the dreaming spires). It’s true, however, that travel is both time- and money-guzzling. When I was choosing where to apply in England, (if at all), I chose very early on to consider Oxford over Cambridge, based on little more than pretty pictures of the Radcliffe Camera (History Faculty library), as it wasn’t possible to go down south for both Open Days. The online resources provided by the universities and colleges are great, so if you can’t make it to the Open Days (June and September) don’t worry, you’re not at a disadvantage!
It can be a scary feeling to decide where to live for the next 3-4 years, especially when using online information alone. I had no idea about the differences between colleges and in the end my dad and I picked one fairly randomly (based on age, location, choir and food). Treat colleges like choosing a hall of residence and think about what environment you’d like to live in. Finally, differences in educational systems might worry you, however, Oxford understands how Highers/Advanced Highers work, gives offers based on them, and does understand that (subject dependent) you will be learning different content to the A-level system.
The interview process may seem shrouded in mystery to you at this point—it certainly was to me—but the online resources provided by Oxford are super-helpful. A point worth making is that when you go down for interviews, you will be given accommodation and food by the college you are being interviewed by! (This is something I’ve been asked before: unless specified, you don’t need to bring a sleeping bag/bed linen or a tent to stay in, they’ve got you covered!) Furthermore, an aspect of the interview process that might be unique to Scottish students is age. I was 16 when I did my interviews: I remember arriving and finding that there were 19-year-olds being interviewed for the same course at the same time… scary stuff! Don’t let your age put you off applying, I went in straight after school and was 17 for my first term. Equally I know Scots who applied for deferred entry and took a gap year after school to allow them time to mature and enjoy the world a little before going on to do a degree. Both paths are viable and fantastic options.
Let me impart three pieces of, hopefully, wisdom to the Scottish student about to embark on their degree:
You will become an expert at light packing and cramming belongings into as few suitcases as possible… trust me, even I managed.
You will become skilled beyond your years at managing public transport across the UK, especially if you take the train (splitticketing.com is your friend!), in which case you will become very familiar with the stops of Preston and Lancaster in the North of England (where, invariably, the trains almost always encounter some technical hitch, an experience that unites the Scottish student body).
You’re about to learn way more about English geography than you ever thought you would… I embarrassed myself many times during Fresher’s Week… turns out that even though I thought Yorkshire was in the middle of England it actually classifies as 'the North', that the Midlands is a thing, and that there’s more to the South than just London.
Applying to Oxford is one of the best choices I have ever made, and I would strongly encourage you to do so if you love your subject and would like to spend three years studying it in a crazily beautiful city! Best of luck with your applications, finishing off Advanced Highers, and for the future!
Elena
Second Year History