I’ll be studying abroad at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford, for three terms starting in September. I’m going to get a smartphone for the first time before I go to help with travel. Since I’m going to be in the UK for so long, I’d like to get a plan there. What plan should I get? What carriers have good service at St. Catherine’s? Any particularly good deals?
Are you sure you aren’t starting in October?
Get an iPhone- you can take your US sim card out and put in a UK one, then switch them back when you are in the US.
Pay as you go is much much easier in the UK- easy to walk into any of the phone shops on Cornmarket. They will all have stands at Freshers week, with various deals.
You don’t have to make any contract commitments- you just top up (online) by as much as you need. Most people seem to do Vodafone, but it is worth checking when you get to Catz (b/c it is a bit further out) to see if one of the others is better there. Cell phone reception in lots of Oxford is pretty variable- most people use various messaging services via wi-fi, as the eduroam (Oxford’s wi-fi system) has at least as good coverage as the phone coverage.
Thank you! You’re right, I’m actually starting in October. I’ll just be entering the country in September. Does that mean that there’s nothing I need to/can do relating to mobile service before Freshers week? And do I need to by a new SIM card as soon as I get into the country, or are these part of the pay-as-you-go plans?
The easiest, cheapest thing is to get a SIM card when you get to Oxford. If you don’t want to wait until Freshers week you can just go into any of the phone shops on Cornmarket and choose a pay-as-you go SIM card only deal. Here are Vodafone’s current offerings, to give you an idea:
https://freesim.vodafone.co.uk/Freesim?cookie=passed
The deals in Freshers week are not so ah-mazingly different so if you are there early go ahead and get it sorted. You’ll be ahead of the crush & they will have more time to be helpful, plus you will have plenty of other things to do during Freshers week! Other major ones are O2 / 3 (just merged), Orange, Virgin, and T-Mobile. My D has Vodafone & I have O2/3 and both of us mostly get good coverage- but there are definitely holes. Unfortunately, Catz- esp inside buildings has a bad rep for mobile phone reception- sorry!
Btw, don’t know how much info you have about moving in, but don’t bring a ton of stuff: UK students don’t do up their rooms the way US students do- partly b/c you have to move out at the end of every term (unless you have a special deal; international students are usually given a space by their college to put their stuff between terms). The terms are so short it’s easier to think of it as a summer program- 8 or 9 weeks- rather than 9 months as in the US. You can get pretty much everything you need at Boswells, so just bring comfort stuff - pillow, some pictures, etc. If you are in a school with a uniform now, though, bring it with you…
One more thing: watch out for drinking & drinking games (especially sconcing and pennying) during the first term, and especially during Fresher’s week. It is perfectly legal for you to drink of course, but unless you are already drinking a LOT you will be a minnow in a pool of sharks. Lots of new students- esp girls & esp Americans- get caught out every autumn. Including people who arrive with absolutely no intention of getting caught up in the drinking frenzy. Mom moment over now 
Also, forgot to say that bank accounts are tricky to set up for internationals, but they will have people available at Freshers week. You will need your paperwork from Catz saying that you are enrolled, and you will want to have some cash with you to open the account. Once my D had her account over we just do wire transfers from our bank to hers for larger amounts- painless after the first time!
Here’s an old guide to the process (not the most clearly written document ever, so come back if you have questions): http://www.ox.ac.uk/media/global/wwwoxacuk/localsites/studentgateway/orientation/bank_guide_for_European_and_International_students_2011.pdf
We have found Lloyds to be easy to work with, but I don’t think that there is a big difference. Life will be a lot easier with a local debit card (contactless at a lot of places…).
If you don’t have a smartphone yet, maybe get an unlocked international model that has two sim slots. My inexpensive Blu phone has two sim slots so I could keep my US sim and the UK sim in it. You can deactivate them. So in Europe I would deactivate the US one so I don’t pay international roaming charges, and in the US deactivate the UK one.
Thank you so much! All of this information is extremely helpful!!