Oxford Campus and Dorms

<p>I heard from somewhere that Oxford had awful dorms (with communal bathrooms...); is this true? Also, is it exactly necessary to have a car on campus? Because I kind of hate driving and still do not have my license, even though I turned 17 a month ago (uh, getting thrown into the woods off the interstate will do that to a person). I don't want to go to Oxford if I'm going to feel "stuck" there, I guess. I'm hopefully going to visit in a couple of weeks, but their website says visits for the summer are limited, as there is construction going on right now. </p>

<p>Basically, if anyone on here attends or has attended Oxford, can you please tell me what it's like? I've already heard about the academics; I'm interested in dorms, campus facilities, food, people, etc. Thanks!</p>

<p>Oh, and I’d also like to say that the “small town feel” is not going to be a problem for me- I live in a town with less than 6,000 people! Of course, I do have a nearby city with an adequate mall and movie theaters, but I’m pretty adjusted to life sans Wal Mart.</p>

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<p>East Village, Haygood, and JRC are all pretty good. Branham and East are the one’s to avoid. I understand that most dorms (Emory and elsewhere) have communal bathrooms–just a fact of life.</p>

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<p>There are shuttles back and forth to the Druid Hills campus, local shopping center, wal-mart etc. I will say that having a car gives you a lot more freedom and I’m glad I had one my first year. Of course, there will be plenty of people with cars you can make friends with.</p>

<p>awful=communal bathrooms. Well darn, most top 20s have awful dorms then. By that measure, most colleges w/non-apartment style dorms have awful housing, including Emory main (which actually has some of the highest quality housing you will see at a private school).</p>

<p>Dang. My brother went to Georgia Southern, and he had his own bathroom…but I guess quality education is more important than quality housing. I’m glad they have shuttles, though. I might be driving my second year, but definitely not my first year!</p>

<p>If you get a newer dorm, the communal bathrooms are usually not that bad. And if new dorms at Oxford are similar to those on main, then they have private bathrooms on each hall (with a tub/shower in them).</p>

<p>Oh, well that’s not too bad. Sorry I keep asking so many questions, but I do have another one: Are the people at Oxford generally nice? I saw a person on one thread say they were all cut-throat competitive and only concerned with their academic standing; they also said everyone was extremely clique-ish, like in high school. That’s not true, is it?</p>

<p>I can’t imagine the cut-throat thing. I haven’t heard that one until that person said it. There is no need to be cut-throat because most classes don’t grade on curves or anything like that, so I’m thinking that person kind of saw what they wanted to see. As for cliques, the smaller and more diverse (this is awesome overall, but also forms potential lines for people to divide themselves. Both main campus and Oxford are VERY diverse) a campus is, the more that is likely to happen. I can see them being cliquey to some degree (though it’s not so cliquey that it impedes formation of a larger, more coherent community spirit, like it sometimes does on main campus. I guess that’s one benefit to Oxford being smaller. Real community building is easier despite any cliques that form). I think you’ll end up alright there.</p>

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<p>You have all types. I think a lot of people at any top school (particularly if they’re paying a large sum to attend and/or are premed/prelaw) are concerned about their academic standing. However, very few courses are curved, so there’s no incentive to be cut-throat. Are some people a little cliquey? Yeah… you have those everywhere. But it’s not hard to be part of many, many, social circles. A lot of it just comes down to similar schedules.</p>