who are the thickest people you know who got into oxbridge? (GCSE/AS GRADES)

But hey... I've probably got the worst GCSE grades around.. (I did O Levels which is pretty much the equivalent) AAAAABBC.. not a single A*. That's coz' I mucked around for the entire 4 years of my course. However, having said that.. I don't think I'm 'thick'.. I have been on scholarship since I was 11 (2 from my country) to overseas countries.. and the scholarships were worth 3000 dollars (1000 pounds) a MONTH - this went on for 6 years. I also did a miraculous reform stint when I got back to Brunei and after working hard, I did much better for AS levels... 5As with 3100% for 3 subjects and my lowest grade being 92%.

What I am trying to say is that grades don't reflect how smart a person is. Sometimes even the smartest people have bad luck during exams.. mess up a bit but I don't think we should ever judge how smart someone else is when we can't even figure out how smart we are. Just try to feel happy for those who got accepted into Oxbridge, sympathise with the disappointed ones, and most importantly, feel happy about yourself.

I hope I didn't offend anyone.

A lot of people would be pleased with those results, but I know what you mean. But you're also A LOT smarter than you give yourself credit for - the last line sounds like a phisolopher (yep I know I spelt that wrong!). At my school some people aren't even to get one pass at GCSE, but some people are truely super duper and want to work for NASA *thinks to self: where am I going with this? shakes head*

Also having a high IQ and great grades doesn't make someone a great person, emotional IQ has a far greater weight in a civalised society and allows them to get on far better in life.

Since when has 'I hope I didn't offend anyone' been a great philosophical quote?

I'm sorry, but I worked my a** off to get good GCSE's and even harder for my AS levels, and if someone can get in to one of the world's best universities by not bothering to do any work, going to the pub every lunchtime and after school (as he did) and generally taking no interest in the world around them and what really matters, isn't that a sad day for intellectualism?

I know someone who was in the 'slow' maths set and did intermediate tier, but got into Oxford to study french and german with A grades in these subjects plus art at A level. Her mother was a french teacher...

You don't have to be an all round genius to get into Oxford.

WHAT ON EARTH DOES hiatus mean???!!! there you go i've asked it, i got an offer from oxford ooo so does that mean i'm another one of these 'thick' ppl who get into oxford instead of the obviously far more intellegent ones who get rejected???????

"Yeah, I pray...right....but I don't believe in God"

Makes you lose faith in humanity.......

You would be too after 3 years of hard work and study, and I noticed all this well before I applied

Metaphysics of pure morals- its about the way you treat every given thing in life. i.e. do you treat things as means to an end in life- or do you treat them as ends in themselves? i would contend that they are looking for the latter. they want someone who is going to treat the subject as an end (having value) in itself- and not a way of getting a good job.

I'd say a teleological character was doing X for the sole purpose of achieving Y, rather than doing X out a love of X.

Surely teleology is subjective??? Just because an individual has purpose-driven motives for doing something does not make them 'teleological' in the metaphysical sense. Somebody might do X for the purpose of achieving Y, but then do P for the love of P and not for the purpose of achieving Q. Therefore they can't have a 'telelogical character' because they are inconsistent.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

yeah i'd agree with that actually. you're right- i was generalising there to some extent. still though, i believe they are looking for people who "in general" (and this isn't a long interview- it aint perfect- but its harder to fake than you might think) have had the attitude towards the *education* process as X for the love of X rather than doing X for the sake of achieving Y. But i dont think people moaning on a forum about "thick" people having got lower GCSE results is indicative of a general "X for love of X" attitude with regard to education.