Oxbridge Collegiate System

Did I ever explain this whole Oxbridge college thing? Let me tell you something about that.

Oxford and Cambridge Universities use a collegiate system. That is, there are two distinct parts of the 'university' as a whole. First, there are academic departments called faculties--faculty of law, of economics, etc etc etc. The faculties are responsible for delivering lectures and administering exams. That is their job, exclusively. Second, there are a collection (around 30 at each university) of colleges. A college can roughly be thought of as a combination of an American-style dorm and a Hogwart's-style house. Each student is a member of a college and all their university activities outside of lectures and exams take place in college. They live in college, do sports with their college, have social events, student government and all those types of things with their college mates.

Also, and this is the most important aspect, each college will have several fellows in each subject who are employed in the faculties of the university. They are members of the college in which they are fellows and are responsible for being what in the US we would call TAs (teaching assistants). The faculties handle lectures and the colleges handle small group sections, which my university called discussions. Other American universities call them seminars, tutorials, small group, or whatever. Obviously in lecture there can be hundreds of students. In order to discuss the subject and answer questions, you have a discussion section of around 30 students. In the Oxbridge collegiate system, because the numbers are so small and because each college employs several fellows, undergraduates will have these discussion sections (with an eminent expert in each field of study) in groups of two or three. Sometimes one-on-one. If you are a fan of learning and discussing what you're learning with someone with so much knowledge to impart, you understand what an amazing system this is. This is what separates Oxbridge from everywhere else in the world.

It's also one of the reasons I want to go there.

I did my master's degree at another well-regarded British university (let's call it my Master's University) and unfortunately had a disappointing experience in some ways. Most importantly I was disappointed in the commitment level of the other students. They didn't seem genuinely interested in the subject and it diminished the academic experience for me. I like learning, I loved the subject I was studying (mostly). It frustrates me to be in classes with people who fail to prepare for discussion, who have no enthusiasm for the subject at hand. I suspect that since Oxbridge are such aspirational institutions I would be with students who are more keen and I would really appreciate that.

Gunner in the making.