Dropping out of Oxford

Why exactly are you feeling sorry for a hypothetical candidate whose rejection - as you say - was unconnected to the OP's offer, though? I mean, of course I can see why you'd feel sorry for them in general terms, but it really has nothing to do with the OP and whether or not she's happy on her course... Also, if you can never be certain you'll enjoy a course, surely that also ought to apply to those hypothetical candidates who would (hypothetically) have been so much happier with / appreciate of the course than someone who's considering dropping out?

Why exactly are you feeling sorry for a hypothetical candidate whose rejection - as you say - was unconnected to the OP's offer, though? I mean, of course I can see why you'd feel sorry for them in general terms, but it really has nothing to do with the OP and whether or not she's happy on her course... Also, if you can never be certain you'll enjoy a course, surely that also ought to apply to those hypothetical candidates who would (hypothetically) have been so much happier with / appreciate of the course than someone who's considering dropping out?

Well, they are linked because obviously there's only a certain number of places on the course. Out of the many applicants who were rejected, I'm sure a great deal of them would have excelled on the course. All I'm saying is that it would be favourable if said applicant was given the place, and the op could have gone to one of the universities which would now seem to be more suitable.

It's all ridiculously hypothetical, and the point seems to have caused offence to rather too many people for my liking. It really wasn't intended to do so. I merely think that it is a shame that the admissions process allows such unfortunate circumstances like this to come about.

I am hypothetically very confused with this.

you're quite the retard.

So basically what you're saying is that it's unfortunate that offers aren't given out on the basis of how much people would potentially appreciate them?

I can empathise - The constant deadlines and stress induced by my degree have caused me to grow to dislike the subject and theres **** all I can do about it now

Of course not.. where did I say that, exactly? I said if the OP drops out of the course. It's not about appreciation, it's about how well the student does on the course. If the student does well then it benefits both the university and the student.

As far as I can tell, the OP has said nothing to indicate she's not doing well on the course, though. She just doesn't like the way it's structured.

So just out of interest, is that poster above going to get warned for calling me a retard?

Don't be that guy.

And I still think it's wrong to try and subtly burden someone who's considering dropping out with guilt by talking about imaginary deserving rejectees. This isn't directed against you in particular, by the way - you're just the person who happened to bring it up on this thread.
I think what we really need to bear in mind in such a scenario is that those rejectees' stellar performances on the course are fictional and can never be proven, whereas the dislike of the course / negative experiences / stress / overall unhappiness / whatever of the people considering dropping out are real. So really they're the ones we should be feeling sorry for here. It doesn't matter how many good people were rejected, because that's not the responsibility of the people who are on the course and unhappy with it, and the whole 'brilliant person who lost by a whisker to someone who turned out to be underserving of an offer'-scenario is extremely artificial. I simply don't believe that it's ever as straightforward as that in reality.

Edit: Re: the whole warning business, if you find a post offensive, the best thing to do is to report it rather than sit around quietly, hoping that the mods will see it, and get upset if they don't... I never even noticed it (and neither did Athena, it seems).

That's fair enough. I realise that the OP is having a difficult time at the moment but also tried to make clear in all my posts that I don't blame them whatsoever.

It's difficult to see what the purpose of your posts is, if it's not passive-aggressively guilting the OP.

Alright, fair point. I did feel a bit ashamed of myself after writing that.

In my defence, I think the insult was unjustified.

Stay, I know in some ways Oxford is awful but its also so much fun! Take every opportunity to get dressed up in black tie (my friends from other unis love coming to stay and going to formals with me because they have nothing like it at their unis - except camb & durham), go to balls, cardinals cocktails etc, join OIFS and go to graduate recruitment events for free drinks...!! see exciting speakers at the union. Oxford is actually a really fun city, I looove kukui, too much haha. lovely restaurants and bars. Trust me, London is not much fun to live in as a student. I'm a londoner and couldnt live in ox forever, but its like a condensed version of lots of the things that are good about London.

Get involved in a couple of societies or charity groups. Pro plus and caffeine are your friends, you will adjust to the workload. a habit I wish I'd started earlier is putting in 9 to 5 in the library and treating work as a job so you can save time to reward yourself and have fun. I still tend to have all-nighters though, you adjust...

I'm a finalist and things are quite awful now (some friends on ADs, I can't relax from now until june, I guess it has been tough emotionally throughout my degree...never feeling like I'm good enough, anxiety symptoms etc) but I really have had the best time of my life here, every minute of essay irritation has been utterly worth it, and none of my friends at other unis have had vaguely comparable experiences. speak to your personal tutor about your workload if you are really struggling. Oxford don't want people to drop out and they will most likely be very sympathetic and helpful.

Motivating advice. Cardinals'? Are you at chch?

Motivating advice? Am I the only one who thinks that a third year which causes symptoms of anxiety and results in a number of people on antidepressents is kinda worrying? o.0