<p>I was accepted to read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Somerville College of Oxford University. And I got into Dartmouth and Princeton.</p>
<p>My particular concerns are twofold. First, since Oxford focuses on teaching inside the student's chosen course, I am worried that I may suddenly decide that such humanities-intensive and reading-intensive subjects are not for me. I am a programmer, and I find that I enjoy the instant gratification of solving logic problems with code. What if I suddenly start craving to study that as an undergraduate?</p>
<p>Second, what is the transition from American to British culture like? There are certain aspects of American life about which my friends and I can laugh, etc., and I don't know how similar my interests, etc., will be to those of British students. I don't want it to be ... awkward...</p>
<p>However, I realize that if I pass up Oxford for an American university, I might not forgive myself for giving up such a prestigious background. idk...</p>
<p>Has anybody thought about these two things in their decision to go to an international university?</p>
<p>“I am worried that I may suddenly decide that such humanities-intensive and reading-intensive subjects are not for me. I am a programmer, and I find that I enjoy the instant gratification of solving logic problems with code. What if I suddenly start craving to study that as an undergraduate?”</p>
<p>This is dispositive IMHO. If you aren’t certain you want to study only the subjects of your course, choose an American college.</p>
<p>I know people who’ve made this decision (though there aren’t THAT many). Those who were more comfortable with their choice of study chose Oxbridge; those who wanted more in the way of options chose Princeton or Yale. The other thing to consider is where you want to end up right after college (US v. UK).</p>
<p>Finally, FWIW, Oxford and Princeton have a very close relationship, so you can always spend 1/4 of your collegiate time at the school you don’t choose!</p>
<p>Surely you would have asked yourself and resolved such fundamental questions as these before applying to Oxford? You don’t say what were the positive reasons that made you apply for Oxford. How do they weigh in the balance? If it was only prestige then my recommendation would be not to go as it wouldn’t sustain you through three years of a pressurised work environment and academic focus. But before you conclude that the PPE course is too narrow I suggest you look a bit more closely at the scope of the options; I think you might be surprised.</p>
<p>Second, what is the transition from American to British culture like? There are certain aspects of American life about which my friends and I can laugh, etc., and I don’t know how similar my interests, etc., will be to those of British students. I don’t want it to be … awkward…</p>
<p>These are excerpts from students at my college who’ve studied abroad at Oxford:</p>
<p>“… at the end of the day, you are really paying for a glorified library card, with the added bonus of meeting some renowned academics (who often barely care about your academic progress) for very short periods and try to glean whatever you can from those interactions. You are really paying for the name and prestige… it is in many ways extremely elitist, and more focused on rote learning than critical thinking… outward displays of religiousness outside of places or contexts of worship will be shunned…”</p>
<p>“English people on the whole seemed more pro-Palestinian than Americans, and atheism seemed more popular there as well.”</p>
<p>“If you want to study Political Science, Economics, Philosophy, or English Literature Oxford will be a great place to do that so as long as you expect a high workload and little contact with your professor and other students studying the same topics. For almost any other field of study (particularly the sciences) I find the tutorial system to be a very ill-suited way of education and would not recommend going to Oxford at all.”</p>
<p>“Slight anti-semitism… Mostly, I noticed a hugely divided society in terms of SOCIAL class. People in upper-class households are quite snooty, and look down on people of the “lower orders,” as they call them, with a lot more disdain than they do in America. I think this is probably more predominant in Oxford than elsewhere, as kids were quite pretentious and full of themselves.”</p>