[cambio wechsel]

(Original post by Lyam)
I'm rambling a bit, I have exams very soon, but I really think that any list which places Cambridge's philosophy deparment's reputation as 25th or whatever it was ought to be discarded at once, sorry.

Well, there is concern about the list in the philosophy community, but it's chiefly a concern about its influence and the extent to which it is self-perpetuating, rather than concern about the methodology. You might have seen as well that Cambridge itself takes part in the rankings system (is one of the departments which ranks other departments, with Nicholas Denyer, Jane Heal and a couple of others from Cambridge having submitted their assessments to the most recent round).

Anyway, and as I said before, you'll be following a terrific course at a terrific university. Good luck with those exams.

[Lyam]

(Original post by cambio wechsel)
Well, there is concern about the list in the philosophy community, but it's chiefly a concern about its influence and the extent to which it is self-perpetuating, rather than concern about the methodology. You might have seen as well that Cambridge itself takes part in the rankings system (is one of the departments which ranks other departments, with Nicholas Denyer, Jane Heal and a couple of others from Cambridge having submitted their assessments to the most recent round).

Anyway, and as I said before, you'll be following a terrific course at a terrific university. Good luck with those exams.

You live up to your title of 'benevolent member', sir! If you have exams or anything, I wish you luck as well!

[kpatb]

I chose Cambridge because in the end, the course definitely suited me better.
I was never quite sure what branch of Science/Engineering I wanted to go into, or if I wanted to go into Science at all!

After choosing to apply to Cambridge and having been offered a place for 2011, the more I hear about the Chem Eng via Natural Sciences course, the more certain I am that I made the right decision - the course is so flexible!

Also, Cambridge is a beautiful city

[-raisa]

I'm going to be applying to Cambridge for MML and I chose Cambridge over Oxford because the Oxford course is too literature heavy, and I don't like literature much.

I prefer history, linguistics & philosophy, so I love how versatile the Cambridge modern languages course is.

[someonegivemeanoffer]

Oxford because royal blue is the boss

[Dominicque]

Didn't apply, but I'm personally, more interested in Oxford, because it's the only one that does, Fine Art.

[myNameHere]

I've no idea why, but I never even really thought about Oxford. I would love to know the subconscious reasons why it didn't even cross my mind to look there as well as Cambridge, but I doubt I ever will.

[Astronomical]

I'm applying to Cambridge NatSci because while I want to read physics primarily, I'd also enjoy some computer science and chemistry. This sort of flexibility is not on offer at Oxford.

[doloroushazy]

I'm applying for Oxford. Dunno why. I guess because they don't ask for an A* for lit...

[akirac]

Cambridge because my sister went to Oxford. Healthy rivalry :P

[deFossard]

Brideshead wasn't set in Cambridge. Biggest reason why I picked Oxford.

[lrosex]

I don't go to either, but I would chose Oxford over Cambridge because they are more Law/Business minded whereas Cambridge seems to be more medical based? Law is a career I'd like to pursue...

[hslt]

(Original post by dancingqueen)
Firstly, as I'm doing science, I would have to have taken natural sciences which I wasn't keen on, I didn't fancy doing all the other options, just wanted to get on with chemistry.

I imagine this is a big reason. Same with PPE and separate subjects.

Secondly, I liked the city of Oxford better than Cambridge. Its bigger, there are more pubs, clubs, cafes etc, and I just like the 'feel' of the place better. Its hard to explain, but I fell in love with Oxford when I visited, and even though I visited Cambridge first, I knew Oxford was where I wanted to be.

And this. I prefer Cambridge because it's smaller. Pretty sure there are more pubs in Cambridge though

Only downside is there aren't many clubs in Cambridge, but you make the most of what you've got.

And for me, Oxford was too close to home.

[Monty333]

Hello, I'm planning to apply this year to either Oxford or Cambridge for English. I just can't decide which. I want to choose primarily on the course, but cant easily make out the differences between the two courses from their website. Could someone who is at either institution tell me why they chose their uni instead of the other regarding the English course?

[confusedllama]

(Original post by Monty333)
Hello, I'm planning to apply this year to either Oxford or Cambridge for English. I just can't decide which. I want to choose primarily on the course, but cant easily make out the differences between the two courses from their website. Could someone who is at either institution tell me why they chose their uni instead of the other regarding the English course?

I'm not there yet but I'm going to cam tomorrow. Oxford is English Language and Literature, Cambridge is just literature (although you can choose to do a paper either on English language or foreign literature). The Oxford course starts earlier, Cambridge starts from 1300, which at the moment I'm feeling is definitely early enough! At Cambridge you don't get that much choice until your third year - you basically study everything in period papers; at Oxford I think you might get to pick from second year but I'm not sure. I think Cambridge places more emphasis on practical criticism but Oxford do have it too. Hope this helps

[Monty333]

Why does Oxford's earlier start (ie, Old English) put people off? Surely if you love literature, you want to know about all literature!

And thanks confusedllama, that did help!

[confusedllama]

(Original post by Monty333)
Why does Oxford's earlier start (ie, Old English) put people off? Surely if you love literature, you want to know about all literature!

And thanks confusedllama, that did help!

Don't worry - you can also do old English at Cambridge on the foreign literature/ language paper (that may be what puts people off as it's like another language). But no, it was more the English language element of the Oxford course that put me off; and the Cambridge tragedy paper looks amazing.

[Monty333]

I didn't realise there was an English language element? Could you explain what that consists of?
Thank you so much for your help!

[jameswhughes]

I'd visited Cambridge several times (in fact I've only spent 2 hours in Oxford on the way to Spain, and that was after I'd decided to apply to Cambridge), and Trinity College supposedly has the best reputation for maths-possibly in the world.

Also, Oxford rejected me from their UNIQ summer school, so perhaps if I had gone to that, I'd have changed my mind!

[Arialaxe]

I have chosen to apply to Cambridge (for Computer Science) because it is virtually the birthplace of many aspects of computing; Turing and Babbage also went there. It also looks very green and it seems like just the right size as a city. The Computer Science faculty building also looks so much better than the dull Oxford one, and the Colleges at Oxford all look a bit bland to me.

Also, my wonderful history teacher (who walked out of Oxford with a 1st, no less, and went on to make a certain website that a lot of history students use) said, and I quote: "Oxford is a bloody dump once you leave the centre." (And he should know: he comes from Telford.)

Edit: My comments were purely tongue-in-cheek, you touchy Oxonians; I would rather go to Oxford than anywhere else other than Cambridge. Also, Telford (probably) isn't as bad as he makes it seem...