Oxbridge degrees - worth it?

[Pombearsandnaiceham]

What do you think? Would be interested to hear your thoughts :)

Worth it in what sense?

Worth it? In what sense?

Worth what? They cost the same as any other degree.

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Depends what in and if you actually enjoy the oxbridge experience.

Had an ex who studied there and from watching him it's clear that it's an environment I would have downright hated and that would have made me very unhappy for the entire time I was there. So for me, not worth it.

He thrived on the environment and is now in investment banking. Worth it for him.

What is your context?

Oxbridge is about academic prestige really. Style over substance. Work in banking and have usually found non-Oxbridge students a better fit in the workplace.

If you mean "are you more likely to get a job with an Oxbridge degree than you are with a RG degree?" it will depend on the type of degree, and what job you're going for.

Probably a plus if you're doing PPE. Makes no odds whatsoever if you're doing Medicine. Actively negative if you're doing some subsets of science and engineering - other universities have far better links with industry, and thus internships.

Loved my three years as an undergrad, made some great friends and now I have lifelong borrowing rights at Cambridge University Library. 'Worth it' for that last one alone, to me.
Career-wise? No, not really, but I studied a non-STEM subject so in a lot of ways it wasn't likely to.

I have an Oxbridge degree. I loved university and wouldn't change a thing, and my degree has stood me in good stead career wise (law).

Well as they cost the same as the sparkly new polytechnic university down the road, yes theyre worth it.

You could have a degree in picking your nose from Oxbridge and someone will employ you on twenty million a year on graduation .

Theyre like magic words Oxford/Cambridge on a cv and genuinely do open doors that are difficult to open I believe.

On the plus side, an Oxbridge degree commands a lot of respect from at least some employers. Also most of the colleges have accommodation for all three years so no dealing with private landlords.

On the minus side, I think Oxbridge still cling to restrictions on their students working. (While having no such restrictions on stuff like sports...). They claim the longer vacations make up for it, but I think having to find work each vacation will be more problematic than a steady part-time job. And there are subjects Oxbridge don't offer of course.

The best university for management in the world is the iim (Indian Institute of Management). If you can get in then you're pretty much guaranteed a global management position starting at 50-80k almost straight after graduation (Indian or not).

I have no experience of having been to another university so have no idea if things would have been better or worse at another RG university

I bloody LOVED my time at Oxford. I read history which was actually the best training I can imagine for my job working in strategy. The tutorial system whereby you had a 1-1 weekly hour where you had to debate a subject you knew nothing about a week ago, and defend your argument (to the person who literally wrote the book about it), was both challenging and thrilling. I remember bugger all history but the skills I learned in my tutorials have been invaluable. I wasn't taught, but I was pushed.

I don't know if I'd have come out with the same confidence and skills in research and debating if I'd not been immersed in the tutorial system. This was of course just for my particular subject, and my particular experience

World class universities, will open doors. But really as pp said, you should go to the Indian university of management. Absolutely top notch x

Worth it all day

First two degrees there
Next two at a Russell Group. The RG was so much less involved and anonymous. Academically I was stretched pushed and encouraged at college. At RG I had my money taken.

For me - worth every moment. I did medicine.

From an academic perspective - I loved the tutorial system - it was very stimulating and there was nowhere to hide. Excellent preparation to be able to organise an argument, defend it and be able to reexamine your hypothesis on your feet in an cogent fashion when new ideas or data is thrown at you. I am an extrovert, so like to do my thinking in external space, so this suited me very well.

For medicine specifically, the undergraduate grounding in basic medical sciences (whilst not trendy) does, I think, stand you in good stead, as you are able to work more out from first principles rather than have to remember lots more facts.

The other nice thing is that it is possible (albeit unusual) to do something less obviously related in your third year BA, compared to the intercalated BSc offered elsewhere.

I would however say that the teaching during the clinical part of the job was much less structured than what I've been involved with subsequently at some London teaching hospitals. It was a lot more self-directed and sink or swim. But this may have been good preparation for the job and certainly the postgraduate exams. It may of course also have moved on through the years as well.

From an experience/extracurricular perspective, it was great. My college had 100 in a year, and was one of the relatively larger colleges. This meant that you did know most people. It gave me a lot more mixing with people reading other degrees than I think I would have had at medical school otherwise. Also, there was a lot of opportunity to get involved in new activities and sports. You could play for your college beer team even if you were a novice/a bit rubbish. You didn't need to be Blues level to get a look in.

Does it give an advantage in the job market afterwards? It shouldn't really for Medicine. It has a fairly rigid career progression. I have been involved in interviews for most levels of doctor. There are no extra points for Oxford or Cambridge when shortlisting. I can honestly say that I don't think about it when interviewing. However, making sweeping generalisations, they do tend to get through the professional exams in the fewest attempts, and do tend to be successful later on. However, this could be a number of different factors including shared personality traits like being even more hypercompetitive and needing the validation of being at the top than the normal doctor!

I count myself as extremely privileged to be able to have had that experience, and I would encourage young people not to discount it as being too clever/too posh/too weird for them. Some colleges have a ruthlessly academic reputation and some do have a high proportion of ex public school boys. However, most of the others are quite normal.

DH thrived in that sort of environment. He immersed himself and was in his colleges rowing team and senior common room president whereas my friend from school had a breakdown and dropped out. I went to a RG University and also worked in two of them, that was fine for me.

You could have a degree in picking your nose from Oxbridge and someone will employ you on twenty million a year on graduation grin.

Theyre like magic words Oxford/Cambridge on a cv and genuinely do open doors that are difficult to open I believe.

Not my experience. It may have been at one point,, but when I graduated in the early 2000s i spent six months on the dole.

The experience shattered my already fragile confidence and it took me the best part of a decade to get back on track.

World class teaching, and stunning architecture. A true sense of history but access to amazing facilities. It was worth it for me.

Really really hard work - I remember friends at other universities complaining about having to write three essays a term; I had three a week and the book list in the holidays was staggering. My college was quite laddy and public schooly but I seem to have survived.

Friend of mine went to Oxbridge for a term and had to drop out due to depression (linked to the university and how stressful it was) she then ended up on the exact same course as me (genuine coincidence with no contact about it) and was much happier at a different university.

At the same time, I've had another friend at Oxbridge and he seems to have been fine. Guess it just depends. But ive never thought a degree from Oxford or Cambridge etc was ever any better. I'd personally go with how you feel when you visit the campus (and I strongly suggest you do to get a feel for it).

World class teaching, and stunning architecture

The second point I'd concede, the first was rather more variable. The so called 'big names' were not really interested in teaching undergraduates and saw it as a distraction from their research (which what the university had employed them on the basis of). The best tutors I had was a postdoc employed on a pittance on a teaching only contract and a lecturer from Homnerton who hasn't published anything in years and was marking time to retirement. With the exception of those two, the teaching didn't measure up to what I experienced as a Masters student at a non-oxbridge institution with a fraction of the resources. In my area, some of the best and most innovative teaching practice is coming from ex-polys, notably Huddersfield and Northampton.

Cambridge didn't suit me or a number of students like me (Comprehensive school kids from working class/lower middle class backgrounds) I found the small group supervision excruciating, especially if paired up with some know-all hyper confident ex public school kids. At the time I was there, there was an effort to increase the proportion of state educated students, I was (and to a certain extent) deeply cynical about that, as even if they get there, it didn't feel a supportive or welcoming environment for them. I'd advocate leaving it as a Brideshead theme park for the hooray Henries and actively discourage those from ordinary background, or at least rose of us not possessed of bucket loads of self confidence and mental resilliance to go somewhere else where they can leave with your self esteem intact.

Employers like to see Oxbridge grads, on the whole, although there can be worry about them being 'nerdy'; I.e not fitting into the 'company culture'.

If they're thinking to go down an academic path it seems to be of lesser importance.

In short, if you imagine the employer is likely to be a Oxbridge grad then yes, soldier on, as Oxbridge love Oxbridge. But if they see a more diverse graduate picture then it really is not an issue, and their grade (and achievements in their industry - not rugby if they're a chemist ) are of more importance.

Why are you asking what do you want to study in Oxbridge?

I am assuming you have a plan?

Depends on what your plans are and what type of environment suits you.

For me, it was absolutely worth it. Incredible education, great environment full of students giving it 100%, a lot of access to remarkable people, and a name that opens doors not just in the UK but everywhere.

I found both have a fairly self-directed, sink or swim learning style, which suited me perfectly, but is obviously no good for those who sink. I'd say you definitely need to be self-motivated to thrive there. One of my friends once said they're less about teaching and more about providing the opportunity to learn, and I think that's probably right in most areas. You won't be given an education so much as given everything you need to get the best education imaginable. It's very much all down to you and what you make of the tools at your disposal.

That doesn't work for a lot of people, and if you're one of them you'll almost certainly get a better education elsewhere!