The Official "Oxford or Cambridge?" Thread

Hey, I'm applying for 2023 and am struggling to choose between Oxford or Cambridge. I'll be applying for music, and so far comparing the courses hasn't helped much as I don't see much difference, or enough to make me prefer one over the other. Is there anything somebody with quite niche knowledge could let me know so I might have a better idea of where to apply? Thanks!

PS. I know there would be advice telling me to go with the place I prefer best location wise, but what makes it hard is that I really don't mind if my uni has a more town or city feel!

Hey, I'm applying for 2023 and am struggling to choose between Oxford or Cambridge. I'll be applying for music, and so far comparing the courses hasn't helped much as I don't see much difference, or enough to make me prefer one over the other. Is there anything somebody with quite niche knowledge could let me know so I might have a better idea of where to apply? Thanks!

PS. I know there would be advice telling me to go with the place I prefer best location wise, but what makes it hard is that I really don't mind if my uni has a more town or city feel!

Hey, I'm applying for 2023 and am struggling to choose between Oxford or Cambridge. I'll be applying for music, and so far comparing the courses hasn't helped much as I don't see much difference, or enough to make me prefer one over the other. Is there anything somebody with quite niche knowledge could let me know so I might have a better idea of where to apply? Thanks!

PS. I know there would be advice telling me to go with the place I prefer best location wise, but what makes it hard is that I really don't mind if my uni has a more town or city feel!

Hiya,

I'm back in the UK and am more able to reply now. There are actually some significant differences between the two music courses, particularly when it comes to course structure. At Cambridge you'd have formal exams every year that (I believe) would all count towards your final degree classification, whereas at Oxford you'd only have exams at the end of first and third year - and your final degree classification would rest entirely on your third year modules/papers. There are advantages and disadvantages to both systems, so it's about figuring out what might suit you best/work to your advantage better.

Cambridge has a much greater/deeper focus on harmony, counterpoint and analysis. If that suits you/is your interest that's great, but if (like me) these are weaker/less interesting areas, the Oxford course might prove more appealing. Cambridge also has greater opportunities in their undergrad course for studying music and science/music psychology - so if that's a particular interest of yours, you may prefer the Cambridge course.

Both courses are under review processes to try and broaden/decolonise their comparatively rigid/archaic course structures. Oxford has already done their course review and their new course structures/modules can be found in the attached PDF, which was kindly sent to me by fellow TSR Oxford muso @OxMus . I think Cambridge has done their process and whilst their course is certainly better than it used to be, it's my personal opinion that Oxford have made greater strides in this than Cambridge.

The two courses ask for different predicted grades, so that's worth bearing in mind too.

Let me know if you have any further questions about what I've written

Hiya,

I'm back in the UK and am more able to reply now. There are actually some significant differences between the two music courses, particularly when it comes to course structure. At Cambridge you'd have formal exams every year that (I believe) would all count towards your final degree classification, whereas at Oxford you'd only have exams at the end of first and third year - and your final degree classification would rest entirely on your third year modules/papers. There are advantages and disadvantages to both systems, so it's about figuring out what might suit you best/work to your advantage better.

Cambridge has a much greater/deeper focus on harmony, counterpoint and analysis. If that suits you/is your interest that's great, but if (like me) these are weaker/less interesting areas, the Oxford course might prove more appealing. Cambridge also has greater opportunities in their undergrad course for studying music and science/music psychology - so if that's a particular interest of yours, you may prefer the Cambridge course.

Both courses are under review processes to try and broaden/decolonise their comparatively rigid/archaic course structures. Oxford has already done their course review and their new course structures/modules can be found in the attached PDF, which was kindly sent to me by fellow TSR Oxford muso @OxMus . I think Cambridge has done their process and whilst their course is certainly better than it used to be, it's my personal opinion that Oxford have made greater strides in this than Cambridge.

The two courses ask for different predicted grades, so that's worth bearing in mind too.

Let me know if you have any further questions about what I've written

Thank you so much, that has been such a comprehensive comparison. I ended up choosing Oxford, but am struggling to choose a college. I think I'm getting too caught up with the admissions data from each college, instead of focusing on things that matter to me, tutors' interests and colleges with an instrumental and orchestral focus. I'm looking at St Hildas, Lincoln, Oriel and Christ Church, and wondered if you had any insight as to which would be nice to apply for? Just two cents from someone who's been there would be lovely!

The way it works at Cambridge (for all courses, to the best of my knowledge - possibly not if they're accredited) is that your degree isn't classified, and you receive a classification every year for that year's exams. Most people will only give their final year classification, or if you get a first multiple years you would call it a double/triple (erase as appropriate) first.

@qwerties for reference

Hmmm I don't know any of those colleges hugely well tbh. The one I'm able to comment on most is St Hilda's: it has the Jacqueline du Pre building on-site, which is quite cool! I would have applied there had my older sister not gone there before me (I didn't wanna look like a copycat, haha!). They have their own punts and it's got nice grounds The two tutors there (AB and MH) are very lovely and I'd thoroughly recommend them as nice people to have as college tutors The tutor at Lincoln (SA) can come across a bit scary but her bark is much worse than her bite, if that makes sense? Christ Church takes the most musos (about 5-6 per year each year) but it is very popular with applicants, due to being next to the Faculty building and also a choral foundation college It does have the Harry Potter dining hall though

Ahhh I see Thanks for mentioning this

Thanks again for the reply, I went quite rouge and ended up choosing Queen’s instead as I really wanted a chapel, and St Hilda’s didn’t, even if it had a lovely site. I’m slightly worried about Queens being oversubscribed though - but I’ve been told it shouldn’t really affect me all that much, as I’d just be pooled if the department wants me?

The way it works at Cambridge (for all courses, to the best of my knowledge - possibly not if they're accredited) is that your degree isn't classified, and you receive a classification every year for that year's exams. Most people will only give their final year classification, or if you get a first multiple years you would call it a double/triple (erase as appropriate) first.

@qwerties for reference

Hey! I’m applying 2023 (2024) entry and am struggling to pick between Oxford and Cambridge for History or History and Modern Languages. I’ve been comparing the course content between the two but both have such a vast amount of choice (which is wonderful) that I can’t find anything distinct that separates the two apart. If anyone with more knowledge in this area could shed some more light or offer some lesser known information it would be greatly appreciated.

edit: I’m an Australian student so the usual advice of which is closer to home, or which one puts more value on A-levels or GSCEs unfortunately doesn’t apply to me

Hey! I’m applying 2023 (2024) entry and am struggling to pick between Oxford and Cambridge for History or History and Modern Languages. I’ve been comparing the course content between the two but both have such a vast amount of choice (which is wonderful) that I can’t find anything distinct that separates the two apart. If anyone with more knowledge in this area could shed some more light or offer some lesser known information it would be greatly appreciated.

edit: I’m an Australian student so the usual advice of which is closer to home, or which one puts more value on A-levels or GSCEs unfortunately doesn’t apply to me

As a city, Cambridge is smaller, prettier (in my opinion) and quieter. Oxford is busier with more nightlife. In Cambridge, it feels like the uni is built around the City, whereas Oxford feels like a uni built in a City. If you don’t have any preference between the uni courses, then choose based on the type of city you want to live in.

This is probably going to sound quite silly of me, but what exactly does that metaphor mean? I’ve heard it so many times and yet I don’t understand it. Does it refer to if the university of the city came first?

In both cases the City pre-dated the university. In Cambridge it feels like all the main attractions and all the prettiest building are the universities. For example, the centre of Cambridge and the most photographed spot is Kings parade, which is where Kings Cambridge college is. Oxford is a bigger City with a lot more attractions outside the Uni. Some of the uni building are still stunning, but you need to go look for them rather them dominating the city centre.

Hello! I am applying for Classics for a 2024 entry with predicted grades of A*A*A and I’m struggling to chose between the two… (I’ve never studied Greek or Latin)
I like how you can choose a language at Oxford, but I don’t like how there is a larger emphasis on philosophy, which I don’t really enjoy.

Cambridge’s course seems much more free, and seeing as I’m born in July I don’t care about being a year older as there wouldn’t be much of a gap anyway. However, you have to do both languages which I think might be a bit of a struggle??

As for the towns, I really don’t care about how it’s set up. I’m from the North so Cambridge is further from home but other than that it doesn’t really make much of a difference.