Isn't Oxbridge overrated?????????!?

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I think in the past oxford and cambridge were the best becasue they had so much money and the smart half of the elite (the elite of the elite) went there. Nowadays given the old system is on its last legs (i.e. family connections do not necessarily guarantee you a place), the significance and potency of an Oxbridge degree is waning - i genuinely believe you can recieve an equal, if not better, education at LSE or Durham or somewhere like that, and you definitely receive a better education at Harvard or MIT etc, because they're just so rich.

The real reason most people think Oxbridge is so great is purely history and prestige. Because Oxbridge have such great alumni (which arent really so great when you consider they bought their way in... but we're not getting into that now) and is so steeped in history (wow - Bill Clinton and Charles I were in this hall where i eat dinner, which was built 600 years ago!!) people think this is amazing, but as what I term "decorative" history (stuff that has bugger all significance but people get obsessed with it like they do with furniture) becomes less significant in the modern age, Oxbridge will just be seen like the other universities nice old grandparents - they're old, they're nice enough, but you know they havent been so nice to everybody all their lives, they smell a little bit (rivers and age doesnt equal the new D&G fragrance) but you dont want to stay with them for too long, becuase they dont know how to cope with your new technology.

So I reckon if youre really into that kinda stuff, and youre one of these people who finds pomp and ceremony really inspiring (I'm not judging) then sure, Oxbridge is amazing, but in the next century it wont have as much "ooh interesting" factor as it does, and did have.

Reply 21

shiny

I really find it amusing when someone who criticises in one sentence that people used to buy there way into Oxbridge and then in the next sentence praises the great American institutions where legacy preference still takes place :rolleyes:

Reply 22

WhatFreshHell?

I'm not saying thats how it works now. Obviously its elitist and favours richer people, but richer people have bought themselves a better education (they get access to more stuff is what I mean, even if they dont go to private schools) ergo even if they're equally intelligent that a poorer person, they still seem smarter and do better in there exams (and im not blaming anyone for this, so the Eton croquet club can just back off this time, with their patronizing stories of poor people who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps the way a chap ought to).

America is different - obviously, they're a very money orientated society in the same way we are now, but their history means they don't have the same ties to elitism the way oxbridge does. I don't think you can rationally argue with that point

Reply 23

Acaila

You can buy yourself a place in America! Oxbridge just want the best students, although it's quite possibly true that private school pupils may achieve higher. But let's not get too into that. That argument has been done a million and one times before.

My two cents: People apply to Oxbridge because they like the unis/course. They're probably not overrated because they are the two top unis in the country, and still do hold a bit of prestige whether rightly or not.

Reply 24

Karma

So why is the majority of student bodies is from upper/middle class backgrounds. They won't even look at applicants from comphrensive colleges.

Reply 25

AndyT

My comprehensive sixth form managed to get 10 people into Oxbridge out of 500 or so.

Reply 26

Karma

Well may be its luck, there were individuals at my college that came out with 4/5 A's and not even UCL took them because of the institution they went. How stuck is that.

Reply 27

Alexander

WhatFreshHell?

i genuinely believe you can recieve an equal, if not better, education at LSE or Durham or somewhere like that, and you definitely receive a better education at Harvard or MIT etc, because they're just so rich.

I am pretty sure that Oxford and Cambridge are still the two best-funded universities in the UK. I don't really know much about American unis, but how would you back up what you say about the LSE and Durham? Oxbridge has more money, more intensive teaching, a more stringent admissions process, and almost invariably scores better on all the normal statistical methods of measuring a university's performance.

WhatFreshHell?

Because Oxbridge have such great alumni (which arent really so great when you consider they bought their way in... but we're not getting into that now)

Just because they went to the universities at a time when the admissions process was financially-based does not per se mean that they don't have great achievements.

Reply 28

Acaila

Karma

So why is the majority of student bodies is from upper/middle class backgrounds. They won't even look at applicants from comphrensive colleges.

I'm from a huge crappy comp actually.

Most people don't even bother applying. Sadly, your attitude is a very common one and people don't want to bother applying because of it. There are far too many myths about Oxbridge it seems.

Reply 29

Alexander

Karma

They won't even look at applicants from comphrensive colleges.

This really isn't true. For example, Hills Road Sixth-Form College in Cambridge (a normal comprehensive sixth-form) provides 1% of Oxbridge students.

Reply 30

Karma

But some of these myths are true..
there to stuck up there own rear ends, ppl from crappy schools don't have a chance. My attitude is sharded by many because they (m/c and u/p) look down at individuals who are not from the same backgrounds

Reply 31

Acaila

As I've said before, of the Cam students I have met, none have been "stuck up there own rear ends" as you so eloquently put it (I assume you mean "their" :wink:

).
If anyone from a poor school has the grades, then they have as much chance as anyone to get in.
How do you know if anyone from there looks down on anyone from a different background? Do you have experience of either uni?

Reply 32

Karma

good question. Good friend of my got into oxford, she couldn't stand it cause of their attiude but she had to bite her tongue and live with it.
Maybe i'm over exaggerating their snobbyness but i'm sure not all of them are like that.

Reply 33

Acaila

Well I'm 100% certain they aren't all like that!

Reply 34

Helenia

Karma

Well may be its luck, there were individuals at my college that came out with 4/5 A's and not even UCL took them because of the institution they went. How stuck is that.

Bull****. If they didn't get in, it's because their applications were poor (possibly the fault of the school) not automatically because of the school they went to.

Reply 35

S@sha

Helenia

Bull****. If they didn't get in, it's because their applications were poor (possibly the fault of the school) not automatically because of the school they went to.

Agreed. We had an extortionate number of people with strings of As, who didn't get in and this was a public school. If you have some A grades, you are not entitled to an Oxbridge offer.

Reply 36

InterCity125

gt@vetschool

ok so some a888hole has just given me the reputation of "loser who didn't get in". i didn't bother applying mate cos i knew there were sh88heads like you who think in exactly the same way as i wrote about in the original thread. thanx a lot for proving my point. i knew i'd get some know it all who'd try it. well done pal. cmany congrats to you flossy. why you had to remain anonymous to do it i really do not know. you must just be yet another spineless nobody. shame :cool:

There will be a**holes at everyone university in the UK, not just Oxbridge.

Reply 37

Karma

their personal tutors called the university admissions, the admissions argued because of the grades which is bull****, these ppl came out with A's. its clearly the institution they go to.

Reply 38

InterCity125

Karma

The people I know so far seem very nice, but I've only been here a few days.

Reply 39

*starbuck*

Karma

because of the institution they went. How stuck is that.

I dont mean this to sound rude, but some people seem to have a chip on their shoulders about being "too common" or going to a comprehensive school. It's like when someone from an African or Asian background is attacked they immediately assume it is because of their skin colour...when someone from a state school doesnt get into Oxbridge they frequently presume it is because of their accent or the school they went to.

If you're good enough, you'll get in regardless of your background. :smile: