The Student Room Group

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Reply 1
Depends on the interviewer. If they think they'll somehow benefit from the more attractive student, and are somewhat corrupted, perhaps!
Reply 2
As with everything in life, yes it would, all things being equal.
Reply 3
I would say that more attractive people will probably have a higher chance, that's just basic psychology. But I don't think attractiveness directly correlates with good looks; I think it's confidence more than anything else.

Of course, on average good-looking people will probably be more confident as a result of their looks, but this isn't always so.
bluefuture
If there were two similar applicants and one of them was gorgeous would that one stand a better chance?


yep, youre screwed
I would say yes in anything but oxbridge admissions...
Watch out for my logic. :biggrin:

- Oxford and Cambridge are reputed to have some of the students with the best grades.

- These tend to be geeks, who tend to be ugly and in many cases work to cover the lack of social invitations.

- An attractive person would be an oddity, as there are far fewer of them in such a case.

- The bitter nerds cannot believe that you can be both intelligent and attractive and bin your app.

- Hence, the lower the ranking of the school, the more attractive students tend to be (negative correlation between increasing attractiveness and increasing rank).

- As amusing a waste of time as this has been (I should be studying) they probably really wont care bluefuture, and no two applicants can ever be identical (unless they are twins who share a mind, but for those of you who have read my invective against twins, you know that they too cannot be smart).
Reply 6
- An attractive person would be an oddity, as there are far fewer of them in such a case.
Ain't that the truth.
Reply 7
A better question is: should we be positively discriminating in favour of attractive people? After all, they're currently an underrepresented minority.
Reply 8
Please tell me she's going to Trinity :p:
I live around the Mediterranean. Even our "uglies" are hot:wink:
Reply 10
If it were true then surely the students at Oxbridge would on average be more attractive than those at the well known "Oxbridge rejects" unis like Durham, Bristol and UCL (ignoring about those who turned the place down or didnt make teh grades, they're hardly a significant number). Well I'd always thought those 3 were some of the unis with the best looking people in them, so I'd assume the original statement wasnt true.
Ugh, I hate Freud.
I voted no and I really hope I'm right. I don't see why anyone would be shallow enough to choose one person over another just because they're better looking when that has no bearing whatsoever on how intelligent or hardworking they are or what they're like to teach.
Im sure there are statistics (somewhere) saying that all things being equal attractive people are more likely to get a job after an interview than ugly people, apparently because people make better 1st impressions...so the same could be said of oxbridge interviews in an obscure sort of way...although knowing the oxbridge admissions system then itll probs be the reverse!!
Reply 14
kellywood_5
I voted no and I really hope I'm right. I don't see why anyone would be shallow enough to choose one person over another just because they're better looking when that has no bearing whatsoever on how intelligent or hardworking they are or what they're like to teach.


It's just a subconscious thing - if people are good looking then they're more likely to be remembered pleasantly. It shouldn't be a deciding factor, but if all other things are truly equal, I wouldn't be surprised if the better looking one were subconsciously picked by the majority of people.
Reply 15
friendlyneutron
Ugh, I hate Freud.


Heh. I am yet to hear anyone go 'ah, Freud, I like him!'

He's not all too popular today. And that might be a good thing. :wink:
Reply 16
At the trinity maths open day last year, there were about 250 people there. About 50 were girls, and 2 of them were attractive.

Just saying :wink:
I dont know. I've only been to Cambridge twice and it seems to have mostly attractive people, even the 'geeks' arent THAT bad. meh maybe i am easily impressed, but its certainly better than Nottingham (from the students i saw at the open day).
edit- i am talking about the guys btw. I dont know about the girls, i dont remember
Reply 18
confuddled101
Im sure there are statistics (somewhere) saying that all things being equal attractive people are more likely to get a job after an interview than ugly people, apparently because people make better 1st impressions...so the same could be said of oxbridge interviews in an obscure sort of way...although knowing the oxbridge admissions system then itll probs be the reverse!!



Surely the Apprentice Badger V Blondie is the perfect example? The hotter one won...

also i remember reading a newspaper once upon a time (ok, i don't have any actually proove of this except from my failing memory) that girls (women) who wear skirts to job interviews are more likely to be sucessful thay those who don't...doesn't say nefing about their attractiveness though.

But out of some of the people that got in with this year to Exeter (ox), i'd say there are def something fishy going on there.:p:

ofcourse other things being equal (hardly the case) i'd choose the prettier one...i mean would you rather have Vicky Pollard than Angelina Jolie if they have the same everything else?

**noooni**
I dont know. I've only been to Cambridge twice and it seems to have mostly attractive people, even the 'geeks' arent THAT bad. meh maybe i am easily impressed, but its certainly better than Nottingham (from the students i saw at the open day).
edit- i am talking about the guys btw. I dont know about the girls, i dont remember

i always find guys at posh schools and good unis tend to be better looking than some chavs (sorry to sound snobby)...I think with guys money+humor+intellegents (prime example, some guys look "cute" when they are wearing glasses whereas most girls will be dorks...ever realised in all Teenflicks the girls always hv to lose the glasses before becoming stunning?)+they way they dress (i mean any hot guy will look like a mess if he wore washed out black tracksuits+adias baseball cap+cigaretts in one hand, beer in another, going "eh Babe!"...:p:)
Reply 19
It's human nature to assume Cambridge will be full of ugly people - in the same sense it's human nature to assume that the back stage of a fashion show will be full of stupid people. We try and compensate for an individuals asset with some form of defect (models are stupid, cambridge geeks are ugly, scientists are socially inept, art students can't count, etc).

There's going to be a few fugly ducklings, there's going to be a few stunners. :smile: