How it feels to go to Christ Church (Expert Oxford Application Advice)
Before I start, it's important for me to state that the following was my specific experience; of course it may well differ from individual to individual.
Christ Church will always hold some of my best memories. Remembering looking at the stars whilst listening to the chiming of Tom Tower, the huge fireworks display during its commemoration ball, running across the quad to submit my essays just in time after printing them in the computer room or simply talking to friends in the room next door till 5am about anything and everything, my experience there was simply unforgettable.
For me it was the perfect college; however, I am fully aware that it is better suited to some students than others.
Originally I wasn’t planning to apply to Christ Church. First time round I had applied to Balliol and failed to get in. I had applied as I heard it was the “PPE” college, so my slightly more arrogant and optimistic younger self thought it was the perfect place for me to apply. I was rejected before interview, serving me up a large dose of humility and confusion. In hindsight I’m very glad I didn’t go to Balliol; it’s not that it isn’t an amazing and fantastic college, it just wasn’t the place for me. Christ Church suited me much better.
I returned to Oxford, after taking a gap year, to have a look at some other colleges. After having a tour round Merton thinking it was Christ Church, I concluded that this beautiful college with its fantastic architecture and top academic performance was the place I’d like to study. For more on my application experience, see this article. After being accepted, I was somewhat disappointed at first to discover the college I applied to was next door; however again Christ Church was a better fit for me.
The first key difference between Christ Church and the other colleges I could have ended up at is its size.
Christ Church is one of the largest college at Oxford, both in terms of land and students.
The upside of going to a large college is that there is so much to explore; it has numerous buildings, winding passages and gardens compared to other colleges, which makes living there really feel like living in a castle. Playing croquet on the lawn during summer, walking around its vast meadow or going to one of its numerous private dining rooms are unforgettable experiences. In addition, with such a large student population, you’re almost guaranteed to find others like you. Furthermore, unlike smaller colleges, news doesn’t spread in the same way and you always feel slightly less suffocated.
The downside is that, to some, a large college can actually feel isolating. With so many others one can begin to feel alone in the crowd. In addition, it doesn’t have as much as a community feel as some of the other colleges due to its vast size. Sometimes Christ Church’s impressive structures can begin to feel intimidating rather than awe-inspiring. How likely this is very much depends on your personality. You’re likely to feel both at some point, but for me the size was beneficial. I loved the feeling of being able to meet so many different types of people whilst living somewhere so beautiful.
One of the consequences of its size is the lack of use of its Junior Common Room (a room where students can hang out together). In smaller colleges these are often bustling places, where you can pop in to see who's around. As Christ Church is so large, students often end up socialising in their own rooms instead. This is a testament to its accommodation, which I’ll revisit later, but can leave the JCR feeling a bit empty. Nevertheless, the JCR committee are extremely active and often organise events to fill the common room using their relatively large budget, which are usually extremely boozy and fun.
Whilst we’re on events, Christ Church is one (in my opinion the best) place to be for student events.
As Christ Church has a large number of rooms available to book for events a lot of student societies hold their events there. This is extremely convenient, given you’ll likely live close and likely be pressed for time. I loved popping down for events between writing essays. These events span most societies; even if they hold them elsewhere, given Christ Church’s proximity to Oxford City Centre, you’ll likely to be able to attend with relative ease.
A number of events are likely to circulate around student politics; Christ Church is a great place to be for this. If you have no interest in student politics, there will be plenty of others like you at Christ Church, so there’s no need to get involved. However, if you like students politics, Christ Church has a very active scene. I enjoyed being involved at a distance. This is enhanced by the fact that Christ Church’s large student population makes it the perfect canvasing ground for votes for political societies; this is especially convenient if you plan to run for election of any student societies.
This all makes for a real feeling of excitement at Christ Church, if politics is your thing.
On the subject of knowing a lot of people, Christ Church gives you the opportunity to meet people from a real range of backgrounds. I really enjoyed talking to people from all over the country and from different financial situations. Christ Church has a reputation of being full of public school students who are upper class; I felt this a bit when I was there. However, I never felt this was a problem, as there were plenty of others to meet too. Plus, some of the supposedly “upper class” students were in fact very welcoming and friendly; often you wouldn’t be able to tell a students background at all without asking them specifically. At the end of the day, you’re all there and that’s all that really matters.
If you’re not from a fortunate background, Christ Church makes financial support very easy. They want to ensure you can study, so will support you within reasonable means. Often the process is very bureaucratic and slow, which can be a bit of an issue; however, if it’s important they tend to sort it out asap, as long as you make clear its importance to the right people.
One of the key areas that they can support you with is accommodation, which is generally excellent. In first year, you’ll live in college (probably in the modern Blue Boar accommodation; although I was in the older Peckwater Quad rooms, which had a slightly magical feel to them). In second year there is a ballot where students who get firsts in their first year exams get priority; some will live all over college, some will live in Liddell (a series of modern buildings around 15 minutes walk from college). Some students love Liddell whilst others find it too far; with the completion of a new bridge, however, the journey really isn’t too long. I stayed in an oak-panelled shared room in Peckwater Quad in second year (I was relatively high on the ballot although did not get a first in my first year exams). I loved the room, which was grand and spacious and came with a cleaner who visited each day. In third year I stayed in another room close by, after another ballot, which was a bit more pokey but equally nice.
In my view, the best thing about this system is that you’ll most likely live close to others from your college for all three years. Some of my most memorable experiences involve getting unexpectedly drunk in a friends room and then stumbling home.
Deep meaningful conversations are rife at Christ Church and essential to the development of your character as well as your academic work.
Christ Church library itself is nice to work in. The floorboards are a bit loud and it doesn’t open 24/7 like some other college libraries, but it looks amazing inside and has a large collection of books you’ll need. This isn’t to say you won’t end up going to others to fetch books, but it is one of the better college libraries in terms of books (especially for certain subjects like PPE and History).
Studying wise, Christ Church is academically good but not at the top of the rankings; on a day-to-day basis this is likely to have nearly zero effect on your college life. It does not restrict you from doing as well or as badly as you wish. If your lectures and exams are in the Exam Schools (as they were for me doing PPE and are for a few other subjects), travelling to lectures involves a very short walk which is very convenient. They can be a bit further away for Maths and Science, but tend to be within a relatively short bike ride away.
Christ Church is also very near a lot of tourist sites in Oxford, given how close it is to the centre. This is also good for shopping, particularly at the new Westgate Shopping Centre. You can also get to Cowley relatively easily which has several intriguing restaurants and bars. In terms of bars and clubs Christ Church is very near some of the best; its own student bars are pretty good too and relatively cheap. It also throws a huge ball every three years, which tends to be absolutely unforgettable (unless of course you drink too much throughout it).
Christ Church own landmarks are equally unforgettable.
The “Harry Potter” hall is probably the most famous, and why its gift shop is full of Harry Potter merchandise (the hall inspired the hall in the film, and a couple of scenes were filmed at Christ Church).You will eat there every night during term time. There are informal sittings (three-course meals served to you) and formal sittings (three-course meals served to you as you wear gowns); there isn’t too much difference between the two. Food is average, but not great; however, it is very cheap and you can sign up to a termly meal ticket. Formals at other colleges tend to be more “formal” and have better food; however they are substantially less frequent. Christ Church makes up for this by having two amazing Guest Dinners a term, where you are served a five-course meal with wine for £30. These are amazing experiences, and you can take guests, but are randomly balloted so you’re not always guaranteed a place. They are, however, delicious if you get a spot.
Christ Church is also the Cathedral of Oxford, adding to its sites for tourists. Evensong is a wonderful experience, with the choir singing in candlelight every week. Tom Tower is hard to miss too, with its magnificent chimes every hour. All of this creates a bit of a tourist trap and you’ll often find yourself wading through them which can be a bit troublesome at times. There are parts of the college closed off to them, however, so it is possible to escape the sea of cameras. At the end of the day, I always thought that it was important to remember that they subsidise the cost of your meals and accommodation, so I found it difficult to complain about them.
There’s a reason that there’s so many tourists at Christ Church, which I think sums up my article. Christ Church is Oxford; that might sound odd at first, but what I really mean by that is Christ Church provides one of the most quintessentially Oxford experiences a student can have. You can avoid this, if you want; however, if you engage with it you’ll likely to have a far more Oxford experience than a lot of your peers at other colleges. If you want to have this sort of experience, then Christ Church is a fantastic place to be.
Going to Christ Church feels like going to Oxford; this is perhaps the best and worst thing about it, depending on who you are and what you want from your university experience.
Given all this, for a summary of reasons to apply or not to apply to Christ Church, please see here.
Let us know if you have any questions about this article.
This article was written by Kes (Oxford - PPE).
If you find this content useful, please visit Kes' profile for further information on applying to Oxbridge. Alternatively, book support now with Kes, using the form below.
Author: Kes - Oxford
BA Philosophy, Politics & Economics
In my mentoring, I like to focus on building critical thinking and communication skills, which are fundamental to both PPE. In my experience, the best way to build these skills is through understanding argument structure and then applying it to different scenarios.
