Going to Oxford University is like living in a bubble for three years, amassing a library's worth of knowledge but losing a bit of your common sense along the way.
You come out at the end well-versed in everything ever written by Milton or a niche area of 18th century politics but you don't know how to exist outside of the eight week termly cycle and have probably forgotten that you don't need to wear fancy dress on a normal night out because you're so used to bops.
8 Ways You Know You're an Oxford University Graduate
You forgot what a decent nightlife was and are overwhelmed by being back in the big city(01 of08)
Life post Oxford is a jolt back to reality with normal sized nightclubs rather than endless cheese on a dancefloor the size of your kitchen. You might have been one of the few who took a stand against the musical dearth by not going out at all, or else you surrendered personal taste entirely. Well, welcome back! No more having to pay £9 to listen to that annoying fresher who recently discovered Nike and decided to become a DJ! Although it is a strange sensation not to know 75% of the people on a night out, you're definitely back to being a little fish in a big pond again. (credit:Astarot via Getty Images)
You didn't ever go to the Careers Service because of the pile of books you were buried under, and now you're paying for it(02 of08)
You thought it would be a dream to have absolutely nothing to do post finals, but unemployment isn't all that. Everyone from uni is are either on a banking grad scheme that they started slaving away for from First Year or a listless arts grad wasting away on a series of unpaid internships. Meanwhile, your LSE and UCL mates are setting up businesses left, right and centre. LinkedIn is the new Facebook and you have a seriously pathetic number of 'friends'. What was that they said about an Oxford degree opening all the right doors? I can't hear you over my weeping bank account. If only you could pay for life on your BOD card like the old days, and don't lie, you definitely have tried to. (credit:mucahiddin via Getty Images)
You weirdly miss the library(03 of08)
Really weirdly. Writing CVs and cover letters all day gets boring quick, at least Charles Dickens never sent you a rejection letter in reply to that essay you wrote about him. No wonder all your mates are applying for Masters, the only thing anyone who went to Oxford really wants to do is keep reading. And, to be honest, it's all your currently qualified to do. Your inner nerd wears rose tinted glasses and reappears pretty quickly after the nightmare of finals is over, begging you to get back to the Bod. (credit:Thomas Barwick via Getty Images)
And no wonder, when your library looked like this(04 of08)
You quickly realise that you were living in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Unfortunately, you only realise it after leaving because you spent most of those three years in said library. Memories of punting and Oxford's numerous quaint, and overpriced, pubs make your nostalgia pretty unbearable when you're back in the concrete jungle, and you'll inevitably go running back to those dreaming spires. (credit:John Woodworth via Getty Images)
You stop getting a dose of Marxism with your cereal(05 of08)
Obviously everyone misses the communal nature of student living, dissecting the events of the night before on a corridor of 7 girls just isn't the same via WhatsApp. At Oxford, you can spend three years living in halls as well, which means 24/7 'discussion' and 'debate' over breakfast, lunch and tea. You can say goodbye to those hours of philosophical chat in a scholarly setting without the time pressure of say, going to an actual 9 to 5 job. And to be honest, you may well be glad to. Literary theory is lovely over a cup of tea but now you can binge on Real Housewives instead without feeling guilty. (credit:mahroch via Getty Images)
You carry those strange college prejudices on far longer than you should do(06 of08)
You try and stop yourself bothering with the petty rivalries and stereotypes that dominated Oxford social circles at uni - Wadham is full of champagne socialists, rowers are just a bit weird, etc. You've left all that nonsense behind you. But then you go out for dinner in London with your working "adult" friends and someone turns up in the loudest pink sweatshirt emblazoned with Christ Church College. Really? Some things never change. (credit:Karen Huntt via Getty Images)
You rediscover the joys of public transport(07 of08)
It took me months to get used to how small Oxford is compared to Manchester. Then suddenly it became normal to live in a city where being 10 minutes walk from the centre means your college is 'far away' and you'll eat in hall because you're too lazy to walk to Tesco's. St Hilda's might as well have been Swindon. And forget ever getting on a bus. Don't even talk to me about the tube. The only transport you'll use in Oxford is the train to get there and it's still a journey that makes me feel like a terrified fresher, yet happy at the same time. (credit:Rob Kints via Getty Images)
You have a scarily wide understanding of mental health(08 of08)
Studying at Oxford is a uniquely amazing and challenging experience, but the effects of such a pressurised bubble for three years inevitably leave their mark. You'll definitely know a fair few people suffering from mental health problems that developed at uni, but at least the social stigma often attached to discussing them isn't relevant to your peer group. Welfare is heavily funded at Oxford and, by third year, you'll have realised why it's so important and that more can always be done to help. (credit:Katie Edwards via Getty Images)