[Son of Makuta]

(Original post by Nambi)
Pros: I went to the Open Day, loved it, loved the uni, chose a college I will be happy in, everyone was helpful and friendly, will get great teaching there, will sound good when I add it as a network on Facebook, nice big city with lots to do, liked the teaching system.

Cons: I get scared I'll hate it there. I consider myself just averagely clever, went to a ****** comprehensive but now a few years later washed that off me and am doing well in Biology etc. and LOVE the subject, definitely something I want to do - however I'm really into Zoology in particular and I get all itchy imagining myself at Oxford delving into biochemistry (which I suck at) for a required part of a module until I can specialise in what I like. I just guess I imagine myself really floundering there. Should I apply for just Zoology itself at another uni instead of general Biology? The reputation of Oxford is creeping me out. I get top marks when it comes to Zoology itself and am confident with it but at some other areas of Biology (biochemistry being the worst) I go right down and need loads of time to absorb it.

Replace the biology worries with worries about whether I'd enjoy the mathsy bits of Computer Science and you're in pretty much the same position as I was. And as it turned out, I love being and studying at Oxford, so you probably will too

[~Kat~]

(Original post by Nambi)

I guess my main problem is I just don't feel CLEVER. I associate Oxford with clever people whereas I am just a gal who likes animals.

I don't go to Oxford so this may not help much, but I know a group of people who go there, and yes, they are very clever but that is not what sets them apart from the rest of the student population. What does that is their passion about their subject, their willingness to put in the work so much so that they'll loose consectutive nights just pouring over books.
You just need to choose a place where you think you will thrive. I think your problem is that you consider the places you've applied to as Oxford and 'Other'. You need to take into consideration how you best learn, the kind of learning atmosphere you prefer and the kind of people you get along with best, instead of making your decision based on the connotations that certain Unis may have.
Good luck making your decision

[Choirboy]

(Original post by ~Kat~)
... Good luck making your decision

The OP has made the decision months ago!

[~Kat~]

(Original post by Choirboy)
The OP has made the decision months ago!

Gah, I really must start looking at dates, no?

[Picnic1]

If cleverness means self reliance, working hard off your own bat, a willingness to study very historical periods and an enjoyment of engaging in a close knit environment then they may fulfil that.

If cleverness means coming up with original theories or engaging in creative pursuits then some other universities may fulfil that equally as well or better.

[Bimbleby]

(Original post by Flying Cookie)
Don't think about it twice. Oxbridge is a huge opportunity, you wouldn't realize it unless you were living abroad and hearing of these awesome places with the best unis in the world and first class resources, etc. What's not to like? There's no such thing as a university where you know you will fit in. If you don't fit in, at least you know it's time well spent, rather than not fitting in at a worse uni. And you will fit in, chances are. Over 6,000 students. There must be at least tens of them who you'd like.

What's to lose? Do it.

Agreed that you can never guarantee you're going to fit in somewhere, but there are a lot of reasons to think twice about Oxbridge, even if you are 'Oxbridge material.'

I got in, everyone thought I would, I was, people said, very typically the kind of person suited to Oxbridge: weird at school (not necessary, but a lot of us are), super-keen on my subject, read every book I could find on it, aced my results, wanted to go into academia etc... but if I had the choice again I wouldn't set foot inside the place. I wish I'd had a normal university experience. I wish I'd been able to have three years where I could chill out with people, relax, take my time to learn things and have the freedom to read interesting stuff outside my course. It can be very isolating here, too... we're not forced to share houses with people, so if you're prone to staying in your room you can go days without seeing anyone. The workload is ridiculously intense and the pace relentless. I thought I'd like that since I was so passionate about my subject. I wanted to learn more, but I realise now than whilst I'll come out with a phenomenal amount of understanding and a huge breadth of knowledge... I don't need it. I'd rather have gone somewhere else and learnt far less but been able to enjoy it rather than having to force it into my brain at 100mph.
Being around crazily intelligent people is cool, but I feel like I could have had far healthier relationships with people elsewhere. The intensity here is strange. I felt it from my first day when a friendly third year had a chat with me in my room... I'm not sure exactly what it is, but possibly it's the prevalence of people going slightly mad (in many cases, including mine, actually mad) which makes people feel like it's normal to talk about that sort of thing. Maybe it's only the people I've met... but I wouldn't choose it again. I'd trade the prestige for living in a house with a few friends getting drunk and having fun. I never would have expected to hear myself say that when I was applying though, and I probably would have been dismayed at myself, so I doubt this will change anyone's mind. It certainly wouldn't have changed mine.

The one thing I have is that I would have felt forever inadequate if I'd never applied or hadn't got in. That's a problem in my head, but at least it was solved by coming here.

[Bobo1234]

(Original post by Cirsium)
All good solid reasons. You missed out, of course, that the 1st year field trip is amazing, and ensures that all of the biologists know each other very well and are a very sociable subject. There's also the fact that the research project kicks the ass of every single other university, but I guess you care less about that than you will in 3 years time!


And you're not alone in that. I remember freaking out about 1st year exams until Martin Speight (head of undergrad teaching - you may have heard a lecture by him if you went to the open day. Beardy, friendly, quite random - possesses a cuddly aphid!) pointed out that because we take Mods not Prelims (both 1st year Oxford exams) you only need to average 40% overall to pass. As it turns out I got 60 in cells and genes, but not having to worry makes the whole thing less painless.

I wouldn't stress to much about it actually. If you're worried about struggling with the course then Alberts Molecular Biology of the Cell is your bible, and George Ratcliffe - dull as he is - gives the best lecture handouts of pretty much any lecturer I had at Oxford. You're in safe hands.


I could tell you you won't. Or I could tell you the truth. That at least a third of us found ourselves completely lost in all the biochemistry practicals with no idea what was going on. After a particularly memorable incident 3 weeks in I came as close as a I ever did to transferring out of there. And then the weeks went on and I found that in that same practical everybody else (apart from the 20 or so who went on to major in Cell) was as lost as I was. You will flounder. You may cry. But you won't be alone, and I think it's a small price to pay, not least because the teaching is so good that you will get there, you will understand it and everything will be fine.


Do you care about every mark being a 1st? If yes, then Oxford's not for you. If you can cope with a well balanced first year, where you discover some new passions (Mark Fricker's algae lectures are a force to be beheld!) and find that you really do hate some things, then you'll come out the other side, prepared to cope with things not always going well (which, let's be honest, will happen even if you do major in Zoology) and ready to get on with the bits you love. In your 2nd year you can spend as long as you like playing with the Wytham chicks, or monitoring the pregnant sows at the farm and doing behavioural work on the Isis ducks.

The bottom line is yes you will struggle. But so will everybody else. And your tutor (which college btw?) will take you for cups of tea, and sit there awkwardly on the day you finally crack and start crying; and you'll spend some time poring over Alberts, and eventually you'll pass Cells just fine and then you'll never think about it again. But you'll be a stronger biologist because of it.

Take it from someone who spent first year freaking out, and then came out of 2nd year exams with a 76 average (70% is a first): if you choose to take the challenge you will survive it.

Feel free to PM me if you have any Qs

Grr, people with mods...

[alexsasg]

Go for it. I truly don't believe there is a specific Oxbridge 'type'. If you never try...you might regret it!

[NothingCrushesUs]

I haven't read everything in this thread, but in the original post, I think I detected the assumption that you have to apply for the same subject for all five choices. This is not true. I applied for a different course at every university that I applied to (Oxford - French, UCL - Law with French Law, Birmingham - Law with French, Queen Mary - Law with European Law, York - English Literature and Linguistics). Just phone the universities that you're interested in, and ask if they will accept a separate personal statement. In my case, all of them said that they would happily and gave me the relevant email address, other than Oxford; so I simply put my Oxford personal statement into UCAS and submitted the ones for the other courses by email.

[Bimbleby]

(Original post by NothingCrushesUs)
I haven't read everything in this thread, but in the original post, I think I detected the assumption that you have to apply for the same subject for all five choices. This is not true. I applied for a different course at every university that I applied to (Oxford - French, UCL - Law with French Law, Birmingham - Law with French, Queen Mary - Law with European Law, York - English Literature and Linguistics). Just phone the universities that you're interested in, and ask if they will accept a separate personal statement. In my case, all of them said that they would happily and gave me the relevant email address, other than Oxford; so I simply put my Oxford personal statement into UCAS and submitted the ones for the other courses by email.

I'm really surprised by this... good advice, though; I had no idea you could send in separate personal statements. I guess I'm a bit surprised anyone would do this, though. I can see why someone might apply for slightly different course titles or some joint honours and some single (so you like French and Law, and most of your course choices are basically that), but why a totally different subject at York? I would think (and I'm guessing this is Oxford's thought, too, because I've heard this said in open days) that if you're unsure what you want to study to the point you have to send different applications to each university, you ought not to be studying those subjects. I know people can have varied interests, but normally one wins out when you have to choose. I guess a lot of people do apply to university for the university part more than the subject part, but I always find that a bit depressing.

[Aspiringlawstudent]

It's a particularly smooth silk.

[such_a_lady]

(Original post by Bimbleby)
.

That was quite interesting to read, actually. What's your subject, if you don't mind me asking? And are you considering moving universities?

[Bimbleby]

(Original post by such_a_lady)
That was quite interesting to read, actually. What's your subject, if you don't mind me asking? And are you considering moving universities?

Thanks I'm a philosopher, and I'm in my final term, so there's not much point me moving now! I don't think I ever would have, that seems like making too much of a fuss, and I know that even if it's a slog the degree is a great thing to have etc. But I think if I had more guts I would have moved...

[Foo.mp3]

Hello

[3nTr0pY]

You have to be obsessed with your subject if you want to go to Oxbridge and really enjoy it. At least, that's certainly true if you're doing physics. People on most other courses don't generally have to think as much (although have more to memorise).

When I joined Cambridge, I wouldn't really do physics for fun in my spare time. Now I do and so do all my friends. If you can't ever see yourself doing that sort of thing you probably won't enjoy it that much. When working 10 hours a day is genuinely 'work' rather than being the equivalent of a saturday night rave, life becomes a misery.