Life sorted bcos of oxbridge?

sm0273

4 times more work my arse.

At least 4 times more work. Economics at Nottingham and Warwick means about 8 essays a year. Here it's more like 8 essays a month.

iRock

Makes me wonder whether it's really worth it.

Yeah, it is...

Reply 23

Jools

I think it's worth more based on prestige rather than because it's harder work. And the difference can be quite huge, especially for arts subjects, I doubt employers realise we do 4+ times as much work as ppl doing the same subject at Warwick or Nottingham.

How many degrees at Nottingham or Warwick have you done then??

The level of work is pretty much equal across the board. Someone who gets a first from Nottingham or Warwick does as much work as someone who gets one from Oxford. Standards in marking are closely regulated and monitored to ensure that universities are giving the right classifications to the right sort of work.

Talking to my brother yesterday, it became apparant that I'm doing one hell of a lot more work than he did - and he got a first from Exeter College, Ox and is now completing his PhD. He also agreed with me that the importance of an Oxbridge degree is, although still significant, losing its traditional importance. Employers/academics are waking up to the idea that someone who gets AAA and a first is just as able as someone who goes to Oxbridge and accomplishes the same. The idea that one 30 minute interview is the most effective way of distinguishing the special from the very special is absurd.

Reply 24

Jools

At least 4 times more work

Hmm...I do about 35-40 hours a week work. Does that mean at Oxford or Cambridge one does 160 hours a week?

No, I didnt think so. No one university does more work than the other. Most of the time it is up to the individual how much time they want to put into their work.

Reply 25

iRock

d750

It shouldn't do. :p:

Yeah I know :frown:

Jools

Yeah, it is...

I hope so. But having read this thread, and hearing everyone saying that having an Oxbridge degree won't get you that much further in life, but the workload is tremendous... it just makes me wonder what the point is.
Don't get me wrong though I still wanna to Oxford :biggrin:

Reply 26

iRock

kingslaw

Hmm...I do about 35-40 hours a week work. Does that mean at Oxford or Cambridge one does 160 hours a week?

No, I didnt think so. No one university does more work than the other. Most of the time it is up to the individual how much time they want to put into their work.

I think it's work in terms of essays and similar, not hours.
I went to the Modern Languages open day at Oxford, and the lecturer said something like, "On the Oxford course, you'll be writing your first essay within the first two weeks. And then you will be doing on average one essay a week per language, compared to your friends at say, Lancaster or Warwick, who will probably only be writing their first essay at the end of their first term."
Similarly all my teachers have said that you DO have to do more work to obtain an Oxbridge degree.

Reply 27

kingslaw

The level of work is pretty much equal across the board.
How can it be, if ppl at Oxbridge are set up to 3 essays a week, which are compulsary, and at other unis it can be 3 essays a year? I remember you saying that whilst you didn't do essays, you did a lot of reading and note-taking, but this isn't the case everywhere.

kingslaw

Most of the time it is up to the individual how much time they want to put into their work.
It's not though, because here you usually don't have a choice, you have to do 2/3 essays a week or you're kicked out, elsewhere it's more your choice.

kingslaw

Someone who gets a first from Nottingham or Warwick does as much work as someone who gets one from Oxford.
I know loads who got 1sts in Econ at Nottingham/Warwick by dossing around on MSN through the day, going out pretty much every night, cramming for 3 weeks prior to the exams, saying that a 2.1's possible with a week of cramming, they couldn't believe what the workload was like at Oxford. Btw I'm not saying that the worse the uni the less work there is, different unis have massively contrasting levels of workload - friends at Teesside Uni are doing coursework 10hrs a day.

kingslaw

Standards in marking are closely regulated and monitored to ensure that universities are giving the right classifications to the right sort of work.
It should be, but it's known that the standardisation is inadequate, which is why the name of the university often matters more than the degree class. Otherwise a 1st from Cambridge would be deemed as much an achievement / hard work as a 1st from Anglia Polytechnic.

kingslaw

He also agreed with me that the importance of an Oxbridge degree is, although still significant, losing its traditional importance. Employers/academics are waking up to the idea that someone who gets AAA and a first is just as able as someone who goes to Oxbridge and accomplishes the same.
Yes, it is losing its importance, and I'm glad it is. From experience, a working environment is so much better when you have a diversity of people, rather than an Oxbridge brigade. For most career sectors a 1st from Oxbridge doesn't necessarily make you better than having a 2.1 from [good uni], since so other factors are more important than academic ability/intellect.

Reply 28

iRock

But having read this thread, and hearing everyone saying that having an Oxbridge degree won't get you that much further in life, but the workload is tremendous...

In pretty much whatever you end up doing, there'll be people there without Oxbridge degrees. But if you play your cards right Oxbridge makes it much easier to get there in the first place - people from Manchester, Exeter etc would have to work like hell to stand out from the crowd to get into top firms. 3/4 years of more/harder work for more guaranteed long-term gain is well worth it.

Reply 29

iRock

I think it's work in terms of essays and similar, not hours.
I went to the Modern Languages open day at Oxford, and the lecturer said something like, "On the Oxford course, you'll be writing your first essay within the first two weeks. And then you will be doing on average one essay a week per language, compared to your friends at say, Lancaster or Warwick, who will probably only be writing their first essay at the end of their first term."
Similarly all my teachers have said that you DO have to do more work to obtain an Oxbridge degree.

Well I'm sorry, but thats rubbish. Your teachers must have been going off myths, because the fact is the criteria for different classifications is standardised right across the board. They have no special criteria whereby the quality required by an Oxford or Cambridge student is higher than one from somewhere else!!!

What I think makes the Oxford and Cambridge experience harder is the one-one-one/two-one-one tutorials. Obviously in such a situation your under more pressure to perform, whereas in most other unis of five/six-to-one tutorials, you can sometimes fade into the background. Also, Oxbridge terms are shorter, so the same amount of work has to be squeezed into a shorter time period.

Furthermore, people using the number of essays as a guide to how hard the work is at a university are using a pretty flawed theory. The number of essays I do goes from 10-16 a term, but the most of my work comes from reading and making notes on it for tutorials. I generally have to read approx 500 pages a week (I've never counted!), and make notes on it. Thats more strenuous than writing an essay.

Reply 30

soilman

12

matthew

You're right it's probably closer to 8. We do 16 essays a term "average" universities do 2.

What a lot of jumped up **** by oxbridge students. Hardly worth an arguement, but Jools compared it to Warwick I seem to remember. In some instances, it would be impossible to do 8 times more as there arent enough hours in the day! (say I do 4hrs per day, so you do 32hrs per day) LMFAO. :wink:

Reply 31

H&E

3

Mate don't worry about it. Jools and Matthew don't really represent majority opinion here. It's recognised we work harder, but other students aren't regarded as sitting around on MSN all day.

and, btw, I've not met anyone here, doing any subject, who has 3 essays a week. I have 14 this term and my tutors told me this was above average. And I'm at a college which is regularly top 10 in the Norrington and extremely strong in my subject

Reply 32

sm0273

In some instances, it would be impossible to do 8 times more as there arent enough hours in the day! (say I do 4hrs per day, so you do 36hrs per day) LMFAO. :wink:

4 times 8 is 32, not 36.

I rest my case...

Reply 33

mobb_theprequel

15

Jools

4 times 8 is 32, not 36.

I rest my case...

Lol.

Reply 34

H&E

other students aren't regarded as sitting around on MSN all day.

They are, all day long! Complaining that they're bored and that there's nothing to do, in my exp.

H&E

and, btw, I've not met anyone here, doing any subject, who has 3 essays a week. I have 14 this term and my tutors told me this was above average. And I'm at a college which is regularly top 10 in the Norrington and extremely strong in my subject

PPE and E&M at the top colleges are 3 essays/week for a large part of the course. 2 essays/week is very common, 3 essays/fortnight for a lot of arts subjects.

Reply 35

Jools

How can it be, if ppl at Oxbridge are set up to 3 essays a week, which are compulsary, and at other unis it can be 3 essays a year? I remember you saying that whilst you didn't do essays, you did a lot of reading and note-taking, but this isn't the case everywhere.

It's not though, because here you usually don't have a choice, you have to do 2/3 essays a week or you're kicked out, elsewhere it's more your choice.

From my experience (as a law student), there doesn't appear to be much difference between the number of essays one has to do at Oxford or Cambridge, how many I have to do at Kings. On average I do about one essay a week (it doesnt work out like this - I sometimes do four essays in one week, then have nothing for three). If I dont do these essays, I get kicked out too (or at least given a stern warning).

Jools

It should be, but it's known that the standardisation is inadequate, which is why the name of the university often matters more than the degree class. Otherwise a 1st from Cambridge would be deemed as much an achievement / hard work as a 1st from Anglia Polytechnic.

Well, I've actually heard that Oxford and Cambridge are far more leniant in giving out 2:1s than they should be, being slightly over-confident in their students. I dont say I agree with this, as I have no way of knowing one way or the other. However, neither does anyone else on this board.

Reply 36

kingslaw

From my experience (as a law student), there doesn't appear to be much difference between the number of essays one has to do at Oxford or Cambridge, how many I have to do at Kings. On average I do about one essay a week (it doesnt work out like this - I sometimes do four essays in one week, then have nothing for three). If I dont do these essays, I get kicked out too (or at least given a stern warning).
Kings is one of the best unis in the country for Law so it's not surprising if your workload isn't much different to Oxbridge. You'll still be doing much much more work than law students at many other universities.

Reply 37