&quot;Dude, where&#x27;s my gown?&quot;: The Oxford Chat Thread Mk.III

Original post by Fullofsurprises

The pressure to network and be there in all the right ways for opportunities/career uppers is totally there at all times...there's an added pressure to be particularly cool and effortless and ironic in all the appearances, after all, isn't that what's expected?

Thanks. Yes, the phrase, "At least it'll look good on my CV" is surely one the the most soul-crushing ever coined.

And I don't suppose there are many instagram posts with the caption "Here I am in my tiny, overpriced bedsit that smells of damp, trying to decide whether to spend the evening thinking about getting back together with my rather tedious ex- in order to feel slightly less lonely. Or if I'm better off just eating wine gums until I feel a bit sick again"

Reply 3342

Original post by nexttime

I personally certainly spent more time refining my fine motor skills than actually working in years 1-3. That's nothing compared to one of my bar-sports mentors though, who actually played for team GB at table football and had to take a term time break to attend the world cup in Germany.

That's what I call an education.

Reply 3343

nulli tertius

21

Original post by Fullofsurprises

But you're not the only one. At least as far as we can tell.

Great post. :five:

The pressure to network and be there in all the right ways for opportunities/career uppers is totally there at all times, but I think you're right and the funding situation makes a huge difference. My mum and dad's generation were unbelievably lucky getting it all free.

Social media is also for sure a huge thing and not least because amongst various circles there's an added pressure to be particularly cool and effortless and ironic in all the appearances, after all, isn't that what's expected?

But for the most part these are not pressures created by Oxford, and are difficult to wish away, and therefore shouldn't we be helping young people to cope with these pressures rather than seeking to reduce the academic pressures which are, and have been for generations, created by Oxford?

What academics who are older than me say is that there has been a reduction in self-reliance amongst Oxbridge students. There is a greater craving for validation of their actions.

Reply 3344

medbh4805

I can't speak for sciences but there is a certain level of denial about the extent to which studying humanities subjects has changed since, for example, the 1970s.

E.g with relation to the expansion of academia, the increased volume of books published, the managerization of higher education, targets, precarious job situation for academics, etc etc. Technology and familiarity with IT is also highly important. The rate at which new materials are published and the rate at which new methods and uses of techology in various fields are developing is constantly increasing.

Junior academics are working under different circumstances in the past. It is like running on a treadmill. This gets passed onto students: there is simply more out there to read, more to be aware of before you can get down to thinking of anything original on a topic.

I remember talking to a man who had written his BA thesis on a Greek poem in the early 70s. At that point there was only one (modern) book published on the subject, so his thesis was largely original research. This seems almost unthinkable now.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 3345

medbh4805

Fwiw, the older tutors I had were always the most indulgent. The younger ones often expected far higher standards and also gave more feedback. I think that difference is partly attributable to the above.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 3346

Kiki09

9

Original post by nexttime

I personally certainly spent more time refining my fine motor skills than actually working in years 1-3. That's nothing compared to one of my bar-sports mentors though, who actually played for team GB at table football and had to take a term time break to attend the world cup in Germany.

Merton right? I always felt our expertise at bar sports was one of the lesser known facts about us

Reply 3347

bzfnqyd

14

Anyone got any tips for coping with prelims? I'm already finding it difficult to manage my workload, I'm starting to get worried.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 3348

TheDefiniteArticle

Get a realistic idea of what you need to know. The answer is not everything.

Reply 3349

This is normal ;P

When it comes to revising for prelims, I'd say 1. accept that all you need to do is scrape though 2. allocate your time so that you cover everything you need to scrape through and don't worry about anything else (in the exam, the added extras will probably pop into your head unasked) 3. outlaw useless thoughts like "This is hopeless" or "I'll never learn all this" 4. Put aside some time every day to walk around Christ Church Meadow or the Parks and keep it all into perspective.

Reply 3350

Breaking news on Biological Sciences...

Word is that it might become a 4-year course starting with this year's application cycle :headbang:

Twittersphere exploding in 3...2...1....

Reply 3351

MexicanKeith

12

Original post by OxFossil

Breaking news on Biological Sciences...

Word is that it might become a 4-year course starting with this year's application cycle :headbang:

Twittersphere exploding in 3...2...1....

Always baffled me why it was only 3 years when every other STEM subject I can think of is 4!

Reply 3352

Original post by MexicanKeith

Always baffled me why it was only 3 years when every other STEM subject I can think of is 4!

Yes, it may be one additional reason why so many new graduates go straight into an MSc, training in ecological consultancy or something similar. The idea is to have a project-based 4th year, but whether they can get this approved by all the colleges in time for the 2018 admissions round is a moot point.

Reply 3353

MexicanKeith

12

Original post by OxFossil

Yes, it may be one additional reason why so many new graduates go straight into an MSc, training in ecological consultancy or something similar. The idea is to have a project-based 4th year, but whether they can get this approved by all the colleges in time for the 2018 admissions round is a moot point.

I'd imagine it has a fair chance of getting approved in time, spending most of fourth year on some sort of project is pretty much the norm for sciences at Oxford now. Having said that, there is almost always some resistance to change in Oxford so we'll have to wait and see!

Reply 3354

nulli tertius

21

Original post by MexicanKeith

Always baffled me why it was only 3 years when every other STEM subject I can think of is 4!

Biological sciences has a very complicated history at Oxford. Historically, botany, zoology, agriculture and forestry were four separate subjects at Oxford. They only came together at undergraduate level in the 1980s and the undergraduate course is still run by a series of university departments. Biochemistry’s origins are neither with chemistry nor the biological sciences but rather as an offshoot of physiology, with the result that Oxford has ended up with a number of overlapping departments.

Only chemistry and biochemistry were running 4 year compulsory courses by the 1980s. I think engineering had an optional 4th year and forestry had been a 4 year course until the 1960s.

Reply 3355

Hugh's Swan

15

Hard to imagine reading forestry at Oxford - how the world has changed.

Reply 3356

MexicanKeith

12

Original post by nulli tertius

Biological sciences has a very complicated history at Oxford. Historically, botany, zoology, agriculture and forestry were four separate subjects at Oxford. They only came together at undergraduate level in the 1980s and the undergraduate course is still run by a series of university departments. Biochemistry’s origins are neither with chemistry nor the biological sciences but rather as an offshoot of physiology, with the result that Oxford has ended up with a number of overlapping departments.

Only chemistry and biochemistry were running 4 year compulsory courses by the 1980s. I think engineering had an optional 4th year and forestry had been a 4 year course until the 1960s.

Very interesting, I was aware that they were all separate, but didn't know they only came together so recently. As a chemistry student the fourth year is something I very much take for granted, because its been running since about 1915 so even the oldest people still in the department who studied here did a fourth year research project.
I have a friend in biochemistry and he takes pride in the fact he's in the medical sciences division rather than MPLS, but I didnt realise that biochemistry originated from the physiology department, thanks for sharing your knowledge :smile:

Reply 3357

Original post by nulli tertius

Biological sciences has a very complicated history at Oxford. Historically, botany, zoology, agriculture and forestry were four separate subjects at Oxford. They only came together at undergraduate level in the 1980s and the undergraduate course is still run by a series of university departments. Biochemistry’s origins are neither with chemistry nor the biological sciences but rather as an offshoot of physiology, with the result that Oxford has ended up with a number of overlapping departments.

Only chemistry and biochemistry were running 4 year compulsory courses by the 1980s. I think engineering had an optional 4th year and forestry had been a 4 year course until the 1960s.

Yes, my (increasingly hazy) recollection of the late 70s is that there was a joint Agriculture & Forestry degree by then (alongside the separate degrees in Zoology and Botany). Ag & For was caricatured by the rest of us (or me, anyway) as something the sons of the landed gentry did prior to taking over the running of the family estates. The students wore polished brogues and tweed jackets, and were interested only in those animals that they could hunt, shoot, or wash down with a good port.

A quick google tells me that prior to WW2, "the School struggled with low numbers and poor quality of undergraduates".

How times change...

Reply 3358

nulli tertius

21

Original post by OxFossil

Yes, my (increasingly hazy) recollection of the late 70s is that there was a joint Agriculture & Forestry degree by then (alongside the separate degrees in Zoology and Botany). Ag & For was caricatured by the rest of us (or me, anyway) as something the sons of the landed gentry did prior to taking over the running of the family estates. The students wore polished brogues and tweed jackets, and were interested only in those animals that they could hunt, shoot, or wash down with a good port.

A quick google tells me that prior to WW2, "the School struggled with low numbers and poor quality of undergraduates".

How times change...

I think the son and heir image of forestry and possibly agriculture (they merge around 1970) are late developments.

Traditionally Oxford’s forestry course was aimed at Empire builders and the agriculture course may also have originally focussed quite heavily on tropical crops. That is Jowitt’s legacy. I think it is only with the Winds of Change that Oxford shifted to the eldest rather than the second and third sons of the gentry.

Reply 3359

Fullofsurprises