Top Tips from My First Term at Oxford

By Annabelle Higgins

Well, fellow students, we made it! Michaelmas 2025 is at an end, and goodness, what an experience it’s been. Whether you’re already a student looking to hear about one of your peers’ experiences or an aspiring 6th former waiting on tenterhooks for your interview/interview invitation, here are a few tips that I, as a fresher studying English Language and Literature at Hertford College, have found helpful for navigating this new life.

1. Get a Key Basket

The amount of times people lock themselves out of their dorm at all hours of the day and night certainly keeps the porters active, but one trick that really helps is having a key basket on your desk/near the door — whenever you walk in, leave your key and/or Bod card there so you don’t misplace/forget it. Eventually it will become routine and it should save you several walks of shame to the porter’s lodge. Of course, this isn’t a perfect solution, but hey, it took me till 7th week to lock myself out!

2. Find Ways to Manage Your Sleep Schedule

This one is kind of obvious, but no one is at their best running on less than 7-8 hours of sleep (6, at a push). Prioritising sleep means managing your time in such a way that you are able to get your REM cycles in without sacrificing the quality of your work. For me, this means getting to bed around half 11—midnight and waking up at 7:30; however, I always set myself an earlier alarm for around 6:45. For some reason, knowing I can take an extra 45 minute nap makes getting up far less of a chore, and after that extra snooze I’m usually ready to go!

3. Engage in Clubs/Societies!

Again, a pretty obvious one, but it’s really important to have something outside of the realm of academics to keep your sanity intact (well, more or less). You might find yourself signing up for way more than you actually have time for, but if you have one or two socs that you regularly attend and a couple that you enjoy every so often, you’ll be on the path to that work/life balance we all so desperately crave!

4. Use Small Incentives to Accomplish Bigger Goals

You’ve heard it before, I’m sure — appreciate the little things. This can be anything from getting up earlier to make it to hall before all the delicious smoothie bowls are gone (Hertford Hall, you are amazing) to promising yourself a dorm room movie night once you’ve written two more paragraphs of that essay to getting a sweet treat to get through your class prep. Whatever gives you a small burst of motivation, seize on that feeling and ease yourself into being productive.

5.  Get Out There and Enjoy the Independence!

This, for many of us, is our first experience of living alone and doing things our own way, liberated from the structure of school and home life. While you shouldn’t completely lose your head, it is more than ok to let your hair down from time to time and indulge in all the opportunities Oxford has to offer. Try not to lock yourself in your dorm all term and let yourself explore this wonderful city — oh, and remember to take advantage of the awesome perks that come with being a student (e.g. free entry to the Botanical Gardens).

I hope these prove helpful to my fellow students for next term, and to anyone reading this hoping to find their place at Oxford, I wish you the very best of luck!