Studying at Oxbridge

[Hawkins0001]

After reading about the levels of study needed and the effort needed to achieve a 1st, etc on different forums about how difficult the degrees are.

Are the degree's at Oxbridge more difficult or is it more that people think they can easily achieve the 1st but instead are more likely to achieve a 2,1 or 2,2 etc?

This was my experience. Hard work, very hard, but a brilliant time. Plus I have access to the University library forever.

No-one can 'easily' achieve a 1st. The academic level at Oxbridge is usually higher (depending upon the subject) but you have to work hard wherever. Also university education is more than your final degree classification.

Absolutely this. I think it’s pretty general knowledge that he’s highly intelligent. Cambridge doesn’t just ‘give’ people degrees.

I’ve just read the wiki page on Nick Griffin. How did he get into Cambridge when he was registered as NF?

Most sites say he revealed his affiliation during a student debate when he was already there.

I did an arts/humanities subject at Cambridge. The reading lists were brutal and I probably pulled an all-nighter once every other week in order to keep up (and probably weekly in my final year). Also somehow managed to do a lot of extra curricular stuff (student politics etc) and socialise too and somehow got a 2:1. I would be absolutely shattered at the end of each term though.
The teaching was of varied quality and the style of learning was very much "figure it out yourself and don't expect any help". I remember I once genuinely didn't understand an essay question I had been set at the beginning of a new course and emailed the supervisor for clarification. The email that came back was pure vitriol and I felt so small and ashamed. Some of the tutors were pretty mean, looking back on it, and my self esteem was in shreds when I left.
I did, however, leave with the most wonderful group of friends a girl could ever wish for. We are still a tight group 20 years later. That aspect was, frankly, idyllic.
I would urge anyone considering Oxbridge to think long and hard about it. On one level it was an amazing and mind-broadening experience. but I also felt like I had been chewed up and spat out. Brutal is the right word for it and I think there are a lot of world class universities in the UK that quite frankly offer more constructive learning environments.

To be fair, your experience was 20 years ago. I think there have been huge pastoral care improvements put in place since then.

DS recently completed degree at Cambridge. It was brutal in terms of the volume of work required and the standard he had to achieve.

He loved his time there and has gone on to get an enviable job.

Congrats, I did wonder if oxbridge, helps the difference between the A and the A* so to speak

I left Oxford with a double first. It’s hard to say if it was more difficult as that was my only experience of university. I worked quite hard but I’ve certainly worked longer hours since. I can’t remember having an awful lot of fun, but that’s not what the taxpayers were paying for.

To gauge different perspectives on what is whispered about the difficulties of courses vs what the expected course load actually is, based on the collective wisdom of mumsnetters.

As yes considering a post grad degree.

Post grad is likely to be quite different from undergraduate, though. I dated a postgraduate whilst I was an undergraduate and he seemed to have much less structure in his week, although I was humanities and he was STEM so that probably made a significant difference as well.

Honestly, you'd be better off haunting some current postgraduate student forums, most people here will have relatively outdated experience.

Personally, I found that the sheer workload didn’t leave me as much scope to go into depth as my friends at other unis. I really envied their seminars, lecture series allied to specific modules, and the way they could consolidate their learning with coursework, rather than working towards a battery of exams at the end of four years.

I’m also a bit unsure why you’re more likely to meet people who share your passion and enthusiasm at Oxbridge. Friends and colleagues from other unis were equally invested in their chosen subjects and, I feel, many had achieved a greater depth of learning than I had because they had more time to assimilate the material (and received better teaching, but I think I got quite unlucky on my course).

If you want info on postgrad then I would specify that. A relative did vet med at Cambridge and it was no more taxing than anywhere else. They went to Bristol first to do Zoology.

Agreed, you need to hear specifically from those with recent postgraduate experience of the particular subject you're interested in

Fair points all, very much appreciated for your perspectives.