Hi,

Has anyone recieved information about their halls of residence/accommodation from their college as yet?

I haven't. Let me know, please.

In some rather early correspondence with my college I was offered a place in a graduate residence, and I accepted sometime back in July. I sent an email the other day to ask about potential arrival dates and was told that the accommodation manager would be in touch with me next week.

Are you waiting for specifics about your residence or has the college not even mentioned that it's available?

Hi

I was informed by the admission officer of Lincoln College that allocation is usually done in late August. So don't worry, even if it's hard not to do so, I know...

See you soon!

I'm waiting for specifics. I was told that a place was available in grad residence. I also paid a deposit.

If you've paid a deposit you're at least two steps further ahead than I am, so at the very least we're all in a similar boat.

Hopefully not the Titanic.

You know, because it sank.

As an aside, I've been looking at planning a small trip or two during the next year, and as far as I can tell there seem to be surprisingly large breaks between the semesters (i.e., March 14 to April 26); we can't possibly actually have that much time off, can we?

Does anyone know what the actual deal is as far as those breaks go? I'd assume we're still doing some kind of work, otherwise all this talk of a "rigorous" program might have been a touch overstated.

HJ,
I dont know about the other colleges , but graduate students at Balliol are guaranteed accomodation at Holywell Manor/ Martin/Dellal Buildings. On making enquiries I have been informed that I will be assigned a room at Martin/ Dellal. Usually BCL'ers at Balliol put up at either Martin or Dellal.
All three buildings are within hundred feet of the law faculty building. So one can sleep walk into a seminar.

Yea, I got told the same thing pretty much. I aim to arrive on Sept. 19th. When you coming down?

I too will aim to get to Oxford the same weekend.

The way Oxford (and Cantab) work is that you have very short terms (at undergrad just 3 x 8 weeks), in which you are expected to work extremely hard and cover a lot of material in a short period of time, becuase hopefully you are able. This is as opposed to say, an ex-poly, which will have very long terms because students there need a lot of time to cover topics and are not expected to be bookworms by nature.

I believe graduate terms are a bit longer, but still seem comparatively short against other institutions' semester lengths. The short, intense terms do however leave you with plentiful holiday time.

I imagine we won't get that many holidays. I mean, I think reading/research will eat into the holidays.

Hey guys, I am a DPhil who spent most of last year hanging out with and travelling with the BCL/MJur crowd. They did do a lot of work, but there were trips (to Greece, Scotland, etc) and some went home in the breaks. In fact, I was pretty much alone in Oxford at Christmas (sob!). The colleges don't generally charge you for your room across breaks if you leave, but they do if you stay. For many people it was more cost effective to go home if they were close (e.g. Europe or Nth America) and many of the Aussies (I am Australian) just visited family or friends! It is intense but you do have time to travel and breathe and we loved every second of both term and the breaks! Hope this gives you an idea of the terms and accom...

ps. I am not in college accom this year and am looking for a place, so if any of you missed out on accom. and want to look for a place with another grad, please let me know!

The Oxford B.C.L has two worlds comprising it ; the one which takes jurisprudence and the one which doesn't. Jurisprudence is asessed by take home exams spread over 6 weeks in the Easter break. So there goes one whole break ! What you are then left with, for all the relaxation, is the Christmas break, in which , as Oxdphil rightly says, you won't find many people at Oxford. I remember being the only person in the whole of Catz( apart from the porter) during the two weeks of full college closure in the Christmas break.
BCL'ers who didn't take juris saw a bit more of the world , and a much brighter world,than the jurisprudes. While I was squeezing whatever was left of my old lemon over debates between Raz and Dworkin, trying to philosophize about the English spring, among other things, many of my non jurisprude friends were having a nice time in Spain with the sun and all! In short, how much time you get to enjoy also depends on the courses you take.
There is another factor many of us tend to underestimate. All other things being equal,those who aim for a Distinction , have lesser time to enjoy on thier hands than those who are prepared to stay content with a second or a pass. And in more cases than you can imagine presently, this choice is made by beginning of the Hillary term. In short, how much you enjoy also depends on the aims you set for your self.

I plan to do juris - silly me!

Thanks, EPD and Oxlawdphil!

I appreciate the info; it makes plotting out next year's logistics feel less like guesswork, and it's good to know that it's worth making plans for December. I undertake to repay your kindnesses with pints at the earliest opportunity.

Cheers!

I'm signed up and ready to go (I'm just not actually named "Bender").

And the King's Arms is a brilliant place for a meet, since it's run by Wadham college. (Widely understood to be the college of choice for discriminating graduate students.)

I'm not in town until the 27th, though, so I might miss the first round if it's as early as the 19th.

funny that...I not really named 'hjscotland' either. ;-)

I feel defrauded. Shame to both of you.