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Negatives of Oxbridge

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Reply 220
Avatar for River85
River85
17
hobnob
"Redbricks" is a term which refers to the time when the universities were founded - no more than that. Some redbricks are members of the Russell Group because of their size, others are not. Neither of those terms says anything about quality and they are not synonymous. If "a lot of academics" use "redbrick" in that sense, they're being inaccurate.


Exactly and I never have heard one academic who has used "redbrick" in that sense. Only the media or general public.

Lord Lawz
Modern usage - Russell Group
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_brick_university
although it says they aren't mutually inclusive.

And for the second time I said 'good redbricks'.


Don't believe everything wikipedia tells you. "Redbrick" is overused by many and, yes, is often used to describe any solid, "good", city university (whether a member of the Russell Group or not). However, I'd say the only people who do so are those who also think the Russell Group is our "Ivy League" and anything more than a collection of the largest (not "best") unis.

I always like bringing threads off topc. Some would call me a troll :ninja:
Reply 221
Avatar for cpchem
cpchem
14
hobnob
Well... in that case I'm inclined to agree with Craggy, you probably wouldn't like it at Cambridge or Oxford. Not just because you wouldn't be the only clever person around, but also because you probably wouldn't be getting an awful lot of ego-stroking. Most tutors are liberal with (constructive) criticism but extremely stingy with praise - with some, even a simple "well done" has to be hard earned. From what you've said so far, you may find that discouraging. But it's up to you, obviously.:dontknow:

I got two 'yay's and a 'great' in my tute this afternoon. It was a great feeling :yep:
Reply 222
Avatar for Scipio90
Scipio90
I got a "Well done - gold star" in a geology practical the other day. I felt simultaneously pleased and patronised.
Reply 223
Avatar for Mayfly
Mayfly
I got a 'brilliant essay' today. For the first time ever. And then I went out and got pleasantly drunk.

**** the haters, I love Oxford.

^ please note, this post is totally deserving of neg rep, but the fact I of all people am contented enough to write it probably says more than the best thought out post on here does.
Scipio90
I got a "Well done - gold star" in a geology practical the other day. I felt simultaneously pleased and patronised.

*grumbles about never being given a gold star in a natsci practical*
Gold stars? :eyeball: Surely not :s-smilie:
Craghyrax
Gold stars? :eyeball: Surely not :s-smilie:

Apparently for geologists, anyway. I've had smiley faces, but not gold stars.
Reply 227
Avatar for hobnob
hobnob
14
cpchem
I got two 'yay's and a 'great' in my tute this afternoon. It was a great feeling :yep:

Ha, I know what you mean... Over the course of three years, I only managed to get the e-word five or six times, but each time I felt positively intoxicated by it (even though I was of course aware of how ridiculous I was being).:biggrin:
Reply 228
Avatar for Scipio90
Scipio90
Supergrunch
*grumbles about never being given a gold star in a natsci practical*


Craghyrax
Gold stars? :eyeball: Surely not :s-smilie:


Not an actual physical gold star, we're not children (despite the fact we spend a lot of time with coloured pencils...), those were just the words the demonstator said when I managed to correctly plot a graph.
Scipio90
Not an actual physical gold star,


Damn. And there was me thinking that geologists got given vintage motorcycles (http://www.vintagebike.co.uk/Bike%20Directories/BSA%20Bikes/pages/BSA-Goldstar-DBD34-59.htm) as rewards for good work...

DtS
Scipio90
Not an actual physical gold star...

You had me worried for a bit!
Reply 231
Avatar for hobnob
hobnob
14
Derek_the_Sheep
Damn. And there was me thinking that geologists got given vintage motorcycles (http://www.vintagebike.co.uk/Bike%20Directories/BSA%20Bikes/pages/BSA-Goldstar-DBD34-59.htm) as rewards for good work...

DtS

They used to be, until Michaelmas 1997, when an unprecedented three gold stars had to be awarded in a single term, which caused the faculty to run out of money...
What?! Oxbridge gives out a:



when you do well in an essay or a natsci practical? :s-smilie:
Reply 233
Avatar for rotor
rotor
14
River85
Grantchester Meadows......

Why I'm so obsessed with Grantchester, I don't know. I have somewhere just as nice on my doorstep. Maybe it's my Pink Floyd obsession.



Corrected it for you :p:



UCL isn't a redbrick, just like Oxbridge, Durham, LSE or indeed any of the elite law schools are (with the exception of Bristol). But this is all a bit off topic and I'm not setting a good example here....

But im so academic, there are a host of positives and negatives to everything in life. You really need to stop having such a onesided/simplistic view of the world. I know you're young but, still.....


Oh thanks!
WAIT, hes a gcse student?!?!
Oh my gosh and he's getting this obsessed with oxford????
Whoar.
Reply 234
Avatar for hobnob
hobnob
14
im so academic
What?! Oxbridge gives out a:



when you do well in an essay or a natsci practical? :s-smilie:

Only if you're very lucky.
hobnob
Only if you're very lucky.


So do you get one of these:



if you don't do your supervision work/essay right?

Or do you get one of these:



in the tougher colleges?

I feel for you guys :rolleyes:
Reply 236
Avatar for hobnob
hobnob
14
im so academic
So do you get one of these:
[picture]
if you don't do your supervision work/essay right?

Or do you get one of these:
[picture]
in the tougher colleges?

I feel for you guys :rolleyes:

See? Oxbridge isn't all it's cracked up to be.:wink:
hobnob
See? Oxbridge isn't all it's cracked up to be.:wink:


But judging by the people that leave Oxbridge with 2:1s and 1sts, it's probably worth it. :wink:
Reply 238
Avatar for hobnob
hobnob
14
im so academic
But judging by the people that leave Oxbridge with 2:1s and 1sts, it's probably worth it. :wink:

Hmm, but do they really leave with 2.1s and firsts because they were at Oxford or Cambridge? Couldn't it also be because they are simply the sort of people (i.e. reasonably clever, reasonably hard-working and fairly good at performing well under pressure) who'd have got good degrees regardless of where they went?
hobnob
Hmm, but do they really leave with 2.1s and firsts because they were at Oxford or Cambridge? Couldn't it also be because they are simply the sort of people (i.e. reasonably clever, reasonably hard-working and fairly good at performing well under pressure) who'd have got good degrees regardless of where they went?


are you trying to say that someone who was reasonably clever, reasonably hard-working and fairly good at performing well under pressure, and who got a 3rd from thames valley in media studies than

an someone who was reasonably clever, reasonably hard-working and fairly good at performing well under pressure and who got a starred 1st from oxford in ppe?

basically, out of these two candidates, based on degree and uni alone, who would you hire?

or would you like a 50-50, phone a friend or an ask the audience? :yep:

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