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Prestige - student or university?

I chose to go to a lesser university because it's local rather than a university known for being good. I don't mind the university itself but as the brother of an Oxbridge student I can't help but wonder lately if I should have pushed myself to go to Oxbridge, or even studied abroad at MIT or Caltech. I suppose what I'm bothered about comes down to this: how far can you go on your own prestige? Could someone from a 'backwater' university who is equally as skilled as someone from Oxbridge be held with as much regard?

TL;DR: How much will the university I go to matter once I leave?
Well I beat Oxford and Cambridge grads to get a place on a grad scheme and I went to Coventry University. Prestige only gets you so far.
Go where you think you'll have the best time, in my opinion.

After this, for the next half a century of your life you'll be working so enjoy yourself now!
Don't compare yourself to your sibling. You're doing your own thing, which is what you're good at and makes you happy. That's all that matters :smile:
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Avatar for Craghyrax
Craghyrax
17
Original post by Joe_DK
I chose to go to a lesser university because it's local rather than a university known for being good. I don't mind the university itself but as the brother of an Oxbridge student I can't help but wonder lately if I should have pushed myself to go to Oxbridge, or even studied abroad at MIT or Caltech. I suppose what I'm bothered about comes down to this: how far can you go on your own prestige? Could someone from a 'backwater' university who is equally as skilled as someone from Oxbridge be held with as much regard?

TL;DR: How much will the university I go to matter once I leave?


Nobody can answer this, and if they do try and give you a prediction you should ignore them. How well you do after University cannot be predicted by the reputation of your institution. There are many more variables than just that. For instance your personality, how hard you work, how good you are in interviews, how well you do on your course, whether you spend time building up your CV and getting experience when you can over holidays, the reputation of your particular department. And then of course, your race, class, gender, accent (employer bias) personality type, the particular environment and values of the field you wish to enter, and so on and so forth.
My advice: don't waste time and energy thinking about it. Just do your best to make yourself employable and prove yourself on your degree, and see what happens.

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