St Andrews vs Oxbridge

As it says on the tin - any thoughts on either side? How does St. Andrews compare in terms of level of prestige, quality of graduates, etc.

Reply 1

Mechie

15

Oxbridge > St Andrews. In every subject, always.

Reply 2

LGF92

14

Depends what you're looking for I suppose. Our IR and Economics departments are on par at least with Oxbridge.

Reply 3

Magma828

8

Are you taking into account things like the area, the people, the course structure etc.. Or just simply how good the university is academically?

Reply 4

LGF92

14

The course structure is much much better, a lot more flexible for one thing.

Reply 5

Scientific Calculator

OP

10

Magma828

Are you taking into account things like the area, the people, the course structure etc.. Or just simply how good the university is academically?

I'm leaving the entire topic open to discussion; it sounded like an interesting comparison to make, considering the entire 'Doxbridge' stigma with combining Durham in terms of prestige. We're looking at the University's history, alumni, course structures, student stereotypes, etc.

Reply 6

Meteorshower

14

They're all very good universities. What more do you need to know really? What matters far more is if you enjoy living there. I refuse to believe that the importance of seizing opportunity wherever you are doesn't render the inherent advantages you gain in going to oxbridge negligible.

Reply 7

King Newt

4

Scientific Calculator

I'm leaving the entire topic open to discussion; it sounded like an interesting comparison to make, considering the entire 'Doxbridge' stigma with combining Durham in terms of prestige. We're looking at the University's history, alumni, course structures, student stereotypes, etc.

I think it's only people from Durham who think Durham's on a par with oxbridge. If you look at league tables, I think St. Andrews is 3rd in the UK. Durham is further down the list. Student stereotype in St. Andrews is either yahs or Americans.

Reply 8

Magma828

8

King Newt

I think it's only people from Durham who think Durham's on a par with oxbridge. If you look at league tables, I think St. Andrews is 3rd in the UK. Durham is further down the list. Student stereotype in St. Andrews is either yahs or Americans.

Yeah, but there are just the right number of yahs and the americans make you feel like you're in a movie :biggrin:

Reply 9

ImperceptibleNinja

13

You're probably less likely to be involved in a bicycle accident in St Andrews :rolleyes:

mainly because fewer people cycle, but hey...

Oxford/Cambridge have colleges; the closest St Andrews has to this is the various halls. I'm not sure to what extent people at Oxbridge tend to socialise within their college, but I suspect in halls in St Andrews there's more of a conscious decision about whether or not you socialise within your hall. You can also apply to a different hall after your first year, so there's no longer-term commitment. Once you're in the private market you don't retain any ties to the hall you previously stayed in.

I think St Andrews has a lot of very capable students - I don't think it has the same 'everyone's a genius' vibe that people associate with Oxbridge, but that's perception. I can't directly compare the calibre of graduating students, but I think that, at least with some degrees, it would be unwise for an employer to assume that an Oxbridge graduate was superior to a St Andrews graduate with the same degree/classification. I think the quality of graduates is similar enough for graduates to be compared on an individual basis, rather than employers being able to rely on which institution they've graduated from.

It's hard to compare the 'feel' of the towns because I've not visited them all. I think they're relatively similar when you consider all possible university towns, but St Andrews is smaller, more rural and has fewer shopping facilities, so it might not appeal to everyone who liked Oxford/Cambridge. But it's more likely to appeal to them than someone who craves a big city full of shops and clubs. Does that make any sense? :s-smilie:

Reply 10

Ecosse_14

19

LazyWorseThanInfidel

if you go to oxbridge you can rule the country.

if you rule to st andrews, you can run a business, if your lucky.

Lol.

See that guy who runs the country? He went to St Andrews.

EDIT: I should mention that by 'country' I mean Scotland before everyone is all 'Eh, David Cameron went to Oxford ACTUALLY'

(edited 14 years ago)

Reply 11

LazyWorseThanInfidel

14

Ecosse_14

Lol.

See that guy who runs the country? He went to St Andrews.

EDIT: I should mention that by 'country' I mean Scotland before everyone is all 'Eh, David Cameron went to Oxford ACTUALLY'

you sort of owned me

but you catch my drift

Reply 12

Ecosse_14

19

LazyWorseThanInfidel

you sort of owned me

but you catch my drift

Owned

Reply 13

dearyme

6

Ecosse_14

Lol.

See that guy who runs the country? He went to St Andrews.

EDIT: I should mention that by 'country' I mean Scotland before everyone is all 'Eh, David Cameron went to Oxford ACTUALLY'

We should probably take note that the future king also went to St Andrews... so if you go to St Andrews you can also rule a large majority of the Commonwealth... just sayin

Reply 14

Sambo2

10

you should also note that our gowns are far sexier than oxbridge undergrad ones..

Reply 15

LGF92

14

Sambo2

you should also note that our gowns are far sexier than oxbridge undergrad ones..

THIS

Reply 16

ProfPlum

5

I would suggest that a 'St Oxbridge' would be better than a 'Doxbridge'. Even though both don't really work.

Reply 17

a_t

16

St Andrews? lol

If you're gonna compare unis with Oxbridge choose Imperial and LSE, both are far more prestigious

I went to UCL for the record

Reply 18

stac4321

10

Too be honest, isn't St Andrews just Scotland's answer to Oxbridge (not in a bad way though!). St Andrews is closer to Oxbridge than say, Edinbourgh. Despite that fact there isn't a huge differece in terms of the quality of the education between the two, even then it depends on the individual, some would flourish somewhere like Oxbridge or St Andrews, others might prefer somewhere like Edinbourgh or UCL.

I doubt there is THAT much academic difference between the two. The people who apply to Oxbridge, more often or not also apply to St Andrews, UCL, LSE, Imperial etc. So anyone in the top 5 or so universities tend to be interchangable to a certian extent. The only differance is whether or not they performed ever so slightly better on their A Levels or PS. Any even someone who wasn't from either university would be able to tell you that that is hardly a good judge of intelligence. Arguably Oxbridge have interviews and stuff to get around this, but they all say the prescribed thing...

The courses are really quite different, I know St Andrews is a lot more flexable, whereas Oxbridge is straight-foward and very structured. Which could be good or bad depending on what your looking for really.

Both have the steriotype of being middle class, privately educated rahs. Rightly or wrongly. But there really isn't as strong a steriotype in the universities which are a little bit lower on the league table (I'm talking 3rd, 4th, 5th... or any Russell Group uni actually).

But. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say (gasp!) that surely it doesn't matter if you go to the 1st 'best' university in Britain or the 3rd? More similarities than differences in terms of the collages, people etc.

(edited 14 years ago)

Reply 19

Square

13

oxbridge is better, oxford also has about 50 times as much money to throw around as st andrews though so this is to be expected. get over it.

St Andrews vs Oxbridge

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