Living in College
One of the greatest things about St Anne's is that it's so practical to live here. When you look beyond the beauty of the buildings and architecture, you realise that what's most important are the little things that keep you happy on a day-to-day basis.
Accommodation
Let's be honest - St Anne's isn't most people's idea of how an Oxford college should look. We may be missing some dreaming spires, but St Anne's is in the minority among colleges in being able to offer accommodation to almost all students for the whole duration of their degree course, and your accommodation in first year is really pretty good, and gets better in the second and third years with the option for en suite rooms.
Accommodation throughout the colleges varies in quality, with finalists getting to choose rooms first (under our room ballot system), and Freshers being allocated rooms before they come up. First years usually live in Gatehouse, the Bevington Road houses, the Woodstock Road houses or Above the Bar. Gatehouse is a testament to 1960s architecture. Although its style is not to everyone's taste, Gatehouse holds a special place in the heart of its residents. The rooms are compact but cosy (with underfloor heating and big windows) and each floor has a kitchen and two bathrooms. The Bevington and Woodstock road houses are the original buildings of the college. The size of the rooms vary. Some have large bay windows, while others aren't so fortunate. It's pot luck where first years end up living, but most would agree that their house is the best and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Rooms above the bar are in similarly old houses, and are conveniently located - as you might expect - above the bar.
Wolfson and Rayne usually house 2nd years and visiting students. The can overlook the university parks or the quad, with big modern kitchens plus a balcony (or even two in the big rooms!) and a sink for every room.
Clare Palley, Trenaman and Ruth Deech buildings are newer buildings and are all equipped with en suite bathrooms, so are usually taken up by 2nd and 3rd years. Ruth Deetch is the most modern, whilst Clare Palley has a cosy homely feel to it and overlooks the beautiful Principal's garden and Trenaman has massive kitchens and is conveniently located next to STACS and the college bar.
Food
Another thing St Anne's is very proud of is the food we get in hall. Our chefs have won awards in national competitions, and that's not something most colleges can claim.
During the week there are 3 meals a day on offer, whilst at weekends, we just get brunch, which is one of the most popular meals. There is always at least one vegetarian option at each meal. Most students eat lunch and dinner in hall, and its a social occasion as much as it is a necessity to eat. Whilst the dining hall doesn't isn't grand and doesn't have paintings of old people staring at you while you eat, its large enough so that you never have to queue for very long and you don't have to wear gowns or get fined if you don't eat there often enough.
The payment system also works really well. At the beginning of each term £120 from your battels will be credited to your Bod card (see the glossary pages) and this gets scanned each time you buy something in hall. Food is subsidised, with hot lunches at about £2.00, and dinners for about £2.50. Soft drinks aren't subsidised, so kicking your Ribena addiction before coming up is advised. With those prices, £120 just about lasts some people for the term, but if you're particularly hungry (or if they bring back the banoffee pie) you can take your cheque book to the Accounts Office and more money will magically appear on your card. Anything you don't spend is credited for next term.
Unlike some colleges, there is no dress code for hall and we never have to wear gowns. However, about 5 times a term, we have Formal Hall, which is always a good night. Everyone gets dressed up, and for around £11.00 you get a three course meal (the standard of which is better than normal hall food), served to your table. Wine to suit the food is provided: red and white are available, with each person allowed up to two thirds of a bottle.
There are a few supermarkets - Co-op which is close by, a Tesco Metro and a Sainsbury's Local a bit further down the road, and a Sainsbury's in the town centre which will sort you out for all your food cravings at standard prices.
St Anne's Coffee Shop (STACS)
Only a year old, STACS is THE place to go for a quick cappuccino to keep you going, or to take a break from your work and chill out with some friends on the comfy sofas, as they're almost as good as the food. They sell a range of drinks to match starbucks and a good selection of savoury and sweet items such as paninis and the amaaaazing muffins! Open 9.30-6.30 in term time.
Laundry
We've got a fantastic massive new laundry room with ironing facilities. There are several washers and driers and 4 irons+ironing boards, so there's rarely a time when they're all in use. At £1.20 a wash, and £1.20 a dry.. it's not the cheapest in the world but the machines are soo big that you can fit a large load in each time. Some students feel the need to put on a wash each week, whilst others somehow manage on only a few washes a term.
Gym / Erg Room
Many students have never ventured into the college gym, but it certainly exists. Located in the basement of 58/60 Woodstock Road building next to the laundry, it is equipped with a couple of bikes, a good set of free weights, bench press, power cage and punch bag. It is frequented by sport teams and the second home to fitness freaks who's grunts can be heard from as far as the town centre. A room dedicated to rowers houses 2 erg machines which students can use to train on.
IT
All student rooms at St. Anne's have a really fast internet connection. The college Library, the seminar rooms and the dining hall have wireless access.
Almost no-one uses laptops in lectures, so a desktop computer is often fine. If you don't have your own computer, the university has a scheme where you can buy a (slightly generic) desktop or laptop at slightly reduced price, or there is the IT room which is open 24/7 and equipped with the latest PCs, scanners and printers.
The college provides some technical support, and the IT rep will be happy to help with urgent or out-of-hours problems. The university also has some software to download for free, including a copy of the Sophos anti-virus package, so don't go out and buy McAffee! Mac users will also be expected to have anti-virus software, and Linux users should have a firewall, such as firestarter or a properly configred iptables file. All computer users should keep their machines up to date, but that shouldn't be a problem - with such a good internet connection downloading updates takes mere seconds!