London Review Oxford Review

By Steven Conejo Gutierrez

Applying to university is a mess. Searching for the best-fit university is a problem most people face, which is understandable. You have to look for academics, geography, weather, culture, food, and more variables to choose from. Nonetheless, you always hear about some universities that stand out over the great majority: the so-called dream schools. These elite and highly selective institutions are mainly private, competitive, and highly renowned. Examples of dream schools in the popular imagination are Harvard, Princeton, Cambridge, and Oxford. But, Are they really that good?

This thought intrigued me while walking Oxford’s Streets, visiting its museums, and roaming around restaurants in search of something to eat. I would describe Oxford as magical, the old architecture gives Oxford a Harry Potter-like atmosphere. It is a place you can walk around and get lost through the alleys that were all paired with trees and green. Also, the town of

This rich food culture was highly appreciated and made eating and being in Oxford ten times better. Also, my experience felt much better with the impressive sustainability efforts taken in Oxford as well as London in general. Just noticing these efforts made the stay there better, and perceiving it was easy in every place you were, even in big food chain companies like Burger King. Recycling policies were shocking. An example of this fact is once trying hard to uncap a bottle for almost 5 minutes I noticed that it was made in such a way that the cap and the bottle stayed together for recycling purposes.

In general, Oxford was the best place I visited while in England. I think that KU can be inspired by lots of these efforts taken in Oxford and other universities. Notably, they could take note of the benefits derived by working to improve campus sustainability, which we at the University of Kansas are not taking very seriously. Either way and although I couldn’t verify if it is a “dream school” to study in, I can say that Oxford and its town is a dream place to enjoy. Visiting Oxford University has questioned me on how things are done at KU to try and improve the current situation to make my dream school closer to the positive experience I had in Oxford, England.

Oxford is fascinating to walk by with its multiple coffee shops, bookstore and bookstore/coffee shops, usual things to see all over London too, and other stores with everything one might need. Within these stores, restaurants and pubs stand out. In London, you can see a variety of restaurants from all over the world that, contrary to what happens sometimes in the US, had little to no change to make them more manageable for Londoners.