Oxford Brookes University Forum

First Impressions

I chose Oxford Brookes because it was pretty close to my hometown, I'd been to Oxford before and I knew a little bit about the University already. I also picked it because it was the best place to study Art and Design for miles around, because of that I'd only seen the one block I'd be studying in before arriving on my first day.
Oxford Brookes is on a lovely campus in Headington, loads of trees, lots of space and still quite busy. Freshers week could have been better, I was a year or so older than most people on my course so I didn’t fancy the traffic light parties etc. They all seemed to have fun though!

Studying

Brookes' library is awesome, the librarians are usually pretty helpful and, even though it took me ages to find it, they have a wicked music library so you can loan out a bunch of CDs each week instead of having to buy them in a store or online.
They also have 24/7 access so, as a proper insomniac, it was great being able to hit up college whenever I wanted at night or early morning - even after a night out sometimes!
The tutors and lecturers I had were pretty top notch too, they were approachable and definitely knew their stuff.

Accomodation

The halls are shit! well, the ones I was in were, anyway. My friends ones seemed much nicer and much closer to campus, but I guess that is the luck of the draw! I seriously advise getting a house with some other fresher's rather than be in the really bad ones. If anything, it's cheaper and there are fewer people to steal your food and DVDs!

The city

Oxford is beautiful and much smaller than I thought it would be. That isn't to say there isn't a lot to do, day or night! The Purple Turtle and the Cellar on the Corn Market are by far the best, student friendly clubs in town - lots of good times had in both!
The Cowley Road and Jericho are nice areas these days too, a bit more independent and quirky, go to Cowley Road to slum it and Jericho to live the higher life and have fun doing both!
All the Oxford students I came across were fun and the whole town vs. gown stuff is blown way out of proportion. Although, saying that, the centre gets pretty rough around 2am when all the clubs kick out don't go near McDonalds unless you're really, really hungry!
There are also more kebab and burger vans in Oxford at night than I have seen at some festivals, its crazy. Sammy's on St. Aldates is the best.

Insider's big tip

If you're into vintage clothes and accessories or just want to peer into the weirdest shop you've maybe ever seen, check out Unicorn on Ship Street but watch out, the woman that runs it probably does bite.