What do you think if someone went to Oxford or Cambridge University?

[ephemeris]

I've been genuinely shocked that some people find it hard to believe that you don't have to be posh to go to Oxford or Cambridge. I went to Oxford for my first degree, where I met dh who was doing a masters course. We then both moved to Cambridge when he did his PhD there.

I'm from a low income household in the NE, went to a shockingly bad state comp, and somehow fluked a place at Oxford in the 90s.

Usually people have no idea what university someone went to, but if it ever comes up and we mention we went to Oxbridge, people are a bit 🤔. I even had a colleague at work once, who told me it was my round at the bar because I must be able to afford it if I went to Oxford.

I don't think like that because I live in one of London's poorest boroughs and for years there's been a drive to get disadvantaged students into Oxbridge.

I can see why people are like that but for me personally I just don’t care either way. Not in a nasty way, it’s great that you worked hard and could go but it doesn’t make me see anyone differently.

I'd think they were very bright, and wish them well.

I just think they’re clever and/or studied hard. I never think it’s about having money.

I’ve had people complain about ‘Oxbridge grads’ to me, clearly not realising that I am one myself (not sure if I should be insulted by that more than the complaint ). People are strange!

It doesn’t matter to me where people went to university or even, if they did. Some of the most intelligent, wittiest and most common sense people I know haven’t had a university education.

Mostly I think they are bright, and we’re motivated when they were 18.

if they are still banging on about it in their 40s I get a bit eye-rolley.

I get quite pissed off if people judge me (either way) based on 4 years in my late teens/early 20s, that were over 2 years ago now.

Over 20 years ago.

I would think they were super brainy and a little bit posh 😊

Honestly I don’t care where people went to uni. It used to be a topic of conversation when younger but now mid-thirties it’s not something that ever crosses my mind when chatting, and no one else brings it up either. If I had to think about it I would assume that you would probably have a good/well paying job now to have made use of Oxbridge contacts and experience.

Very bright and worked hard. Definitely not necessarily posh, there's been a big push to get disadvantaged students into Oxbridge.

I grew up in one of those towns and can assure you, the students are not all posh! Some are from another planet, most are just regular kids.

I think they went to Oxford or Cambridge like Manchester or Durham or any uni, they are no better or worse than each other

Super bright, nothing more

I grew up very near Cambridge so it doesn't have much impact on me if people went there. It was just the nearest uni, albeit famous.
I work in Oxford so I see students all the time, they look like very normal kids to me, nothing god-like, although they may be brighter and/or more driven than average.
I know loads of Oxbridge graduates professionally and they're pretty much indistinguishable from any other colleagues.

Yep I'd just think they were clever

It’s a bit disingenuous to be “shocked”: back in the early nineties well upwards of two thirds of Oxbridge entrants were privately educated (and even up until five years ago it was around 40%) so the assumption that most Oxbridge grads of your age came from affluent backgrounds isn’t entirely unreasonable. Surely you were aware of that at the time?

just sounds ignorant to me.

my dh went to oxbridge and is very academically clever but is the least posh person you could imagine.

that said he met plenty of posh people when there.

I was put off from applying because, at the time, Oxbridge students were discouraged from having jobs on top of their study, which I needed to do. I don't know if that's changed.
But I certainly don't think Oxbridge holds any particular kudos, above any other decent University, these days.

A bit of context is useful. I can sometimes be surprised by who is really educated and who is t. It's not a class thing so much as a overall impression.
I've had a takeaway delivery guy reveal that he is a highly qualified aeronautical engineer - which wasn't a suprise for some reason (he had come from Overseas and was an illegal immigrant at the time )

In the past Oxford and Cambridge were typically from 'posher' backgrounds. In the 60's it was two thirds from private school and I bet the final third would be from nice grammar or religious school so it doesn't take a genius to assume that someone in their 60's who went to Oxbridge was typically from a privileged background.

Even now with widening access schemes galore applying to Oxbridge still favours children from privilidged backgrounds.

For all the incredibly intelligent people at those universities you would think they could come up with better ways to encourage students from a wider range of backgrounds. (Top tip - Oxbridge need to eliminate their early application date, college system and some interviews and some of their more ridiculous and outdated traditions)

I'm the same as you OP, except not married or from the North. Do you think it's your accent that makes you sound not very Oxford? There weren't many working class northerners there back in the day, and they stood out a bit among all the posh/ RP accents. I imagine people from your neck of the woods with the accent to match would at least have an advantage in some job interviews, insofar as chippy recruiters who might try to pull the old "Oxbridge grads can't get along with normal people" bullshit wouldn't do that to someone who sounds working class.

I find Oxbridge gradates are a bit like vegans, many of them let you know, repeatedly.

It is still the case, particularly for undergraduates. They can work a few hours at the library or college bar or ball etc but discouraged from more than that. Tbh I don’t think undergrads would have time for more than that anyway. I worked part time as a postgrad and it was a stretch and probably impacted my grade. They prefer to just give you money and have you focus on your studies instead, which makes sense - the terms are so short anyway that you need to fit a lot in.

@ThisIsACoolUserName Jobs during term time and the short vacations (other than working for the university or college) were actually banned. All other non--work activities apart from sports teams were strongly discouraged. My parents, who thought that university was a luxurious sinecure at their expense (they contributed the grand sum of £20 per week in my first year) made me work in all the short and long vacations, which meant that I didn't get much reading done because I was always working in a petrol station shop or suchlike. This added to the stress and exhaustion and potentially affected my degree class.

You probably made the right decision. There was no place for working class kids in Oxford back then, because of clashing unrealistic expectations that you could shoulder the punishing workload while similarly living on thin air (according to the dons) and working full time in a shit job (according to your parents).

And then you get into the "real world" and everyone talks about ivory towers and privilege and tells you you can't relate to ordinary people...

Simultaneously living on thin air, not similarly!

I wouldn't think it's about money, I'd just think they were clever enough to go.

Things have changed massively over the years. In the past, boys from Eton Harrow, etc, went to Oxbridge as if it was their right. They could be as thick as the wall and still get in. It was about family connections, not merit.

Today, you're more likely to be accepted from a state school if you're bright enough.

(I wasn't, unfortunately, and nor were my children!)