Freshers' Guide - Welcome

Welcome to Merton!!! I guarantee that you will all be sick of that line by the end of Freshers' Week, but the sentiment is genuine. You will find for yourself, most likely very early on, that Merton College is one of the friendliest and most welcoming communities around.

You should have received an introductory guide from us through the post, containing all the bare essentials. This Freshers' Guide will give you a much more detailed (and, hopefully, more entertaining) overview of what Merton life is like, and what to expect. Coming to University is a big jump for everyone, but hopefully by the end of this guide I'll have calmed your fears, answered your questions, and filled you with uncontainable excitement at the prospect of arriving and getting stuck in!

Merton is (naturally) the best college in Oxford, which is (again, naturally) the best university in the country. We can prove it, too – just consider the excellent food and drink, superb accommodation, and the vibrant arts and music scene, at very agreeable prices. Then there’s the stunning architecture and the friendly people – which all comes absolutely free. Oxford has something for everyone, and the events we lay on in Freshers' Week can only hope to scratch the surface of the vast variety of activities, clubs, sports and everything else on offer. Don’t worry about trying to pack an entire university experience into one week – it’s just as important to make friends both with your fellow freshers, as well as current Mertonians, who will all be enthusiastic/desperate (delete as appropriate) to get to know you.

It's natural to feel a bit apprehensive about coming to a completely new community like this (I know I did), but remember that all the freshers are in exactly the same boat. Everyone here is wholeheartedly committed to helping you settle in happily; before you know it, you'll have made a whole new set of friends and you’ll be having an ace/brill/smashing/awesome/wicked/mega/spiffing time!

Niall Allsopp
Information and Returning Officer

PS Remember to read the other guides: Entz guide, International students' guide, IT guide, Welfare guide and more resources on WebLearn.

If you want to print this guide out, you can download our printable version.