Hi everyone I'm Selena, I'm a DPhil in Biomedical Engineering,
and I'd love to take you on a tour of St Cross College.
St Cross is a graduate only college
with over 550 students from about 50 different countries.
And this is the main quad, which is the Old Quad,
but we also have a modern quad, and I think that really reflects
how at St Cross we blend in, very evenly, the old and the new.
At St Cross you can choose to stay in accommodation on site,
but also off-site because we offer multiple locations throughout the city
so that you can pick a flat that is closer to your lab or your department.
If you're new to Oxford you'll have priority over choosing a room,
but if you choose to stay on site that's fantastic because
St Cross is actually very central in the city,
and also you'd be very close to the college libraries that we offer - there's a more
modern one in our modern end of the quad,
but also one that we share with Pusey House.
In there is our library which is open 24/7,
and there are also breakout rooms
so you can actually work in teams to discuss your projects.
The library is also home to the James Currey Collection
of books of African history and politics.
This is our dining hall where you can enjoy an informal lunch and dinner
every day during the week,
um, but also, multiple times a week we offer black tie dinners
which are really just like more formal dinners where
you get to enjoy the exquisite meals that our catering staff
um, offers to us.
And I think one of the most unique things about St Cross is
the fact that it's a clearly very egalitarian college,
because as you can see we don't have a high table,
which means that you actually get to engage in conversations with professors
and even the college master during a dinner which is absolutely fantastic.
We also host themed dinners such as the Christmas one, Easter one,
or the end of term one,
and also very often we host
exchange dinners where you actually get to meet people from different colleges.
Usually after lunch or dinner we'll come in here in the Common Room
to enjoy tea and coffee
and so you can just continue talking
to your fellow students in a very relaxed way,
but also with professors because we share the space with them
which is really fantastic because it
creates a very open space for the entire college.
What's really unique about St Cross is that
by being a small college it really allows you to bring your ideas to life,
by being very entrepreneurial about your ideas,
or maybe even just founding a new society.
This is another one of our reading rooms which students can use,
and we also have actually a very active student body
that organises lots of events such as college balls,
BOPs, and also just pub quizzes or just interest groups.
St Cross is also very sporty college,
and together with Wolfson we have a couple of sports clubs,
and one of them being the rowing team which is very successful.
As a student of St Cross you'll also have full access to the Iffley Sports Center
which offers gyms, and indoor and outdoor courts, as well as a swimming pool.
Here we are at the St Cross college bar where we often host BOPs,
but you can always come over in the evening to have a drink,
play some pool, and just relax with friends.
So just through there is the access to the Pusey House library,
which our students are very lucky to have access to
because it's a leading library in theology, history and philosophy,
but of course it's open to everyone at the college.
College also offers a range of welfare support,
along with multiple scholarships that cover all disciplines,
and this can be support for travel, research grants, but also merit scholarships.
What is really great, particularly when you're new to Oxford,
is that once you join at St Cross you'll have a college advisor
who will guide you through your studies,
but also a student body that will be there to support you
throughout the years you spend at St Cross.
Something that I love about being at St Cross is that I get to talk to
people studying very different things from what I do,
and that actually really allows you to grow as a more complete person