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Oxford

Life in Oxford

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Arrival

You must arrive in Oxford on the arrival date indicated in the program calendar. An onsite orientation meeting and the first few days of academic instruction will be held at the Oxford Program Center. During orientation, you will meet local faculty and staff and get a thorough introduction to the program.

NOTE: If you choose to arrive early or stay on after the end of the program, you are responsible for arranging your own temporary housing. You will be provided with suggestions for affordable temporary accommodations during orientation on the Stanford campus.

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College Associate Membership

The Oxford program enhances the academic experience by exposing Stanford students to the daily life of Oxford University. Associate membership with an Oxford college is arranged for all participants and provides the opportunity to interact with British students through dining in college and through involvement in theater, sports, music, and other extracurricular activities.

Accommodations and Meals

Housing is provided for the duration of the program, from the arrival date through the last day of residence as indicated in the program calendar. Students are housed in single or double rooms at the Stanford House, a collection of older buildings with rooms and facilities connected by more than fifty staircases.

The center accommodates 47 students and a junior dean, and includes:

  • a seminar room
  • a library
  • a study area
  • a computer cluster
  • a lounge
  • a music room
  • six kitchenettes
  • staff offices

You will receive the equivalent of 19-meals-per-week. In Oxford, Stanford students are affiliated with one of four colleges of the university, thus creating the opportunity to take lunches, snacks, and dinners alongside Oxford students. In addition to the college dining arrangements, students receive a meal allowance to cover the purchase of groceries to cook for themselves at the center or to buy meals in local pubs or restaurants.

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Meeting People

You will be affiliated with one of the three Oxford colleges — Brasenose, Corpus Christi, or Magdalen — which will give you access to sports and most other college facilities that your Oxford peers enjoy.

The colleges' sports teams and societies often recruit students from outside their own college and associate members, which means that your extracurricular activities might not be limited only to your affiliate college. In addition to the college clubs and societies, Oxford University’s Student Union offers the opportunity to join in an even wider range of leisure pursuits. Most activities in Oxford will be within walking distance of the Stanford House.

Convenient public transport is available around Oxford and from oxford to London and elsewhere in Britain.

While it is tempting to combine your stay in Oxford with frequent excursions to other parts of the United Kingdom and Europe, the center encourages all students to schedule their travels outside the regular program quarter, so that they can make the most of their contact with Oxford students and get to know the city well.

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City Life

Oxford is truly a university town of global proportion. The student population numbers more than 16,300, with almost a quarter of its students coming from overseas. The student body represents more than 130 nationalities.

Visitors to Oxford who expect to encounter the quiet, secluded atmosphere of an ancient learning institution are sometimes surprised to find that the university is situated in the middle of a thriving city, with a resident population of approximately 150,000.

Though relatively small, there is no shortage of things to do in Oxford. If you seek cultural activity, you will find:

  • live theater
  • a major art museum (the Ashmolean)
  • cinema
  • classical-music concerts
  • touring opera performances
  • a lively network of pubs
  • local nightlife hopping

If you are a shopper, you will enjoy the convenience of a modern shopping complex located in the city center, many innovative boutiques, and touches of smaller-town life in the nearby covered market and the weekly produce market found at Gloucester Green.

Alongside its many medieval and other buildings, ample parks and gardens, including Britain's oldest botanic garden, founded in 1621 and the college grounds and gardens, add to Oxford's unique sense of charm.

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