I'll be applying for biology at university this year, and I've been considering applying for Oxford, but recently I'm having some massive second thoughts. Mainly, I'm thinking I might be better off staying in Scotland for a variety of reasons - lack of tuition fees (I know you don't pay it back until you're earning £21k but it still seems strange to voluntarily land myself with a bunch of debt when I could avoid it completely), much closer to family and friends (cost of transport back home from Oxford is a big concern of mine), and perhaps most importantly I think I prefer the 4 year Scottish degree structure which would allow me to explore areas outside my degree subject in the first few years, which I couldn't do with the Oxford course.
I got AAAAA at Higher this year so I could potentially get an unconditional offer from a Scottish uni based on that, whereas with Oxford (provided I was even made an offer) I'd have the added task of achieving AA at Advanced Higher next year, and of course I'd have to finish my ucas application much earlier and go through an interview etc etc - so I think since applying to Oxford is such a competitive process, I'd have to be really sure it's what I want, and lately I'm not.
I do really like Oxford, as a town and as a university, and I'd hate to regret not making an application, but I'm worried I'm being blinded by its reputation - I love the idea of studying there, but if I'm honest I don't think the course really fits my needs. My teachers and friends and pretty much everyone is encouraging me to make an application anyway, as I think they see an Oxford degree as massively superior to one from, say, Edinburgh uni, and as completely worth the tuition fees etc. Would you say this is true? I want to achieve the best I possibly can, but surely I'd still gain a great and well-respected degree from somewhere like Edinburgh? Would a degree from Oxford really make so much difference?
I'm sorry this is so long and rambling but I'm very aware that the deadline is next month for applying to Oxbridge so I'm pretty stressed and I have no idea what would be best for me or what I really want to do. Any advice?