Generally, Oxford is better known for the humanities and Cambridge for the sciences. If you're someone who believes in university ranking, it's always a better idea to look at the particular course you're interested in rather than university ranking as a whole. Also, consult your seniors to see if you're a good fit with the university, college, or tutor.

The other thing to consider is aesthetics - which city you prefer. While both are very beautiful with really old buildings, pretty architecture and amazing parks, Oxford is slightly more bustling than Cambridge and has a larger non-student population.

Further, there are some courses that are uniquely Oxford or Cambridge. PPE is one world famous course that you'll find at Oxford but not Cambridge, but if you're interested in only Philosophy, only Politics or only Economics, you can't get that here, but you can at Cambridge.

It's hard to tell honestly, as these numbers are not easily available. Christchurch and Worcester seem to have quite a number of en-suite rooms, not too sure about other colleges. Most do allow a fridge, especially if it is new.

Although there are other things you should also consider - e.g. location of college, cost of accommodation, college size, subject reputation, room location - I'll just use your criteria to give you a low down.

Size - Room size is almost beyond your control. While some colleges allow you some choice, such as by indicating if you want a double-set (Exeter) or the room class and corresponding price you're willing to pay (Keble), the size of the room you get still depends on your luck. If you don't mind a room-mate, Exeter's double set is probably as big as it gets, at least in your first year.

Ensuite - This often corresponds with the price of your room. If your college allows you to choose, pay more and you'll probably get an ensuite room. Almost all colleges have some ensuite rooms for first years, Christchurch and Keble seem to have a good number. Queen's doesn't, so don't pick there if this is a major consideration.

Best facilities - What do you mean? Most colleges have some sports facilities, but they may be located further away. Well-endowed colleges like St Johns and Merton have huge sports grounds, poorer colleges like Teddy Hall don't.

Food and service - Teddy Hall has GREAT food, Christchurch too, as does Merton and Worcester.

The issue is that there are so many competing considerations, so you really need to decide what's most important for you. Unfortunately there isn't any one college that ticks all the boxes, and even if there were one, you might not get the best available room for first year students. My suggestion is that you not look at the room size/ ensuite (as these are more or less beyond your control anyway) and focus instead on college location, facilities, food quality, general costs and academic reputation.

There isn't a typical offer as it really depends on the college you apply to, but there's a range. For A levels, expect to get an AAA or AAB offer; for IB, expect to get an offer between 39 points - 42 points. Most don't ask that you have specific grades in specific subjects (e.g. 7 for HL English or A for English Literature).

Nope, Oxford offers for A levels usually come in the form of "AAA" or "AAB" or "AAB with an A in History" or something to that effect. Similarly, offers for IB come in the form of "42 points" or "776 for HL subjects" or "42 points with a 7 for History" or some similar permutations.

I guess the difference is that while the equivalent of KI for the IB is TOK, TOK points contribute to your "42 points" total, while KI simply doesn't count as a subject for Oxford's consideration.

Yes there are, but none on the committee (who answer all these formspring questions!) do HP. You can email one of us at http://www.oumssa.org/contactus and we'll link you up with a HP student.

Not at all! It would be even better if you can find out when your last tutorial is, because you *technically* only need to be around until the last tutorial. In fact, I'm sure there will be people who are flying off as early as the 3rd of December itself, since there will almost certainly not be a tutorial on that Saturday (although there are rare exceptions).

We're still currently working to compile our database of all the freshers entering next year due to difficulties in obtaining said information from parties that had provided it to OUMSSA in the past. As such we are unable to provide an answer to this until such time as we can confidently say that we have every Singaporean fresher in Oxford on our list.

Yes! Just e-mail your college and ask who you should contact about coming to Oxford early. Usually it will be the Home Bursar or someone in a similar position. Let them know that you're an international student and inform them of the date that you'll be arriving in Oxford, and tell them that you need accommodation from that day onwards. They are generally more accommodating towards international students too, and most colleges would have started preparing for the arrival of students well before Freshers' Week.

Alternatives would include some small hotels on the outskirts of the city centre. A quick Google search should give you some decent results - there aren't many around, and generally if it's near the train station or near the bus interchange then you've got a good location. There are also two incredibly upmarket hotels in the city centre if that's to your tastes.

I'll answer this in two parts, one of convenience/practicality and one on the community.

With regards to convenience/practicality, there are some colleges that are closer than others to the Law Faculty/Library, while others have their own well stocked libraries. A quick glance at a locality map of Oxford will tell you which colleges are closer, such as St Catherine's College. It depends on what you consider to be convenient/practical. There are other colleges that are much closer to Examination Schools, where your Finals will be held, so some people place that as a priority since it saves them the time of a long walk to Exam schools on exam days. Some colleges that are further out, such as Worcester, also happen to have among the best stocked college libraries available to students, so that may swing the decision in its favour. It really depends on what you want - if attending every single lecture and spending lots of time in the library is what you think you'll be doing (not saying that you should miss any lectures at all), then it may help to choose a college near the faculty.

One other possible consideration would be to research into the tutors that are attached to each college. Many colleges have tutors that specialise in a specific field, so being in their college MAY (note: not guaranteed) allow greater interaction with them. In this respect, it may help if you have a clear idea of what you want to focus on strongly here, and look towards that particular college. However, be warned that quite a fair bit of research is required, and it may not all turn out as intended (tutors are prone to taking sabbaticals and such).

As to the community aspect, I'm assuming that you're referring to the Singaporean community there (please correct me if I'm wrong), and to be entirely honest I've never seen distance or any other distinction between colleges form a barrier between a student and the other Singaporeans. Some of our current committee members are from far-flung corners of the city, and there are many other Singaporeans in those areas as well. You'll eventually find that Oxford is so small (it's a MAXIMUM of 25-30mins stroll from one end to the other, and much, much quicker if you get a bicycle) that the distance between colleges, and ultimately the distance between people, becomes negligible.

You should first go look into what the Union has to offer that interests you. Most commonly there will be things like talks by famous people (Sir Ian McKellen and Ne-Yo are names that I recall off the top of my head from last year), and access to its library, which contains (among other things) a massive range of travel books that will prove immensely useful to you if you're planning to travel around a lot in your time at Oxford.

Whether it's worth the investment is purely up to you. There are people who have taken the lifetime membership and specifically made time to attend the events that the Union hosts, because either they want to make full use of their membership, or because they are genuinely interested in them. What I'd recommend is speaking to the Union representatives at the University Fair during your Freshers' Week and ask them all about what the Union can offer you, and see if you're interested. The representatives there are also better to placed to give you an insight as to what you can look forward to in the coming year(s) than any of us.

As for societies/groups, it will depend on a number of factors: your academic schedule for the term (some people only have one tutorial a week, freeing up a lot of time for extra stuff), the general schedule of things (many societies have timings that clash with each other), what you want to achieve from your time there, and ultimately your own ability to time manage. There are people who can play up to 6 different sports a week and still get two essays done and are contented with a 2nd Upper class for exams, while there are those who place a lot more emphasis on academic performance and would spend more time doing work, which is part of the beauty of the Oxford course: you can afford to work as hard as you want (past a bare minimum of course)

There's no ideal number of societies/groups to join. Having said that, you should at least look to join one or two college level groups, because those will be one of the best ways to get to know your college-mates better. I can testify that playing football for my college has done far more to build bridges with them than anything else. Also, it doesn't hurt to have a look at the University level groups that allow for flexible attendance and stuff, like where your membership is not dependent on performance or anything

I think a substantial number of Singaporeans use SQ, for a few reasons. First, the flight is direct. Transiting can be quite a hassle, a direct flight is both more convenient and takes less time. Second, they are generally more flexible with luggage allowance for students. You can ask in advance for additional 5 to 10 KG allowance and it is usually granted. Even if you do so during check in at the airport, they are quite nice about it (go early though). I've never booked flights through STA, I honestly doubt they are cheaper than booking directly from the airlines. There are so many flight comparison tools online nowadays, you can very easily shop around for the best price.

Book as soon as possible, as prices are usually lower the earlier you book, but do some shopping around. Also, it might be a good idea to book a 1 year return ticket, then for the vacations if you're returning home, book from the UK. In particular, return Singapore Airline flights seem to be cheaper when booked London-Singapore-London rather than Singapore-London-Singapore.

You don't really have to arrive earlier than start of orientation as your college will take good care of you, but it is helpful to come a little earlier if you want to buy random supplies in Oxford first. Do note that you will have to pay for extra accommodation if you arrive earlier. I believe most Singaporean freshers go a few days, and up to a week, earlier.

Yes, you'll need to bring your own bed sheets and duvet covers. Alternatively, there are lots of places that sell them so don't fret too much over them. As for en-suite toilets, it really depends on your college but don't expect it, most first years don't have them.

Not at all. Charges vary from college to college, but they average around £2.50 for both wash and dry.

You can suspend your mobile phone account (and keep your number), I think most telcos charge S$5 a month to do that. There is currently no way to port your number from a Postpaid to a Prepaid (so as to save on the charges), so unfortunately you are still stuck paying a (lesser) monthly fee. If I'm not wrong, you can only suspend your line for a maximum of 12 months, but I don't see that as a problem if you return home at least every summer.

Hi! Well for one it depends on what subject you're doing, but generally I think it's not recommended that you try and get your textbooks until you're here, for a few reasons.

1) the reading list from last year may include books which could have published a newer edition after it, or possibly are due for a new edition soon. While in most situations new editions are just minor revisions, sometimes tutors insist on newer editions due to content updates, so it's worth waiting till you get your own proper reading list (which sometimes, depending on your college, will be sent to you before term even starts).

2) There is a bookstore chain in the UK called Blackwells. In the Oxford outlet, they have a floor dedicated to second hand books, which more often than not, include a whole host of first-year books that people decide they don't want anymore after their moderations/prelims are over. If you're on a budget, this would be an excellent option. Alternatively, Amazon.co.uk offers a good selection as well.

another way of obtaining second hand books is to get in touch with a senior who is already here, and who is more than happy to get rid of his/her first-year books.

3) your luggage space is limited. unless you are willing to sacrifice precious luggage space for books, you won't be bringing them with you, which I think defeats much of the purpose of getting them now, unless you just want a light read (which is not at all necessary, I think)

basically, best option is to just get your books here (:

hope this helps!

Probably, but I cannot be sure. There are almost no Malaysians in OUMSSA actually as most Malaysians join the Oxford University Malaysian Club instead of OUMSSA.

I might be completely wrong here, but the reason for the "Malaysian and Singaporean Students" in our society name is probably historic, I suspect we used to be the Oxford University Malayan Students Association before (Singapore's) independence. This certainly is the case with the Cambridge equivalent CUMSA.

Over the upcoming terms there will be increasing opportunity for interaction between OUMSSA members and members from other Asian societies as the Presidents of these societies have made more integration a priority.

To your first question, honestly, we have no idea either. Some rumours have been surfacing that a certain school in Singapore has received more than 40 offers! My suggestion is that you join the Facebook group for the (undergraduate and graduate) freshers here so that you can be kept up to date:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_203766886320692

There is usually a Pre-Departure Event held by the British Council each year some time in July and the Singaporean society of various universities will set up stalls there, so you might run into some future university-mates there. In addition, for Oxford freshers, the OUMSSA will be organising three to four events in August and September involving both freshers and seniors! More information coming on the Facebook group and at the Pre-Departure Event.

Stay tuned :)

That's a lot of questions at once oO

In winter it can get pretty cold. Last winter, the temperature during term time went as low as -10 degrees, so yes a good winter coat is recommended. It will serve you well through the first and second terms. It can get even colder if you stay through the winter break here (my friend has a photo of that period where the streets were covered in snow - though on that note, don't expect much snow).

It obviously won't rain much in wintertime, because it's just too cold. Right now in summer term, though, rain does fall occasionally, but if you're used to Singapore's rain this will be nothing for you. It rarely goes beyond more than a light drizzle. An umbrella or a light jacket/sweater with a hood will help. It's supposed to get warmer later in the term, but right now it's a just the right weather to walk around in a t-shirt and shorts if you wish.

Note that often the cold comes from strong winds rather than climate, so a decent windbreaker is also useful. Hope this helps (: