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New Oxford University Program

The Study Abroad Foundation (SAF) is pleased to announce a pilot program at Oxford University whereby exceptionally qualified students from SAF member universities may be nominated to attend an Oxford University College for a one year study abroad experience.  The One Year Visiting Student Program is highly competitive and the application deadline for the Academic Year 2008-2009 is December 15, 2007.   Qualified applicants and staff at SAF member universities should contact their local SAF office to discuss the various Oxford Colleges that have agreed to review visiting student applications through SAF.

Oxford University

Oxford University is one of the most prestigious universities in the world, founded in 1250. The tutorial system at Oxford is ideal for hard-working, independent students who are passionate about academics and who crave an intellectual challenge. Oxford University is a federation of individual colleges. Each college has its own tutors, administrators, grounds, residence halls, and traditions. Students apply to a college, rather than to Oxford University, and most Oxford students readily identify themselves as students at their particular college, rather than the University itself.  Oxford Colleges are small residential communities and as such seek to balance the composition of their communities when selecting visiting students.

While each college monitors students’ academic progress and personal welfare, Oxford University conducts degree examinations, confers degrees, organizes lectures, and maintains museums, libraries, laboratories, and lecture halls. The faculties of the university are responsible for teaching and scholarship within their disciplines and provide tutors to students within their disciplines in the colleges.

Tutorial System

The hallmark of Oxford University academics is the tutorial system. The tutorial is typically a one-hour meeting between one or two students and the tutor. Tutorials usually meet once a week or every other week, and at the center of the tutorial is an essay on a topic the tutor previously assigned. The tutor will lead a discussion about the essay topic in an effort to provide new insights. At the end of the tutorial, the tutor will assign a new topic and may offer recommended reading.

Tutorials are individually arranged, taking into account the subject to be studied and the tutor's area of expertise. They are similar to independent study courses, but Oxford students bear even more responsibility for conducting independent research and maintaining good academic progress.

Oxford University organizes weekly lectures on myriad academic subjects, and all students at the University, regardless of college, are welcome to attend. Lectures are not usually mandatory except for some science subjects, but tutors often recommend them as good supplements to tutorials and research.

At Oxford students are expected to do much more work on your own and to think more independently than in most other teaching methods. Considering all of these circumstances relating to the University and its residential college system it is essential that students applying to participate in the Visiting Student Program are flexible, independent, confident and have excellent English language skills.