Oxbridge vs other Russell Group unis- how relaxed are they?

I've heard that if you go to another Russell Group uni, then the environment there will be more relaxed and laid back. Is this true? especially for science (e.g. would doing physics at Manchester be more relaxed and less stressful compared to say physics at Oxford/NatSci at Cambridge)?

bump

Original post by bobbricks

Well obviously...

Reply 3

BWV1007

Usually more relaxed but I heard that some Imperial courses are very exhausting. Not sure how that compares with the same courses at Oxbridge.

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Reply 4

Klix88

I've done two years of undergrad at Oxford and a Masters at an RG. The Masters was full-on, exhausting and an academic assault course. Oxford was more intense.

I suspect it depends very much on your subject, but in two years I never met a "relaxed" Oxford undergrad.

Reply 5

Nathanielle

Original post by bobbricks

I think it has to do with supervision and the people applying. Competitive university may attract more applicants who are "purely" there, to be the best and want to compete, which makes it more stressful, than, when every students knows, that he had not passed allways with flying colours and the attitude is less elitist. But that is a general remark and I know, that the students I know, who went to Imperial were rather pleased with the atmosphere and teaching.

Concerning supervisions: the lack to do your homework every week may lead to a more relaxed attitude, but depending on your character it can make it more stressful, too. Some people relax in a very structured environment, some don't. The course content should not be that different between the top universities (Russel Group is a big to big to take as comparison) and one should not forget, that only the "burden" to be at Oxbridge and be expected to do well and be happy, may already create enough stress to make the difference, although the workload is practically the same.

Reply 6

Mathlover123

Bear in mind that you may not want relaxed. My uni feels very relaxed and slow to me, even though it is russell group. I find this prevents me from doing much work until the end of the year. I am sure at a more high pressure place like oxbridge I would work a lot harder.

Reply 7

username1221160

I'm someone at an "other Russell Group" and I'm sleep walking my way to a 1st in a science degree. Yes, there is work to do, but it is not overly challenging. It is more a question of can you be bothered to turn up to your labs and are you willing to do a load of rote learning each week. The intellectual challenge just isn't there. Having not experienced other unis, I can't really compare but I'm starting to think I should have been more ambitious in where I applied to.