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Oxbridge stereotype

Reply 20

priya

14

Ticki

I agree: James is the stereotype, and he is most clearly still in our heads... :wink:

see i wouldn't picture james as the stereotype; he has social skills :wink:

and some sort of life outside all those books. true, he is rich and posh, but he's not a total 'geek' as it were

Reply 21

MadNatSci

12

It depends which stereotype you mean... The rich public schoolboy one is usually far from a geek - he's usually an arrogant wastrel! Not that James is likely to be a wastrel, but that's pretty much the rich boy stereotype I had come across. The geek one's kinda separate!

Reply 22

Ticki

8

Ah, he's just the stereotype I had in mind. I guess that's where the 'stereotype' is flawed: we all expect different things!

Reply 23

Beekeeper

13

I know many people who will be starting at Oxbridge this september, and they are relatively normal, northeners. They are generally upper-middle class, but they are not stuck up about it.
I'm aware, given that it's an elite institution, that there will be many people who get a bit of an ego boost from going to Oxbridge which has detrimental effects.
what i do know, though, is that oxbridge students are dedicated, and they work hard to get accepted, and they should, of course, be pleased.
Most oxbridge stereotypes tend to be myths, or built up by the media, which i wouldn't personally be lead on by, but some people are, which is a shame, and it creates a rather ugly impression of Oxbridge students.

In most cases, the snobby stereotype is not the case, but it happens at all good uni's. there are ugly stereotypes, for example, of Durham students, and increasingly, UoL students... it's just something you've got to live with, and there will always be someone that little bit more powerful who can't wait to knock you from your personal high. :wink:

Reply 24

priya

14

i totally agree, its something we experience everywhere. if anything, i find that oxbridge is more diverse than some unis, where my friends seem to have only met local people attending that uni, and not many from down south or scotland etc. i'm glad of this diversity, after living in a little northern bubble for years its such a breath of fresh air. and likewise it must be similar for some others, who don't know where newcastle is in relation to liverpool because they've never been anywhere north of the M4

Reply 25

DeeLondon

Aztec

People are always going on about the Oxbridge stereotype, so what do people think it is and what have people's experience of Oxford and Cambridge done to reinforce or undermine these deeply entrenched views of these universities?

My friend was turned down by Cambridge .. his grades were some of the very best in the country .. but I guess his background didn't suit them .. quite a poor background. Inthe end he went to imperial college and did his Degree and Masters in 3 years .. all 1st I think.

We were very shocked at him being turned down, having known him frm age 5 we all knew he was seriously gifted.

Reply 26

Helenia

20

DeeLondon

My friend was turned down by Cambridge .. his grades were some of the very best in the country .. but I guess his background didn't suit them .. quite a poor background. Inthe end he went to imperial college and did his Degree and Masters in 3 years .. all 1st I think.

We were very shocked at him being turned down, having known him frm age 5 we all knew he was seriously gifted.

Cambridge would never reject somone because of their background. Seriously. There must have been other reasons.

Oxbridge stereotype

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