- I'm a Yale student, and I just toured Oxford for the first time while studying abroad.
- The famous school is the inspiration for Yale, so I recognized some of the architecture.
- I loved the old-school feel on campus and can see myself being a grad student at Oxford one day.
As a sophomore at Yale, I'm no stranger to a large, beautiful, ancient-looking college campus. I'm a student of Yale's Saybrook College, which occupies the Memorial Quadrangle. This is the Ivy League school's best example of collegiate gothic architecture.
Every day, I wake up to Sterling Memorial Library right outside my window. I can see the awe-inspiring Harkness Tower rising in the background behind my dining hall and feel transported into a different time.
When I first toured Yale, it felt like I encountered the sublime for the first time. I figured I would experience that feeling again.
However, over the summer, while studying abroad in London, I had the opportunity to spend a day wandering around the streets of Oxford and Oxford University. I got to have that same magical experience all over again — magnified.
I took a tour of the schools at Oxford
Oxford University consists of over 30 individual schools or colleges. I was most familiar with All-Souls College at Oxford, but that school was closed to tourists for the month of August. However, I was able to walk around the famous Magdalen College.
At Yale, a tour of a residential college might last around 10 minutes if you keep a good pace, so I didn't expect to spend the better part of an hour at Magdalen. But that's precisely what happened. Magdalen College was massive. It had two large green spaces and overlooked a segment of the River Cherwell where tourists were punting (riding in small boats called punts).
I also toured the Radcliffe Camera, arguably the most famous building and my favorite. It's a massive, baroque temple-like building that is a bit imposing.
It's clear that Oxford inspired Yale
When I took the trip out to Oxford, I expected the campus to feel a bit like home. Once there, I felt like I was walking around the ideal of Yale itself — what my school strived to be and emulate.
Oxford University is much, much older than Yale. While we are very proud of our 1701 charter date, Oxford was started at least 500 years before that. As a result, the university dominates the town surrounding it in a way that Yale — even as the biggest employer and contributor to the wealth of New Haven — doesn't.
Yale attempts to recreate Oxford in many ways — albeit in a somewhat confined space. Architecturally, of course, Yale's collegiate gothic architecture is a revival of the original Gothic style, in which many buildings in Oxford were constructed.
Oxford's surrounding town is drastically different than New Haven
A big difference between Oxford and Yale was the nature of the towns surrounding the schools.
Yale's New Haven is a proper American city and feels like it. Everything is on a nice grid layout, and we are surrounded by American convenience. It feels like home.
While Oxford is a city, it feels like one that has been around for centuries. Even before I got to the school, cobblestone pedestrian paths, and winding alleyways made me feel like I was in a different era. The city leans toward this impression; many shops play into the medieval university feel, which I loved.
I can see myself at Oxford in the future
As I left Oxford for London, I was left in awe of the city and the university. Of course, it's still an active university in a 21st-century town, but it was incredibly well preserved. If you looked at the Radcliffe Camera against the backstop of the university church at just the right angle, you could feel teleported back centuries.
Although I have a long way to go and a lot can change, I can definitely see myself going to Oxford for graduate school.
Even if that doesn't happen, I know I will return to Oxford for another tour. I can't wait to go back.