To ask what you would think about someone that had masters degrees from both Oxford and Cambridge?

[Zorbing]

That's the question!

Its not me, obvs. But I am wondering what assumptions, if any, you might make about someone like this (justified or otherwise).

Would you think they were highly intelligent / had a strong work ethic? Or just lucky and privileged?

Would you think that they're probably a bit of a dickhead?

Its a woman incidentally, not sure if that makes a difference.

I know someone with undergraduate degree from one and Phd from the other. Done in the days before fees and loans. Now an academic.
No wealth, modest background. Very clever though.

@Grellbunt

The very fact that it is so difficult to get in.

Not really for postgrads (degree dependent). Also there are certain one year taught postgrads that have the reputation of being cash cows. People take them mainly for the Oxbridge name rather than the actual intellectual value. Despite all I have said about postgrads in general - OP’s colleagues reactions might be because they knew the specific postgrads.

@Nancydrawn

Why in the world would you assume the person was a dickhead?

That's a weird and defensive reaction, and says more about the person holding it than the person who has a couple degrees.

Absolutely!

I’m speechless reading this. I know several people like this with these qualifications and I’d think them highly educated, motivated individuals. Top of their field.

I'd be impressed but only if I asked and it was relevant. Someone made a joke the other day, "How do you know if someone has a Masters...?"

"They tell you"

It's a bit like being vegan, you have to tell someone.

*caveat - I'm working on my final thesis for my masters and it's all I can talk (and think) about...

I’ve learned things from this thread so appreciated it not being zapped!

@Royalbloo

I'd be impressed but only if I asked and it was relevant. Someone made a joke the other day, "How do you know if someone has a Masters...?"

"They tell you"

It's a bit like being vegan, you have to tell someone.

*caveat - I'm working on my final thesis for my masters and it's all I can talk (and think) about...

All the best with your thesis

I'd think they had brains above average.

I’d be willing to bet that a lot of the more dismissive posters on this thread would be hard-pressed to say what ‘a Masters’ actually is.

@WalkingOnTheCracks

I’d be willing to bet that a lot of the more dismissive posters on this thread would be hard-pressed to say what ‘a Masters’ actually is.

I wonder what makes you think that. I have a Master's and a doctorate. Before the Master's I thought it sounded very fancy, now I know from experience.

Jesus! I hope you’re not in HR, OP.
Is she pleasant? Able to work with others in a team? Does she have the qualities and abilities you are looking for in a new employee? If so, it shouldn’t matter if she has two masters degrees or two GCSE’s. Judging someone (or not knowing whether to) based on the fact that they have attained (presumably) higher qualifications than you, sounds uncomfortably close to jealousy on your part, I’m afraid...

I'd think they're desperate not to get a real job and possibly a bit flakey

But I wouldn't tell them that

@Bumzoo

I'd think they're desperate not to get a real job and possibly a bit flakey

But I wouldn't tell them that

Again, for those haven't bothered reading the full thread...... how do you know they didn't work while studying?

@FoggyDay58

I'd think she had unresolved issues about not having read for her undergrad degree at Oxbridge.

From the holder of a studied-for Oxbridge Masters.

My thoughts exactly. That or she's in a panic about her life choices and is taking the easy route out by studying because she doesn't know what else to do.

My thoughts exactly. That or she's in a panic about her life choices and is taking the easy route out by studying because she doesn't know what else to do.

What if she worked while studying and the qualifications were linked to her career plans/job?

Some of the responses here are astounding

I have two masters degrees. I did the first part time when I was 30 and had been working for 9 years, directly related to my first degree.

I did the second full time, self financed via redundancy package and working on the checkout at Sainsburys when I was 40 as part of a planned career change.
I also did post graduate diploma and a professional qualification funded by work, between my first degree and first MA.

I am not wealthy, particularly lucky or privilged and not aware that anyone thinks I am a dickhead

I'm a former CB lecturer, humanities subject. The MA programmes have expanded enormously in the last couple of decades, because they're money spinners. Fees are high and students are in and out in 9 months, and since they already have first degrees need less 'pastoral care' than undergraduates.

One official of my college once referred to these MAs as 'finishing schools' - a way to get an Oxbridge degree certificate to hang on your wall for ppl with the money, but who would never have got in as undergrads.

Some of the MA students I taught were absolute howlers; I half wrote their theses for them - references can be misleading and once someone is in the programme there's pressure not to fail them in order not to deter future applicants with similar profile, and to avoid litigation.

That said, there were also bright, committed, fun-to-teach MA students, and I can see that someone could 'catch the bug' and want to do more than one if they're passionate about the subjects.

So in other words, no reason to be terribly impressed, but it all depends on the person.

@ThreeLocusts

I'm a former CB lecturer, humanities subject. The MA programmes have expanded enormously in the last couple of decades, because they're money spinners. Fees are high and students are in and out in 9 months, and since they already have first degrees need less 'pastoral care' than undergraduates.

One official of my college once referred to these MAs as 'finishing schools' - a way to get an Oxbridge degree certificate to hang on your wall for ppl with the money, but who would never have got in as undergrads.

Some of the MA students I taught were absolute howlers; I half wrote their theses for them - references can be misleading and once someone is in the programme there's pressure not to fail them in order not to deter future applicants with similar profile, and to avoid litigation.

That said, there were also bright, committed, fun-to-teach MA students, and I can see that someone could 'catch the bug' and want to do more than one if they're passionate about the subjects.

So in other words, no reason to be terribly impressed, but it all depends on the person.

Surely that’s the same for ANY MA then? Not just Oxbridge?

Are you saying there is no point to ever get an MA then ??

A Masters from one or the other, I would just think they were successful, driven, well educated.

A Masters from 'both' well to be honest I would think that's a little odd. I would assume they were in a position that they didn't really need to work for a living (family wealth). To be honest I would wonder if they were were a little insecure (maybe a continual need to prove their ability).

It would also depend if there had been any 'career' between the masters. In some areas like law - you could do a degree, masters at one. Then later in your career move in a different direction and do another masters at another.

@IllForTooLong

No that's not what follows. I've taught in other MA programmes where you didn't have the 'finishing school' effect, because the institutions in question didn't have the same cachet as Oxbridge. People were there for the content, not for the name of the institution on the certificate.

My own MA is from Univ. of London and it was the most work-intensive year of my life getting it. And again, a lot of the students in the Oxbridge MAs I was involved in worked very hard and were very committed too.

I'm trying to counter the impression that everyone who gets a degree from Oxbridge is a freaking genius, as some ppl still seem to think. That assumption is very, very regressive because it serves to justify the privileges that ppl with access to Oxbridge degrees often (not always) enjoy.

My own MA is from Univ. of London and it was the most work-intensive year of my life getting it.
DD is currently in the middle of a Masters in a fairly hardcore STEM subject, and she would echo that sentiment ThreeLocusts. She had planned to do some part-time work alongside but quickly realised that was a non-starter as the evenings and weekends needed to be spent studying.

Unlike under-grad it's a full year (Sept - Sept), with no time off over the summer.

@NutellaEllaElla

Not 'all'. 'A lot.' I thought your answer was measured and informed.

But many (not all) of the replies suggest that studying - for a Masters, or anything else really - is somehow a ruse to avoid 'real' work in the 'real' world. In those comments there's rarely any consideration of how those qualifications might be of practicial use, or of the commitment of time and energy involved, or of the sacrifices 'not wealthy' people might make to pursue those studies, or even of any recognition that the pursuit of knowledge might be an admirable end in itself.

To be clear, I'm not saying that further education is necessary for a successful or useful life. I don't have a degree and I've done pretty well. My eldest decided against university and he's doing very well. My next one down is currently weighing the pros and cons. And I've employed many very bright and ambitious people who didn't go to university but who made great careers in a very intellectually demanding industry.

But just as it's a mistake to think that someone without any kind of degree isn't clever, it's equally mistaken to think that any one who pursues academia beyond three years at university is...well, what have we had here? Indecisive, privileged, work-shy, taking the easy route, lucky. And, most memorably, 'a bit of a dickhead'.

(Nutella, again, I recognise that you didn't say these things.)

**Surely that’s the same for ANY MA then? Not just Oxbridge?

Are you saying there is no point to ever get an MA then**

I don’t think she’s saying that at all.

What she’s saying is, the prestige that goes with an Oxbridge undergraduate degree, isn’t apparent when you reach MA level.

An MA from any university is fantastic. Generally Oxbridge is regarded as the creme de la creme at undergraduate level.

The MA isn’t as competitive is my understanding, therefore it doesn’t hold the same prestige.

I would be confused as to why she had to Oxbridge Masters degrees and not a Masters degree and a PhD...