Why do people hate Oxbridge students?

It wasn't the people as individuals - just the toxic atmosphere. It was clausterphobic (college ran your life and there was no escape), the cliques, the monotony, the fact I just wasn't experiencing life and the mind games they play there just drive me round the bend (eg. "OMG i've done LITERALLY no work im going to FAIL).

Then again I was never a studenty kind of person. I'm doing a masters at Imperial nowadays and I love the fact I can live with non-student people and that there's a global city right there in front of me with so many work opportunities (despite the fact I have no money and can't enjoy the night-life as I would have hoped). At Cambridge it felt like time stood still.

Most probably just jealously. Not everyone hates Oxbridge students though. I certainly don't! You get nice people and not-so-nice people at every uni.

In response to: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1551945&stat_userid=174176&stat_usergroupid=12&stat_membergroupids=&stat_widgettype=gutter&stat_widgetname=widget_discussions_latest

Don't get me wrong, there are some daddy's boys and girls who get into Oxbridge because they were given a top-notch education which so many other, less well-off students could have benefitted even more from- given half the chance.

But at the same time getting in is still an achievement, isn't it? So is being able to handle the workload and the stress (in my seconf year 35 hours contact time was considered 'normal'.

Why should you tar all Oxbridge students with the same brush? Yes, there are a sigificant number of rahs, but there were also some people like myself, who grew up in a former mining village in County Durham in a single parent family and was eligible for free school meals.

I didn't enjoy Cambridge. I got out the first chance I got. However, all this talk makes me wonder what I suffered through it all for. Why don't I, or the scores of other 'normal' people who went, 'deserve' it? What is so wrong with wanting to make something more of yourself and achieve things in life (not that other students at other top unis aren't)?

All opinions welcome...

It also sucks being broke in Cambridge. A lot of the social stuff can cost a lot especially in May week when your friends are going to 3+ balls and all you can afford is Robinson (if that).

This.

OP, I'm really sorry you didn't enjoy your time at Cambridge, but I'm really glad you're making the most out of Imperial.

which year are you in?

Oh god, is this true? I'm going to be exceptionally broke through uni (my parents earn enough that I don't qualify for anything beyond the minimum loan, yet they refuse to give me any money whatsoever the moment I've left home, and while I have savings from my jobs, they're only a few hundred pounds - and I hear Cambridge don't let you get a job during term time?) and I had hoped this wouldn't be a problem

Oh god, is this true? I'm going to be exceptionally broke through uni (my parents earn enough that I don't qualify for anything beyond the minimum loan, yet they refuse to give me any money whatsoever the moment I've left home, and while I have savings from my jobs, they're only a few hundred pounds - and I hear Cambridge don't let you get a job during term time?) and I had hoped this wouldn't be a problem

More parents say this at this stage than stick to it when they see that the economics don't add up and their child will be disadvantaged.

If they are of a mind to do this, when you go up you should be speaking to the College about this. They will have access to hardship funds but more probably they will try to persuade your parents to change their mind.

Until one has received a letter or summons to an interview from a former Cabinet Secretary (in the case of Emma), one doesn't know the meaning of the word persuasive. .

Oh god, is this true? I'm going to be exceptionally broke through uni (my parents earn enough that I don't qualify for anything beyond the minimum loan, yet they refuse to give me any money whatsoever the moment I've left home, and while I have savings from my jobs, they're only a few hundred pounds - and I hear Cambridge don't let you get a job during term time?) and I had hoped this wouldn't be a problem

When ever people hate 'groups' its because they have seen a bad example of that group.

I've worked with a lot of Oxbridge people and found them fine. Every now and then you come across one with a slight superiority complex but that's par for the course whenever you are dealing with something that marks out high achievement. When I was at school there were a few lads who were on the youth books of professional rugby or football clubs, a couple of them swanned round like they were internationals already. On the whole most Oxbridgers in person are fine.

But when it comes to the internet, Oxbridge comes over badly because there are a lot of trolls (who may be from Oxbridge or may be just 'walts' pretending they are) who troll in the name of Oxbridge. I suspect that mostly these guys are not from Oxbridge, I can't really see proper 'achievers' spending their time trolling forums, but the internet does bring out the nasty side in the odd person who wouldn't have the balls to actually rub their "Im at Oxbridge" bragging in peoples faces in real life, but with the anonymity of the net they can do.

I've seen a lot of situations on TSR where someone will ask a question, and even though Oxbridge isn't relevant to the situation, somebody allegedly from Oxbridge jumps on the thread, telling the person that they are at a mediocre university and won't be able to get a job because they are at a mediocre university. Of course they are waiting for somebody to respond to them, so they can retaliate with..."What??? You're saying Oxbridge DOESN'T matter? Well here's my evidence...in career x, 90% of the new recruits are from Oxbridge, in league table Y, Oxbridge comes here and your university comes there". They have set it up to derail the thread with an argument about "does Oxbridge matter" and for all the Oxbridge trolls this is a good argument because they can always produce evidence showing that Oxbridge are good.

It's the equivalent of a Man United fan finding some Brighton and Hove Albion forum and going laughing at them saying "haha so you're all excited about being top of League 1 eh?? when did you last win the Champions League? Here's a list of all United major trophies!" The Brighton fans will just think he's an annoying prat and this is what happens with the Oxbridge trolls on here.

Recently I've seen the Oxbridgers have been on the receiving end of a few Ivy League trolls who have been coming on to tell them how much better the Ivy League is than Oxbridge and how internationally, it's well known that Oxbridge's workload is a walk in the park compared to the Ivy League, most Oxbridgers wouldn't come near the Ivy League, and so on.

Having said this, that sort of internet uni snobbery is by no means confined to Oxbridgers. On TSR I have seen worse snobbery from (a few) people at the unis usually associated as Oxbridge reject destinations (Bristol, Exeter, Durham, Bath, Nottingham, UCL and so on), some of these are even more keen to reassure themselves of their university's superiority over others, so you get the odd one talking about their uni like its Oxbridge, to other Russell Group students. I have to laugh when there's an argument and somebody says "well I'm at a TOP TEN university" and starts going on about it. What usually happens with these types is they have been on the IB forum asking about how to get into IB and have got short shrift from the Oxbridge and LSE crew telling them they are only at semi-target unis, so they feel inferior, so they troll other forums to try and do the same to other users.

cuz i missed my offer.