I envy Oxford students so much!

People doing some random course at Oxbridge aren't the only students who work super-duper hard you know. I'm sure us minion medical, vet, dental, engineering, chemistry etc students at numerous other universities are working pretty, if not more, damn hard.

I didn't get into Oxford, but from my experience of applying and from observing the people I know who've got in, I've realised that there is very little difference between those who applied and were rejected (and will now go to other very good top 10 unis) and those who were given an offer other than the fact that the latter tend to be more diligent and efficient when it comes to work and exams. Often, you don't get in because you weren't the sort of person who they thought would best benefit from the style of teaching and atmosphere that is part and parcel of an Oxbridge education. In fact some of the people who got in from my school are shallower and more exam-orientated than those who didn't get in (who are in many cases more intelligent and curious about their subject).

Of the 5 people who applied for History (of whom I was one), 2 got offers. They are also the only two who haven't read any books about their historical interests since the interview. Furthermore, they coincidentally have the poorest written and oral expression of the 5 of us and are the least widely read. But they are also coincidentally the most efficient at exams and, although this was not borne out in their AS results, somehow, this skill must have been noticed by the admissions tutors.

I give this example not, by any means, to denigrate those who got in to Oxbridge nor those who are already there. They are, on the whole, exceptionally good. My point is that they are most certainly not 'special'. In a few cases they are less intellectually able than those who are rejected. There are many exceptionally smart people at my school who freakishly didn't get in. One English applicant springs to mind. If I had to put my money on the most likely humanities student to get a place, it would have been him, and yet he was pooled and rejected by Cambridge. He's now going to Durham, and he will always be more intelligent than many of the people who are going to Oxbridge. I know that if I was an employer and I had to pick between him and one of the history offer-holders I mentioned earlier, I know who I'd choose.

Students at Oxbridge are, on the whole, no more intelligent than those going to other top 10 unis; they just don't have (or appear to exhibit) the right work ethic for the Oxbridge environment.

People who go to Oxbridge are by no means special.

EDIT: I think some people angry

Barely, Durham's is 27, only 2 more.

Put it this way, for the majority of courses at the very best universities, they ask for very similar (if not higher) grades than Oxford and Cambridge.

Places like ICL and Durham are full of students who would do just as well at Oxbridge.

Hm, I wouldn't doubt that loads of students at other good universities could do very well at Oxford/Cambridge, but I do think it's a bit of a fallacy to think that other good universities must have the same kind of workload. I don't know of anywhere else in the country, except Cambridge, where an Arts student would have to write two essays a week (which is what I did throughout my second year). Obviously I can't be sure of the workload at every other university, but I do have friends taking the same degree as me at Durham and Warwick (both of which are very well respected for my subject), and quite a few friends who have done/are doing the same subject at other universities.

That's not to say those people couldn't cope with the workload here - I'm sure lots of them could, and would manage it better than some who actually study here. But that doesn't mean the workload is the same at different institutions; I just don't think that's true.

I go to a state grammar school and we get either one or none

Such as?

Not getting into Oxford could be for some people the equivalent of your perfect husband marrying another girl, or being fired from the job you always loved or having a miscarriage when you really wanted a child.

People take different things seriously.

Bull****, Oxbridge have shorter terms.

Sorry, but I do. Maybe I wasn't clever enough to get in. Or maybe I just didn't work hard enough. However I would love to have gone to Oxford rather than to some mediocre institution. Yes, I know by mediocre I'm referring to a university that 80-90% of people aren't able to go to, but so what? It isn't the best. Oxford is for the elite and I wasn't there.

It's hard-wired into British culture - particularly amongst the middle classes - that only Oxbridge matters - other Universities are nothing special. That's not really an intellectual point (the British aren't that keen on brains) it's more about the beauty, history and cultivation that Oxford is supposed to possess. It's also about our perfectionism, we are quite hard on ourselves. Anything less than the best(?) is a bit pointless.

I reckon I would have been happy at Oxford, although the workload and some intimidatingly bright peers might have tested me to the limit. I'm easily infuriated by the very cerebral. Still at the time I wanted to go to some big city and have a crazy party for three years. A bit embarrassing now I think about it and a waste of three years. But you live and learn I guess.

Grow a pair of *******s.

You know as well as I and everyone else on this forum does that it isn't "only Oxbridge" that matters and tell me when was the last time you saw someone rushed into hospital refuse treatment because the doctor wasn't from Oxbridge?

Oxford and Cambridge are fantastic universities, ofcourse they. They have the history and prestige but they aren't the be all and end all and as people have pointed out there is always the opportunity for post grad study. Heck I was keen on Oxford, didn't get an offer but I'm chuffed I got into medical school and touchwood in a few short years I'll be a doctor.

I'm keen on doing an MBA or MPhil in Management at either Oxford or Cambridge so the dream is still there for me to work towards but I ain't gonna get cut up about it. You can always aim for postgrad study.

So do yourself a favour and just focus on the positives and stop moaning and crying. Not everyone gets the chance to go to university nevermind Oxbridge.

I'm not thinking about career opportunities, it's the fact they're the best and I didn't go there!

I see your point, and obviously the academic elite (Oxford and Cambridge) are going to be tested and tested and tested, but it just seems to me that places like Durham and ICL, where the calibre of student is so high, that they wouldn't push them as hard as Oxford and Cambridge do. It seems like a waste, almost.

even if i could i would not go here, full of snobs who think because you didnt go private your inadequate and should not even be a uni

Evidently, one goes to university to study, not to party.

(Of course the social life is important, but what ****er applies only so he or she can just party all through 3 years without doing any work?)

Postgraduate I guess, OP?