The Student Room Group

Is Cambridge for me?

Scroll to see replies

Original post by Jazzy Foot
Ah yes but we were talking about Manchester spazzy.


Sorry, I didn't realise you had a particular obsession with Manchester, I assumed that you were talking about "lower tier" universities in general. Or is that kind of crazily abstract thinking something only Oxbridge students are talented enough to do?
Reply 61
Original post by Jazzy Foot
And most of those scientists studied at Oxbridge or Harvard etc.

Manchester is strong at a postgraduate level for these reasons but piss poor at undergraduate level.


Got any sources to prove that?

Why are you being so pretentious about Oxbridge? You have no idea what it's like, you don't even go to either university. Other universities produce some great graduates too.
Reply 62
Original post by jneill
Haider Al-Abadi
Said Musa
Sir Lloyd Erskine Sandiford

Plus a few Presidents:
Michael D. Higgins, Ninth President of Ireland
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, current President of Iceland
George Maxwell Richards, President of Trinidad and Tobago
Chaim Weizmann, first President of Israel

Also 25 Nobel prize winners (more than Imperial)

And Benedict Cumberbatch...


Only hijacking your post to reply as I know you are reasonable 😜 The OP was asking about the balance between work and free time! If I was them as a year12/13 I don't think I would bother applying given some of the language/ tone of this debate.

To the OP please don't be put off!! Most students I interact with are actually rather nice! Back to your question. Yes you will work hard but it's not just Cambridge. I have a flipping ( yes I am a drug taking northerner 😜, no to the drugs) seminar on a Friday night! Outrageous! @jneill apologies for the hijack of your post!
Reply 63
Original post by Jazzy Foot
Yeah say that to all those who studied at Cambridge/Harvard and went onto win Nobel Prizes, become top CEOs, top of their respective fields, become President, Prime Minister etc etc etc.


How does winning a Nobel Prize or becoming Prime Minister make you special?
Reply 64
Original post by honour
So who exactly do you say is special?


Everyone is special to someone but going to a particular university does not make you special to everyone.
Reply 65
Original post by 210555
Only hijacking your post to reply as I know you are reasonable 😜 The OP was asking about the balance between work and free time! If I was them as a year12/13 I don't think I would bother applying given some of the language/ tone of this debate.

To the OP please don't be put off!! Most students I interact with are actually rather nice! Back to your question. Yes you will work hard but it's not just Cambridge. I have a flipping ( yes I am a drug taking northerner 😜, no to the drugs) seminar on a Friday night! Outrageous! @jneill apologies for the hijack of your post!


And I think you'll find the people having a pop at Manchester, etc are not the ones actually at Cambridge...

Posted from TSR Mobile
Reply 66
OP, go to Cambridge or wherever makes you happy and gives you the best education.
From the experience of my daughter, I must say that I think Cam lives up to its reputation as a very, very serious place with lots of play and activities. She sang in the chorus on tour around the world, was in clubs, and made really great friends. Most important, she worked phenomenally hard and left not only still in love with her subject but expert in it. I am sure she could have had a similar experience elsewhere, but I doubt she would have had the intimacy she experienced in her tutorials and peers that valued achievement like she does. It wasn't all easy, but she grew immensely as a person.
Original post by Jazzy Foot
*Manchester will never produce a PM.


There are more measures of a university than its ability to produce Prime Ministers.*
Original post by Jazzy Foot
And on all of those measures Oxbridge comes out on top.

I mean in no general university world rankings has Manchester ever been in the top 20 never mind top 10.

Perhaps I am being overly harsh but does anyone actually believe that Manchester is more or even as prestigious as Oxford or Cambridge?

That's like saying Penn State is on par with Yale or Bournemouth FC are as prestigious as say Arsenal because they both play in the Premier League.


Yes - but prestige isn't everything. I won't say that it's unimportant, and it's perhaps aspect that you might want to bear in mind when you're applying to university, but it shouldn't be the whole picture. I chose Cambridge because I really wanted a literature-based language degree that would still allow me to acquire fluency in my chosen languages, not because it's produced x Prime Ministers.*

*
Original post by Jazzy Foot
No but knowing you uni produced some pretty damn special alumni is a bonus and a good massage for the ole' ego.


Haha, yes. But it wears off after a while, and whilst prestige isn't to be sniffed at, you should tread very carefully if you make it the sole criterion for a prospective university. Three years (or more!) is a long time to be unhappy at a university that you've only chosen because it sounds good.*
Reply 71
Original post by Jazzy Foot
And on all of those measures Oxbridge comes out on top.

I mean in no general university world rankings has Manchester ever been in the top 20 never mind top 10.

Perhaps I am being overly harsh but does anyone actually believe that Manchester is more or even as prestigious as Oxford or Cambridge?

That's like saying Penn State is on par with Yale or Bournemouth FC are as prestigious as say Arsenal because they both play in the Premier League.


A university doesn't have to be as prestigious as Oxbridge to give a high quality education...
Reply 72
Original post by Jazzy Foot
But Manchester will never have the brand name Oxbridge has.


So?
Reply 73
Original post by Jazzy Foot
So it's not a better university or on par and to keep suggesting that it is is completely patronising and giving a false pretence.

And so what if they haven't produced a PM? Becoming PM is quite a big deal and it's a testament to the university and the quality of its education and the environment that breeds leaders if they can do so.


Where did anyone claim Manchester was as good as Oxbridge?

Manchester has a really good physics department. You know why none of them become PM? Because very few physicists want to become politicians.

Producing PMs is more a sign of the quality of a universities history/politics/etc. departments than anything else.
Original post by Jazzy Foot
So it's not a better university or on par and to keep suggesting that it is is completely patronising and giving a false pretence.

And so what if they haven't produced a PM? Becoming PM is quite a big deal and it's a testament to the university and the quality of its education and the environment that breeds leaders if they can do so.


Why does producing PMs seem to be the only measure of success for a university for you?*

"Brand name" is just one way of looking at a university; you're ultimately there to learn, and whilst older, more "prestigious" universities might have more capital to bolster resources, etc., they won't necessarily provide you with the sort of degree you want. *
Reply 75
Original post by Jazzy Foot
Scientists can become politicians too.

Liam Fox.


William Henry Harrison trained to be a doctor at UPenn and went onto become POTUS.


Yes scientists become politicians but at a far lower rate than humanities/arts students.

Selecting one or two examples means nothing to the overall trend.

Also it's debatable whether medical doctors are scientists.
(edited 7 years ago)
People make assumptions that if you end up going to a uni like Cambridge you won't have fun. As long as you manage your time well and keep up with your work or even ahead of your work aha then you can have plenty of fun.
Plus Cambridge have many events such as the boat race, the balls in every college, punting, nightclubs etc. If you're in Cambridge and only spending your time doing work constantly then obviously you need to work on time management and productivity!

Although, I must admit Cambridge was on the list of uni's that have the least amount of fun many times ahaha!


Posted from TSR Mobile
Reply 77
Original post by Jazzy Foot
Cambridge
Oxford
Edinburgh
Glasgow
Birmingham (Mason College)

The only UK universities to have produced PMs. Edinburgh is generally the best in Scotland and after UCL, Imperial and LSE I would say is the best in the UK. Birmingham and Glasgow should be in the top ten.


What does any of this have to do with whether or not the OP will have a good time at Cambridge?
Original post by DamnDaniel2
People make assumptions that if you end up going to a uni like Cambridge you won't have fun. As long as you manage your time well and keep up with your work or even ahead of your work aha then you can have plenty of fun.
Plus Cambridge have many events such as the boat race, the balls in every college, punting, nightclubs etc. If you're in Cambridge and only spending your time doing work constantly then obviously you need to work on time management and productivity!

Although, I must admit Cambridge was on the list of uni's that have the least amount of fun many times ahaha!


Posted from TSR Mobile


Cambridge students may spend less time on drinking and clubbing than other universities, but their 'fun-time' is quite condensed. . :wink:
It's quality, not quantity. :biggrin:

The boat races that even non-rowers take any interest (Bumps) only happen twice (x 4 days) a year and Balls are only in May Week, most students don't go punting so often and there're only 3 (not so great) nightclubs in the town.

However, the number and ranges of clubs/societies is second to none; there're college-based ones and university-wide ones, and almost everyone takes part in at least one of them, many of them in two or even more.
Time-management and word hard & play hard = Cambridge.
Original post by jneill
What does any of this have to do with whether or not the OP will have a good time at Cambridge?


PROSOM

Beside, producing more prime ministers = more reasons for apology
(Yet another reason why Cambridge is better than Oxford :tongue:)

Quick Reply

Latest