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Negatives of Oxbridge
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The fact that however good you were at anything as a kid, there'll be about a million people at Cambridge who are far better at it than you.
The fact that some idiot decided to build the university two whole miles away from Girton.
The conveyor belt of death taking you ever steadily closer to exam term.
Exam term.
Saturday lectures.
The fact that friends from home think I'm posh for going to formals and garden parties and may balls and won't come to Cambridge because they can't see that formals and garden parties and may balls are fun and not that posh.
The fact that everyone pretends to love cindies on a Tuesday night despite the fact that it is so blatantly and objectively **** and vastly inferior to Fez.
St John's New Court.
The fact that I only get 3 years here.
The fact that some idiot decided to build the university two whole miles away from Girton.
The conveyor belt of death taking you ever steadily closer to exam term.
Exam term.
Saturday lectures.
The fact that friends from home think I'm posh for going to formals and garden parties and may balls and won't come to Cambridge because they can't see that formals and garden parties and may balls are fun and not that posh.
The fact that everyone pretends to love cindies on a Tuesday night despite the fact that it is so blatantly and objectively **** and vastly inferior to Fez.
St John's New Court.
The fact that I only get 3 years here.
im so academic reminds me SO much of someone I know! annoying haha.
Some of these negative points that have been raised are interesting though, I wouldn't have known about them if I hadn't read this! Too late now though, already applied, hehe
Surely the benefits outweigh the negatives (some of them suck though, I have to admit), or else these unis wouldn't be so popular, I hope so anyway
Some of these negative points that have been raised are interesting though, I wouldn't have known about them if I hadn't read this! Too late now though, already applied, hehe
Surely the benefits outweigh the negatives (some of them suck though, I have to admit), or else these unis wouldn't be so popular, I hope so anyway
I can think of a few:
1. There will be a lot of geeks. I'm not being stereotypical, and I know a lot of non-geeks are clever too, but there'll be plenty of people who are anti-social, who would rather study than have fun, who were the teacher's pet at school and so on too.
2. I believe they're stricter about how well you achieve, and monitor you more closely. There's certainly more pressure.
3. People outside of there could very well think "well, they're a geek".
4. It's a pretty expensive place to be compared to some other Universities.
5. If wild parties are your thing, there'll probably be less than average (again, not everyone is boring, but there's a higher proportion of those types amongst straight A students than there is your average BBB student).
6. I think the holidays are shorter.
7. You'll come across more pompousity than elsewhere, especially if you're working class and from the inner city somewhere - There'll be more than the average level of private/boarding school types.
8. Location wise, there's better Universities than Cambridge and Oxford.
9. People may very well think you like boats.
10. Everyone I know who went on my college's Oxbridge visit was a geek, strictly religious, or the type who spent their dinnertimes sat next to the water cooler talking to the geeks and strictly religious discussing Maths. I wouldn't want to spend three years with them.
So basically, the weaknesses are mostly that you'll be around more anti-social, non-partying and middle-to-middle-upper-class types than at other Universities. Of course there'll be party types, but you'll have plenty of teacher's pets and wannabe MP's too.
That said, I'd go there if I had the GCSE grades and had been prepared for certain stages of my education better, but it doesn't bother me that I'm not.
1. There will be a lot of geeks. I'm not being stereotypical, and I know a lot of non-geeks are clever too, but there'll be plenty of people who are anti-social, who would rather study than have fun, who were the teacher's pet at school and so on too.
2. I believe they're stricter about how well you achieve, and monitor you more closely. There's certainly more pressure.
3. People outside of there could very well think "well, they're a geek".
4. It's a pretty expensive place to be compared to some other Universities.
5. If wild parties are your thing, there'll probably be less than average (again, not everyone is boring, but there's a higher proportion of those types amongst straight A students than there is your average BBB student).
6. I think the holidays are shorter.
7. You'll come across more pompousity than elsewhere, especially if you're working class and from the inner city somewhere - There'll be more than the average level of private/boarding school types.
8. Location wise, there's better Universities than Cambridge and Oxford.
9. People may very well think you like boats.
10. Everyone I know who went on my college's Oxbridge visit was a geek, strictly religious, or the type who spent their dinnertimes sat next to the water cooler talking to the geeks and strictly religious discussing Maths. I wouldn't want to spend three years with them.
So basically, the weaknesses are mostly that you'll be around more anti-social, non-partying and middle-to-middle-upper-class types than at other Universities. Of course there'll be party types, but you'll have plenty of teacher's pets and wannabe MP's too.
That said, I'd go there if I had the GCSE grades and had been prepared for certain stages of my education better, but it doesn't bother me that I'm not.
Juustuburger
I can think of a few:
1. There will be a lot of geeks. I'm not being stereotypical, and I know a lot of non-geeks are clever too, but there'll be plenty of people who are anti-social, who would rather study than have fun, who were the teacher's pet at school and so on too.
2. I believe they're stricter about how well you achieve, and monitor you more closely. There's certainly more pressure.
3. People outside of there could very well think "well, they're a geek".
4. It's a pretty expensive place to be compared to some other Universities.
5. If wild parties are your thing, there'll probably be less than average (again, not everyone is boring, but there's a higher proportion of those types amongst straight A students than there is your average BBB student).
6. I think the holidays are shorter.
7. You'll come across more pompousity than elsewhere, especially if you're working class and from the inner city somewhere - There'll be more than the average level of private/boarding school types.
8. Location wise, there's better Universities than Cambridge and Oxford.
So basically, the weaknesses are mostly that you'll be around more anti-social, non-partying and middle-to-middle-upper-class types than at other Universities. Of course there'll be party types, but you'll have plenty of teacher's pets and wannabe MP's too.
That said, I'd go there if I had the GCSE grades and had been prepared for certain stages of my education better, but it doesn't bother me that I'm not.
1. There will be a lot of geeks. I'm not being stereotypical, and I know a lot of non-geeks are clever too, but there'll be plenty of people who are anti-social, who would rather study than have fun, who were the teacher's pet at school and so on too.
2. I believe they're stricter about how well you achieve, and monitor you more closely. There's certainly more pressure.
3. People outside of there could very well think "well, they're a geek".
4. It's a pretty expensive place to be compared to some other Universities.
5. If wild parties are your thing, there'll probably be less than average (again, not everyone is boring, but there's a higher proportion of those types amongst straight A students than there is your average BBB student).
6. I think the holidays are shorter.
7. You'll come across more pompousity than elsewhere, especially if you're working class and from the inner city somewhere - There'll be more than the average level of private/boarding school types.
8. Location wise, there's better Universities than Cambridge and Oxford.
So basically, the weaknesses are mostly that you'll be around more anti-social, non-partying and middle-to-middle-upper-class types than at other Universities. Of course there'll be party types, but you'll have plenty of teacher's pets and wannabe MP's too.
That said, I'd go there if I had the GCSE grades and had been prepared for certain stages of my education better, but it doesn't bother me that I'm not.
Holidays are way longer at Oxbridge.
bluelou
i don't want to go anymore lol
Ah no, don't say that. I don't think a lot of what's been said isn't already known to most people (such as the fact that you're not technically allowed a job outside term time). Is there anything in particular you're worried about, or are you just messing around? :P
Juustuburger
I can think of a few:
1. There will be a lot of geeks. I'm not being stereotypical, and I know a lot of non-geeks are clever too, but there'll be plenty of people who are anti-social, who would rather study than have fun, who were the teacher's pet at school and so on too.
1. There will be a lot of geeks. I'm not being stereotypical, and I know a lot of non-geeks are clever too, but there'll be plenty of people who are anti-social, who would rather study than have fun, who were the teacher's pet at school and so on too.
Hmm, maybe, but I don't think that's a massive issue. Certainly nearly everyone works hard and enjoys their subject but beyond that, nearly everyone is up for going out, or to formal or staying in and playing poker or whatever. Certainly there is a tiny minority of people who never leave their rooms, but they are a tiny minority. I suspect you'll get as many geeks at Manchester too, they just won't be as clever.
2. I believe they're stricter about how well you achieve, and monitor you more closely. There's certainly more pressure.
True. You have twice weekly (more or less) supervisions so you need to work pretty hard. Some colleges do indeed pile on the pressure but most are content for you to work at your own pace (ish- provided you do work).
3. People outside of there could very well think "well, they're a geek".
Again, I'm not really sure. The reaction I mainly get is (wholly unjustifiably) "you must be really clever" rather than "you're a geek".
4. It's a pretty expensive place to be compared to some other Universities.
Not true at all. Firstly, the bursaries offered are significantly higher than other universities. Secondly subsidised accommodation and meals are provided for three years. Thirdly, Oxford and Cambridge aren't very expensive cities to live.
5. If wild parties are your thing, there'll probably be less than average (again, not everyone is boring, but there's a higher proportion of those types amongst straight A students than there is your average BBB student).
Again, not true. The vast majority of people at Oxbridge are people who didn't work that hard at A-level but got good grades because they are clever. I can assure you that there is no shortage of parties. That said, house parties are less common (since hardly anyone lives in a house). But room parties, garden parties and so on are much more common.
6. I think the holidays are shorter.
Not true. Cambridge has 3 8-week terms making 28 weeks of holiday. Much greater than most other universities.
7. You'll come across more pompousity than elsewhere, especially if you're working class and from the inner city somewhere - There'll be more than the average level of private/boarding school types.
Fair criticism. However, as far as I can tell, no-one really gives a crap about where you went to school/what social class you fit into. There are a few pompous arses, but certainly no more than you might find at other similar unis like Bristol and Durham.
8. Location wise, there's better Universities than Cambridge and Oxford.
Within the town? Or in the country? Cambridge and Oxford are both little more than an hour away from London. And Cambridge certainly is completely central. Some of the colleges are literally 20 paces away from the main clubs.
9. People may very well think you like boats.
And? Most people in Cambridge end up rowing at some point. I'd never tried it before matriculating (I went to a state comp) and I've really enjoyed it. It's not really an upper class sport unless you pretend it is.
So basically, the weaknesses are mostly that you'll be around more anti-social, non-partying and middle-to-middle-upper-class types than at other Universities. Of course there'll be party types, but you'll have plenty of teacher's pets and wannabe MP's too.
So basically you don't know what you're talking about.
Juustuburger
I can think of a few:
1. There will be a lot of geeks. I'm not being stereotypical, and I know a lot of non-geeks are clever too, but there'll be plenty of people who are anti-social, who would rather study than have fun, who were the teacher's pet at school and so on too.
2. I believe they're stricter about how well you achieve, and monitor you more closely. There's certainly more pressure.
3. People outside of there could very well think "well, they're a geek".
4. It's a pretty expensive place to be compared to some other Universities.
5. If wild parties are your thing, there'll probably be less than average (again, not everyone is boring, but there's a higher proportion of those types amongst straight A students than there is your average BBB student).
6. I think the holidays are shorter.
7. You'll come across more pompousity than elsewhere, especially if you're working class and from the inner city somewhere - There'll be more than the average level of private/boarding school types.
8. Location wise, there's better Universities than Cambridge and Oxford.
9. People may very well think you like boats.
10. Everyone I know who went on my college's Oxbridge visit was a geek, strictly religious, or the type who spent their dinnertimes sat next to the water cooler talking to the geeks and strictly religious discussing Maths. I wouldn't want to spend three years with them.
So basically, the weaknesses are mostly that you'll be around more anti-social, non-partying and middle-to-middle-upper-class types than at other Universities. Of course there'll be party types, but you'll have plenty of teacher's pets and wannabe MP's too.
That said, I'd go there if I had the GCSE grades and had been prepared for certain stages of my education better, but it doesn't bother me that I'm not.
1. There will be a lot of geeks. I'm not being stereotypical, and I know a lot of non-geeks are clever too, but there'll be plenty of people who are anti-social, who would rather study than have fun, who were the teacher's pet at school and so on too.
2. I believe they're stricter about how well you achieve, and monitor you more closely. There's certainly more pressure.
3. People outside of there could very well think "well, they're a geek".
4. It's a pretty expensive place to be compared to some other Universities.
5. If wild parties are your thing, there'll probably be less than average (again, not everyone is boring, but there's a higher proportion of those types amongst straight A students than there is your average BBB student).
6. I think the holidays are shorter.
7. You'll come across more pompousity than elsewhere, especially if you're working class and from the inner city somewhere - There'll be more than the average level of private/boarding school types.
8. Location wise, there's better Universities than Cambridge and Oxford.
9. People may very well think you like boats.
10. Everyone I know who went on my college's Oxbridge visit was a geek, strictly religious, or the type who spent their dinnertimes sat next to the water cooler talking to the geeks and strictly religious discussing Maths. I wouldn't want to spend three years with them.
So basically, the weaknesses are mostly that you'll be around more anti-social, non-partying and middle-to-middle-upper-class types than at other Universities. Of course there'll be party types, but you'll have plenty of teacher's pets and wannabe MP's too.
That said, I'd go there if I had the GCSE grades and had been prepared for certain stages of my education better, but it doesn't bother me that I'm not.
Well, if we're making stuff up:
11. The grues make going out after dark a problem.
Edit:
Arrogant Git
And Cambridge certainly is completely central. Some of the colleges are literally 20 paces away from the main clubs.
Yup. I can see the Cindies queue from our plodge.
Juustuburger
I can think of a few:
1. There will be a lot of geeks. I'm not being stereotypical, and I know a lot of non-geeks are clever too, but there'll be plenty of people who are anti-social, who would rather study than have fun, who were the teacher's pet at school and so on too.
2. I believe they're stricter about how well you achieve, and monitor you more closely. There's certainly more pressure.
3. People outside of there could very well think "well, they're a geek".
4. It's a pretty expensive place to be compared to some other Universities.
5. If wild parties are your thing, there'll probably be less than average (again, not everyone is boring, but there's a higher proportion of those types amongst straight A students than there is your average BBB student).
6. I think the holidays are shorter.
7. You'll come across more pompousity than elsewhere, especially if you're working class and from the inner city somewhere - There'll be more than the average level of private/boarding school types.
8. Location wise, there's better Universities than Cambridge and Oxford.
9. People may very well think you like boats.
10. Everyone I know who went on my college's Oxbridge visit was a geek, strictly religious, or the type who spent their dinnertimes sat next to the water cooler talking to the geeks and strictly religious discussing Maths. I wouldn't want to spend three years with them.
So basically, the weaknesses are mostly that you'll be around more anti-social, non-partying and middle-to-middle-upper-class types than at other Universities. Of course there'll be party types, but you'll have plenty of teacher's pets and wannabe MP's too.
That said, I'd go there if I had the GCSE grades and had been prepared for certain stages of my education better, but it doesn't bother me that I'm not.
1. There will be a lot of geeks. I'm not being stereotypical, and I know a lot of non-geeks are clever too, but there'll be plenty of people who are anti-social, who would rather study than have fun, who were the teacher's pet at school and so on too.
2. I believe they're stricter about how well you achieve, and monitor you more closely. There's certainly more pressure.
3. People outside of there could very well think "well, they're a geek".
4. It's a pretty expensive place to be compared to some other Universities.
5. If wild parties are your thing, there'll probably be less than average (again, not everyone is boring, but there's a higher proportion of those types amongst straight A students than there is your average BBB student).
6. I think the holidays are shorter.
7. You'll come across more pompousity than elsewhere, especially if you're working class and from the inner city somewhere - There'll be more than the average level of private/boarding school types.
8. Location wise, there's better Universities than Cambridge and Oxford.
9. People may very well think you like boats.
10. Everyone I know who went on my college's Oxbridge visit was a geek, strictly religious, or the type who spent their dinnertimes sat next to the water cooler talking to the geeks and strictly religious discussing Maths. I wouldn't want to spend three years with them.
So basically, the weaknesses are mostly that you'll be around more anti-social, non-partying and middle-to-middle-upper-class types than at other Universities. Of course there'll be party types, but you'll have plenty of teacher's pets and wannabe MP's too.
That said, I'd go there if I had the GCSE grades and had been prepared for certain stages of my education better, but it doesn't bother me that I'm not.
There's probably a higher concentration of anti-social people than there would be at other unis, but if my experience is anything to go by, the overwhelming majority like to party and party hard!
There's a good nightlife scene as far as I can tell, though obviously places like London are better for that 
They do monitor you more closely, but that's because the collegiate system allows them to. There is the pressure to do well but that doesn't mean that tutors will throw you out or even be rude to you if you don't always do well!
Oxford is a much cheaper city to be in than London (can't comment on any other cities) and there are huge bursaries, plus academic and non-academic travel grants, book bursaries, emergency grants, etc.
Long, long loooooooooooooooooooooooooooong holidays
You're right that you're probs more likely to come across snobbery, but being working class and having gone to a comp, I can say that I came across much, much less snobbery than I was expecting to and even the snobbery I encountered was ignorance more than snobbery
Punts are awesome
10) So your college is definitively representative of the entire Oxbridge demographic then?!
rockrunride
Holidays are way longer at Oxbridge.
Well, they're not strictly "holidays" in the sense of actual time off, though, considering you have to spend a significant part of them getting through lengthy reading lists, revising for collections and writing essays you have to hand in by 0th week...
As for what I consider the main negative point: people make assumptions about you, based on their preconceived (and often stereotypical) ideas of what "Oxbridge" and "Oxbridge students" are like. It's simply impossible to tell anyone the name of your university and get a normal "oh, that's nice - how do you like it?" reaction to it, the way you would if you told them you were at, say, Bristol or any other university which is perceived as "good" but "normal". Saying you're at Oxford always prompts exaggerated awe, thinly veiled jealousy and/or hostility or a mixture of all three, and that's not always very pleasant.
Lord Lawz
At the end of the day though, the exams are not significantly more difficult than good redbricks like UCL (at least for law). We may work like dogs but that's reflected in the number of high 2:1s and 1sts in comparison to those universities. So when you say the course is more demanding, it isn't - WE just make more demanding, just as a 1st class student at Durham might.
Apparently you quoted me but I can't find it!
I agree with what you say in principle, but my course at least (if not others) contrasts wildly with what's taught at the good redbricks and is more demanding
not much. Maybe less time to party...
Arrogant Git
So basically you don't know what you're talking about.
I've struck a nerve, I see. You've agreed with some points, however, and I was trying to find ten negatives. Number 9 was made in jest and you neglected to spot that, but I stand by my points on a higher contentration of pompousity, upper-classness and geekery. I'm also well-aware several of my points can apply to the likes of Durham, too, and you sound half like you've took it personally.
You may want to consider that my points on price and so on were made from the point of view of someone from Newcastle, too, and I was largely comparing it too a good, but not top ten University kind of thing. If you bear that in mind some of my points are very much valid.
The West Wing
1. The workload is very intense. Seriously intense.
2. We don't get weekends
3. There's no hiding or procrastinating because we have regular small group (max 3) meetings with academics
4. The town is really quite boring once you've gotten over the initial excitement
5. The food is awful and there are limited self-catering facilities
6. Shopping and food are really really expensive because of the tourists
7. We don't get a freshers week, people often get set work in the first 3 days (I was set work on my second day)
8. There are tourists everywhere, you end up having to barge through crowds and be in inadvertant pictures, especially on the Clare bridge
~
I could name another 100 if I could be bothered.
2. We don't get weekends
3. There's no hiding or procrastinating because we have regular small group (max 3) meetings with academics
4. The town is really quite boring once you've gotten over the initial excitement
5. The food is awful and there are limited self-catering facilities
6. Shopping and food are really really expensive because of the tourists
7. We don't get a freshers week, people often get set work in the first 3 days (I was set work on my second day)
8. There are tourists everywhere, you end up having to barge through crowds and be in inadvertant pictures, especially on the Clare bridge
~
I could name another 100 if I could be bothered.
Agree with all of these. And also, even the bigger of the small colleges can be very claustrophobic; everyone knows everyone's business, and there are always absurd rumours going round! Cambridge is too much like a bubble - its very easy to forget there's a world beyond Homerton (which is already foreign)!
The workload is horrific. I've only been here two weeks, and I'm already got my 5th essay due. There never seems to be enough time, and my sleep/food patterns have gone to pot.
Other than that and all the above - its great.
im so academic
But on a serious note, if there are crocodiles, elephants etc in Oxbridge, I'm so not going there!
If you think crocodiles and elephants are a serious problem in 'oxbridge' then you're right, you're probably not going 'there'...
As to the OP, I'd say the fact that sometimes your friends will prefer to go do work in the library than go out. Geeky but true.
parkerpen
Given that Oxbridge has the highest completion rates of any university in Britain they must be doing something right?
No...
Unless making it very unpleasant for people to drop out is 'right'. People are pretty much either encouraged to degrade or switch course (sometimes the same thing obviously), and I know of more than one person who was given a hard time when they wanted to leave.
So I wouldn't suggest that the statistic offers a complete picture.
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