Will being 'poor' make you stick out like a sore thumb at Oxford?

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Is the prestige of going there and the desire to study that particular course, enough to offset a 'poor' background?

Help! Dc applying for uni. Has great grades but worried not being rich is going to impact friendships, socialisation, etc!

Should have said very similar to when a family member in my own generation went

Concerned’s friend’s experience was very different to my own in the late eighties. All my social circle were surviving on the student grant (whether that came from the Government or their parents). Apart from the one super-broke guy I mentioned above and one computer whizz who had very well paid holiday work, we were literally all on the exact same income: nobody skiied, all our socialisation was done in each other’s rooms or in society meetings rather than pubs and bars, and if we went to London we took the coach not the train. Obviously there were richer students splashing the cash at the Union (I was in Jacob Rees Mogg’s year), but none of my thirty closest friends fell into that category. I guess I’d agree that there was a bit of a “them and us” culture, but since both groups were thousands strong it didn’t impede our enjoyment in the slightest.

Oxbridge is about preparing for a global outlook and hopefully global career. If you are now worried about the odd public school boy, will you go on and worry about the income millionaires who will be your bosses and senior colleagues later on? I would go with a mindset of getting a first, what requires more time in the library than in expensive clubs anyway, and try to learn to rub along with everyone, stinking rich or poor. Coming from a very difficult background myself, I really dont agree that working class people and posh people have little in common. The majority at every Oxbridge college are foreigners, or first or second generation immigrants, anyway who dont nearly fall into English class categories. I was born in Europe, most people on my course came from Germany, China, USA or Eastern Europe, either after school or had moved to UK during childhood.

I don’t think your figure are right Nelly - the majority at oxbridge colleges are certainly white www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/education-44226434

At Oxford yes 20% of undergrads are international students, but these students will not be overwhelmingly from poor backgrounds www.ox.ac.uk/about/facts-and-figures/full-version-facts-and-figures?wssl=1

Cambridge is dominated by students domiciled in the uk, according to their own figures www.internationalstudents.cam.ac.uk/applying/global-community/international-student-data

I understand what you say about the odd public school boy, but if students find the environment very hostile it can impact their ability to flourish and gain the skills needed to hold their own and succeed.

I say this as an ex pastoral tutor at a uk uni (not oxbridge) but very public school.dominated having very sadly had a talented student drop out because they felt they didn’t fit in

Sorry - ignore that was the wrong link - will repost when I find the right one!!

Hi, take a look at the Uniq summer schools, particularly if you are from a school which does not send kids to Oxford. www.uniq.ox.ac.uk/ Sorry do not know how to do clicky thing.
This will give your son a “taster” of Oxford and he will have a brilliant time.

No.

Of course not.

Better social spread than a lot universities as it happens, and buckets of free cash.

I went to a supposedly posh Cambridge college. Most of my friends were state educated, and actually quite liked some of the poncy college things. But if you are worried about that then the more modern colleges might be less intimidating.

And I think if money is a worry, Oxbridge is quite a good choice as there are lots of bursaries and accommodation is generally cheaper than other places as you only pay for 30 weeks. There are lots of activities to get involved with that don't cost anything too.

I was at Oxford in the mid nineties and needed a full local authority grant to be able to subsist. There were no tuition fees in those days, but money was tight.

I definitely didn’t feel out of place and found that being hard up with money was a reality for most of the students that I was there with. Those who jetted off on expensive holidays were the minority and not the other way around, and I certainly think there was no social kudos in flaunting wealth.

The result was that I went through university mostly oblivious to people’s backgrounds; it was only at a recent reunion that I realised that there were significant variations in income.

I’m sure that there were / are clubs that I don’t even know the existence of that cater to the ex public-school boy crowd, but they seemed to be discrete.