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oxbridge atmosphere

eleri

No it's not, it's almost exactly the same distance, takes about the same amount of time by train, and it's actually quicker to get there from Oxford by road. And how is that relevant to the atmosphere in the cities themselves?

it's 40 mins by train from cambridge to kings cross, according to the trainline it's 1.5 hours by train from oxford to paddington.

Reply 21

eleri

5

homoterror

it's 40 mins by train from cambridge to kings cross, according to the trainline it's 1.5 hours by train from oxford to paddington.

Fine, maybe there's a slight difference by train (although it's actually one hour, because there are express trains, whereas the 1.5 hour one would be the one that stops at every tiny village along the route. If you're going to take the longest one as an example, then the longest Cambridge-London ones take an hour too). It's still quicker by road, and according to theaa.co.uk, Oxford is 0.1 of a mile closer (yes, I am that bored :redface:

).

BUT none of this is very important, as the distance to London is still not relevant to the atmosphere in Oxford or Cambridge. If you like London, go to a London Uni.

Reply 22

RxB

1

nah, it's 50 minutes from cambridge and 55 minutes from oxford

i've done the journey often enough...

Reply 23

homoterror

sorry, just tried the trainline, checked a few random times and used the ones it gave me. oxford line clearing has engineering works going on these days.

the reason it's relevant is because niether oxford nor cambridge are really sufficient for a lot of people and as someone who's currently going crazy trying to survive here without like...normal uni nightlife i'm analysing the outside options.

Reply 24

anycon

11

well I have never been to the college bar, and I've been here for a term and a bit.

Reply 25

kizer

15

Just in terms of the getting to London thing - Oxford has a constant stream of buses going cheaply into London and is well known for this (they run all night as well). Much harder to get in from Cambridge by bus, and trains are pretty expensive if you are going every weekend!

Reply 26

urethrar

2

So far, there has been an interesting discussion of the extent of snobbery etc at Oxbridge, however a more appealing topic (to me) would refer to the competitive atmosphere of oxbridge. I've heard the competition between students is intense, enough so, for no student to feel entirely at ease. Hasn't oxbridge got the highest suicide rates?........or something along those lines.

Reply 27

Isaiah Berlin

4

Argh, what a load of crap. Students here are bloody self supportive, because of the collegiate atmosphere and the fact we got through the same stressful challenges together. Seriously, Oxbridge colleges, in my experience, are unbelievably self-supporting - if you let people know you are in trouble, you will get a huge amount of support.

As for clubbing, get over yourselves. Whether Oxford has 5 clubs to Cambridge's 4 or is 10 minutes farther away from London is no reason to choose one or the other...find a proper reason to choose uni.

Reply 28

FadeToBlackout

15

Uni is, as I and many people have said before, what you make of it. So what if the club scene in Cambridge is, basically, crud? I've found that I've had far more fun and enjoyment just sitting in people's rooms until the early hours chatting and drinking. Other than that, most of the social life during the day and early evening revolves around your staircase. If you've got a nice bunch of peopel (which is pretty much guarenteed!) then you will have a great time.

The point I'm trying to get at, is that the collegiate atmousphere means that there's allways going to be a safety net and people who you can turn to. No matter how late in teh night it is, chances are that there's someone up and about who you can talk to. If you're feeling down, then there will be a person about to have a cup of tea with and a moan about how much work you have to do...

Other than that, in terms of going out you get as much from going with a few friends as any. No-one cares if the club is a bit shoddy- if you're at Cindies at half one with a load of mates, with your hands in the air dancing along to "Summer of 69" or "Wonderwall" or whatever, then you will really enjoy yourself. Anyway, you're not going to go to more than two or three clubs in a night, anyway- and even that's rare- so who cares if there's only 4?

Reply 29

Willa

11

mdcosta

So far, there has been an interesting discussion of the extent of snobbery etc at Oxbridge, however a more appealing topic (to me) would refer to the competitive atmosphere of oxbridge. I've heard the competition between students is intense, enough so, for no student to feel entirely at ease. Hasn't oxbridge got the highest suicide rates?........or something along those lines.

there is most definitely rivalry between fellow students. For one set of out supervision work, we are given a mark out of 10, and there is competition each week to get the most (although there is generally a well established order). Another area I have spotted competitive nature is in our labs, where my lab partner is constantly looking at my lab book to see what i'm writing. And if we move on to the next part of the experiment, but I go back and double check something with the demonstrator, and then write something as an explanation to myself in my notes...my lab partner will "casually" drift over and say "oh...what's that you're writing". It annoys me because I have gone to the effort of trying to understand an aspect of the experiment, but it's like my lab partner wont allow me to possibly stand a chance of getting a better mark. I know that it is a competitive nature within myself that makes me annoyed by this, but still. But what annoyed me even more is that my lab partner then ended up getting a higher mark than me for that experiment....I don't go looking over anyone elses shoulder...anything I write I write because I understand it or worked it out for myself. grrr

Reply 30

Enter username here

5

Hiya,
I reckon you only get that intense thing because the work is sooo hard and there's so much of it! I do Physics and only 1 person (out of 5) in my college says they're liking the course at the moment, and one dropped out at the beginning of term. I know 3 other 1st years that have too, generally because there's not enough academic support. We have 1 fantastic tutor but he can't make up for a not-so-good tutor, unfriendly textbooks and poor lecturers (though we have good lecturers too!).

But I think we love Oxford itself too much to leave. The people, the atmosphere... that's all amazing. And the degree we'll come out with at the end... :smile:

And I think the Physics course gets better next year. People are competitive, but not really in a bad way. Certainly in my college group we get together and give each other hints on bits we can't do - often we can do a hint swap.

Reply 31

Grifter

JaDaAu

they are people who are enthusiastic and interested in a subject, that's why Oxbridge is so good, you'll be surrounded by other people who are dedicated and keen about their subject, just as much as you will be, since if you weren't keen you'd never get in! This makes for a good learning environment.

mmm hah not true- lots of people hate their subjects.

Reply 32

Traum

As an outsider looking in it will seem full of confident smart and sometimes arrogant) people... but after my interview my view has completely changed, it's great n alot of the interviewees are "normal" people (i.e. non arrogant, non geeky)... how i'm not sure many of those normal ones actually get in, but overall i'd say it's just like another top uni (i.e. imperial, LSE, ucl etc)

Reply 33

Traum

Willa

there is most definitely rivalry between fellow students. For one set of out supervision work, we are given a mark out of 10, and there is competition each week to get the most (although there is generally a well established order). Another area I have spotted competitive nature is in our labs, where my lab partner is constantly looking at my lab book to see what i'm writing. And if we move on to the next part of the experiment, but I go back and double check something with the demonstrator, and then write something as an explanation to myself in my notes...my lab partner will "casually" drift over and say "oh...what's that you're writing". It annoys me because I have gone to the effort of trying to understand an aspect of the experiment, but it's like my lab partner wont allow me to possibly stand a chance of getting a better mark. I know that it is a competitive nature within myself that makes me annoyed by this, but still. But what annoyed me even more is that my lab partner then ended up getting a higher mark than me for that experiment....I don't go looking over anyone elses shoulder...anything I write I write because I understand it or worked it out for myself. grrr

OH! I know what you mean, when you've put so much into it and then they just casually "take a look" n "evaluate" your ideas for their own work? n of course they always get the reward for it... :rolleyes:

I suppose there will definately be rivary there, I mean it starts even before the interview does it? For my subject (economics) this is the only place where i came into direct contact with my fellow interviewers, and while i don't regard myself as someone particularly competitive there were some tension between the interviewees there. Doesn't mean we didn't get on well though. A little healthy competition is good...as long as it doesn't get to the "poisoning her in her sleep" stage*... :biggrin:

*though one guy mentioned it so much it actually started to get us worried...

Reply 34

coldfish

12

I think it very much depends on your subject and peers. I'm the kind of person that if a supervision partner (if one existed) wanted a competition I'd not be able to let it go.
Thankfully having individual supervisions means that I never get a chance to compare myself to anybody and so just keep plugging away at my own thing.
At a guess it's more likely to be competitive in the sciences, where there are group supervisions and easily quantifiable results.

Regardless though, friends will be supportive (or at least should be) in any university or place.

Reply 35

Popa Dom

2

It's not that competitive is it? I can't stand competitiveness, I was thinking there would be a fair amount of sitting around and working on proplems together, not hiding away on your own trying desperately to get one up on everyone else, or even swapping hints like some kind of currency. Was part of the reason for applying to Wadham, cos it has so many mathematicians I figured it would almost be a sociable thing (well as sociable as a bunch of mathematicians can be). Having said that, no-one seemed at all competitive at interviews, was as if we werent in competition for places at all, so hopefully that's what it'll be like.

Reply 36

mikeyT

2

Popa Dom

It's not that competitive is it? I can't stand competitiveness, I was thinking there would be a fair amount of sitting around and working on proplems together, not hiding away on your own trying desperately to get one up on everyone else, or even swapping hints like some kind of currency. Was part of the reason for applying to Wadham, cos it has so many mathematicians I figured it would almost be a sociable thing (well as sociable as a bunch of mathematicians can be). Having said that, no-one seemed at all competitive at interviews, was as if we werent in competition for places at all, so hopefully that's what it'll be like.

What I've found is that you have an attempt at the problems yourself and then you discuss difficulties and (mis)understandings with other people. It may turn out that you end up helping others on one problem sheet which helps your own understanding of the topic, or you're all stuck at the same point in which case more brains working together is better than just your own.

Reply 37

mikeyT

2

ps, there is always one person who is competitive, no matter where you go.

oxbridge atmosphere

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