I don’t think there’s a really an EA reason to pick a certain college. Just pick based on the normal considerations (e.g. where you’ll most enjoy living; where you think you fit with the culture / most fun; quality of tutorials & housing & funding; general reputation; academics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norrington_Table).
I did physics and philosophy and went to Balliol and was happy about that.
The main reason was that Balliol was clearly the phys phil college at that time, with ~5 people studying it each year, out of a total of ~15 in the university. It also had David Wallace, who was a great phys phil tutor (though he’s now left). I’d guess it still the biggest phys phil, but haven’t checked. It’s also well-known for PPE.
I think this was a decent reason to choose it—I appreciated having other phys phils to work with, and they tend to be an interesting bunch (and maybe some of the most naturally EA minded people out there!). I had lots of great tutors too.
I thought at the time that Balliol also does well on other factors: central location, OK housing (though not as nice as the wealthiest ones); culture a bit more lefty; decent academically; good reputation etc.
If I hadn’t gone to Balliol I might have gone for Wadham for the social life or one of prestigious ones with beautiful grounds (e.g. Merton, New, Magdalen, St Johns). New seems to have a good combination of features.
It’s true these ones are harder to get into than the others, but in Phys Phil they used to have a good ‘pool’ system, so if you don’t get into your first choice college, they’ll assign you to another one so long as you’re above the bar in general.
I don’t think there’s a really an EA reason to pick a certain college. Just pick based on the normal considerations (e.g. where you’ll most enjoy living; where you think you fit with the culture / most fun; quality of tutorials & housing & funding; general reputation; academics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norrington_Table).
I did physics and philosophy and went to Balliol and was happy about that.
The main reason was that Balliol was clearly the phys phil college at that time, with ~5 people studying it each year, out of a total of ~15 in the university. It also had David Wallace, who was a great phys phil tutor (though he’s now left). I’d guess it still the biggest phys phil, but haven’t checked. It’s also well-known for PPE.
I think this was a decent reason to choose it—I appreciated having other phys phils to work with, and they tend to be an interesting bunch (and maybe some of the most naturally EA minded people out there!). I had lots of great tutors too.
I thought at the time that Balliol also does well on other factors: central location, OK housing (though not as nice as the wealthiest ones); culture a bit more lefty; decent academically; good reputation etc.
If I hadn’t gone to Balliol I might have gone for Wadham for the social life or one of prestigious ones with beautiful grounds (e.g. Merton, New, Magdalen, St Johns). New seems to have a good combination of features.
It’s true these ones are harder to get into than the others, but in Phys Phil they used to have a good ‘pool’ system, so if you don’t get into your first choice college, they’ll assign you to another one so long as you’re above the bar in general.