The Official "Oxford or Cambridge?" Thread

To find advice and information on the differences and similarities between the two universities to aid you with choosing between them. Not for petty arguments over ancient rivalry, this is classed as spam and will be removed and warned as such.

(edited 2 years ago)

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Reply 1

ABCHello

Hello, which university out of oxford or cambridge would be more likely to admit a student who hasn't reached their full academic achievement (for example achieving low A's rather than A*'s) due to suffering from long term illness and attending a poor sixth form college with an unsatisfactory rating from OFSTED?

Reply 2

Huw Davies

Original post by ABCHello

I'd be very surprised if there were any significant difference.

Reply 3

hayheyley

I'm not sure how Oxford view extenuating circumstances, but Cambridge have a special access scheme which you may be able to apply through - info here. Hope this helps :smile:

Reply 4

Leaet

Neither particularly likely but both interview significant percentages of applicants. Completely at a guess i would say Cambridge seem more liberal and may be more likely to view your case kindly. but bear in mind views on what are extenuating circumstances vary depending on your illness, your college will probably not be much of a factor but i could be wrong. Other people have issues too, you should just ask the university what they think.

* few people from your school/college proceed to higher education ,,i was wrong :P AND your family has little or no tradition of studying for a degree
* your education has been significantly disrupted or disadvantaged through health or personal problems, disability or difficulties with schooling

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 5

ItsSuperdan15

I had a friend get into Oxford with AAB because her mum was ill throughout sixth form. Not sure how they'd respond to other situation though.

Reply 6

Maxm79

I've tried to make sense of the tables in the two prospectuses but it doesn't make sense to me...
Could any current students/applicants tell me why they chose history at one or the other.

Thanks :smile:

EDIT: I mean history at Oxford* aha

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 7

SemperVivum

Original post by Maxm79

Change the title to your post. Choosing between Cambridge and Oxbridge isn't hard as Oxbridge isn't a university :rolleyes:

Reply 8

Maxm79

Original post by SemperVivum

Change the title to your post. Choosing between Cambridge and Oxbridge isn't hard as Oxbridge isn't a university :rolleyes:

WOOPS

Reply 9

shoshin

Original post by Maxm79

Could any current students/applicants tell me why they chose history at one or the other?

The pre-interview History Aptitude Test (HAT) at Oxford is quite a distinguishing feature; advantages/disadvantages will depend to an extent on how comfortable you would feel about sitting it (there are sample papers etc. on the Oxford website). In my case, the HAT was an argument in favour of applying to Oxford, because it appeared to offer an opportunity to 'compensate' for weaker areas of my application. However, it is a funny old test and not everyone's cup of tea by any means. Some candidates may understandably prefer to rest their academic case and apply to Cambridge.

Best of Luck :smile:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 10

EnVogue

One of them exists and one of them doesn't?

Reply 11

hyn_shayan

Which is better in your opinion and why?

Reply 12

RK92

cambridge doesnt offer a straight physics course, you have to do it as either natural sciences specialising in physics after the first year or as maths and physics specialising in physics after the first year.

at cambridge:
you can either do 75% maths and 25% physics in the first year then do physics for the rest of your time;
or you can do 50% maths and physics in the first year with the other 50% of your times tudying materials/chemistry/geology then you can do physics for the rest of your time

oxford lets you do physics all the way through.

as to which is better... both are excellent and which of the two you go to will likely have little bearing on how good a physicist you become.

(edited 12 years ago)

bump

RK92 covered it fairly comprehensively; there isn't a lot to add. If you don't want to study anything alongside physics, then Oxford is probably the place to go (or possibly M&P at Cambridge), while if you'd like to retain a little more flexibility then Cambridge is probably better. Have a look at the courses and decide which is better for you, and also try to get an idea of which university you would rather study at. Either choice would be excellent academically, so it's not really possible for others to tell you which one you should choose.

Reply 15

Wellie

So which one?

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 16

deltabomber

Original post by Wellie

I'm applying for English Literature and am not sure which ancient institution to go for. I have LOW As at AS in all four of my subjects (Eng Lit, Economics, History, Latin). Am going to drop Latin as it is too hard.

I'm thinking Oxford as they can't see your UMS and if I destroy the ELAT test that may give me a better chance. What do you think?

Also... does it hinder me dropping Latin; it being related to English and highly respected, almost like I'm giving up because it's too difficult :frown:

?

So which one?

Giving something up because its too hard?
Maybe oxbridge isnt for you

Reply 17

bramz19

Original post by deltabomber

Giving something up because its too hard?
Maybe oxbridge isnt for you

Prone to stupid comments?

Perhaps an internet connection isn't for you.

Reply 18

Artemis 97

Original post by bramz19

Prone to stupid comments?

Perhaps an internet connection isn't for you.

brilliant but out of rep :frown:

Reply 19

Artemis 97

Oxford is best for english anyway , history will help, if you dont think you can get the grades dont carry on with the subject, latin may be more respected but an A in economics is better than a B in latin