The Student Room Group

Rejecting Oxford?

Scroll to see replies

Original post by Azarimanka
4. You don't obviously know many private school people. YOu clearly have a massive chip on your shoulder. Sort it out. Just remember - they are there on as much merit as you, you are neither any better or worse than they are. If you go around hating them for where they wne to school - you are pathetic.


You sound like the pathetic one here. Sort youself out.
Original post by knowledge is fear
You sound like the pathetic one here. Sort youself out.


Haha - charming. Bitter about something are we>:
Reply 22
Original post by Vickymh
<apologies in advance for my technology issues, no idea how to use this :smile:>

Basically, can't make a decision so have resorted to the internet in the hope it will solve all my problems. I've applied to study chemistry and have unconditional offers from Oxford St Hilda's and Imperial (sorry to sound pretentious) and can't choose between them...everyone automatically says i should go to oxford for the prestige and job oppertunities etc but i've lived in the middle of nowhere in dorset all my life and would like to live somewhere without fields? Other reasons pro london; i know a few people at uni there already or are starting in sept (i know this shouldn't be a reason), i like cooking so would like to be self catered, and i disagree with some of oxford's principals...(eg they sent a reading list saying thanks for accepting the offer and said this wasn't a mistake, they send this to everyone irrespective of offer acceptance, which i interpret that they assume everyone accepts?). The only real reason i have for going to oxford is the whole future/career thing but does it make you that much more employable than an imperial degree? Slightly concerned about oxford's reputation of stuck up private school kids but i'm sure you get them anywhere, maybe quite a few oxford rejects at imperial? Anyone in a similar situation? Probably not? Any advice would be amazing, thanks :smile:

Well last year I had offers from both Oxford and Imperial for Computer Science (not unconditional, but I knew I could and easy exceeded both offers).

I chose Oxford, and do not regret it one bit. For me, the whole atmosphere is much nicer. Personally I love the grand history, I love the architecture, and I love Oxford as a town (I came from London originally, and know the area IC is in very well).

In response to Oxford sending you a reading list, well York sent me a reading list when they gave me an offer as well. It is not an arrogant thing, it is a practical thing: most people do accept Oxford's offers, and there are plenty of people who like to get down to the reading early. The stupidest thing you could do is reject Oxford simply to make a point. If you think you will do better at Imperial then certainly go for it, but do not be so flippant with your future.

As for stuck up private school kids, well I would argue that it is people like you who are more detrimental to the atmosphere. I went to a private school, a lot of the people in my college went to private schools, but a lot more people went to grammars, comprehensives, or are from another country. Frankly you should eliminate your preconceptions right now. University is a melting pot of different backgrounds, values, and cultures, and if you have already made up your mind about all privately educated individuals then you don't sound like a particularly likable individual.
If it makes you feel any better, I have not noticed any boundaries at Oxford whatsoever. We all get along great (and there are a lot of people from Dorset's grammar schools), regardless of our wealth, nationality, and ethnicity.

In conclusion, I would say you should seriously consider Oxford. I always said I was going to choose IC, I feel in love with it from the second I went to an open day there. I ended up choosing Oxford because it was Oxford, and while maybe I did it for the wrong reasons, I couldn't be more happy with my choice. Having spoken to people at IC, it seems a lot less social there and generally less enjoyable in my opinion.
Reply 23
Original post by Gridiron-Gangster
To be in the position where one can actually turn down Oxford. Wow.

To be fair, anyone who has ever got an offer from Oxford has been in that position... and quite a lot of us seriously consider it.
Original post by Fallen
To be fair, anyone who has ever got an offer from Oxford has been in that position... and quite a lot of us seriously consider it.


Kind of defeats the purpose of applying.
Reply 25
Original post by Gridiron-Gangster
Kind of defeats the purpose of applying.

Why is that? I applied to five universities knowing that, should I get all offers, I was going to be rejecting four of them.
That is what happened in my case, and although I rejected Imperial in the end, I considered it carefully.

I go to Oxford and I love every second of it there, but even I know that it is not the be-all and end-all.
Original post by Fallen
Why is that? I applied to five universities knowing that, should I get all offers, I was going to be rejecting four of them.
That is what happened in my case, and although I rejected Imperial in the end, I considered it carefully.

I go to Oxford and I love every second of it there, but even I know that it is not the be-all and end-all.


Well the effort put into making an application (well from my perspective anyways) and yes I'm aware it's not the be all and end all but I do think it's rather pointless to put Oxford or Cambridge down as a choice only to turn it down when you get the offer.
Reply 27
Original post by Gridiron-Gangster
Well the effort put into making an application (well from my perspective anyways) and yes I'm aware it's not the be all and end all but I do think it's rather pointless to put Oxford or Cambridge down as a choice only to turn it down when you get the offer.

Is the effort not exactly the same? Okay you have to get your application in a bit earlier, but it is still the same effort. Plus there are other advantages in getting the application done early, I actually had all my four other offers before even being interviewed at Oxford, which was nice.

And I can only repeat myself, why is it pointless? No more pointless than putting down Imperial or LSE and then rejecting them for another institution. It is only pointless if you think that for every application for any subject, it is always best to pick Oxbridge, which is not the case.
Original post by Vickymh
<apologies in advance for my technology issues, no idea how to use this :smile:>

Basically, can't make a decision so have resorted to the internet in the hope it will solve all my problems. I've applied to study chemistry and have unconditional offers from Oxford St Hilda's and Imperial (sorry to sound pretentious) and can't choose between them...everyone automatically says i should go to oxford for the prestige and job oppertunities etc but i've lived in the middle of nowhere in dorset all my life and would like to live somewhere without fields? Other reasons pro london; i know a few people at uni there already or are starting in sept (i know this shouldn't be a reason), i like cooking so would like to be self catered, and i disagree with some of oxford's principals...(eg they sent a reading list saying thanks for accepting the offer and said this wasn't a mistake, they send this to everyone irrespective of offer acceptance, which i interpret that they assume everyone accepts?). The only real reason i have for going to oxford is the whole future/career thing but does it make you that much more employable than an imperial degree? Slightly concerned about oxford's reputation of stuck up private school kids but i'm sure you get them anywhere, maybe quite a few oxford rejects at imperial? Anyone in a similar situation? Probably not? Any advice would be amazing, thanks :smile:


i'm at hilda's, if you like cooking is the worst place to be.
go for imperial.
Reply 29
Whilst I know nothing of Oxford specifically, I am also from the middle of no-where and when I applied first time round, applied to big, inner-city universities.

On my Gap Year, I went to Birmingham with my boyfriend who's parents live on the outskirts and I knew I could never live in a big city. The place they lived was apparently 'small' but to me it was huge and completely bewildering and I felt so dwarfed.

Now, I'm at Reading and I much prefer it to the time I spent in Birmingham. Don't think that you 'need' a big city just because you are sick of your small village. It can be a lot ore of a culture shock than you think, especially if you're forced to live there, with no other option.
Original post by Fallen
Is the effort not exactly the same? Okay you have to get your application in a bit earlier, but it is still the same effort. Plus there are other advantages in getting the application done early, I actually had all my four other offers before even being interviewed at Oxford, which was nice.

And I can only repeat myself, why is it pointless? No more pointless than putting down Imperial or LSE and then rejecting them for another institution. It is only pointless if you think that for every application for any subject, it is always best to pick Oxbridge, which is not the case.


Well LSE and Imperial are fantastic world-class universities but I don't think anyone is doubting that Oxford and Cambridge are very much the pinnacle of academia in the UK and have an unquestionable pedigree world wide. Perhaps it's the cultural perception but rightly or wrongly so, they are perceived as "the best of the best" hence you'd expect anyone applying there would most likely accept an offer should they be offered a place. There are hundreds of well qualified applicants who apply each year and get turned down who'd have killed for the chance of an offer. I can accept reasons such as "I prefer the course structure at X" or "I'm quite interested in the research carried out at y". Not silly reasons like "I don't want to be in a field" or "my best mates from school are all at Imperial so let's hook up again and recreate those Byker Grove moments" and most ridiculously of all, stereotyping private/public school kids as being stuck up and elitist.....ok some might be but that image pretty much died out a long time ago and is confined to the likes of Brideshead Revisited.

And you can't criticise Oxbridge for being a bastion of elitism given that a high proportion of private school kids attend LSE and Imperial which are certainly highly elitist and selective institutions. I think I read somewhere that statistically you have a lower chance of getting into LSE and Imperial for certain programmes than Oxbridge. Maybe I'm being biased as I know I would certainly accept an offer if I got one but I do still find it strange and pointless as to why someone would want to turn down an offer unless it was for academic reasons.

For me university is about the education/course first and then everything else (social etc) comes second. Sure the social life is a very important part of a university education but socials and ents is very much what you make of it. I mean I was (well still am but intercalating) at a selective university for a competitive course which is considered elite and there are a large proportion of private school kids (myself included) some of whom are complete twits but not everyone is like that. Also the social scene and city itself aren't that great infact it's probably the last place I'd describe as a party capital but ultimately I've enjoyed my time there because I've made the most of what's on offer and pretty much "made it my own". Ultimately I went there for the education but just because the place lacked certain things didn't mean it was cause for concern or to make u-turn, sometimes you just have to work with what you've got.

Anyways I'm rambling on here but the point is........actually I've forgotten what I was going to say now. Oh yeah, Oxford isn't exactly the worst place in the world to study and London is all but a bus ride away if one craves the big city lights. I just think the opportunities on offer at Oxford are second to none (except maybe Cambridge or Harvard) hence why I'm bemused or somewhat perplexed as to why anyone would turn an offer (and an unconditional one at that) down.

I would cheekily ask that the OP give me the offer instead but sadly I have no interest in chemistry. If it was a Master's programme however then please PM more details :wink:
Reply 31
Original post by Gridiron-Gangster
Kind of defeats the purpose of applying.


Not weighing up your choices would defeat the point in having a choice.

Say, your favourite uni was LSE and second favourite was Oxford. You get Oxford offer but not LSE offer. Go to Oxford. You applied intending to reject Oxford, but it ended up being the best choice.

Everyone should weigh up the benefits and drawbacks of all of their choices. As it happens, >95% choose to accept their Oxford offer.
Reply 32
Original post by Gridiron-Gangster
Well LSE and Imperial are fantastic world-class universities but I don't think anyone is doubting that Oxford and Cambridge are very much the pinnacle of academia in the UK and have an unquestionable pedigree world wide. Perhaps it's the cultural perception but rightly or wrongly so, they are perceived as "the best of the best" hence you'd expect anyone applying there would most likely accept an offer should they be offered a place. There are hundreds of well qualified applicants who apply each year and get turned down who'd have killed for the chance of an offer. I can accept reasons such as "I prefer the course structure at X" or "I'm quite interested in the research carried out at y". Not silly reasons like "I don't want to be in a field" or "my best mates from school are all at Imperial so let's hook up again and recreate those Byker Grove moments" and most ridiculously of all, stereotyping private/public school kids as being stuck up and elitist.....ok some might be but that image pretty much died out a long time ago and is confined to the likes of Brideshead Revisited.

And you can't criticise Oxbridge for being a bastion of elitism given that a high proportion of private school kids attend LSE and Imperial which are certainly highly elitist and selective institutions. I think I read somewhere that statistically you have a lower chance of getting into LSE and Imperial for certain programmes than Oxbridge. Maybe I'm being biased as I know I would certainly accept an offer if I got one but I do still find it strange and pointless as to why someone would want to turn down an offer unless it was for academic reasons.

For me university is about the education/course first and then everything else (social etc) comes second. Sure the social life is a very important part of a university education but socials and ents is very much what you make of it. I mean I was (well still am but intercalating) at a selective university for a competitive course which is considered elite and there are a large proportion of private school kids (myself included) some of whom are complete twits but not everyone is like that. Also the social scene and city itself aren't that great infact it's probably the last place I'd describe as a party capital but ultimately I've enjoyed my time there because I've made the most of what's on offer and pretty much "made it my own". Ultimately I went there for the education but just because the place lacked certain things didn't mean it was cause for concern or to make u-turn, sometimes you just have to work with what you've got.

Anyways I'm rambling on here but the point is........actually I've forgotten what I was going to say now. Oh yeah, Oxford isn't exactly the worst place in the world to study and London is all but a bus ride away if one craves the big city lights. I just think the opportunities on offer at Oxford are second to none (except maybe Cambridge or Harvard) hence why I'm bemused or somewhat perplexed as to why anyone would turn an offer (and an unconditional one at that) down.

I would cheekily ask that the OP give me the offer instead but sadly I have no interest in chemistry. If it was a Master's programme however then please PM more details :wink:

Well I agree that there being too many fields in the county is a strange reason to reject Oxford, and I said as much to the OP, I was simply saying that rejecting Oxford or Cambridge is not, in and of itself, necessarily a bad decision.

I didn't criticism Oxford for being elitist. It is and should be unashamedly academically elitist; it wouldn't be a very good academic institution if it wasn't. I am beginning to doubt this paragraph was aimed at me, but I never said anything bad against privately educated people as a group (myself being in that group).

I do slightly disagree with some of your comments about the social aspect of university. I think it is extremely important to enjoy your course academically, but also your social environment. One of the main reasons I believe I am performing so well at Oxford (not that I was to 'toot my own horn', or temp fate) is because I love every aspect of the course, the people, the place, etc.
While academic is of great importance, when you are splitting hairs between Oxford and IC for a subject like Computer Science (and probably Chemistry), the social aspect really does tip the balance.
Original post by Vickymh
<apologies in advance for my technology issues, no idea how to use this :smile:>

Basically, can't make a decision so have resorted to the internet in the hope it will solve all my problems. I've applied to study chemistry and have unconditional offers from Oxford St Hilda's and Imperial (sorry to sound pretentious) and can't choose between them...everyone automatically says i should go to oxford for the prestige and job oppertunities etc but i've lived in the middle of nowhere in dorset all my life and would like to live somewhere without fields? Other reasons pro london; i know a few people at uni there already or are starting in sept (i know this shouldn't be a reason), i like cooking so would like to be self catered, and i disagree with some of oxford's principals...(eg they sent a reading list saying thanks for accepting the offer and said this wasn't a mistake, they send this to everyone irrespective of offer acceptance, which i interpret that they assume everyone accepts?). The only real reason i have for going to oxford is the whole future/career thing but does it make you that much more employable than an imperial degree? Slightly concerned about oxford's reputation of stuck up private school kids but i'm sure you get them anywhere, maybe quite a few oxford rejects at imperial? Anyone in a similar situation? Probably not? Any advice would be amazing, thanks :smile:


There are understandable reasons why someone might turn down an Oxford offer, if say the course is stronger/more suited to your interests elsewhere. But otherwise (and for the reasons in particular you present) you would have to be very silly to do so. The decision really is a no-brainer...
Original post by Azarimanka
Haha - charming. Bitter about something are we>:


nope, just trying to point out that you don't have grounds to tell someone to sort their life out because of their views on a certain topic. I conceed my choice of words could have been better, but i thought i would phrase it as you had so there would be some chance of you understanding.
Go for Oxford, nothing can beat that experience. Once an Oxford graduate, you can spend all your life in London, until then, go for it!
Original post by knowledge is fear
nope, just trying to point out that you don't have grounds to tell someone to sort their life out because of their views on a certain topic. I conceed my choice of words could have been better, but i thought i would phrase it as you had so there would be some chance of you understanding.


You think you can be successful in life hating a particular group of People?
Reply 37
Thanks everyone for the opinions...some things i'd like to clarify '4. You don't obviously know many private school people. YOu clearly have a massive chip on your shoulder. Sort it out. Just remember - they are there on as much merit as you, you are neither any better or worse than they are. If you go around hating them for where they wne to school - you are pathetic.' Slight overreaction i think, i never said i hated privately schooled people, most of them are very nice and quite a few state school students are stuck up, maybe i could have worded my point better, was just commenting on the stereotype that there are more of these people at oxford? Also whoever suggested that 'people like me' would be 'detrimental to the environment' seems to be making even more unfair assumptions about character than me...and i'm not considing london just because my friends are there, i'm not choosing ucl because i know people there as i'd like some independence at uni, would just be nice and convenient to visit them occasionally...and my point about cooking, i'm aware that you can do whatever in second year, it's more that i like the idea of living in flats with a kitchen to socialise that i've seen at other unis which doesn't happen at oxford in first year.
Sounds like you want to go to Imperial (:
I don't think Oxford has any advantage at all over Imperial in terms of reputation or prospects for chemistry
Reply 39
Original post by Vickymh
Thanks everyone for the opinions...some things i'd like to clarify '4. You don't obviously know many private school people. YOu clearly have a massive chip on your shoulder. Sort it out. Just remember - they are there on as much merit as you, you are neither any better or worse than they are. If you go around hating them for where they wne to school - you are pathetic.' Slight overreaction i think, i never said i hated privately schooled people, most of them are very nice and quite a few state school students are stuck up, maybe i could have worded my point better, was just commenting on the stereotype that there are more of these people at oxford? Also whoever suggested that 'people like me' would be 'detrimental to the environment' seems to be making even more unfair assumptions about character than me...and i'm not considing london just because my friends are there, i'm not choosing ucl because i know people there as i'd like some independence at uni, would just be nice and convenient to visit them occasionally...and my point about cooking, i'm aware that you can do whatever in second year, it's more that i like the idea of living in flats with a kitchen to socialise that i've seen at other unis which doesn't happen at oxford in first year.


Sorry, but you don't have your priorities right. I have nothing against someone picking Imperial over Oxford, but you're doing it for entirely the wrong reasons.


Original post by InsaneFandom
Sounds like you want to go to Imperial (:
I don't think Oxford has any advantage at all over Imperial in terms of reputation or prospects for chemistry



Thankfully employers disagree. You're living up to the first part of your name if you truly think Oxford doesn't have a much better reputation than Imperial.

Quick Reply

Latest