To think that Oxbridge is overrated?

[colouredcrayons]

And we should encourage our children to focus on more than just two top universities. They don’t even give you better careet prospects these days either.

Opens doors unlike anything else educational on a CV. Doesn’t mean it is right for everyone, doesn’t mean you will definitely be a success, doesn’t mean you won’t be a success without it. But without doubt it opens doors far more than any other university does.

I’m afraid having been at oxford or Cambridge opens career doors, especially at the outset. It just does. Twenty years later of course if I were still relying on it with no experience to follow that would be ridiculous. But it still helps me now. Especially as I work for a US company. They do care about where people went to “school” bless them.

Overrated by whom?

There may be a few misguided parents and teachers who overemphasise Oxbridge, but I doubt it's many - the reality is that the applicants can apply to up to 4 others and we're extraordinarily fortunate in the U.K. to have so many good universities. Imperial, UCL, Manchester, Edinburgh... etc

Maybe it's not so much that Oxbridge is overrated but that some other unis might be mis-rated by some?

FWIW DD was quite surprised to get an offer from Cambridge, and gave a lot of consideration whether to accept them or the place she'd thought she'd be going, Southampton. (I had a thread asking for pros and cons a couple of years ago). DH and I were happy that she'd be absolutely fine with either.

Well, they are two universities with world class reputations.

But there is a self-perpetuating aspect to it - if the brightest (or best-educated, we can argue over that!) sixth-formers are competing for Oxbridge places then for those who get the places it immediately becomes a mark of ability, whatever the subsequent quality of their degree.

But I can appreciate the frustration of places like Imperial or individual university departments which are just as strong as their Oxbridge counterparts, because they are potentially underrated in some people's minds, and have to work that bit harder to prove themselves.

For context, I have a Cambridge degree, but when I recruit I'm more focussed on the overall academic qualifications (A level and degree class), and don't give particular emphasis to an Oxbridge degree.

When applicants are considering where to apply to, everyone says to weigh up the course, the university itself as well as the city it's in and whether they can see themselves living there for three plus years. Do they want to live in a lively, large city or somewhere more compact? Do they want somewhere with good nightlife etc?

For some reason if a young person has/is predicted top grades, lots of people expect them to want to go to Oxford or Cambridge, just because they can, when actually the city itself may not actually be the right place for them.

I have a pgce from Cambridge. Even that, without any doubt at all, opened doors for me at the start of my career. I've recently completed a masters at Cambridge and the course was hugely interesting and well taught. My supervisions were really outstanding - frequent one to one's with proper world class academics. Was a brilliant experience.

Different universities suit different people. Oxbridge still has its place.

Are you bitter because you have been rejected - or perhaps your offspring?

They are both top universities.

How can you tell that the OP is bitter? I think the first sentence of her post is actually very sensible - even if you have got a child who is being pushed to try for Oxbridge, it's clearly right to research and focus on the many other excellent places offering the subject they are interested in.

have 4 other unis to choose from who want me, will help me financially and understand I’ll need to work to support myself let alone to pay for bloody exam robes and May balls!

You sound a bit chippy here, sailors. DH and I are low income. It’s a lot cheaper for our dd to be at Oxbridge than her insurance choice would have been. She’s at a wealthy college, gets uni bursary, book grant, subsidised rent, subsidised food, catered accommodation guaranteed for her whole course, help towards ball ticket costs and so on. Exam robes cost £25 so hardly break the bank.

Obviously a few colleges have a higher proportion of v wealthy students from Eton and so on but the beauty of the collegiate system is that there’s a huge range of colleges to choose from, depending on what you’re looking for.

I tuned down a place at Oxbridge and went to a ‘lesser’ uni for the course combination I wanted and because I found the whole process incredibly patronising and snobbish towards me, a WC candidate.

I was the same. I felt uncomfortable during the interview process (at King's, Cambridge) because I was Northern, working class and went to a comprehensive. Everyone I met was privately educated and most definitely not working class. It felt like I would struggle to fit in but I also much preferred the course elsewhere. In the end I chose to go where I thought I'd be happiest rather than sacrificing an interesting (and more relevant/modern) course for Oxbridge on my c.v. It obviously didn't do me any harm as I still eventually ended up in the City on a 6 figure salary.

I did interview for a job once where the recruiter told me he'd had to really push for me to be interviewed as the employer (a large bank) "only wanted Oxbridge grads". Idiots. I won't say too much but having later worked with this same bank with them as my client, their recruitment policy clearly got them nowhere as they've had some massive f*ck-ups and been fined over and over by the regulators.

I'm an Oxford graduate and now an academic. Looking back with my own experience of curriculum design and HE teaching, the syllabus and some of the teaching were pretty shit and hadn't been updated in decades.

Especially as I work for a US company. They do care about where people went to “school” bless them.

I'm in the US and we're reviewing consultancies at the moment with a view to giving a fair bit of work to one. An employee having gone to Oxbridge as an undergrad wouldn't feature on our radar.

Kings Cambridge is now down to 23% privately educated, hundred - perceptions based on the past may no longer be at all accurate. (Private schools take > 18% of sixth formers, and there will be quite a lot of academic selectivity.)

Another vote for "overrated by whom?" and "not all universities suit everyone"

Went to Cambridge - the first person to go to university in my family and state school educated. Bloody loved it. Made lifelong friends, not all of whom had been to fee paying schools and none of whom were snobs.

It didn't particularly help in my career because other issues (having a disabled child, largely) had a very negative impact. But I'm forever glad to have had the opportunity.

bloody exam robes - IHateUncleJamie, not at Cambridge - only Oxford requires fancy clothes for sitting exams. (Weirdos)

I think it depends on what course you're choosing - certainly there are career fields where Oxbridge isn't necessarily the best or the best regarded. But for a lot of things it is.

FWIW DD1 turned down two RG unis to get into the university which is one of the top 3 for her particular field in the UK. So it's horses for courses.

So it's horses for courses
I think it’s callec equine studies these days.

Two of my relatives went to Oxbridge. Both quiet studious people who flourished and went on to have rewarding academic careers. Another relative was turned down point blank and has a hugely successful commercial career. In view of all this I think while an Oxbridge degree is very impressive in some fields (e.g. classics), a very able individual will do well anyway.

Purple - I was musing over a similar joke... In fact, I think if you are wanting to train as a vet Cambridge has a strong reputation particularly with horses.

It taught me how to think.

Purple

Dad that kind of makes sense, with Newmarket just up the road.

Overrated - I think not
I would be bloody delighted if any of my children were bright enough to get in.
The quality of the lecturers is mind boggling

Another Oxford graduate here.
It won’t suit everyone, and if another uni suits you better or runs a course you particularly want to take, apply there..?! Anyone saying go Oxbridge over everywhere else, no matter what, is short sighted, though I’ve never heard anyone say that...
But, yes it has opened doors for me. I have never found it difficult to get jobs and wherever I’ve worked it’s always been mentioned somewhere along the line that they were impressed by my degree (unusual in my area).
I was one of the only state school students and I wasn’t like most of the other students, but I still had an amazing uni experience and wouldn’t change it.

It taught me how to think.

I'm not sure what we take from this gnomic post. Did Oxbridge also teach you how to engage with the question being asked?