“So, what college are you at?”
This innocent question – a staple of Oxford small-talk – has proved a stumbling block for me this past Michaelmas.
“Exeter – ah, I mean New,” I will reply automatically. Or I will catch myself in time. “I’m at New College.” And yet this second response, whilst factually more accurate, feels far more misleading than the first.
The truth is, I’m located in a strange no man’s land. New-Exeter. Exeter-New. My Bod card lets me into two colleges and two MCRs, and I float somewhere between the two. Friends at both colleges gently tease me about being too attached to “that other place” (forget Cambridge – there’s more than enough rivalry within Oxford itself). With Graduate Freshers’ Week long over, the most extreme chaos has thankfully ended, but the yo-yoing between colleges persists.
But first things first. How did this even happen?
Having studied at Exeter College as an undergraduate, I was offered a place at New College for my master’s degree. (A change of scene is always a good idea, right?) Unfortunately, this change of scene was to be less dramatic than I’d imagined, with New College unable to offer me accommodation until the very last minute. Amid the post-Results Day panic about finding somewhere to live, I emailed the Exeter Accommodation Manager, asking if she had any rooms free. Somewhat to my surprise, there were!
Being a master’s student living in Exeter-owned accommodation, surrounded by Exeter graduate students, meant I was eligible to join Exeter’s MCR as an associate member, alongside my membership of New College. So, although officially studying at New College, I am also a member of Exeter, and this dual membership has been an illuminating experience.
“What if I’d ended up at a different college?” is a question that most Oxford students entertain at least once, and this New-Exeter jumble has given me at least a partial answer to this question.
Now at this point it would be easy to dive into dramatic musings about belonging, drawing all sorts of conclusions about what it signifies to belong to a college. Just as an example, I feel neither completely a student of New College, nor of Exeter, and yet I refer to both interchangeably as ‘College.’ Most likely I belong simultaneously to both and to neither. It’s an odd situation, and occasionally poses logistical challenges, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!
But it’s also important that I highlight the more concrete things which this cross-college experience has taught me. So here goes!
1. College allocation does matter.
Obviously, I’d known college inequality existed. There’s still a big difference between seeing this happen through comparing your college experience with that of your friends at different colleges, and experiencing it in real-time across two colleges. New College has a substantially larger JCR budget than Exeter does, and the same is true of their MCRs. Whether this is funding to pursue ‘sporting and cultural activities’, a heavily subsidised MCR brunch on alternate Sundays, or free subscriptions to Headspace(!), New College grants its graduate students much more money than Exeter does. Oxford students are, of course, incredibly privileged in terms of the amount of funding and resources at their disposal. Yet there are also substantial disparities between colleges, and this can make for very material differences in students’ experiences, even within the bubble of Oxford.
2. What even is ‘Oxford’?
You don’t realise how much of your perception of Oxford is formed by your college until you are enrolled at a different one. Before joining New College, my understanding of the quintessential Oxford garden involved a view down onto the Rad Cam. Now, cloisters also appear as one of the most iconic features of a college garden. Similarly, what you understand as a ‘standard’ college size and atmosphere also shifts.
3. College stash can be (gasp) misleading.
Again, an obvious one, but seeing the number of people who are studying at a new college (no pun intended) but who still wear a puffer bearing their old crest (guilty as charged) has given me a mild existential crisis. Nothing is real anymore…
4. Changing colleges is a good idea.
And finally – the main reason why I’m writing this article…
“So, do you regret trying to change colleges then?” is a question I’ve frequently been asked, and the answer is no. Not at all. I’ve met fantastic people at both colleges with whom I would never have crossed paths if it hadn’t been for this strange, constant yo-yoing. To people considering moving colleges for graduate study, I would advise you to go for it (after appropriate research, of course!) Yes, life across two colleges might sometimes have unexpected results and pose organisational challenges. Is it worth it? Absolutely.