Welcome!

Regardless of the season, Oxford certainly is a place that attracts visitors. As a tourist you’ll see the facets of many beautiful streets and picturesque landscapes, but as a student here you’ll soon realise that Oxford has so much more to it than ‘just’ old buildings and Hogwarts libraries. Every student has their own individual version of Oxford as both a city and university, and with the countless courses available for undergrads and postgrads, as well as the range of different extracurricular activities to choose from, each one of the colleges is able to offer a completely unique experience to every single one of its students. Oxford - with all its quirky traditions - bears great potential in guiding you through your academic journey just as much as through your personal one.

Think ‘Oxford’, and you imagine academics, dusty books in labyrinthine libraries, and wearing a strange uniform for exams. As an applicant, my idea of Oxford was based largely on my long-harboured wish to go to Hogwarts! But the past two and a half years have dispelled that narrow impression. Sure, there're enough turrets to take the sting out of being a muggle, but there's far more to the University than its medieval buildings.

With this prospectus, we aim to let prospective applicants (just like yourself maybe?) enjoy a glimpse into what student life at Oxford could really be like. We invite you to look beyond the stereotypical ideas surrounding this peculiar Oxford bubble, and hopefully, the prospectus will make for a useful resource aiding you in making your mind up about whether you can picture yourself as an Oxford student. Oxford is full of possibilities, allowing you to develop your academic work alongside pretty much anything else you could possibly be interested in. Oxford is well and truly what you make of it. All we know as of now is that it could indeed, and without any doubt, be you - regardless of your background... for you will see there is no such thing as an ‘Oxford type’.

Karishma Khosla, VP Projects

For many, the University of Oxford sounds unattainable, unimaginable and not made for 'people like me.' This was my opinion not too long ago, yet within a year Oxford dispelled this myth and that is what the Alternative Prospectus seeks to do also.

Explore the page to learn more about each college, course, the traditions and the reality of life as an Oxford student!

Karishma Khosla, VP Projects, Wadham, student from 2020