I’m a physics student and I’ve started to look at some prelims papers for collections but there are like barely any solutions. For maths, my tutor said he’d be happy to share his own but for CP2 my tutor has just joined Oxford so obviously hasn’t had the time to do them yet. Wondering what other students are doing? The more standard math questions you can check with like wolfram alpha or smth but what about the more ambiguous physics ones? Do people just do them get them wrong and never know they were wrong??? Any tips would be very appreciated!

I was wondering if anyone here has ever felt the same way or could possibly give me any advice. I’m a fresher, so I feel pretty pathetic for feeling this bad so soon into uni, but im so hopeless right now. I’ve wanted to come to oxford ever since being really young, so it was a childhood ambition of mine and i feel like maybe this ties into my feelings-it’s making it kind of difficult to admit that uni isn’t everything i’d mentally hyped it up to be. ever since coming to oxford, I feel incredibly stupid and unworthy of my place. In lectures, i have no idea what’s going on, same in tutorials. the essays i’ve written are lacklustre, and i spend hours in the library after scheduled learning finishes trying to make sense of my course/consolidating knowledge and i have nothing to show for it. Everyone else I know doesn’t do this and has a pretty solid work-life balance (or so it seems) but i’m typically too exhausted to go out or get involved in anything social. And yet my peers are doing so much better than me academically. I have no idea why i’m struggling so much and i’m pretty embarrassed that i’m considering dropping out of uni after a single term. Has anyone else felt a similar way and gotten through it, or does anyone have any advice?

Hasan Piker is coming to the Union this Thursday, and he is someone who I look up to in many ways as a 16 year old. I would love to get a photo with him/say hi. I live in Oxford but clearly I am not at the Uni and I don't know any members, so I was wondering: is there any way to meet Union guests, like a stage door kind of thing?

Hello! I see that Hasan Piker is doing a presentation on the 5th so I was just wondering if this was a public event or if it’s private and if it’s public now one would go about attending the event as I would definitely like to go! Thank You! ❤️

It seems that lots of balls for Trinity term have been selling out tickets in minutes. They seem very similar and I really don’t see the point of going to all of them given ticket prices. Any advice on which ones are worth it?

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Hello

When I read the term card for the Union a while ago I picked out some super relevant and interesting talks I wanted to go to. Mearsheimer, Zizek, Varofakis, and now Piker are all i was really interested in. But today I'm still scratching my head about how the hell I'm supposed to even do this. Freshers have all been wishy washy about advice and I just feel excluded from the Union entirely until or if I buy a full membership. Are guests really not that encouraged? Can you not pay per event? Is there a dress code or something???

The union is such an enigma to me, maybe because I'm not in PPE and talks seem tangentially related to what I'm doing. Still feels like a HUGE missed opportunity, especially since it seems like every Oxonian and their dog is a member of the U, and those who have been to talks describe it as a lifechanging experience

Its almost the end of the term and I want to get a gift for my scout to thank them for their hard work, however I don't really know them on a personal level, so I'm not very sure what they would want. Please leave your best suggestion for a good gift that most people would want, thanks! 🙏

i rly wanna go but membership is soooo expensive but i’ve heard i can accompany a member. if ur going and would be down to take me as a guest, that would be awesome!

My supervisor's criticism was so harsh that I am considering dropping this degree. Alluding to how I got in and they were eager about my skill, how there were plenty students to choose from, they basically told me this draft is barely a pass. While I admit it is not good work, its merely a draft and that was the task I've been given so far, so I do not see why it was deemed so serious. I of course was never going to submit it as such but I thought the idea of a draft was for the tutor to gauge at what direction the essay was taking. There may have been miscommunication but given their harsh comments I really feel like I don't belong here. It might not be the place to write this but if anyone has any input, I would appreciate it. I will rewrite it in the following days with their suggestions but I really feel lifeless rn. I know I should not attach so much importance to criticism but this felt like it was not criticism anymore just unnecessarily harsh on a draft, not even a work ready for submission.

Edit: thanks guys for the input. I guess I was not aware drafts in Ox are basically supposed to be finished work, it never got mentioned in seminars. In fact, my supervisor told us we could meet with them twice before the final submission deadline which is in week 10. I innocently believed the first meeting would be a draft, while the second would be discussing my final work pre-submission. It was a misunderstanding and I will reach out to them to apologize for wasting their time. I do think however that a more constructive and less harsh approach would be less demoralizing for my personal taste, but oh well, we learn as we live, dont we.

Is there a way to get into speaker events at the Union without a membership? Buy a ticket, sneak in, use a friends card?

Just announced: https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2024-11-27-lord-hague-richmond-elected-new-chancellor-oxford-university

Elish Angiolini came a close second.

Can someone please explain how things work at Oxford University regarding the medicine undergrad assessments and exams in year one or for the first three years ? How does it work please ?

Do formals or guest night dinners take place when term is not in session? I have a friend visiting and I want to take her to something that would make her feel like a student.

I feel like it has been pretty hard to find fellow Jewish people here.

I know of the JSoc, but are there any other fellow Jews studying in Oxford?

I was wondering if anyone wanted to share actual examples of any sample note taken for either a lecture or a book from any history reading list for a tutorial or a tutorial, as I wanted to see if I can adopt another better method of organizing notes. Thank you

Do you all cover all the titles listed in a weekly topic’s essay list? I’m not asking how you read each item, as there are strategies on reading the intros & skimming etc, but in terms of covering the breadth of the list itself, I’m wondering how many of you pick & choose items, or read the whole thing etc.

Secondarily, does your note taking habit differe from lectures?

would like to ask someone who has used this service for an item in place on site, how long has it taken for you to receive your scanned book chapter? If relevant asking specifically for History items from RadCam

Today's Financial Times reporting that Jan Royall spent £10,000 on her Oxford Chancellorship campaign while Dominic Grieve and Elish Angiolini spent £120 and £100 respectively.

I struggle with social anxiety and I have tried to avoid all possible social events up until now but the problem is that now I feel that it would be too weird to randomly show myself at wine and cheese or whatever considering i know NO one.

Is it weird idk?

Eg if you found your lost card after you received the new replacment

I needed to meet with someone in the Student Union, and the topic of tutorials came up. After describing my experience, it seems like my tutorial does not quite fit the traditional model. So now I’m curious about other students' tutorials. (I’m being vague on my info so I don’t accidentally self-identify.)

General stuff: How often do you meet, how many are in your group, do you have papers/assignments, and how long do they last?

Do you notice any significant changes in your tutorials based on your tutors?

This is a throwaway account.

How has having the name “Oxford” on your resume, LinkedIn or even just general life helped you? Has it opened any doors for you? Do you have any examples?

I know a lot of people may try to be humble but I actually want to know how much it has helped you.

If so, how was it? Thanks!

Hello, my lab was thinking of having brunch at a Christ Church one weekend. My question is do we need someone affiliated with this specific college to do this, and are non-uni of Oxford students welcome? Cheers

Hello, my lab was thinking of having brunch at a Christ Church one weekend. My question is do we need someone affiliated with this specific college to do this, and are non-uni of Oxford students welcome? Cheers

Asking specifically for History undergrad

I am an Oxford student who is having visitors soon, and I would like to take them around some of the colleges. I haven't had many issues getting into colleges as a student, but some of them are picky especially about guests. My question is: what colleges can my guest and I get into without paying?

Also, any other oxford-ish things I should bring them to?

I’m currently doing PhD applications and of course I need to upload my on-course transcript to every one. I have just realised, due to an error message on the Cambridge application website when I attempted to do this, that the encryption Oxford puts on the on-course transcripts means that they cannot be uploaded to secure application websites. How am I meant to get around this??? I’m assuming people find a way somehow but it all seems silly.