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Easy to fit in?
Hello. One thing that really hit home in my interview was that most people in my group were "upper class" wereas i am completly working class and damn proud to be couse.
I suppose I am asking weather there seems to be a segragation of class within friendship groups, or weather state students fit is just as well.
Nothing against the people in my group they did seem nice but I cant help but wounder.
I suppose I am asking weather there seems to be a segragation of class within friendship groups, or weather state students fit is just as well.
Nothing against the people in my group they did seem nice but I cant help but wounder.
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I feel slightly nervous about 'fitting in' as well (if I am lucky enough to get an offer when I apply next year), but for two reasons: gay and working class 
I'll be exiled!
I'll be exiled!Marcus-B
I feel slightly nervous about 'fitting in' as well (if I am lucky enough to get an offer when I apply next year), but for two reasons: gay and working class I'll be exiled!
I'll be exiled!Some of the most famous and influencial people were upper class and gay...
Just a random reply
Vodkas Pal
Hello. One thing that really hit home in my interview was that most people in my group were "upper class" wereas i am completly working class and damn proud to be couse.
I suppose I am asking weather there seems to be a segragation of class within friendship groups, or weather state students fit is just as well.
Nothing against the people in my group they did seem nice but I cant help but wounder.
I suppose I am asking weather there seems to be a segragation of class within friendship groups, or weather state students fit is just as well.
Nothing against the people in my group they did seem nice but I cant help but wounder.
I doubt the people you met were "Upper class" since those most people don't fit this class grouping these days. I presume you mean "upper middle class" - people from very stable well off backgrounds who went to very good schools. But enough of this semantic crap.
Before I answer your question properly though, I have to ask: what makes you think you are working class? I dislike the term "working class", since to me it's like a buzz-phrase which is thrown around by people who don't want to be associated with stuck up rich kids. So what is it about you which differed from these "upper class" kids you met at interview? You have mentioned "state students", which implies that a state comprehensive educated student is working class. This is wrong: going to a state comprehensive does not make you working class. And there are plenty of state school students at cambridge who fit in just fine (me being one of them). So why dont you think you wont fit in?
Willa
I doubt the people you met were "Upper class" since those most people don't fit this class grouping these days. I presume you mean "upper middle class" - people from very stable well off backgrounds who went to very good schools. But enough of this semantic crap.
Before I answer your question properly though, I have to ask: what makes you think you are working class? I dislike the term "working class", since to me it's like a buzz-phrase which is thrown around by people who don't want to be associated with stuck up rich kids. So what is it about you which differed from these "upper class" kids you met at interview? You have mentioned "state students", which implies that a state comprehensive educated student is working class. This is wrong: going to a state comprehensive does not make you working class. And there are plenty of state school students at cambridge who fit in just fine (me being one of them). So why dont you think you wont fit in?
Before I answer your question properly though, I have to ask: what makes you think you are working class? I dislike the term "working class", since to me it's like a buzz-phrase which is thrown around by people who don't want to be associated with stuck up rich kids. So what is it about you which differed from these "upper class" kids you met at interview? You have mentioned "state students", which implies that a state comprehensive educated student is working class. This is wrong: going to a state comprehensive does not make you working class. And there are plenty of state school students at cambridge who fit in just fine (me being one of them). So why dont you think you wont fit in?
It just strikes me as a whole different culture.
Its going to be hard enough as I am from wales, which is a culture of and in itself. My education has not been that great and my college has the rep for being one of the worse is wales,so i would not think my independt educational ideas are as sophesticated as those from more successful schools, and i felt that if i got an offer i would end up feeling inferia.
stupid yes, but its just me.
Vodkas Pal
Hello. One thing that really hit home in my interview was that most people in my group were "upper class" wereas i am completly working class and damn proud to be couse.
I suppose I am asking weather there seems to be a segragation of class within friendship groups, or weather state students fit is just as well.
Nothing against the people in my group they did seem nice but I cant help but wounder.
I suppose I am asking weather there seems to be a segragation of class within friendship groups, or weather state students fit is just as well.
Nothing against the people in my group they did seem nice but I cant help but wounder.
You'll probably find that most people will just ignore you, especially if you speak in one of those horrible common accents. Except of course for Monied Monday in Lent. The tradition is that anyone whose father owns more than thirty acres is permitted to put a prole of their choosing into a small wooden box outside the Senate House and poke them with a sharpened stick. For the rest of the year, working class students tend to go around in tatty groups looking meek and trying not to annoy their betters.
Vodkas Pal
It just strikes me as a whole different culture.
Its going to be hard enough as I am from wales, which is a culture of and in itself. My education has not been that great and my college has the rep for being one of the worse is wales,so i would not think my independt educational ideas are as sophesticated as those from more successful schools, and i felt that if i got an offer i would end up feeling inferia.
stupid yes, but its just me.
Its going to be hard enough as I am from wales, which is a culture of and in itself. My education has not been that great and my college has the rep for being one of the worse is wales,so i would not think my independt educational ideas are as sophesticated as those from more successful schools, and i felt that if i got an offer i would end up feeling inferia.
stupid yes, but its just me.
interesting......so you think you are working class because you are: 1. welsh, 2. you went to a school with a bad reputation.
Well I've already addressed the second of those points: people honestly don't give a damn about which school you went to (well...rather that it's just an interesting little quirk to know someone from Eton, but for 99% of the students, where they went to school is irrelevant).
And how on earth can you think being Welsh makes you working class!?
(and I know quite a few welsh people at cambridge who also claim to have gone to terrible schools, who fit right in. I'm sure there are some people who wouldnt get along with them, but that's only because these particular individuals are quite outgoing, and so perhaps the quieter people might find this a bit too in your face. But there's a good mix of both).
But what I'm really interested in still is why you think you are working class? Being welsh is not an argument for that statement, nor is what school you went to.
Willa
interesting......so you think you are working class because you are: 1. welsh, 2. you went to a school with a bad reputation.
Well I've already addressed the second of those points: people honestly don't give a damn about which school you went to (well...rather that it's just an interesting little quirk to know someone from Eton, but for 99% of the students, where they went to school is irrelevant).
And how on earth can you think being Welsh makes you working class!?
(and I know quite a few welsh people at cambridge who also claim to have gone to terrible schools, who fit right in. I'm sure there are some people who wouldnt get along with them, but that's only because these particular individuals are quite outgoing, and so perhaps the quieter people might find this a bit too in your face. But there's a good mix of both).
But what I'm really interested in still is why you think you are working class? Being welsh is not an argument for that statement, nor is what school you went to.
Well I've already addressed the second of those points: people honestly don't give a damn about which school you went to (well...rather that it's just an interesting little quirk to know someone from Eton, but for 99% of the students, where they went to school is irrelevant).
And how on earth can you think being Welsh makes you working class!?
(and I know quite a few welsh people at cambridge who also claim to have gone to terrible schools, who fit right in. I'm sure there are some people who wouldnt get along with them, but that's only because these particular individuals are quite outgoing, and so perhaps the quieter people might find this a bit too in your face. But there's a good mix of both).
But what I'm really interested in still is why you think you are working class? Being welsh is not an argument for that statement, nor is what school you went to.
I do not think that I am working class due to being Welsh, just that the subtle differences in culture will make things odd - ( i am deep in the Valleys btw).
Vodkas Pal
Its going to be hard enough as I am from wales, which is a culture of and in itself. My education has not been that great and my college has the rep for being one of the worse is wales
Most people here are "normal". They are clever, obviously requirement, and much fewer have welsh accents, but if you can make friends with people your own age at home, you'll make friends at Cambridge. Noone asks you how much your parents make or is bothered if you went to a crap school. Yes it's usually obvious when someone has gone to Eton, but the converse isn't true. I've no idea which of my friends went to private and which didn't, nor could I tell you what most of their parents do.
Basically you sound like you've the usual preconception that there is a great divide between the so called "haves" and (relative) "have nots" at Cambridge. Thats rubbish. There is no divide and noone really cares.
I didn't get that vibe at all when I went down for my interview.
I go to a state school and I don't live in a particularly affluent area (I certainly do not consider myself working class - possibly lower middle if I had to define myself) and I didn't feel looked down upon or out of place. If you have the ability then I'm sure that's all that matters.
I go to a state school and I don't live in a particularly affluent area (I certainly do not consider myself working class - possibly lower middle if I had to define myself) and I didn't feel looked down upon or out of place. If you have the ability then I'm sure that's all that matters.
I like the fact you're pretending to be a toff Gravastar, because you really are a snobby bastard. Racist too.
I found myself equal, there was no clear definition between middle upper and working class in the meeting room. just a nice cambridge social soup. It was nice to meet some people from the other part of the country for a change. Northern accents surely only existed in coronation street before.
I found myself equal, there was no clear definition between middle upper and working class in the meeting room. just a nice cambridge social soup. It was nice to meet some people from the other part of the country for a change. Northern accents surely only existed in coronation street before.
Being a filthy southerner myself I took some time out to talk to the people from up North. They were much friendlier than us inward-looking, socially inept miserable lot, but somehow not as cool (hate that word - but its the only one I can think of using...).
For some reason all the Southerners appeared to be applying for SPS and all the Notherners were a science of some form. Strange...
They actually say "t'internet" and stuff like that as well. Hilarious. I'll be sure to go down the pub with the Nothern lot when/if I get in.
For some reason all the Southerners appeared to be applying for SPS and all the Notherners were a science of some form. Strange...
They actually say "t'internet" and stuff like that as well. Hilarious. I'll be sure to go down the pub with the Nothern lot when/if I get in.
The answer to this question is entirely based on what college you go to. In friendy colleges you'll fit in no matter what because they're...you've guessed it; friendly. In big 'posh' (for want of a better word) ones you possibly won't.
It also depends on which circles you wish to move in. If you're friends with people who have similar backgrounds and interests to you then you'll fit in fine- if you intend to spend your days at Cambridge loitering outside the Pitt Club and trying to shag posh Hawks in Cindies *cough cough* then you possibly won't.
Cambridge seems to me to be a very big boarding school where the pretty girls and sporty guys are popular and those of us who aren't, are not permitted to speak to them or look in their general direction (I'm talking about Trinity here btw, somewhere like Clare is entirely different). People in Cambridge like to reconstruct their old school environments by establishing single sex societies so that they can meet up with single sex societies of the opposite gender and everything will be just like the discos/socials they went to at boarding school. Cambridge is very different to other universities. I find it to be one huge networking social that I try desperately to compete in but without success as I don't have the public school background.
I daresay you'll have a different experience to me, and as I said it depends who you want to fit in with and which college you're at. But by and large being a kid from a crappy comprehensive doesn't make the Cambridge transition overly easy.
Hope that helps and makes some kind of sense.
x
It also depends on which circles you wish to move in. If you're friends with people who have similar backgrounds and interests to you then you'll fit in fine- if you intend to spend your days at Cambridge loitering outside the Pitt Club and trying to shag posh Hawks in Cindies *cough cough* then you possibly won't.
Cambridge seems to me to be a very big boarding school where the pretty girls and sporty guys are popular and those of us who aren't, are not permitted to speak to them or look in their general direction (I'm talking about Trinity here btw, somewhere like Clare is entirely different). People in Cambridge like to reconstruct their old school environments by establishing single sex societies so that they can meet up with single sex societies of the opposite gender and everything will be just like the discos/socials they went to at boarding school. Cambridge is very different to other universities. I find it to be one huge networking social that I try desperately to compete in but without success as I don't have the public school background.
I daresay you'll have a different experience to me, and as I said it depends who you want to fit in with and which college you're at. But by and large being a kid from a crappy comprehensive doesn't make the Cambridge transition overly easy.
Hope that helps and makes some kind of sense.
x
If you went to a school full of dirty commoners then obviously Cambridge is going to have more horrible toffs than you're used to since you didn't go to school with any. In my experience, it hasn't mattered. Get invited to someone's mansion in the Alps and I'm sure it won't bother you either (this hasn't happened to me 
).
Northerners are way nicer than southern people.
).Northerners are way nicer than southern people.
Vodkas Pal
I do not think that I am working class due to being Welsh
I should hope not....but then you still havent answered my question as to what it is that makes you working class? you mention subtle differences, but what might these be? Care to elaborate?
Sorry to press the point, I dont mean to be rude....as I said earlier, I really dislike the use of the term "working class" by so many people.
Willa
...(well...rather that it's just an interesting little quirk to know someone from Eton, but for 99% of the students, where they went to school is irrelevant).
And just coz someone went to Eton/some other posh place, doesn't mean they have decent manners are an amazingly nice person. I'd much rather go to the poorest school and be a nice person that be some **** from Eton who is horrid and mean. I have only met on person from Eton here and would say I'd rather not have met them
ooh and apologies for stereotyping...I know people here from St Pauls who are lovely 
....And I might also add to puppy's point...I really HAVE NOT felt that way at Trinity. Yes, there are a few people like that, but it's what you expect at such a large college, really. I am friends with people from a cross-section of backgrounds and no-one I've met seemed to be the boarding school type. Although there may well be people like this, there's no real need to worry and the benefit of being at a large and vibrant college like Trinity is that it is not too hard to find people you get on well with. (And this is coming from a quiet/fairly introverted person).
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