Oxford University

Well, I had been feeling rather ashamed because for the last month, I was walking around this grand city of Oxford not knowing what I was looking at, so I decided, "THIS MUST STOP!" I promptly signed up for an Oxford walking tour, and let me tell you, I'm so glad I did! I still feel as though I've barely scratched the surface of learning all of the history of this place, but what I did learn, I will share with you now. :)
First things first: Oxford University is made up of about 40 independent colleges ranging from 0-600 students each. I include zero purposefully--there's one college, All Souls, that is so exclusive, it doesn't even have students. It's just a college for people to be professors in. Pretty awesome setup, really. Oxford University itself provides administration to the lot and also the fabulous Bodleian library system. Each college is responsible for its curriculum, admitting students, etc. If you apply as an undergraduate to Oxford, you're really applying to individual colleges within it, and you have to be accepted to that particular college to get in. There's only one university with this same set up, and that's Oxford's sister school Cambridge. Cambridge was set up actually by a few disgruntled Oxford students in the 1300s I believe who were sick of the damp weather here. I don't blame them really, Oxford always looks like it just rained, even when it hasn't for days. It's so damp that the streets are always wet.
Please check my picasa web album entitled Oxford Walking Tour to see the pictures and explanations about some of the historic colleges I visited on the walking tour. Some little nuggets to get you excited: a famous alley seen in Harry Potter, Edmund Halley's observatory where he spotted his comet, and Bill Clinton's old dorm room are all included!