Transferring from Oxbridge?

Original post by whatnamewhatname

Basically, I don't think I'm unhappy enough to leave, but not happy enough to want to stay. I'm not entirely sure what to do. I don't feel like I truly fit in here, but perhaps I do and I'm just having a 'grass is always greener' complex.

I feel exactly the same (Cambridge mathmo here). Perhaps I'd be better off studying at Warwick.
I'd say it gets better though + it's more prestigious. I guess that means I have to stay and see how it goes.

Reply 21

JustAGuyy

12

Original post by whatnamewhatname

Second term of my first year here, and I can't help the niggling feeling that I might be happier elsewhere. It's the people see - I manage to make friends very quickly, and yet have made better friends upon visiting friends at other unis than here. I'm not sure why. I just feel like i'm missing out on 'making memories' and things like that to last for forever. You know how people say that at uni you make the friends and the memories to last - just really sillythings you can only really do at uni. I feel like i"m not really making them here. im' staying here till the end of the year, but I'm kinda hoping I can transfer to another uni. It's hard though - relying on a whim to change uni.

Basically, I don't think I'm unhappy enough to leave, but not happy enough to want to stay. I'm not entirely sure what to do. I don't feel like I truly fit in here, but perhaps I do and I'm just having a 'grass is always greener' complex.

Any advice would be very appreciated.

What I've come to realise is that yes it is important to get a degree from a good university but this is a time you should be enjoying yourself and generally having a really great time.

Oxford and Cambridge are obviously great universities but I don't think it's worth dragging yourself through a degree there because you think you'll be first in line for a great job (you might not think this personally but many do).

Many top employers like the Civil Service Fast Stream, Lloyds and HSBC never ask for the name of your university when applying. It makes no difference where you went. So I'd say it would be better to have a great time.

Remember that universities like UCL and Imperial are only 1 and 3 spots behind Oxford in the world rankings.

Reply 22

lizzyc501

13

Original post by whatnamewhatname

Second term of my first year here, and I can't help the niggling feeling that I might be happier elsewhere. It's the people see - I manage to make friends very quickly, and yet have made better friends upon visiting friends at other unis than here. I'm not sure why. I just feel like i'm missing out on 'making memories' and things like that to last for forever. You know how people say that at uni you make the friends and the memories to last - just really sillythings you can only really do at uni. I feel like i"m not really making them here. im' staying here till the end of the year, but I'm kinda hoping I can transfer to another uni. It's hard though - relying on a whim to change uni.

Basically, I don't think I'm unhappy enough to leave, but not happy enough to want to stay. I'm not entirely sure what to do. I don't feel like I truly fit in here, but perhaps I do and I'm just having a 'grass is always greener' complex.

Any advice would be very appreciated.

Not feeling qualified enough to feel something and not talking about it doesn't help. You should probably make your personal tutor aware of what you're worrying, especially if you think it could impact your grades. I think you should definitely seek advice to be able to make a definite decision. I personally would consider things e.g. How long is your degree? Do you have enough acquaintances you can hang out with at uni? How much do you like the course content and teaching? It's still the really early stages of your degree so it is definitely possible to form stronger relationships as time goes on, I'm assuming you've already joined socs and if not do so to meet people outside of your course. You need to abandon the illusion that uni is the best time of your life because for many people it is but for others not so much. Friendships at uni is quite different from those in school, you have your coursemates, you have people you hang out with occassionally, you have soc members. It's difficult to get close to others since everyone's so busy. Even the most popular people in my course only hang out with 10 others so a tight group of 5 is already really good. I absolutely hate my uni, but I worked my butt off to get there and I'm already halfway through my degree so I try to appreciate and take advantage of the resources available.

Also echoing what others have said, the 'work hard play hard' policy is incredibly important. Plenty of people with more intense courses than mine party really hard on weekends but work hard during the right time and still get really good grades.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 23

*pitseleh*

20

Original post by whatnamewhatname

Second term of my first year here, and I can't help the niggling feeling that I might be happier elsewhere. It's the people see - I manage to make friends very quickly, and yet have made better friends upon visiting friends at other unis than here. I'm not sure why. I just feel like i'm missing out on 'making memories' and things like that to last for forever. You know how people say that at uni you make the friends and the memories to last - just really sillythings you can only really do at uni. I feel like i"m not really making them here. im' staying here till the end of the year, but I'm kinda hoping I can transfer to another uni. It's hard though - relying on a whim to change uni.

Basically, I don't think I'm unhappy enough to leave, but not happy enough to want to stay. I'm not entirely sure what to do. I don't feel like I truly fit in here, but perhaps I do and I'm just having a 'grass is always greener' complex.

Any advice would be very appreciated.

You're only just coming to the end of your second term (and I always thought Hilary was the least appealing term anyway to be honest.. :wink:

). It sounds like you just haven't found your 'people' yet. In my first couple of terms I pretty much exclusively hung out with people from my own college; in second year, I got into student journalism and made a lot of friends in the college next door through sport/friends of friends. I'm still friends with most of those people six years after we graduated, and I'm married to one of them. :smile:

I've been a student at another uni (Sheffield) since I was at Oxford, and I obviously visited friends at other universities throughout my time as a student - and honestly, I didn't find the social side of things very different anywhere else. If I were you, I'd try branching out into other stuff (sport, drama, film, journalism, activism, volunteering - there is so much to do in and around Oxford), to see if I could find people with similar interests that way. Of course you shouldn't feel compelled to stay if you're not enjoying yourself. But it does sound as though you think you're missing out on opportunities that are only available at other universities, which isn't the case. Keep hunting - it's still early days yet!

Reply 24

Alliesurrey

7

Original post by whatnamewhatname

Second term of my first year here, and I can't help the niggling feeling that I might be happier elsewhere. It's the people see - I manage to make friends very quickly, and yet have made better friends upon visiting friends at other unis than here. I'm not sure why. I just feel like i'm missing out on 'making memories' and things like that to last for forever. You know how people say that at uni you make the friends and the memories to last - just really sillythings you can only really do at uni. I feel like i"m not really making them here. im' staying here till the end of the year, but I'm kinda hoping I can transfer to another uni. It's hard though - relying on a whim to change uni.

Basically, I don't think I'm unhappy enough to leave, but not happy enough to want to stay. I'm not entirely sure what to do. I don't feel like I truly fit in here, but perhaps I do and I'm just having a 'grass is always greener' complex.

Any advice would be very appreciated.

Have you joined any of the many Clubs/Societies/Groups that Oxbridge has to offer? perhaps taking up a hobby that you have not tried before? My perspective is
going to come from being many years married to a Cambridge Graduate - when I met him he had just left Cambridge. The benefits that have come to him purely by having "Cambridge University" on his CV are immense. It opens doors to you that would otherwise remain shut when you get out into the big bad world of looking for jobs/furthering your career. When he was at Cambridge he joined the SUb Aqua (Scuba diving) club . He had no experience of this but thought he would try
something new. He ended up going on many trips with the club - and the
friends he made there - we are still in contact with all these years later.
I would STRONGLY suggest you think long and hard about transferring -
you may not see the advantages yet of going to Oxbridge - but they are
there in your future - even if you cannot see them in your present. If the problems are affecting your mental health - then ask for help - there are many welfare
services available to students. BUt please do not give up on this fantasitc
opportunity for you - believe me from where other students are sitting YOU are on the top of that green grass.

Reply 25

username2110825

6

Original post by *pitseleh*

I've been a student at another uni (Sheffield) since I was at Oxford

Sorry to pry, but how did you manage that? Did you start at Sheffield and manage to transfer to Oxford, or other way round?
Just curious if it's the former ^^;

Reply 26

1160552

12

Original post by whatnamewhatname

Second term of my first year here, and I can't help the niggling feeling that I might be happier elsewhere. It's the people see - I manage to make friends very quickly, and yet have made better friends upon visiting friends at other unis than here. I'm not sure why. I just feel like i'm missing out on 'making memories' and things like that to last for forever. You know how people say that at uni you make the friends and the memories to last - just really sillythings you can only really do at uni. I feel like i"m not really making them here. im' staying here till the end of the year, but I'm kinda hoping I can transfer to another uni. It's hard though - relying on a whim to change uni.

Basically, I don't think I'm unhappy enough to leave, but not happy enough to want to stay. I'm not entirely sure what to do. I don't feel like I truly fit in here, but perhaps I do and I'm just having a 'grass is always greener' complex.

Any advice would be very appreciated.

Hey ... are you at Oxford or Cambridge? I had a similar problem in my first year at Oxford - I guess on some days I still have the same problem haha!

Reply 27

ozo

Original post by SkyRees

Sorry to pry, but how did you manage that? Did you start at Sheffield and manage to transfer to Oxford, or other way round?
Just curious if it's the former ^^;

The University of Oxford does not accept transfers, so most likely undergraduate at Oxford then postgraduate at Sheffield.

Reply 28

*pitseleh*

20

Original post by SkyRees

Sorry to pry, but how did you manage that? Did you start at Sheffield and manage to transfer to Oxford, or other way round?
Just curious if it's the former ^^;

Heh, no. Just did two undergraduate degrees back to back (it's in my sig). :smile:

Original post by ozo

The University of Oxford does not accept transfers, so most likely undergraduate at Oxford then postgraduate at Sheffield.

You're right about Oxford not accepting transfers, but wrong about the other bit. As above - two undergrad degrees rather than undergrad and postgrad.

Reply 29

username2110825

6

Original post by *pitseleh*

Heh, no. Just did two undergraduate degrees back to back (it's in my sig). :smile:

You're right about Oxford not accepting transfers, but wrong about the other bit. As above - two undergrad degrees rather than undergrad and postgrad.

Had a look at your sig - not to be irritating, but how did you manage to go from English to Medicine? o.o
I guess I'm asking since I'm due to start Biomed in September but not confident I can go on to Medicine after. Just if you can manage it with English somehow I definitely want to know, sorry! ^^;;

Reply 30

*pitseleh*

20

Original post by SkyRees

Had a look at your sig - not to be irritating, but how did you manage to go from English to Medicine? o.o
I guess I'm asking since I'm due to start Biomed in September but not confident I can go on to Medicine after. Just if you can manage it with English somehow I definitely want to know, sorry! ^^;;

Not difficult.. arts degrees are often seen as a positive (though a different kind of positive to having a science degree) by med schools. There were four or five arts grads in my cohort at Sheffield; some of us had a few science A-levels anyway (though not necessarily all of the right A-levels, or not necessarily the right grades), and others did pre-med in between degrees. You're not being irritating by asking, but it does sound as though you might be thinking 'if you can get into Medicine with an English degree, it's bound to be easier with a Biomed degree'. I can't say one way or the other - and having a Biomed degree certainly means you can apply to more universities.. but there are a lot of transferrable skills from an arts degree that are actually pretty important in a communication-heavy field like Medicine. Sorry if I've misunderstood the tenor of your question though.

You can get into GEM - or at least, you could six years ago when I applied - with an arts degree at some universities (Newcastle and KCL; there might have been some others), but I wanted to do the five-year course (not having done any science for seven years by the start of med school meant I didn't really fancy trying to squeeze two years of foundation sciences into one), so that's what I did. I also had a shitload of work experience (four years part-time as a HCA among other things), which helped.

Does that answer your question? :smile:

Transferring from Oxbridge?

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