The Student Room Group
Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>

Why do people choose to apply to cambridge rather than oxford?

Hello,
From personal experiences and by judging the threads on tsr, it looks to me (not saying it is) that a lot of people apply to Cambridge rather than oxford for medicine. Like in my sixth form, about 15 people want to apply to Cambridge for medicine and the other prospective medics have chosen other universities, but just not oxford. I want to ask why this is the case, like is Oxford more difficult to get into? Just wondering.
I guess its because of the UMS. I kinda feel that there are more people wth lets say 10A* in GCSE than with >95% UMS average
Reply 2
Avatar for lyranew
lyranew
1
Original post by Duke Glacia
I guess its because of the UMS. I kinda feel that there are more people wth lets say 10A* in GCSE than with >95% UMS average


At my school there were three main factors (I'm not sure how valid each of these is): (i) it was considered more difficult to get into Oxford because the medicine cohort is smaller, (ii) Cambridge was viewed as being more prestigious overall, and (iii) Cambridge was viewed as being better for science. I think that the culture of the school and department has a lot to do with which of Oxford or Cambridge students apply to.
Reply 3
Avatar for TreeTaps
TreeTaps
OP
1
Original post by lyranew
At my school there were three main factors (I'm not sure how valid each of these is): (i) it was considered more difficult to get into Oxford because the medicine cohort is smaller, (ii) Cambridge was viewed as being more prestigious overall, and (iii) Cambridge was viewed as being better for science. I think that the culture of the school and department has a lot to do with which of Oxford or Cambridge students apply to.


Oh okay, that makes more sense, because I thought Oxford was viewed as more prestigious in general.
Reply 4
Avatar for TreeTaps
TreeTaps
OP
1
Original post by Duke Glacia
I guess its because of the UMS. I kinda feel that there are more people wth lets say 10A* in GCSE than with >95% UMS average

Wouldn't that make them apply to Oxford due to their GCSEs :h::K:
Reply 5
Avatar for Windies
Windies
19
Original post by TreeTaps
Wouldn't that make them apply to Oxford due to their GCSEs :h::K:


At my Sixth-Form College (non-selective,) most of the top end students only managed 3-4 A*'s at most, hence most applying for Cambridge after an excellent set of AS results as Oxford really concentrate on GCSE's as opposed to Cambridge who concentrate on UMS.
Does Oxford provide accommodation for all undergraduate years? I believe Cambridge does.
Reply 7
Avatar for TreeTaps
TreeTaps
OP
1
Original post by Windies
At my Sixth-Form College (non-selective,) most of the top end students only managed 3-4 A*'s at most, hence most applying for Cambridge after an excellent set of AS results as Oxford really concentrate on GCSE's as opposed to Cambridge who concentrate on UMS.


Oh okay, so they're applying to their strengths, and did better in AS rather than GCSE.
Original post by TreeTaps
Wouldn't that make them apply to Oxford due to their GCSEs :h::K:


Yeah jumbled logic sorry lol!
Original post by hihihihihi
Does Oxford provide accommodation for all undergraduate years?


Most colleges do. Those that do not offer at least two years.

I believe Cambridge does.


Not quite. The quote from their current prospectus is "The 29 undergraduate Colleges provide accommodation for most students for at least three years".
Reply 10
Avatar for Doones
Doones
21
There's not a huge disparity in applicants but Cambridge makes many more offers.

In 2014, Cambridge had 1521 applicants (281 offers).
Oxford 1372 applicants (157 offers).

http://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/apply/statistics
http://www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/study/medicine/pre-clinical/statistics

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you