Uzair Sattar (A’21) shares his experience at Pembroke College, Oxford.
“The year before I went abroad, I was overly involved in a lot of clubs and activities. I felt really overstretched and wanted to focus on reading and writing. I felt like Oxford would give me more space in my day to day to get back in touch with reading and writing.”
Uzair Sattar (A’21) went to Pembroke College at Oxford from Tufts in 2019, while his study abroad was cut short due to the pandemic, he still was able to learn a lot. Uzair studied PPE there, he says that Oxford let him focus a lot more on the broader aspects of his study but in a way that provided depth. “I wrote like 30,000 words in like two months, just in terms of essays.” He also says that the tutorial system made it much more intensive. “If you were lucky, you had one professor with three students.” Even though the study was super intense, Uzair still found community. He joined the cricket team and was even going to play in the legendary Lord’s Cricket Ground had the pandemic not happened. While he did not get to play with them, he did practice with the team, which he described as an enriching experience. Uzair had also founded the Tufts Cricket Club before going to Oxford and could continue his interest in playing at a new level there, “I was always challenged and I was learning by playing with some of the most skillful players I have ever played with.”
While reminiscing about his time there, he said that being an international student from Pakistan, made it easier for him to adjust to the shift of studying abroad but being at Oxford itself was stressful. “You tend to forget you’re an international student at Oxford because you are so busy with your coursework.” He also said that his friends were mostly other study abroad students and for fun they would hang out on weekends and unwind from the strenuous coursework they were engaging in. When asked about tips and tricks he might have for Tufts students who are applying there, he says to not overthink the process and just apply, but also to be aware of how intensive Oxford can be as an institution and be ready for your social life to be different from Tufts as it is just a very different environment. “That’s the nature of the tutorial system, you are kind of in your own boat academically, there is little cross collaboration. You spend most of the time alone in the library.” He also braced people to expect the weather to have an effect on their mood.
He also asserted that students should be in communication with the Tufts in UK office “The Tufts in UK office was great! It is your first stop to get any resource you need and they are very proactive.” Uzair said that the study abroad office really helped especially during the move out “I cannot forget how Meredith stepped in during COVID to helps me.”
“Academically there is no doubt that it expanded what I studied at Tufts. Oxford was a great program for that.” When asked about what kind of a student should think about the Oxford program he says “Anybody who is academically driven would like the program. You can gain a lot from the experience. “
Tufts Global Education 