Oxbridge or Ivy League
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Original post by cambio wechsel
Cambridge does, albeit only in the way that Cambridge does joint honours in pretty well any combination* of its subject offerings: with a part I in the one and part II in the other. For some people this works out better than studying the two side by side (in Geography it would allow you to do no physical geography, for example).
*within reason and subject to agreement from the college DoS in the receiving subject, yes, but Economics to Geography would be no problem at all and Geography to Economics would be allowed conditional on your satisfying the DoS in economics that you could manage the quantitative aspects.
*within reason and subject to agreement from the college DoS in the receiving subject, yes, but Economics to Geography would be no problem at all and Geography to Economics would be allowed conditional on your satisfying the DoS in economics that you could manage the quantitative aspects.
Wow. I had no idea that you could do this.
I thought the closest thing to Geog and Econ was Land Economy, and that is far too focused on real estate finance and Law for my liking so I never really considered that...
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by therealOG
Wow. I had no idea that you could do this 
I literally had no idea that combinations like this were possible.....
I thought the closest thing to Geog and Econ was Land Economy, and that is far too focused on real estate finance and Law for my liking so I never really considered that...
I literally had no idea that combinations like this were possible.....I thought the closest thing to Geog and Econ was Land Economy, and that is far too focused on real estate finance and Law for my liking so I never really considered that...
Yeah, too few are aware of what's implied by, and allowed under, the Tripos system. It's why Cambridge offers (practically) no joint honours schools, because you can mix and match your parts I & II pretty well as you choose. You get a mark for both parts, is why people talk of a "double first", incidentally. This is as well why Cambridge degrees have no course title: it's just BA (hons) and you list the parts studied and mark for each underneath.
Original post by cambio wechsel
Yeah, too few are aware of what's implied by, and allowed under, the Tripos system. It's why Cambridge offers (practically) no joint honours schools, because you can mix and match your parts I & II pretty well as you choose. You get a mark for both parts, is why people talk of a "double first", incidentally. This is as well why Cambridge degrees have no course title: it's just BA (hons) and you list the parts studied and mark for each underneath.
Does this system mean that you study one subject for 1.5 yrs and then you switch over to another subject for the next 1.5 years? I wouldn't like that at all, I'd much rather study both subjects in conjunction over the 3 years.
Original post by Melanie-v
That's true, but I spent almost as long on my application to the UK as I did on those to the US. I did the essays in the 2 weeks before the deadline, and I could have cut a lot of time out of that if I hadn't just sat and blankly stared at the screen half the time. (My holidays and revision time were ruined 
)
I guess that if I'd actually spent time refining each essay beyond a quick spelling and grammar check, I'd have spent longer on them.
I did have to ask two teachers to write individual references for me though, as well as another teacher to write one as the "head of upper school". It was definitely more work for them.
) I guess that if I'd actually spent time refining each essay beyond a quick spelling and grammar check, I'd have spent longer on them.
I did have to ask two teachers to write individual references for me though, as well as another teacher to write one as the "head of upper school". It was definitely more work for them.
Oh wow.It didn't take much time for me as I did it casually expecting nothing in return :-\ and once I got a place I sent my applications to 3 universities in the US.I know some people who applied to 8+ universities in the US.And a different essay for each one of them (University of California requires a single application..I think)
Original post by EasyA
Oh wow.It didn't take much time for me as I did it casually expecting nothing in return :-\ and once I got a place I sent my applications to 3 universities in the US.I know some people who applied to 8+ universities in the US. And a different essay for each one of them (University of California requires a single application..I think)
*waves* That'd be me. To be fair, I spent most of the time I was 'writing' on TSR, various online games, and reading. The bulk of the work (all the individual college essays bar one or two) I wrote in the last two days.
California
Sounds great. My parents only let me apply to East Coast universities. Where are you going then?Original post by therealOG
Does this system mean that you study one subject for 1.5 yrs and then you switch over to another subject for the next 1.5 years? I wouldn't like that at all, I'd much rather study both subjects in conjunction over the 3 years.
well, not 1.5yrs and 1.5yrs (3 terms and 6 terms or 6 terms and 3 terms or 6 terms and 6 terms) but, yes, you'd be studying them sequentially rather than simultaneously.
As I say, this suits some people rather better. For example, in part II Geography you don't have to do any physical geography, and of course wouldn't have done it while doing part I Economics. Equally, it would suit someone who wanted to study Economics only up to 'medium undergraduate level', if you see what I mean "I just want a general grounding in it..."
Horses for courses, but this is the Cambridge system.
Original post by Melanie-v
*waves* That'd be me. To be fair, I spent most of the time I was 'writing' on TSR, various online games, and reading. The bulk of the work (all the individual college essays bar one or two) I wrote in the last two days.
California Sounds great. My parents only let me apply to East Coast universities. Where are you going then?
California
Sounds great. My parents only let me apply to East Coast universities. Where are you going then?I applied to Columbia,NYU and USC.Got into NYU and USC
I snoozed looking at the UC application form.It's pretty long! And I've heard horror stories of UCLA from my best friends.They weren't exactly horror to them but to me it was since it was pretty American Pie-esque D: Berkeley is really nice though! But I eventually dropped both of them since the fee was just way too high for me along with the high living expenses and Warwick/UCL is much more closer to home.East Coast is amazing! Where did you apply/get into?
Original post by EasyA
Haha yeah ^^ I honestly don't know what universities expect though :-\
But I'm pretty sure you need a lot of work to get into US Universities.Harvard and Yale are the hardest to get into.They demand so much work :-\
You can have 2400 and 800 in SAT - I and II but if you don't have a better essay than another applicant you could lose a place at such a university.I know a guy who had a lower SAT score than another friend and even lower scores in Math and Physics.He didn't have the best extra curricular activities but he got into MIT and the other guy didnt :| This guy also got into Harvard but since he chose Engineering he went for MIT.Apparently he writes the best essays
You can never really know how universities work.They're pretty crazy
But I'm pretty sure you need a lot of work to get into US Universities.Harvard and Yale are the hardest to get into.They demand so much work :-\
You can have 2400 and 800 in SAT - I and II but if you don't have a better essay than another applicant you could lose a place at such a university.I know a guy who had a lower SAT score than another friend and even lower scores in Math and Physics.He didn't have the best extra curricular activities but he got into MIT and the other guy didnt :| This guy also got into Harvard but since he chose Engineering he went for MIT.Apparently he writes the best essays
You can never really know how universities work.They're pretty crazy
That's so true. This girl - who got into harvard! - is one of my intellectual idols and still didn't get into oxford. I know their admissions system is bound to be imperfect, but it can be aggravating sometimes /:
A friend of mine who is British but lives in the States got accepted at both Oxford and Stanford last year - she turned down Oxford. I think the primary reason was the climate at Stanford though. 
Original post by emmanottinghil
The Times Higher Education Top 200 puts almost all of Ivy League above Oxbridge.
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2010-2011/top-200.html
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2010-2011/top-200.html
actually it puts 2 ahead and 6 behind. MIT/Stanford/Caltech aren't ivy leagues
The big 5 world unis are usually said to be: Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, Stanford. There really isn't a gap between them and all over the world an employer would view them equally.
The application ratios is also not a very valid statistic. In the UK the acceptance rate at Oxbridge is generally higher than at other universities. This does not mean it is less competitive. Firstly there is a lot of self regulation that goes on. Many people are put off applying as they don't think they are good enough. Also you only get 5 spaces on your application form, so people who were marginal about applying may choose not to. So this generally leaves only the people who genuinely want to go there and think they have a decent chance.
In the US you can apply to as many Colleges as you want, so you get a lot more 'less serious' applicants applying to Harvard, MIT and the like with no real expectation of being accepted. That coupled with a much larger population.
The application ratios is also not a very valid statistic. In the UK the acceptance rate at Oxbridge is generally higher than at other universities. This does not mean it is less competitive. Firstly there is a lot of self regulation that goes on. Many people are put off applying as they don't think they are good enough. Also you only get 5 spaces on your application form, so people who were marginal about applying may choose not to. So this generally leaves only the people who genuinely want to go there and think they have a decent chance.
In the US you can apply to as many Colleges as you want, so you get a lot more 'less serious' applicants applying to Harvard, MIT and the like with no real expectation of being accepted. That coupled with a much larger population.
When you're at these levels, what's the point comparing them? Also, as I understand it, the US and UK teaching systems for undergrads are significantly different.
Original post by SabreT
These are moot points. Go to the US and students who get into Oxford are often looked upto more than those who got into Yale for example. Oxford is seen as the pinnacle of education in America. Its just a case of the grass being greener on the other side.
Reminds me of The Great Gatsby..."He went to Oggsford College!"
No doubt Havard,Yale, Princeton and Stanford are superior universities to Oxbridge look at the rankings. The rankings don't lie people.
Original post by THECHOOSENONE
No doubt Havard,Yale, Princeton and Stanford are superior universities to Oxbridge look at the rankings. The rankings don't lie people.
"The rankings don't lie". Have you seen some of the universities sitting at the top of various league tables at the moment? One look at the Guardian's Higher Education tables demonstrates that the rankings most emphatically do lie. There are so many variables involved in comparing the quality of institutions based in different countries, with different histories, with massively different styles of teaching, different styles of assessment, and so on, that the exercise is entirely futile. The truth is that when you get to the heights of Harvard, Yale and Oxbridge, comparison becomes almost as irrelevant as it is impossible.
I also find it quite funny that you are riling against Oxbridge as a bastion of the class system when the US universities you keep referring to charge $50,000+ for some courses, and loan provision is substantially less generous than it is here.
Source QS WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS http://www.topuniversities.com/unive...-rankings/2011These numbers were produced after thourough formulaic considerations with all things taken into account, not what feelsright, disagree then go to the mathematicians who had to sift through data for days to produce them
90+ universities, The Elite world class institutions that take only the best of the best: Cambridge 100 Harvard 99.4, MIT 99.21 Oxford 98, Yale 98.84 Imperial 97.64, UCL 97.33 Chicago 96.08, Pennsylvania 95.73 Columbia 95.28 Stanford 93.44 Caltech 93.02 Princeton 91.91 Michigan 91.28 Cornell 90.72
4 UK 11 USA
80+ universities, internationally leading: John Hopkins 89.96 Duke 89.25, Edingburgh 87.83 California Berkely 87.64, Northwestern 85.91 Kings College 84.96 Manchester 83.97 Bristol 83.65, UCLA 81.86
4 UK 5 USA
70+ universites, highlighy sought after nationally and in other countries: Brown 79.23 Wisconsin Madison 79.98 Carnagie, 78.46 New York 77.71 Warwick 74.86, North Carolina 73.62 Washington 72.94 Glasgow 72.12 Illinoi 71.89 LSE 70.52
3 UK 8 USA
60+ universities, highligh valued nationally : Birmingham 69.89 Boston 69.67, Sheffield 69.6 Nottingham 68.79, 68.75 Southampton Texas 68.73, UCSD 68.49 ST Louis 68.74 Georgia 68.14 Purdue 67.06, Leeds 65.65 Pensylvania state 65.4, Durham 65.21 York 65.18, Andrews 65.12 Dartmouth 64.92, Davis 64.36 Minnesota 64.32 Southern California 63.24 Ohio 61.53 Rice 60.97 Emory 60.44 Maryland 60.2
8 UK 15 USA
Each grouping is of Uk and its Us equivalents
and the only reason the USA has so many more in each grouping is beacuse of the fact its population is 5 times as high as the UK and pumps tens of billions more into its higher education system (Harvard on its own gets more than the top UK 10 combined) but after taking that into consideration the fact the UK has such strong numbers in each for its size leaves no doubt we have pound for pound the best in the world
90+ universities, The Elite world class institutions that take only the best of the best: Cambridge 100 Harvard 99.4, MIT 99.21 Oxford 98, Yale 98.84 Imperial 97.64, UCL 97.33 Chicago 96.08, Pennsylvania 95.73 Columbia 95.28 Stanford 93.44 Caltech 93.02 Princeton 91.91 Michigan 91.28 Cornell 90.72
4 UK 11 USA
80+ universities, internationally leading: John Hopkins 89.96 Duke 89.25, Edingburgh 87.83 California Berkely 87.64, Northwestern 85.91 Kings College 84.96 Manchester 83.97 Bristol 83.65, UCLA 81.86
4 UK 5 USA
70+ universites, highlighy sought after nationally and in other countries: Brown 79.23 Wisconsin Madison 79.98 Carnagie, 78.46 New York 77.71 Warwick 74.86, North Carolina 73.62 Washington 72.94 Glasgow 72.12 Illinoi 71.89 LSE 70.52
3 UK 8 USA
60+ universities, highligh valued nationally : Birmingham 69.89 Boston 69.67, Sheffield 69.6 Nottingham 68.79, 68.75 Southampton Texas 68.73, UCSD 68.49 ST Louis 68.74 Georgia 68.14 Purdue 67.06, Leeds 65.65 Pensylvania state 65.4, Durham 65.21 York 65.18, Andrews 65.12 Dartmouth 64.92, Davis 64.36 Minnesota 64.32 Southern California 63.24 Ohio 61.53 Rice 60.97 Emory 60.44 Maryland 60.2
8 UK 15 USA
Each grouping is of Uk and its Us equivalents
and the only reason the USA has so many more in each grouping is beacuse of the fact its population is 5 times as high as the UK and pumps tens of billions more into its higher education system (Harvard on its own gets more than the top UK 10 combined) but after taking that into consideration the fact the UK has such strong numbers in each for its size leaves no doubt we have pound for pound the best in the world
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by THECHOOSENONE
No doubt Havard,Yale, Princeton and Stanford are superior universities to Oxbridge look at the rankings. The rankings don't lie people.
Cambridge are top in the only league table I've looked at recently :shrug:
So many people on this thread have quoted the fact that oxbridge has three times as high acceptance rates...however, you can only apply to one Oxbridge university and Ucas is limited to 5 choices, whereas there is no limit on the commonapp. Also, MIT, CIT and Stanford are not ivy leagues which quite a few people don't seem to realise
If you know what you want to study, Oxbridge is much superior at an undergraduate level.
This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App
Oxbridge is considerably smaller than the IVY league universities but the impact of Oxbridge is felt all over the world.
We can go by league tables and see that Cambridge is number one is world. Oxbridge has been dominating for centuries.
We can go by league tables and see that Cambridge is number one is world. Oxbridge has been dominating for centuries.
also that Harvard helps to compile the league tables (and the majority of the score is nothing to do with the undergrad courses), the father of a friend of mine used to teach there and said that the standard of teaching and the course content for undergraduate studies is appalling... even though it is far more competitive for Ivy league due to more applicants you could quite happily apply to all of them AND still apply via UCAS to up to 5 UK universities so you could go for both if your happy to apply individually to each US institution and take the SATs
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