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Why would somebody think cambridge is a bad university?
My uncle did a phd in mathematics at cambridge and described cambridge as:' A hospital with no sick people' i.e. the only reason the university does well is because it's full of clever people not necessarily the quality of the teaching.
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
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That's just what I want to do.
Btw it was probably different back then anyway
Btw it was probably different back then anyway
Cambridge is a shithole. Dark blues ftw 
On a serious note: prestige does not guarantee excellent teaching. I studied undergrad at Oxford and whilst most of the teaching was as you'd perhaps expect (i.e. outstanding or at least excellent), there were some seriously dodgy PhD students who taught me. Some of the actual dons weren't necessarily any better either
On a serious note: prestige does not guarantee excellent teaching. I studied undergrad at Oxford and whilst most of the teaching was as you'd perhaps expect (i.e. outstanding or at least excellent), there were some seriously dodgy PhD students who taught me. Some of the actual dons weren't necessarily any better either
Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd
Cambridge is a shithole. Dark blues ftw
On a serious note: prestige does not guarantee excellent teaching. I studied undergrad at Oxford and whilst most of the teaching was as you'd perhaps expect (i.e. outstanding or at least excellent), there were some seriously dodgy PhD students who taught me. Some of the actual dons weren't necessarily any better either
On a serious note: prestige does not guarantee excellent teaching. I studied undergrad at Oxford and whilst most of the teaching was as you'd perhaps expect (i.e. outstanding or at least excellent), there were some seriously dodgy PhD students who taught me. Some of the actual dons weren't necessarily any better either
What course did you do?
How were they dodgy?
Original post by APersonYo
What course did you do?
How were they dodgy?
How were they dodgy?
Music.
Well they were both atrocious at teaching in general. I knew more than one of them about music post-1945 (being the runt of the litter in that year group, it's worrying when that happens
) and the other just kept belittling us and arguing pointlessly about random crap and not listening to us. We complained about both those 2 tutors. With the one who I knew more than, I told my college tutor that that tutor was too thick to teach me coz he was thick as a brick, and my college tutor agreed 
Those were PhD students. Some of the dons were behind with the times and wouldn't teach scholarship beyond 1970. Tad worrying...
These guys seem to think Oxbridge is pants https://www.econjobrumors.com/topic/are-oxfordcambridge-as-prestigious-as-people-believe
Their concerns are more over the quality of research in the UK vs USA, but they also diss the academic rigour of Cambridge's mathematics degrees.
Their concerns are more over the quality of research in the UK vs USA, but they also diss the academic rigour of Cambridge's mathematics degrees.
Well yeah, I'd say it's the quality of the students that is most "stand-out" thing about Cambridge, rather than the quality of the teaching.
The more (dread word) 'prestigious' a university is, the more it is required that quantity and quality of research output be the determining circumstance in decisions about recruiting and retaining staff. But there is no warrant to suppose that a productive researcher is as well a good teacher. And indeed these are to some extent competing interests, since research commitments eat into time that might have been spent in preparing a lecture or providing more detailed feedback on a student essay.
At a less storied institution there will always be in every department the middle aged lecturer who has resigned himself to a career only in university teaching, but is indulged in it since he thereby does some of the heavy lifting, is popular with the students, runs the feedback committee, and always has a box of biscuits. At Cambridge that cannot be supported.
Oxbridge, though, is largely insulated against criticism by the tutorial/supervision system that simply can't be financially afforded elsewhere and as well the stuctural expectation pre-agreed by the student that the learning will be in large part autonomous: the preparation for that weekly meeting. Much more likely to complain is the student at Imperial or LSE, who anticipated being taught in the classroom as she was at school, but whose world famous researcher teacher (a) has an impenetrable foreign accent and shaky grasp of English, and (b) is always off at conferences, leaving the teaching to his Latvian doctoral student.
At a less storied institution there will always be in every department the middle aged lecturer who has resigned himself to a career only in university teaching, but is indulged in it since he thereby does some of the heavy lifting, is popular with the students, runs the feedback committee, and always has a box of biscuits. At Cambridge that cannot be supported.
Oxbridge, though, is largely insulated against criticism by the tutorial/supervision system that simply can't be financially afforded elsewhere and as well the stuctural expectation pre-agreed by the student that the learning will be in large part autonomous: the preparation for that weekly meeting. Much more likely to complain is the student at Imperial or LSE, who anticipated being taught in the classroom as she was at school, but whose world famous researcher teacher (a) has an impenetrable foreign accent and shaky grasp of English, and (b) is always off at conferences, leaving the teaching to his Latvian doctoral student.
Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd
Cambridge is a shithole. Dark blues ftw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKuHYO9TM5A
Original post by Abstract_Prism
These guys seem to think Oxbridge is pants https://www.econjobrumors.com/topic/are-oxfordcambridge-as-prestigious-as-people-believe
Their concerns are more over the quality of research in the UK vs USA, but they also diss the academic rigour of Cambridge's mathematics degrees.
Their concerns are more over the quality of research in the UK vs USA, but they also diss the academic rigour of Cambridge's mathematics degrees.
American economics grads dissing Oxbridge generally, and Cambridge maths specifically? Whatever next.
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Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd
Cambridge is a shithole. Dark blues ftw
:spank::spank::spank::spank::spank::spank::spank::spank::spank::spank::spank::spank:
[scrollr]
@The_Lonely_Goatherd[/scrollr](edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Abstract_Prism
Original post by the bear
:spank::spank::spank::spank::spank::spank::spank::spank::spank::spank::spank::spank:
Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd
who won the rugger this year ?
Original post by the bear
who won the rugger this year ?
Aint it a pure joy to see two representatives of our ancient universities cross swords in debate.
Original post by alcibiade
Perhaps 25% of cantabrigians are depressed by any clinical standard. THAT is not good. I just discussed this with a Harvard prof and it horrifies him.
I don't know the statistics, but it would be interesting to know how many Harvard students are taking meds against depression in the most heavily over-medicated country in the world. It's difficult to believe it would be less as a percentage than Cambridge.
Original post by alcibiade
Perhaps 25% of cantabrigians are depressed by any clinical standard. THAT is not good. I just discussed this with a Harvard prof and it horrifies him.
Hi, you mentioned 25% previously in other threads. Do you have a source for that?
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Original post by jneill
Hi, you mentioned 25% previously in other threads. Do you have a source for that?
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It was 21% and it was a Tab survey, so not exactly 'clinical'.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/oct/06/cambridge-university-student-depression-eating-disorders
Original post by Fullofsurprises
It was 21% and it was a Tab survey, so not exactly 'clinical'.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/oct/06/cambridge-university-student-depression-eating-disorders
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/oct/06/cambridge-university-student-depression-eating-disorders
25% consider themselves to be depressed, which is where the original stat came from. But yeah, while its still pretty shocking its definitely not conclusive.
(edited 7 years ago)
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