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How much harder do Oxbridge students work?

Sorry this isn't the first time I've had a moan about my petty troubles!

I was just wondering how much harder Oxbridge students really work than those at unis like Warwick, York etc.

I've had offers from Oxford and Warwick and I'm still wondering which to put as my first choise. One of the major factors in my decision is how hard (or otherwise) you have to work at Oxford compared to slightly less prestigious unis, and if a dissorganised and lazy person like me would have any time left for other persuits if I went there!

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Reply 1

OppressedMass

You can work as little or as much as you like... If you want a first from Warwick you'll have to work about as hard I should imagine.

Reply 2

Spunky

Be careful where you choose to go. You will have to work hard at Oxford. I was lazy and disorganised before I came, I still am, but I have to put a lot of hard work in. The only person I've comprared with doing engineering (granted he's not doing it at somewhere like Warwick) has about a third of the work we do, if not less.

I've not done any work for the first two and a half weeks of holidays (out of about six) and the guilt is really mounting now. I doubt I'd feel like that elsewhere, I now have two weeks of holiday work to catch up if I start working immediately.

Reply 3

swallows

If you want to do well at Warwick you have to work pretty hard, but then I guess it all depends on what your definition of working hard is. I do an arts subject, have a 20 hour a week timetable and am expected to read on average about a novel a week for each module, plus quite a bit of secondary reading for seminars. So far this year I have had to do 8 assessed essays (of between 2000 and 5000 words) and about a half dozen unassessed ones. Not sure how that compares to Oxford or other unis though, and the as far as the reading is concerned, that is what I was expected to do, not necessarily what I did do. On the whole I'd say that if you want a first from Wazza you have to put quite a lot of effort in (but as with anywhere, it depends entirely on the person), so don't be put off Oxford because you're worried about the work load. I do get the impression that friends at other unis aren't expected to do nearly a much as I am though...and they're all still coming out with 2.1s damn them... :wink:

Reply 4

icedout

It's much more work than other universities. For top subjects like Law, PPE and SPS Oxbridge students will be working something like 6-8 hours a day - AND you have to work in vacation times. For other subjects, there's less work but you still generally have to do an essay a week (at least), and you have to read through a lot of books for each essay. I know a lot of people at Oxford and some at Cambridge, and the workload is incomparable with other universities. Exceptions include Medicine, which is a lot of work wherever you go and subjects at specialised institutions, e.g. Economics at LSE.

Reply 5

SuperhansFavouriteAlsatian

Remember, aside from the fact it's obviously a very presitigious school, the term time is shorter too, meaning a lot of out-of-lecture working (more than normal, anyways).

Reply 6

dancingqueen

I'm doing chemistry, and i do lots more work than a guy I know doing chem at a less prestigious place. Even though it's still a really good uni (Manchester), and well-respected by employers, he seems to do less than half the work I do, especially in the first year. i've found by the third year they expect you to work hard anywhere, because you've got finals and stuff.

Reply 7

nikk

I do 6-8 hours everyday as well, so there doesn't sound to be that much difference in terms of workload (I'm at Plymouth). It's just like a working day; not that much in the grand scheme of things.

Reply 8

Spunky

nikk

I do 6-8 hours everyday as well, so there doesn't sound to be that much difference in terms of workload (I'm at Plymouth). It's just like a working day; not that much in the grand scheme of things.

But haven't you been getting good marks :smile:

? And does everyone at Plymouth work that hard (with the beach nearby :p:

)? I know people who work full working days plus some and still end up getting 2:2s!

Reply 9

FadeToBlackout

The temptation, especially when doing a very independant subject like History, is to NOT do that much work. It's recommended by tutors (at Cam) that you do no more that 40 hours of work a week; I know people who do more than that, just as I am on eof the many who do less.

Like I say, History is one of the subjects that very much depends on individual motivation. Which is harder, getting up in the morning to go to lectures because you do it every day, or getting up in the morning when you only have an ill-defined reading list and a vague knowledge that in four days time you have to have produced an essay?

The problem is that these arts subjects exapnd and contract to fit the time available. It's possible to get by in History doing 12 hours a week. I know, I have, but generally only becasue I was doing another large commitment such as lighting a show and thus spending something like 50+ hours that week in a theatre!

Anyway, the workload varies, but as Casey and other posters have said it is higher than at other institutions. I met a friend of mine who's doing History at Warwick over christmas, and in my first term I'd read twice as much as him and written twice as many essays. he genrally has four essays to write over a ten-week period, albeit with lectures and seminars and so on as well. I have an essay a week, each of which requiring about ten to twelve books and articles, along with an additional paper every fornight with seminars that needs 5 books or so, and other papers that I'm supposed to be reading for continually. And lectures for three different papers in the mornings.

Ask any Oxbirdge student what they hate most, and they'll tell you it's the workload. Whilst I'm not denying that students elsewhere do work, it's not necessarily at the same pace and tempo.

Reply 10

mauritius

I guess the difference is more in how your environment in uni will react to you; Even if you are in Oxford you can be quite lazy - whether you will pass the year if you do absolutely nothin is a different question. However, I would assume that in Oxford the tutors would notice it more and put you under more pressure. My friends from Oxford all are taught in small tutorials so it is noticed when one has not prepared himself for the class. On the other hand, I am not sure to what extent unis like York and Warwick are much different to this. You may want to check the class size. The question in the end is also what you want, whether you are willing to invest much of your time in studying. If not then why go to Oxford at all? If you have a 2:1 from Oxford and a First from Warwick, I am sure that the latter will be considered being more positive to most employers. At the same time I must say that my friends there all have a great social life - many of them travel during holidays and help in social organisations. You may have more workload than in other universities but this means not that you have no free time at all.

Reply 11

Spunky

Its really hard to sail through a tute, especially as my biggest tute group is me and my partner :p:

. However, I have done a lot less work than the average Oxford Joe this year and have been okay up until now :smile:

. Come Prelims though, that may be a different matter.

I think Oxford is great if you can adopt the "Work hard, play harder" attitude. You have to make the most of your time, I'm involved in several societies/teams/etc. and I still have time to sometimes lie about in the JCR watching Neighbours, or playing Pool, I go out most nights and I make sure I don't fall behind drastically. Its all at the expense of lie-ins and lazing about in my room, but its worth it.

Reply 12

BirchyGreen

nikk

I do 6-8 hours everyday as well, so there doesn't sound to be that much difference in terms of workload (I'm at Plymouth). It's just like a working day; not that much in the grand scheme of things.

I do next to no work (about an hour a day) and i am on course for a first :biggrin:

Reply 13

nikk

BirchyGreen

I do next to no work (about an hour a day) and i am on course for a first :biggrin:

What course do you do and which year?

I am working really hard because I am keen on graduating with a real good knowledge of my subject, not just a bit of paper. I am hoping it will get me straight into the second year of a medical degree.

Reply 14

ChemistBoy

You are expected to put the work in at Oxbridge (i.e. there is more pressure) because, after all, every student has the potential to get a first, other universities will let you skive more and hence get a worse mark, because there is more of a mix of potentials. However you have to work damn hard to get a first, full stop.

Reply 15

mauritius

I think the difference is larger between Oxbridge and average universities, such as mine; At mine, lecturers don't really care if you do your readings (as they can not do anything against it anyways). In Oxbridge, they wuld probably put pressure on you to do it.

Reply 16

Spunky

I don't think its so much the pressure that makes it harder, though it is an element. Its the knowledge that if you don't do a hefty amount of work you're going to fail, because everyone else is going to beat you. Its more the competition than the stress.

Reply 17

ChemistBoy

Casey

Well, that is pressure.

Reply 18

Spunky

ChemistBoy

Well, that is pressure.

Yes, but the pressure is partly there because of the competition, its not harder because of the pressure, its harder because you're competing with people that are more intelligent, so its harder to get higher marks. The pressure comes from both that and the workload.

Reply 19

mauritius

I think though pressure also comes from lecturers who care. In my uni we have a complete lack of pressure, because generally there aren't many people who are competitive or willing to work hard, and because lecturers don't really ask you to compete; One of my lecturers very openly told me in my first year that I should not put in so much effort and worry about my exam - his course was one where everyone just passes exams, as in the first year marks don't count enyways for your degree. I thought I had left this system where you only study for an exam and not for yourself in school, but even now in third year most people and lecturers study/teach what will appear in the exam, not what people should know because they want to know their subject area well.